Are you worried that things are going just a little too good? Need to be brought down a notch from your giddy heights of blissful contentment? No? Didn't think so. But, if you were, then Welcome to the Dahl House would be the ticket. The harsh world view on display here in this finely crafted compendium make the comics of Chris Ware and Ivan Brunetti seem the work of dewy-eyed optimists by comparison. And, it's priced on the assumption that you're broke, so you can actually afford it!
Ken Dahl is back and as miserable as ever in Monsters, a fraught-filled, deeply personal memoir of his "relationship" with the herpes simplex virus and how it has affected his personal life as well as his physical and psychological health. The brutal honesty on display here may make uncomfortable reading for some, while others will find it welcome. There is, however, no debating the artistic authority which Dahl brings to this project. How the events transpired; what his feelings and thoughts were as they did; how he dealt with the repercussions; the reactions of others, how he responded to them and what he felt as he did – all are conveyed clearly and effectively along with a healthy dollop of educational information about the science behind the virus, leaving the reader with a newfound appreciation for the complexities involved in navigating the physical and emotional minefield of carrying this omnipresent germ.
