Mark Allen reviews Snotgirl #3…
From bestselling BRYAN LEE O’MALLEY (Scott Pilgrim) and 2016’s hottest new artist LESLIE HUNG, it’s SNOTGIRL! This issue: Lottie meets a mysterious man, and her conflict with Charlene intensifies. Normgirl throws a party, and Cutegirl does something cute! Don’t miss the new ongoing series 9 out of 10 allergy sufferers call “literally me!”
Everyone on Snotgirl is at their A-game. They’re all doing such good work that it’s difficult not to simply list their myriad achievements in order of awesomeness, but reviews are meant to be a little more structure and nuanced. That said, there’s no better example of said accomplishments than issue #3, which sees tragic hero/hot mess Lottie attend a party with her fashion blogger friends in an attempt to distract herself from the texts she’s receiving from a dead rival. Who hasn’t been there?
“No More Parties in L.A.” is less plot-heavy than the first two issues, with much of the focus being on Lottie’s growing paranoia regarding her ex-intern (currently dating her ex-boyfriend) and her alienation of anyone who has even a passing affection for her. O’Malley’s dialogue leans heavily on Snotgirl’s trademark self-loathing and insecurity, while Leslie Hung brings her typically unique mix of dazzling glamour and uncomfortably visible bodily fluids to proceedings.
This issue, however, belongs to colourist Mickey Quinn, who ramps up the intensity of panels and pages and brings Lottie’s anxieties to life in ways that practically induced a panic attack in this reader. The interplay of cold and warm tones during her confrontation with ex-intern Charlene are perfect for the story’s paranoid overtones, complemented by Mare Odomo’s seamless (and often balloon-less) lettering. It all makes for thrilling reading, even when most of the conflict is interior.
It’s not all melodrama and panic-stricken heroines, however; there’s a hilarious sequence involving Lottie getting hit on at the snack table by a cute but shiver-inducingly creepy guy. Though she’s left speechless by his strange and aggressive come-ons, she gets the last laugh in a page that is some of Hung’s most entertaining (and possibly most NSFW) work on the series so far. The subplot is not only a delight, but a subtle reminder that Snotgirl is about sexual politics and gender roles just as much as the hysterical antics and farcical thriller elements, retaining its claim as one of the boldest, funniest, and smartest books being published right now.
Rating: 10/10
Mark Allen
Originally published October 5, 2016. Updated April 16, 2018.
