Alec LongstrethCritiques

I ordered this book from Amazon, and was disappointed upon receiving it to discover that it was a comic book (or rather a compilation of serialized comics). I grudgingly began reading, and quickly found myself won over by the story, dialogue, and drawing. The book is charming, funny, exciting, genuinely tragic, fascinating, and fun. I especially enjoyed the author's self-deprecating style, which nevertheless could not disguise his intelligence and talent. Part of the publication's enduring value will no doubt be the letters published in each issue. The letters and the comics combined grant the reader an inside view into pre-Facebook fan culture, complete with its membership cards and newsletters and memorabilia, not to mention the intense relationships forged among fans who have met not through "liking" a page, but through a rather more arduous ritual of sending money in blind faith and zeal to a P.O. Box and then waiting weeks or even months for something to happen. Most of all, though, for me, I just enjoyed the author's passion and enthusiasm and sensitivity, and vicariously sharing in his (and his readers') experiences.