MY NEW YORK DIARY

My New York Diary 
by Julie Doucet

Drawn & Quarterly

BW, 96 pages
$15.95 US / Higher in Canada

Julie Doucet’s My New York Diary, first published in 1999, is a classic in the graphic novel genre. It’s the true story of Doucet’s move to New York from Montreal in 1991 to live with a man she barely knew. At first the relationship seems happy and healthy, but as the story progresses Doucet begins to discover an obsessive, paranoid side to the man she is stranded with in a city that terrifies her.

Drugs, epilepsy and success each play a vital role in her story, but the most fascinating aspect of the book is the way Doucet uses her comics as a form of reflection, as a way to make sense of a very chaotic time. Yet her ability to tell a story, and be really funny while doing it, saves it from the self-indulgence to which many diary-styled works often succumb. And the art is amazing. Everything is cluttered, claustrophobic. She has an affinity for the stuff that crowds up her apartment, like coffee pots and plants, the stuff of everyday life. In her earlier work, it was the things surrounding her that were the characters, her stories centered on dreams and inanimate objects coming to life. The characters that populate My New York Diary, even just the ‘extras’ passing on the street, are so stylistically unique as individuals that they alone pull you into her world.

My New York Diary also includes two short stories from Doucet’s old comic book Dirty Plotte, one of which is about how she started drawing comics, which is also the tale of her ‘First Time’. In addition to My New York Diary, her work has been collected into two other books, Lift your Leg, My Fish is Dead! and My Most Secret Desire. (Carrie-May Siggins)

Peepshow: The Cartoon Diary of Joe Matt

Peepshow: The Cartoon Diary of Joe Matt
by Joe Matt

Drawn & Quarterly

BW, 100 pgs
$14.95 US / Higher in Canada

Read Joe Matt. It’s that simple. Marvel at a man who is willing to work out his problems in full public view. We should be thankful that he has chosen to do so.

To fully enjoy the work of Joe Matt, you need to embrace the voyeur inside yourself. There is no doubt we all like to watch. If the success of reality TV is any indication, the faceless masses like to watch real people in real situations, even if that reality is filtered through the lens of a camera.

There is no filtration system to save you from the truth of Joe Matt. He reveals his life to the reader and it’s not a pretty thing. In fact, it’s an ugly thing; a pockmarked, stringy-haired reality with big calf-muscles. Joe Matt eats his own scabs. He urinates in the sink. He watches a great deal of pornography. He discloses all his secrets, leaving nothing unsaid.

A depiction of Joe’s lesser qualities would quickly become a tiresome read of excess if not for Joe Matt’s exploration into his own darker sides and neurosis. He delves into his family past, his Catholic upbringing and even his failed relationships in order to shed light on his personality and behaviours. He never attempts to apologize for or to justify his actions. That would be an insult to the reader. What we see in Peepshow is Joe Matt on a journey of self-exploration. Peepshow is a diary after all, a means for private record and self-communication. Joe Matt has simply given us the key.

Back in 1988, Joe Matt started putting together a series of one-page autobiographical strips, which were initially published in numerous anthologies and magazines. These strips were eventually bound together in a single, over-sized collection called Peepshow: The Cartoon Diary of Joe Matt. Each page is a self-contained strip that captures a certain train of thought or moment in Joe’s life. He holds nothing back and you have to respect him for that even if you can’t stomach the read.

Despite his various personal flaws, Joe Matt does indeed possess an enormous amount of talent. His cartooning is fantastic, a comedic joy to the eyes. Even the bleakest of tales is laced with visual comedy. He wastes no space, jamming the pages with fine detail and slight flourishes. His black and white lines possess a great amount of life, alternating between gag panels and narrative explorations. His cartoons are poignant, often hilarious, sometimes depressing, but always a treat to examine long after you’ve finished reading the text. (Chad Boudreau)