When it comes to the small press, autobiographical strips are the equivalent of superheroes in the mainstream genre: they're everywhere, and only a few of them are really great. Rob Ullman is one of those few, as his previous collection Grand Gestures: From The Curve proved, and Lunch Hour Comix confirms. The conceit of this collection is that each comic was done on a lunch hour, but that's really something you don't need to know unless you're curious about where the title came from. Instead, what you need to know is that Ullman has the same honesty and idiosyncrasy of autobio greats like James Kochalka, combined with an art style that reads like Evan Dorkin by way of Steve Rolston.
I should state from the start that Lunch Hour Comix does not feature a plot or really much in the way of characters. It's a loose collection of mostly unaffiliated stories from events that took place in Ullman's life in 2004, with a few memories from other years thrown in for good measure. There aren't a lot of heavy philosophical insights, but instead the sort of everyday detritus of life that made a show like Seinfeld so entertaining, albeit played out in a much less structured way. Everything from Ullman's musing on why they're called horseflies to his angry disappointment after the November elections can be seen in the strips in this book.
As with so many of the best autobio comics, the selling point here really is the honesty. Ullman does not hold back from making fun of his own idiosyncrasies, from trying to scam a free song out of a Pepsi bottle to the realization that "my life is pretty boring" to flaws in his drawing abilities. Of course, he also doesn't hold back in talking about the flaws in others, whether it's an angry rant about the outcome of the 2004 election or his encounter with a "rich asshole" on the road. In addition, Ullman's strips feature a number of funny, relatively insignificant observations such as the strip where he realizes he's gotten used to beheadings on the news or needing a paging feature for his coffee cup, as well as including a few funny stories like the one about the costume-changing couple at Heroes Con (with a hilarious punchline provided by his wife).
The book is divided into three sections. The bulk of the book is given over to one-hour strips created in 2004, but there's a section from March of 2004 where Ullman agreed to draw a strip every day for a month as well as a smaller section that features older comics from an out-of-print mini. There's an interesting variance in the art style in each of these sections. The majority feature the style that I've come to appreciate from Ullman, one that features the clean and simple designs of an "animated" style with thick lines, a style that is for some reason ideal for the slice-of-life stuff that Ullman is doing here. The section featuring some of the strips done in March is strangely different, still very attractive but featuring less heavy lines and a sketchy quality, not to mention a different appearance for Rob than the one in the main strips. The last few, done a few years ago, are rougher, featuring the same thick line but less background detail and a style that generally looks less polished. Still attractive, but it's interesting to see the evolution of Ullman's art in just two years, and to note that he has improved more on buildings and backgrounds than he gives himself credit for in one of the modern strips.
While many of the fans in the industry cite the style of guys like David Finch, Jim Lee or Michael Turner as "best of the best," my interest of late has been more with artists like Cameron Stewart, Cliff Chiang and Darwyn Cooke. If your tastes align more closely with mine, and especially if you were a fan of the work that Steve Rolston did at Oni, I would definitely suggest seeking out Lunch Hour Comix and other Rob Ullman work. In addition, if you're one of the lucky ones who has discovered the daily genius of Kochalka's American Elf and are jonesing for something else in that vein, Lunch Hour Comix should be high on your list of priorities. 8/10
