Steph's Reviews > Ghost World

hmmm. i have vague memories of enjoying the film version of this when i was younger, but the comic was a disappointment.

for the first several chapters, this is a comic about a pair of snarky, negative, cynical teenagers talking shit about everyone around them. literally everyone. and maybe it's just me, but that type of jaded negativity stopped entertaining me when i stopped being a jaded teenager. i get the teenage boredom thing, and their friendship feels realistic. but the negativity just becomes unbearable.

only in the final two chapters does the story shift into something bittersweet. in the end, it's about growing up, and the loss of things we took for granted in youth. that melancholic moving on, and watching as life carries on.

i liked these relatively emotional chapters, but it was a slog to get there. daria and jane vibes, but without the charm.

side note: what was with the weird self-referential part, where the girls talk about a cute cartoonist named daniel clowes? was that supposed to be funny? it struck me as self-indulgent and vaguely creepy.