Oddball: A Sarah’s Scribbles Collection

Oddball: A Sarah’s Scribbles Collection is the fourth book — after Adulthood Is a Myth, Big Mushy Happy Lump, and Herding Cats — for these autobio/observational webcomics by Sarah Andersen. It was my favorite yet, perhaps because I’d already seen some of the comics online and loved them.

I’m a particular fan of how Andersen captures fandom behavior in ways I’ve seen. She’s also very good at showing cats (which are from hell) and introverted behavior (and yet friendship). I like the comfort I get from some of these strips, the reminder that one’s not alone in feeling this way.

Several comics have punchlines that require the reader to complete the next action, which relies on the reader to be in a similar mindset, but that doesn’t seem to be an issue, as Andersen has tapped into specific-yet-shared attitudes. She doesn’t draw the conclusion, because it’s funnier for the reader to finish it in their head. It also allows the reader to feel more connected with the author, since they’re on the same wavelength.

At just over 100 pages, this was a quick read, but it contains a lot of favorite comics, as well as 20 new ones (and a page of stickers), and so many strips I wanted to share with other people. (The publisher provided an advance digital review copy.)