cover image Highbone Theater

Highbone Theater

Joe Daly. Fantagraphics, $34.99 (570p) ISBN 978-1-60699-922-6

Halfway through Daly’s (Dungeon Quest) wonderfully enigmatic book, a married man named Billy Boy confesses to Highbone’s protagonist, an introverted 30-something named Palmer, that not only did he make up having a wife to avoid ridicule, but the “fart tube” that directs his flatulence out of his overalls was actually made by his mother. This type of interaction—surreal, scatological, yet grounded in its depiction of loneliness and longing—characterizes this work, first published as a webcomic in 2013. Alternating between bold black-and-white panels and brilliant full-color sequences, Daly deftly navigates between the mundane and the madcap, as Palmer struggles through noisy roommates, ineffectual romance, 9/11 conspiracies, and hallucinogenic adventures. Readers familiar with Daly’s earlier Dungeon Quest series will recognize his unique blend of K-Mart realism with the fantastic. In its more bizarre episodes, this is an exhilarating tale of high adventure. In its more meditative moments, it brims with humor and melancholy. (June)