Abel Groupie

So apparently I am certifiably ape-shit nuts over Jessica Abel (though to clarify in a totally safe, non-scary way). I mean, I already blogged about her before.

After having her two collections on my shelf for a while (Mirror, Window and Soundtrack), I finally bought her five book serial La Perdida. For inexplicable and totally lame reasons, it's taken me a while to get this, but I'm happy to report that it only took two comic shopping trips to get all of them (Zanado Comics in the U district and Confounded Books in Capitol Hill, for those familiar with Seattle). So I settled in for a cozy Pacific Northwest Abel-fest.

Wow.

Blew my mind.

I cite the following reasons for noticable fan-girling:
1. I like that her art evolved noticably between her Artbabe stuff and La Perdida. Less background detail = not so much to take in from one panel. I approve!
2. It reads like a drama/comedy/romantic book colored with a real love for Mexico City.
3. I expected it to be semi-autobiographical since I knew that she and fellow comic artist Matt Madden used to live there. Within the first three pages, I was too immersed to care.
4. It's colorful and informational (she's kind enough to provide translations for us non-Spanish speakers) without being cliched.

Go read it. And afterwards, if you are feeling up for it, go read the interview The Comics Journal did with her (#270). It goes veeeeeeeeeery in-depth (I admit, I started to space out a bit towards the end - it took me over an hour to read), but it's interesting.