Reviews of graphic novels and comic book collections every Tuesday and Thursday.


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A Few Perfect Hours by Josh Neufeld
When others relate their travel stories--no matter what format: essays, pictures, slideshows, seemingly endless monologues--it can be hard to stay awake. Why should you care about what happened to others? It is a challenge all travel writers face. Comics creators have the same problem. Even though they have the added benefit of being able to show pictures, they have to be careful not to just recreate photos. So how does one create an interesting, relevant travel story? Ask Josh Neufeld.

In A Few Perfect Hours (2004, Alternative Comics, Amazon listing), Neufeld uses humor, engaging art, real-life experiences, and a detail for the little things when traveling to create stories that capture both the every-day experiences of traveling (how to squat in a far East toilet) and the wonder of amazing sights (an all-day trek through a cave). Anyone who has traveled can relate to some of these experiences, but Neufeld (along with his partner Suri) have adventures that are so unique (spending a day at a organic farm in Malaysia or randomly hooking up with Baptist missionaries in the middle of a Buddhist festival in Cambodia) that it makes for fascinating reading.

Neufeld's art isn't flashy (you may recognize it from Harvey Pekar's American Splendor), but works for the types of stories he is trying to tell (which focus on the everyday, which you may recognize from Harvey Pekar's American Splendor).

By the end of the book, even a homebody will want to strap on a backpack and see what there is to see in this world. Just don’t bore us with your pictures. Make it interesting like Neufeld.

A Few Perfect Hours 4 stars (out of 5)
posted by Sean McGurr at 8:00 AM