Jason Viola: Herman the Manatee (Manatee Power, 1/25/12)
Jason Viola’s comics might look simple at first. Herman the Manatee, Rabbit Shadows, and Who is Amy Amoeba? sound like kids’ stuff. Viola’s comics use the tropes of the Sunday paper strip (animal characters, big bug eyes, cartoonish proportions, and, of course, humor), but the artist uses this style to explore themes that are decidedly un-cartoonish. Even if he claims that Garfield creator Jim Davis is his biggest influence (“for better or worse”), many of his online and booklet stories cover much darker and more interesting territory.