On sale now from Image Comics is EmiTown Vol. 2, a 400-page opus of autobiographical comics by Emi Lenox. I was of course familiar with Lenox's cute superhero pinups that have been featured here on ComicsAlliance and with her contributions to Jeff Lemire's Vertigo book Sweet Tooth, but before last night I'd just never gotten around to reading the much acclaimed day-to-day diary comics that comprise EmiTown. What I found in the book was something unlike other autobio comics I've ever seen -- both in terms of its ultimately positive narrative and the great cartooning technique throughout -- that I think you should check out in the preview below.

The first thing you notice about EmiTown is the innovative "split screen" or maybe "collage" style Lenox employs on most of the pages, allowing her to pack in more real-life anecdotes and symbolic imagery than she probably could with a more traditional comic strip format. I thought this was really clever, as it avoids the potential monotony of looking at grids for 400 pages and allows for a lot of cool storytelling choices as the book progresses.

The second thing you'll notice about EmiTown is how you didn't notice how much time had passed since you started reading it. I skipped around a little just to get a feel for the work and read little stories about food, family, the Portland comic book scene, the trials and triumphs of comics conventions (and drinking at comics conventions). Most notably, there's an extended portion of EmiTown dedicated to a very painful development in a romantic relationship that completely sucked me in. I realized I'd read about 100 pages before I decided I should write this post.

EmiTown vol. 2 is on sale now in finer comics shops and digitally via comiXology. You can keep up with Lenox's current adventures on the strip's website.













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