Almost Normal: The Spooky Old Character's Home

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

When Lonnie cancels her MMORPG account, her zombie character despair is afraid that she'll end up in the Old Characters Home way in the back of Lonnie's head. Dalia doesn't believe such a place exists, but finally agrees to set out with Despair on a quest to see if the spooky old house is real.

Cute story with a fun ending. The minicomic also includes a bonus strip from the webcomic and a sample from the artist's 100 Days Project.

Rating: 7.5/10

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