I Wish I Wrote That!

Time for another installment of I Wish I Wrote That! This month’s roundup will be rather brief, not because there hasn’t been a lot of great writing going on in the manga blogopsphere, but because I’ve had less time than usual to read it!

---

This month’s centerpiece is about comics, but not manga, and that would be Vom Marlowe’s recent ode to one of my favorite webcomics, Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosch. Here’s a little taste of Vom’s reaction to first reading Allie’s Boyfriend Does Not Have Ebola, Probably and its Better Pain Scale:

“I laughed so hard I made unattractive snorting noises and startled the dog, who looked around for invading postmen or other villains.

Now when I have to rate the pain, I admit fully and upfront that I often ask myself, “Am I being mauled by a bear?”

It never fails to make things a little better.”

Vom’s entire post is delightful, and she points out quite a few of the comic’s most charming moments, particularly posts about Allie’s new dog and her recent cake epic. If I actually had written this, I think the only thing that would be different is that mine would have included maybe a thousand additional words on This is Why I’ll Never be an Adult. “Clean all the things?”

---

In the category of “Less ‘I Wish I Wrote That’ than ‘I’m So Glad She Did'” I submit Kate Dacey’s recent review of 13th Boy, which fills me with pure joy and reassurance that I’m truly not alone, and also Caddy C.’s Friday Feminism with Fumi Yoshinaga, because everyone should write more about Fumi Yoshinaga, including me.

And lastly, in the category of “Stuff That Resonates With Me in a Weirdly Good Way,” this somewhat ambivalent take on Viz’s March Story by David Welsh. What I enjoyed so much about this is David’s process as he tries to figure out how he feels about the book, and the fact that he displays all of that right there in the review.

---

That’s all for this month! See you in December for more I Wish I Wrote That!