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REVIEW: Drinking At The Movies

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

Written/Art by by Julia Wertz
Publisher: Koyoma Press
Release Date: November 2015

Back in the day I used to read a lot of Calvin and Hobbes. How I would laugh at the crazy shenanigans Calvin would get up to, seeing  parts of  childhood refracted back at me (I never had a tiger for a start).  Even now, I will grab one of books , this time understanding the pain of Calvin’s parents as they deal with every little hiccup with a mixture of calmness, love and utter disbelief.  If only there was a book like this now, but about grown up things, about relevant things, things like a first and last internet date or phantom limb syndrome.

Wait………

There is such a book!!!!

Drinking at the Movies features the writing wit of Julia Wertz, along side her cartoon style art.  No for a drinkingsuperhero fan like me, this should give me kittens.  It doesn’t.  Instead it harkens back to Calvin and in some cases, reminds me of Luann.  One of the differences is that Drinking is autobiographical then either Calvin and Luann.  This allows for some genuine reaction to the actual events and their impact on Wertz.  Indeed, reading the book, there are occasions which whilst may not be exactly the same as your situation, still create a level of resonance and emotion.  Sounds all doom and gloom? It most definitely isn’t.  There is enough humour in there to show that even though things don’t always work out right, it doesn’t mean they work out wrong! The art is pretty standard fair for this type of book.  Its simple take on life in the Big City is easy on the eye and helps create the idea of the places described rather than being all detail intensive.

The book covers the year in which Wertz moved from the City by the Bay to the Big Apple, chronicling the good and, mostly, bad things that happened. Because of this, the book can come across as whiny in places.  I understand that everyone needs to whine at times, as does Wertz who manages to apply a modicum of self-deprecation into her tales.

Now back in print, the book is available to a new audience, who will hopefully find Drinking at the Movies as fun as I did.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes
I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
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