Today on the site Annie Mok reviews Lisa Hanawalt's Hot Dog Taste Test.
Hot Dog Taste Test is a breezy and comfortable sophomore collection, best enjoyed in little sips, perhaps on the toilet. The slick flexi-bound cover, probably a little sweaty in the summer, is casual but nice, like a pleasant slob you can take home to your parents.
The vignettes center around food, the natural world (bugs, horses, otters), family, death, and anxiety, and Hanawalt hits a pleasant balance between joy, and fear of decay. The internet-influenced structure flips between wordless watercolor tableaus, short bits originally posted on Twitter (one about new corporate slogans includes a proposal for Toyota: “You need a fucking car unfortunately”), traditional comics, and longer hybrid pieces with illustrated text. The longer, first-person journalist reports include one on swimming with otters (yes, I am jealous), and a story on following a fancy restaurateur chef around his kitchen.
Elsewhere:
The New York Times has an obituary of Michael Crawford.
Margaret Atwood's upcoming graphic novel is previewed at Wired.
Frank Santoro has announced his annual Comics Workbook Composition Competition.
And... slow news day on the comics front. Be kind to one another in these vicious times.
