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A review by bashbashbashbash
The Poor Bastard by Joe Matt
3.0
Oh Joe Matt. I keep compulsively buying and reading your books, despite their dedication to chronicling what an unpleasant human you really are. I'm a critic of slice of life autobiographical comics, but there is something about Matt's bad-spirited chicanery and misery that makes his comics compelling.
I read Spent first and then backtracked to The Poor Bastard. The former chronicles Matt's slow decline into a porn-guzzling shut-in. Reading them in reverse is a little sad, especially when one considers the glimmers of good character in The Poor Bastard (he assists a neighbor having a stroke and rescues a pigeon). While even Matt's best-intentioned decision are tinged by his stubbornly unpleasant disposition, one sees, somewhere in there, a person who wants to do his best and be happy. Unfortunately Matt is too obsessed with objectifying "exotic" girls, saving money, wanking and collecting memorabilia to actually notice that the manner in which he conducts his life appears to make him profoundly unhappy.
Compulsive reading.
I read Spent first and then backtracked to The Poor Bastard. The former chronicles Matt's slow decline into a porn-guzzling shut-in. Reading them in reverse is a little sad, especially when one considers the glimmers of good character in The Poor Bastard (he assists a neighbor having a stroke and rescues a pigeon). While even Matt's best-intentioned decision are tinged by his stubbornly unpleasant disposition, one sees, somewhere in there, a person who wants to do his best and be happy. Unfortunately Matt is too obsessed with objectifying "exotic" girls, saving money, wanking and collecting memorabilia to actually notice that the manner in which he conducts his life appears to make him profoundly unhappy.
Compulsive reading.