E. Joy Mehr's E. Joy Comix #1

E. Joy Mehr's comics have an easy, scrawled, and unaffected quality that gives her diary strips a comedic charge that most examples in this genre lack. There's a crudeness, both in terms of style and subject matter, that works because of its intentionality and a sense of the artist appearing not to give a fuck. Yet, from the lengthy introduction in E. Joy Comix #1 alone, it's clear that Mehr is keenly interested in honing her craft, both in terms of the actual drawings and the jokes. 

If her comics are similar to something, I'd say she's close to the spirit of Newave-era minicomics, with a lot of her drawings reminding me of Sam Henderson. Her jokes aren't as sharply assured as Henderson's at this stage, but there's also a personal element that gives them a certain charge. Mehr's jokes are funny, her drawings are funny, and her cartooning is clear and fluid. I'm fascinated by the sketchbook pages she included here that are largely drawings of dicks (with the occasional drawings of female forms to round things out), but even these drawings are lively and fun. Mehr has a knack for self-deprecation that pushes a premise all the way, like a comic about perseverance that somehow veers into dog-fucking as a metaphor. Even Mehr realizes that is nonsensical, but she declares she's going to do it anyway. The longer stories at the end are both pretty dumb, but there are kernels of darker material at their core, like a story about watching the film The Goonies, which had its origin in depression. Anxiety is at the heart of other strips. Everything is grist for the mill, but Mehr never lets the reader forget why some of these laughs should feel uneasy.