Bear #1
Comic, Jordana Globerman, 36 pgs, @jordanacomics, $15
“Dudes are so gross in Canada,” spits Bear, after telling yet another creepy stranger to go shove it. Our protagonist has just received a full scholarship to the University of London, and the encounter is just one more example of why she can’t wait to ship overseas. She imagines how different, how civilized another continent will be. “Omg! You could fuck Prince Harry!” adds her friend, a bunny, swooning at the thought.
But the rosy-eyed hope that London will turn her life around comes crashing down. Bear by Jordana Globerman is an incredibly drawn depiction of millennial life rendered as anthropomorphic animals. Each page, though grayscale, flares with the kind of vibrance that expert-level comic writers seek to achieve. The imagery simply pops off the page. The characters may be cute animals, but this whimsy is belied by graceful detail in every panel. It looks like a whole team of writers, illustrators, and pencillers worked on this, but lo and behold, it’s just a single person. And Globerman crushes her one-woman comic in a spectacular fashion. The zeitgeist of moving to another city, and the expectations that come with moving across the world, are in full flux. Bear is the relatable protagonist we need to circumvent our own beliefs that the grass is greener across the pond. When she realizes that both cities aren’t perfect, well, we feel it too. Globerman writes a loveable and flawed main character whom I rooted for through the issue. She courageously leaves her family and friends to follow her ambitions. She makes the most of her situation, as most young adults do, and you get to work it out with her.