REVIEW: Everything Is Fine (graphic novel, vol. 2) by Mike Birchall

Everything Is Fine is a horror (dystopian?) graphic novel series. I bought my copy of this volume new.

This review includes slight spoilers.

Review:

After the events of volume 1, Maggie has to convince Sam to calm down and then the two of them have to cover up a murder. Luckily, the next door neighbors who ratted Maggie out in the first place, Bob and Linda, are conveniently right there.

I still don't really know what's going on, but I'm pretty thoroughly hooked now. Sam and Maggie's murder coverup probably shouldn't have worked, except this world seems to be operating according to a screwed up set of rules that requires everyone to act a certain way, and Sam and Maggie took advantage of that.

One new thing we know now: whatever is going on, it seems to involve everyone's kids. I thought the kids were all dead, like Poor Winston, but from the sounds of things they're maybe being used as hostages to force the adults to stick to certain types of behavior.

Extras:

I don't know if this counts as an extra or if it was just the introduction of a new character, but there was a brief sidestory at the end involving a guy whose house is apparently trapped in some kind of bubble. He generally hides inside and leaves his cat, Oscar, to do most of his interacting with the outside world.

Definitely an extra, though: a redone version of a certain scene from volume 2 in which everyone has been given "real" cat heads instead of cartoonish cat heads. There are also a variety of reference illustrations.

Now I'm of wondering if this series' villains are, in fact, actual cats.

REVIEW: Everything Is Fine (graphic novel, vol. 1) by Mike Birchall

Everything Is Fine is a dystopian graphic novel series. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

This is the story of a couple living in an ordinary suburban neighborhood. Everyone wears cute animal masks on their heads, but somehow this is ordinary as well. Everything is fine, even though it clearly isn't - everyone's being constantly monitored, "freedom" can only be attained if you sell out your neighbors, and Winston the dog has been dead for a while.

I was hesitant to try this because the art wasn't really to my taste. It's simple and bland, and if you just flip through the volume you might think that people's animal heads are their actual faces, so all facial expressions are uniformly happy and cute in a stale sort of way. It works very well for the story, though, so I'm glad I gave this a shot.