What the hell is this, anyway? A review of a four-page mini? Am I nuts?

Well, yeah, I am — but that’s nothing new. What is new is the idea that there could, indeed, be a four-page mini worth devoting more than a quick 150-word paragraph to talking about, but such is indeed the case with Abby Jame’s latest from Silver Sprocket Bicycle Club, Lizard Daddies. I don’t expect this to happen too often, mind you, but Jame’s work is always worthy of examination on some level, and this one touches on so many relevant cultural themes in so few pages that the word “extraordinary” comes to mind pretty quickly and easily.

The set-up here is as immediately grabbing as one would assume it to be : a group of teenage girls decide to attend a “sugar daddy/sugar baby” party to fleece some cash out of some horny old sleazeballs, only to find that these elderly creepers are out for youthful flesh not simply because they’re garden-variety pervs, but because they might just need it to survive. To say more would be to say too much, but the title probably gives away much of the game in that regard, anyway. Suffice to say, Jame utilizes the mini (hell, maybe that should be very mini) format incredibly wisely here, and cuts right to the heart of any number of matters, most obviously the predatory behavior of many older men online, the idea of “turning the tables” on them as an act of women’s empowerment and/or liberation, the desperation inculcated in damn near everyone by the so-called “gig economy,” and the fundamentally duplicitous nature of online communication in a more general sense. To do all that so quickly, and to make it funny while you’re at it? Well, that really takes some serious skill.

None of this, however, should be terribly surprising to those who have been following Jame’s work. Her “clean-line” cartooning is polished and expressive, borrowing some influence here and there from a stylistic continuum that ranges from Katie Skelly to Adult Swim, and her color palette choices are impeccable, but it’s her sense of narrative timing — both comic and creepy — in conjunction with her decidedly contemporary and vibrant illustration that brings out the best in both and marks her as a talent worth following wherever she goes. And so I shall.

Not in the literal sense, mind you — that would make me no different to those aging stalkers online — but if she makes it, I’ll read, and if her track record to date is any indication, I’ll both enjoy it and get some legit insights from it. Yes, even if the work in question is only four pages long.

That being said, if you can catch almost the entire thing online, the natural question that arises is : why buy the thing? And if you need me to answer that for you, then you’re reading the wrong damn blog. We support independent emerging cartoonists with our time and our money around these parts, and if you’ve got so much as adequately-functioning conscience, you already feel the same way yourself. There’s no excuse not to buy this book, so do it.

******************************************************************************

Lizard Daddies is available for $3.00 directly from Silver Sprocket Bicycle Club at https://store.silversprocket.net/products/lizard-daddies-by-abby-jame

Also, this review — and all others around these parts — is “brought to you” by my Patreon site, where I serve up exclusive thrice-weekly rants and ramblings on the worlds of comics, films, television, literature, and politics for as little as a dollar a month. Subscribing is the best way to support my continuing work, so do please take a moment to check it out by directing your kind attention to https://www.patreon.com/fourcolorapocalypse