Almost Normal Year One

Title: Almost Normal Year One
Date: 2009-2010
Publisher: Almost Normal
Writer: Lonnie Dinello
Artist: Lonnie Dinello

Full-color minicomic collecting the first year of Lonnie Dinello's webcomic, Almost Normal. This is basically a geeky slice-of-life comic with a little help from the characters lurking in the artist's head, primarily an anthropomorphic horse and a World of Warcraft zombie.

Topics covered include WOW and LARPing, the relationship with the boyfriend, Disney's acquisition of Marvel Comics, and art school.

Dinello's got some good punchlines in here, along with plenty of geeky references, and some good insight into the life of a young geeky/artistic woman. The color art looks great in this minicomic version, although a larger font size would have been nice.

Geeky autobiography has virtually become its own subgenre in webcomics, but I was impressed with the mix of humor and heart in Almost Normal. It stands out in a crowded field.

Rating: 7.5/10