Lynda Barry is the Total God of Me
I’ve been promising for a while to talk about some of my favorite comic artists. I can think of no one better to start with than the great Lynda Barry. She does an alternative strip called “Ernie Pook’s Comeek” that is available in various independent weeklies and on Salon.com. She writes and illustrates the strips. Her stories are usually about the painful, though often hilarious, pitfalls of growing up—especially if you are a poor girl with an artistic soul—though occasionally she will tackle political subjects or adult issues like marriage. Barry is an accomplished artist, but she uses a raw, ragged style for the strips that perfectly mirrors the experience of growing up. Her comics look the way adolescence feels. I highly recommend her collection The Greatest of Marlys. She has also written two “traditional” novels: The Good Times are Killing Me and Cruddy. You can read more about Lynda Barry here. Check her out. You won’t be sorry!