Undeleted Scenes (comics)

Undeleted Scenes presents a decade’s worth of shorter works from indie comics legend Jeffrey Brown. This huge compendium contains stories from the previous collections Minisulk, Every Girl Is the End of the World for Me, and Feeble Attempts, as well as Jeffrey’s work from anthologies such as Kramers Ergot and McSweeney's, plus rare material from minicomics and elsewhere, including dozens of pages of never-before-seen material. Spanning humor, autobiography, and beyond, some of Jeffrey’s most beloved comics are in here – including the fan-favorite self-parody collection Be A Man!

Thoroughly engaging and loaded with charm to burn, this latest work from Brown (Clumsy) is a perfect example of how to do autobiographical comics right. The appealingly simple cartoony art serves to draw the reader into Brown's world, taking its ordinary protagonist from the daily tribulations of childhood to the self-discoveries of adolescence and college, and on through encounters with a number of girlfriends, eventually resulting in unexpected parenthood. Brown's journey is initially told in snippets that perfectly capture the sometimes disjointed flashbacks one has to one's own formative years, but the narrative's stories soon expand to lengthier pieces that wholly invest the reader in the now.. In turns wistful, frank, embarrassing, and funny, some highlights include the cautionary recounting of David Lynch's Dune Drinking Game, run-ins with local bums and winos, and an account of his future wife's pregnancy from a confused and somewhat on edge male perspective. An unexpected and very pleasant surprise, this is good stuff that solidly resonates with a palpable and universal humanity and bears repeated readings. (Publishers Weekly)