The complete Wendel

I'm really surprised it took me this long to finish this book. My only excuse is that it was originally published in The Advocate so each two page spread is a complete mini plot arch. So even if you find the overall story really engaging it's super easy to put down.

Writing this as a serialized story, Cruse struck a really strong balance between episodic and over-arching plot. Which is pretty difficult to do sometimes. The characters were continuously developing and the plot lines were all pretty unique and engaging. I really felt like I got to know these people through this collection and it was super fun to read.

As far as the art goes, it's again a balance between cartoon and realistic. All black and white, Cruse doesn't have any unnecessary lines or a lot of heavy shading. Everything is crisp, visually simplistic but well defined. The people are somewhat caricatured but not in the least bit grotesque or tripy. They are just normal people, living out their normal (if somewhat more entertaining) lives.

What really turned me on to this comic was the fact that I could really identify with Wendel himself. He's a guy who deeply cares about life and people, he's extremely loyal, and sometimes he's perhaps a bit too serious. But the Wendel comic is nothing if not a comedy. Cruse's skill really shines in the way that he is able to balance (there's that word again) the line between laughing with Wendel and laughing at Wendel. A lot of the entertainment value for me came from the fact that Cruse never poking fun at my (or Wendel's) beliefs and actions, but we are all acknowledging that sometimes you just have to laugh because the world (and we who care) can be pretty ridiculous sometimes.

Finally, I was also pretty impressed by the amount of diversity in the comic. While the story mostly centers around two white gay men, they are surrounded by lesbians, supportive and unsupportive relatives, an ex-wife, a son, gay men of color, friends with AIDS, and at least one serious kook etc.