Lil’ Depressed Boy
LDB, as he’s called by his friends, is a 20-something rag doll boy who lives in Texas and maybe doesn’t quite know what to do with his life. He’s got a cool, alternative friend, he hangs out with a mysterious, hot woman who dress like a cross between Carrie Bradshaw and a roller derby team and he loves music. Music is so much a part of the story that unlike any other comic I’ve ever seen it includes notes about what songs LDB is listening to when you see him wearing headphones or at a show. Real bands make cameos in the book, including Childish Gambino on the cover of #10. This is by far one of the more low-key books that I read. No one hacks anyone to death with a scythe and no one has superpowers. There’s much less dialogue and intense plotting than the other books on the list which gives the art room to breathe and the pages without any words are some of my favorites. Artist Sina Grace (whose forthcoming “Not My Bag” is the only must-buy graphic novel on my list this fall) has a chunky, broad style that feels far more alive and emotive than so much of the overly detailed, generic art that fills action oriented books. Anyone who doesn’t directly identify with LDB knows someone like him and there’s something really sweet, kind and earnest about the book in general.

from You Have No Idea How Much You’re Going to Love These Seven Comic Books