by Simon Hanselmann Vol 1-4: What at first glance reads like an episodic stoner comedy slowly reveals a chiseled character study of suburban ennui. Hanselmann's characterization and visual creativity mines lifetimes of pathos from the slapstick simplicity of its psychedelic, absurdist premise. Megg the witch, Mogg the cat, their friend Owl, and Werewolf Jones struggle unsuccessfully with their depression, drug use, sexuality, poverty, lack of ambition, and their complex feelings about each other. It's a laff riot! Later, Megg & Mogg's fraught relationship careens into challenging depths as the slacker characters begin to reflect the psychological toll that their years of insouciance and self-medication has inflicted. Crisis Zone: In March 2020, as the planet began to enter lockdown, acclaimed cartoonist Simon Hanselmann set out to make the greatest webcomic ever created! As the Covid-19 pandemic continued to escalate, Crisis Zone escalated right alongside with daily web-posts. Crisis Zone is presented here, unabridged and uncensored, with a slew of added pages and scenes deleted from the webcomic, as well as an extensive "Director's Commentary" from Hanselmann himself. Bouncing rapidly between comedy, horror, action, and relational soap-operatics, Crisis Zone refuses to take the pedal off the gas as we all hurtle towards unknown destinations. Below Ambition: Megg the Witch and Werewolf Jones get the band back together. Megg and Werewolf Jones are Horse Mania. Horse Mania is a test of the audience’s patience, proudly the “worst band in town,” without any ambition to make it. Join the musicians as they battle through shoddy, distracted practice sessions, a squalid house show, and a doomed interstate tour. Watch as they drunkenly flail through their sets amidst toothaches, nervous breakdowns, suicide attempts, mounting hatred, and a galaxy of benzos. This is music and performance in its most primal, multifaceted, and pure form. Feel the tension. See the dirty looks. Taste the pain. Smell the depravity. Hear the veiled beauty. Horse Mania wants you to lose your mind. Below Ambition is a meditation on youth, performance, and memory as only Simon Hanselmann, the best comedic writer in comics, is capable of. The book will also include a flexidisc single by Horse Mania, "Stick It In for the Ambient", which is tipped into the front cover for easy removal and play.
