![]() ![]() ![]() He’s a throwback to 20s style, the Ub Iwerks version of Oswald the Rabbit or Felix the Cat. When I say Al Dente is drawn cartoonishly, mostly I mean ancient ones. The Teflon that keeps good advice from ever reaching a party kid like Al Dente is the same impenetrable surface that bounces him back to his same old bullshit after every self-inflicted social and emotional maiming. Coyote of the friend group, where the decisions they’re making are clearly going to end up getting them hurt in a shitty way that is also entertaining. He makes his bed but all the same I can’t help but feel bad for him. It is someone else suffering and it is pretty funny. But it isn’t exactly a cautionary tale either. It isn’t romanticizing being insufferable. Muddled, conflicting desires are something everyone has. If how you act is considered bad behavior, you aren’t alone. And while I wouldn’t say Al Dente is a comforting read, I think it sends a message. It’s elevated and aggravated but it’s still recognizable and relatable. Dente is a shambles sometimes (most of the time), but the story is about him instead of about what he’s like.ĭente is always bound to make a mess of things some people are just bad dogs. Paradox and Al Dente are about what it’s like, not what it is. Al Dente is at heart intensely emotionally vulnerable, which leads to rash decisions that swiftly spin out of control and proportion. The cartoon redirection is enough separation to be able to confess in earnest to what life is like. The context is all spurious but the moment is real as fuck. Calling every contact in your phone to ask why they didn’t like your new selfie yet, this is the comedy of Al Dente! Bad dog! You need those long puppy dog ears to wiggle when you are so furious about social media you’re ripping the stuffing out of the couch with your teeth.īear taps into something that is present in another Silver Sprocket book from this year, Raven Lyn Clemens’ The Paradox of Getting Better. He’s Marlon Brando absolutely splattered across a downtown intersection, the kind of hubris that gets hit by a bus. Bojack but service industry hipster suffering, not comfortable caucasian Hollywood world. Al Dente is a collection of misadventures, worst intentions, follies, a smattering of short comics where each attempt to gain the upper hand on life ends as a train wreck.ĭente is a hot mess. Grayson Bear’s charismatic cartoon scoundrel wreaks more havoc on themself than anyone else, but it isn’t for lack of trying. He’s not even that good at being a bad dog, every time he tries to put his foot down it ends up in his mouth.
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