This is by far the weirdest comic of its type for me. See, I’m not real big on the gay friends’ real life experience thing. Maybe it’s because so many of them come along in the mail that they all could be by the same person. This book, however, is more like a soap opera of the down-and-out punk gay people, if that makes any sense. I found it difficult to put this one down, especially when the Joey character seems to finally catch a break then goes into a coma. Go ahead, tell me that doesn’t sound like a soap opera. I must say, it is well written. One has to have some experience with the subculture to be able to present it so convincingly. This is a cool book, and I really am interested in what happens to these characters. (Microcosm Publishing, 222 S Rogers St., Bloomington, IN 47404, www.microcosmpublishing.com)