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‘Not My Bag:’ Advance Graphic Novel Review

 

Not My BagFrom Sina Grace, artist of L’il Depressed Boy, Books with Pictures, and Cedric Hollow, comes a story about working retail, the baggage we carry, and moving forward through life.

The main character’s plight hit close to home for me. While I’ve never worked retail, I had a stint in sales and know what it’s like to deal with backstabbing coworkers, a lying boss, and what it’s like to find allies in these situations. Whether retail, the work environment, or the protagonist’s haunting relationships, I’m confident that anyone who has ever grown up could find things they relate to in this story and feel the same impact I felt reading this book.

Not My Bag is really wordy with significantly more of the story told through narration than pictures and word balloons. While I liked that it was something different, the style made the book feel slow and a bit tedious at times; however, the art makes up for it with a great looking black and white style and great use of visual metaphors to describe something about the characters, such as the manager who is always wearing a different mask.

As a bit of a tomboy and someone who thinks Converse is the height of shoe fashion, the fashion elements of this graphic novel fell flat for me. Someone who knows the difference between Alexander McQueen and Lafayette is likely to get a kick out of all the clothes conversations that take place. While unable to relate with the details regarding the main character’s sense of style and need to buy better and more expensive clothes, his experiences were still relatable as I have my passions I spend far too much money on *cough* comic books *cough*.

While it’s slow paced, Not My Bag is an incredible, relatable ride through the frustrations of life and the zeal that comes when you decide to stop carrying baggage that wasn’t yours to carry in the first place.

 

 

 

Kristine Chester, Fanbase Press Senior Contributor

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Favorite Comic Book SeriesAtomic Robo Favorite D&D Class:  Wizard Favorite Ice Cream Flavor:  Cookies N' Cream

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