COMIC BOOK REVIEW: What is there to get in I Don’t Get It?

For reviews, I’m used to getting weird stories, any of those adventure types that revolve around some psychedelia or heavy doses of mind-boggling crazy topics. Then comes this Boom! Studios book I was handed whose title and content I really didn’t get much until I’ve found myself laughing with each page and going at it another round. Shannon Wheeler‘s I Don’t Get It is the type of anthology that’s a hearty mix of laughter and mind challenges that’s truly enjoyable and easy to read.

Hilarious. The jokes are dropped smoothly one page after another and nowhere did I feel that anything’s being forced. The pages cover day-to-day scenarios, conversations one could probably have in real life. Then there’s the mundane ideas where it’s cats or devils delivering the line. But what is evident is that Wheeler’s fond of wordplay and it’s those jokes that got me scratching my head, doing a facepalm and getting the pun then laughing my ass off.

All the humorous ideas would go nowhere without the playful illustration and brilliant tandem of drawings and captions. Aside from the crazy puns, there’s the author’s mastery of placing words and pictures together, not only in the captions but within the illustrations themselves, such that the timing’s just right. I’m guessing it comes from having an idea where the readers would focus their eyes first, as one would find that bit of word lying somewhere to deliver the punchline. I admit, it that style caught me unawares several times.

I noticed the chapters are named after the Stages of Grief. Morbid and dark theme to be used on a comedy book but I soon got it (or maybe it’s just me thinking I got it) when you contrast the grim chapter names against the jolly gags on each page. It’s not just about that, about life and experiences in daily lives, the comics also serve as some social commentary and satire, making fun of the ridiculous things we’ve come to accept as norms, and all the unnecessary complex stuff we go through when life could be damn easier. But hey, the Eisner Awardee leaves those messages in his illustration without letting go of the little joys and lighthearted fun.

Got it?

Quite ironic that I’ve jotted lots of words for a book that had me chuckling with minimal use of them. I Don’t Get It‘s the type that perhaps isn’t really meant for anyone to get what’s really going on. I mean, it just starts off with the jokes out of nowhere. But perhaps that’s the point: to not really get it, nevermind thinking about things and jump straight into having fun. Or not. Unless I’ve really gotten it. In any case, it’s that book that anyone could casually pick up and read for a bit of sunshine.