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A review by beartrapped
Cyclopedia Exotica by Aminder Dhaliwal
emotional
informative
relaxing
slow-paced
3.25
Notable for: cool book design (colored page edges), broad, interesting cast of characters
This was an interesting reading experience. You can feel it's origins as an Instagram comic in the scattered nature of the content-- I would say the major thrust is on one-off microaggression-focused bits, but it meanders between straight gags, more character focused storylines, and overtly educational tangents. I'll have to check out Woman World, but I assume it's similar (I casually watched both of them serialized, and that is the vibe I got.)
I'm figuring out that this is a turn off for me (I had a similar issue with Greasebats getting a little too Queer Studies 101 at times for me), but I can't necessarily say it's a flaw of the book. But still, I think it could be a lot stronger if it sacrificed some of the gags for a more linear, integrated multi-character narrative, because when the characters are in focus, it's really good! I liked most of the characters a lot, overall.
The other reason I feel that way is because like, I don't think it's... a very funny book. So many of the one-off gags are set up/delivered the same way, with one character saying something that can be misinterpreted by another character and the punchline is that they misunderstood it. It's a little boring. I found it a fine read, but I think it got one laugh out of me, you know.
I like the sparse style though, and I liked the interstitial pages a lot!
This was an interesting reading experience. You can feel it's origins as an Instagram comic in the scattered nature of the content-- I would say the major thrust is on one-off microaggression-focused bits, but it meanders between straight gags, more character focused storylines, and overtly educational tangents. I'll have to check out Woman World, but I assume it's similar (I casually watched both of them serialized, and that is the vibe I got.)
I'm figuring out that this is a turn off for me (I had a similar issue with Greasebats getting a little too Queer Studies 101 at times for me), but I can't necessarily say it's a flaw of the book. But still, I think it could be a lot stronger if it sacrificed some of the gags for a more linear, integrated multi-character narrative, because when the characters are in focus, it's really good! I liked most of the characters a lot, overall.
The other reason I feel that way is because like, I don't think it's... a very funny book. So many of the one-off gags are set up/delivered the same way, with one character saying something that can be misinterpreted by another character and the punchline is that they misunderstood it. It's a little boring. I found it a fine read, but I think it got one laugh out of me, you know.
I like the sparse style though, and I liked the interstitial pages a lot!