An Illustrated Guide to Identifying Assholes
Comic, Eyvan Collins, [email protected], quittercomix.tumblr.com, $5
The truth hurts, and sometimes the truth is staring us right in the face and we can’t see it. Through an deliberately-mispelled “illustated” (I saw what you did there) comic zine, Eyvan takes the reader through all the warning signs that you or someone you love might be an asshole. Humorously, the mascot for asshole is a tiny hipster with a man bun! However, getting to the bottom of the question “Am I an asshole?” is serious business. For example, do you tell people that your ex is “crazy”? Are you rude to wait staff? Is The Catcher in the Rye your favourite book? This checklist will help you self-diagnose, so that you can rehabilitate — it’s on all of us, Eyvan says. Short, nicely illustrated, and direct, I appreciated that An Illustated Guide identifies behaviours and attitudes that really make the world a lousier place, while at the same time suggesting that we are all capable of doing better. Many of us would have the urge to tell someone who believes that reverse racism is a thing to just, I don’t know, set themselves on fire, but Eyvan sees the potential for good in humanity. This is a wonderful paradox: calling out an asshole but then empowering them to cut off their white guy dreadlocks, stop interrupting, and go forth as a kinder, more fully realized version of themselves. (Chris Landry)