The first issue of Snotgirl gave us style, charm, and a little bit of murder. It felt different from anything currently in the market and was an intriguing first look into Bryan Lee O’Malley’s return to comics. Unfortunately, issue two of Snotgirl feels as shallow as Lottie herself.
Lottie has an intern. Lottie meets up with her friends. Lottie finds out that her former intern might be trying to steal her boyfriend. Lottie has boogers. And Lottie is unhappy and petulant about all of these things. While these aspects of her life may have been intriguing in the first issue, they already feel more than tired by the second. Not every character in a story has to be likable, but they need to at least be compelling, and sadly for [easyazon_link identifier=”B01G5FG4P8″ locale=”US” tag=”bounintocomi-20″]Snotgirl #2[/easyazon_link], its world and the inhabitants within are neither.
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There are moments within this issue where we can see that O’Malley is in on the joke, like when Lottie orders a “half-caf cold brew with nonfat almond milk”, poking fun at high maintenance elitists, but most of the issue feels like it’s part of the problem. There’s a staggering lack of depth and social commentary, and it’s hard to know if this is what was intended. Will Lottie eventually be revealed to be a broken woman who changes into something more? Will she just be a tragic character that never learns from her mistakes and spirals into shambles? So far she just appears to be a fashion blogger that dislikes everyone around her. And yes, she has booger problems.
Leslie Hung’s artwork is solid as usual and it’s nice to see colorist Mickey Quinn use different shades to portray different emotions. When Lottie daydreams of what happened to her new friend, washes of pink make everything feel distant like Lottie’s memories. We even get to see CUTEGIRL dressed up in a ridiculous citrus-accented dress that highlights how odd fashion can be. However, artwork alone can’t save a comic book and Snotgirl needs to move beyond its critique of vapid culture and give readers what Lottie herself lacks sorely: depth.
THE VERDICT
[easyazon_link identifier=”B01G5FG4P8″ locale=”US” tag=”bounintocomi-20″]Snotgirl #2[/easyazon_link] commits one of the worst crimes in storytelling. It’s boring. It’s too soon to say whether or not O’Malley and Hung have plans for a story that reveals compelling commentary and depth, but I can’t imagine what else would be in store. It may be best to wait for the trade paperback of Snotgirl than to read issue by issue if this is what it has in store.