{"id":31963,"date":"2025-02-07T09:00:21","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T09:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=31963"},"modified":"2025-02-05T18:11:12","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T18:11:12","slug":"how-to-be-happy-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2025\/02\/07\/how-to-be-happy-2\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Be Happy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nBy Eleanor Davis<\/strong> (Fantagraphics Books)
\nISBN: 978-1-60699-740-6 (HB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

Do acts of creation make one happy? They certainly do for me, but sometimes so do acts of wanton destruction. I\u2019m sharing, not judging. With all the emotional pressure that builds at this time of year, let\u2019s revisit a beautiful and beguiling picture treat intended to reinvigorate a little perspective and say \u201cit\u2019s not all bad\u201d…<\/p>\n

Eleanor Davis is one of those rare sparks that just can\u2019t help making great comics. Born in 1983, and growing up in Tucson, Arizona, she was blessed with parents who reared her on classic strips like Little Nemo<\/strong>, Little Lulu<\/strong> and Krazy Kat<\/strong>. Following unconventional schooling and teen years spent making minicomics, she studied at Georgia\u2019s wonderful Savannah College of Art and Design, and went on to teach there. Her innovative works have appeared in diverse places such as Mome<\/strong>, Nobrow<\/strong> and Lucky Peach<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A life of glittering prizes began after her award-winning easy reader book Stinky<\/a><\/strong> was released in 2008. Davis followed up with gems such as Flop to the Top<\/strong>, The Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook <\/strong>(with husband Drew Weing), You & a Bike & a Road <\/strong>and Why Art?<\/strong> and has become a celebrated star of the international comics scene.<\/p>\n

Way back in 2014, Fantagraphics released a themed collection of her epigrammatic tales, crafted in a mesmerising variety of styles and riffing on the concept of joy and contentment: causes, failings, and what to do with them when and if they happen. These are enigmatic variations on the most ephemeral of emotions and one you only really notice when it\u2019s gone, but the individual episodes here are truly joyous to share.<\/p>\n

How to Be Happy<\/strong> is NOT a self-help book – at least not in any traditional sense – but it did make me feel very good when I first read it and only increases my sense of fulfilment every time I pick it up, whether in its comforting. reassuring hardback edition or my ever-present anxiety-reducing digital edition…<\/p>\n

These observational vignettes were created for the sheer innocent joy of making them, and diligently examine many aspects of life through self-contained yarns ranging from cautionary tales to excoriating self-diagnosis to flights of sardonic fancy. Some are titled like proper narratives whilst others just happen like life does. Those I\u2019ve identified by first lines if no title is obvious…<\/p>\n

Packed with evocative, stand-alone imagery, the episodes commence with line art pictorial pep talk \u2018Write a Story\u2019<\/em> before switching to lush colour for \u2018In Our Eden\u2019<\/em>, wherein a primitive life of pastoral toil starts to grate on Adam <\/em>and Eve<\/em>. They are, unsurprisingly, not all they seem…<\/p>\n

Further monochrome line art interventionism manifests in \u2018First We Take Off Our Clothes\u2019<\/em> after which a short hop into full-colour and a longer one into a fraught future examines family life on Tomorrow\u2019s sub-continent when \u2018Nita Goes Home\u2019<\/em>…
\n\"\"
\nSeparation and rural isolation underpin monochrome monologue \u2018We Come Down on Clear Days\u2019<\/em> before the restricted colour palette of \u2018Stick and String\u2019<\/em> offers a good hard look at relationships and agency in the tale of a wandering minstrel and captivating power of momentary fascination. Relations are further tested in monochrome as \u2018Darling I\u2019ve Realized I Don\u2019t Love You\u2019<\/em> provides unwise solutions to ancient problems, before a truly disquieting incident of mutual grooming in \u2018Snip\u2019 <\/em>segues into a chilling visit to \u2018The Emotion Room\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Colour is employed to potent effect in \u2018He turned a grey-green and thought he might pass out\u2019<\/em> whilst \u2018Seven Sacks\u2019<\/em> addresses grisly problems in a fresh fable Aesop or the Brothers Grimm would be proud to pen.<\/p>\n

Two colours and self-delusion tinge \u2018Did you want to see the statue?\u2019<\/em>, whilst B&W lines detail the rewards of heroic vitality in \u2018Make Yourself Strong\u2019<\/em>, after which young love blossoms in living colour in \u2018Summer Snakes\u2019<\/em>…
\n\"\"
\nThe pure exultation and imagination of childhood is exposed through stark monochrome in \u2018Thomas the Leader\u2019<\/em> before a brief vox-pop moment in \u2018I used to be so unhappy but then I got on Prozac\u2019<\/em> is built upon in further untitled moments of self-realisation before a strong admonition to \u2018Pray\u2019<\/em>…<\/p>\n

Observation, tribulation and revelation come to the author for \u2018In 2006 I took a Greyhound from Georgia to Los Angeles\u2019<\/em>, before a descent into dark moments and extreme actions in \u2018The fox must have been hit pretty recently…\u2019 <\/em>is balanced by intimate sharing in \u2018The woman feels sadness\u2019<\/em>.
\n\"\"
\nColour adds depth in an extended moment of group therapy release in \u2018No Tears, No Sorrow\u2019<\/em> after which the wandering introspection of \u20189\/26\u2019<\/em> leads to a conclusion of sorts during a cab ride to \u201825 Washington Street, Please\u2019<\/em>…<\/p>\n

A superb and sublime example of the range and versatility of image &text cannily combined, How to Be Happy<\/strong> a true joy for all fans of unbridled expression no one could fail to enjoy.
\n\u00a9 Eleanor Davis 2014. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Eleanor Davis (Fantagraphics Books) ISBN: 978-1-60699-740-6 (HB\/Digital edition) Do acts of creation make one happy? They certainly do for me, but sometimes so do acts of wanton destruction. I\u2019m sharing, not judging. With all the emotional pressure that builds at this time of year, let\u2019s revisit a beautiful and beguiling picture treat intended to … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “How to Be Happy”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[66,125,216,105,83,225,148],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-horror-stories","category-humour","category-lifestyle","category-mature-reading","category-modern-classics","category-mystery","category-romance"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-8jx","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31963"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31970,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31963\/revisions\/31970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}