Comic Review: Snotgirl #14

Snotgirl #14

Image Comics

Writer: Bryan Lee O’Malley

Artists: Leslie Hung & Rachael Cohen

It’s raining men in this one! As the boys head out to Ashley Von Frick’s bachelor party, the girls do some cliché feminine things like crafts and gossip.

So many of O’Malley’s characters are stereotypically full of drama and backstabbing, but despite these banal stereotypes, they’re not entirely vapid. They each have their own set of problems, which are often intertwined with someone else in the group. While I rarely watch tv shows based on this type of drama, I’m loving O’Malley’s version of it because it’s more of a comment on reality and reality shows.

One of my favorite things about this series as always been its art and colors. The color palette Hung and Cohen have chosen is so aesthetically pleasing and looks like a set of presets an Instagram influencer like Lottie would choose for her feed. I also love the mystery and fantastical elements surrounding the characters, especially Caroline and Virgil. In this issue, we meet another character related to this duo, which only adds intrigue to their odd family history. We know Caroline plans on turning Lottie’s world upside down, but we don’t know how yet or how many other people it will affect. Chances are Lottie won’t be the only one to suffer, and that suffering won’t just be social embarrassment.

Still, the question remains, Why Lottie? What could Caroline’s motive possibly be? All of her friends besides Meg are so self-absorbed and horrible, but do they deserve what’s coming to them? I love the fact I hate all the characters’ personalities. It means I don’t have to care about any of them. I do, however, care for Lottie, or rather, I pity her. She’s so insecure and fragile despite having so much popularity, which is surely a nod to some greater themes about happiness from O’Malley. Before this issue, I assumed Caroline planned on destroying their social lives, but after the incident in the club, I’m backing away from that theory and dreaming up a much more violent one. Snot isn’t the only bodily fluid anymore.

O’Malley has done a great job with pacing and how often he introduces us to new information about them. It feels perfectly planned, and nothing seems dragged out. There were a few moments during the second arc where I worried the story wasn’t going anywhere, and I even thought about putting the series down. This arc, however, has completely blown me away. It may be Snotgirl‘s best arc yet. O’Malley is definitely keeping it relevant, like with the Queer Eye reference, and I loved the sarcasm on the first-page recap.

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