An aging punk documents every day of his life in three quickly drawn panels per day and he’s done this for over twenty years. Sounds pretty boring, right?
Well smartypants, if you think that, you’re wrong! I’ve been reading these comics since 2001 when they were in their monthly single zine form. I’ve previously reviewed Ben’s last collection of daily comics Dog Days of Snake Pit back in 2020 and you’d think I’d have nothing more to say about these strips, and you again, are wrong.
In this collection, Ben and his wife, Karen, uproot from the outskirts of Austin, Texas, and move to San Francisco. Pretty much as soon as they land in California, the COVID-19 pandemic starts showing its ugly head. Ben and Karen work from home, order cocktails from a bar down the street, do puzzles, have Zoom band practices, and try to keep sane. And, man, typing that out makes this out to be so incredibly tripe and I promise you it’s not. Ben’s humor and drawing style keeps you staring at these pages for hours at a time.
Ben doesn’t keep a lot of shitty aspects of his life out of the comics. You do feel for Ben whenever bad things are happening. For example, Karen heads to San Francisco way before the initial move and Ben deals with selling and repairing a home, loneliness, and a jacked-up knee. It’s not all beers, bongs, and Flying V guitars.
The jump to San Francisco does make Snake Pit’s Big Adventures stand out from the previous years’ collections and is definitely worth adding some extra heft to your bookshelf. –Rick V. (store.silversprocket.net)