Diary of a Mosquito Abatement Man

If you haven't gotten around to John Porcellino's monolithic King Cat Classix, Diary of a Mosquito Abatement Man is a condensed version of his best work. It's a bizarre slice of midwestern American life: comics dealing with Porcellino's experience doing just what it sounds like ... pouring chemicals into swamps/waterholes containing mosquito larvae. It begins with his strange encounters with hitchhikers, in twister-torn country, Con Edison structures, getting attacked by wasps, and continues with why he gives up mosquito-abating. The evolution of Porcellino's artwork is also fascinating, starting with scrawled, almost crude, "punk" drawings and evolving to a gorgeous, minimal, clear-line style. Porcellino's landscapes are something to behold in their haikulike simplicity and beauty. The comic is funny, but also touching, pensive and absolutely in love with nature. The writing evokes Hemingway and Kerouac, and I highly recommend this book and his other work to people interested in finding beauty in humble things, the blue-collar American experience, poetry, nature.

Some of the finest and most considered autobiographical comics in an absurdly glutted field. Keep your eye on John Porcellino.

I loved this book. It was a quick read (great for communtes) with humorous stories to which I related.