What have you been re-reading this month? 2025 January

I want to try to make this a mid-month reoccurring thing for people to look forward to.

The River at Night by Kevin Huizenga. I started re-reading this because I wanted to compare it to Sunday by Olivier Schrauwen. I think The River at Night tickles me the way I like to be tickled a little more than Sunday with the kind of cartoony abstractions Huizenga comes up with. And his use of silent panels is impactful. Though to be honest I haven't finished the re-read yet, we'll see how I feel when I'm done.

Luba #10 by Gilbert Hernandez - This is an incredible single issue. The sense of dread is very strong. I think of this as Gilbert's “Love Bunglers” because it's the culmination of years of stories. For example, Luba shaking her fist at Ofelia is a huge moment but only for people that have read Poison River.

I love this one as a single issue because Gilbert uses the back cover as a coda and sadly it's not reprinted in the trade paperback.

Luba’s Comics and Stories #8 by Gilbert Hernandez - This is the comic length coda to Luba #10 and also a pivotal moment in his work. Here he declares “Fritz is the main character now.” It also has one of the most heartbreaking deaths he’s ever done.

This one suffers even more in the trade paperback format because the sense of finality is blunted when it's just another story in the middle of a TPB. It also has a wonderful back cover that's not reprinted in the TPB.