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The Li’l Depressed Boy #5 – Review

The "Depressed" part of The Li'l Depressed Boy really comes out in this issue as LDB laments about his supposed relationship with Jazz. The series has never been very uplifting but humor usually works itself in seamlessly. Unfortunately this issue has a problem doing that, with few jokes and almost none of them being very funny. After discovering Jazz already has a boyfriend and discovering he never truly had a romantic relationship with her, LDB is majorly depressed and avoiding Jazz's calls. His friend returns from his band's tour and tries to cheer him up with a road trip that turns ugly. Image: The Li'l Depressed Boy #5 By S. Steven Struble with cover art by Sina GraceThe cover of this issue perfectly encompasses its contents: LDB's friend trying to cheer him up. The premise from the creative mind of S. Steven Struble in The Li'l Depressed Boy has obviously never been uplifting, but the series has never reached this low a point in both creativity and depression. The stories have never had too much to them but this issue feels like Heartbreak Hotel as LDB mopes throughout the entire issue, easily boring the reader after a couple of pages. The issue relies on the dialogue exchanged between LDB and his friend, which only works sometimes because of the deep connection we have to the characters and being able to relate to LDB's pain. LDB is also a very sympathetic character that we want to see feel better, making the issue compelling just to see a smile on LDB's face... which never happens. The ending does have a nice cliffhanger that makes you want to read the next issue despite the many other flaws in this issue, like the humor. The humor, once woven in with ease and always directed towards comic book and video game fans, has drastically changed in this issue to more mainstream humor. This change in humor alienates the already established fans and it mostly results in hit-or-miss jokes with a lot more miss. Most of the story was a miss but the best scene happens after the main story. In the short two-page story recounting LDB's childhood we see how LDB and his best friend meet. The meeting is interesting and almost funny but makes you feel even more for the characters in a quick and efficient way that the main story couldn't match. The art helps add to the depressing tone with Sina Grace drawing peaceful country towns with dull skies above, adding to the listless mood of LDB. There are many panels without dialogue to showcase LDB's boredom and pain but they feel like a waste of space where useful dialogue could have gone. The issue is written well as always and the art is not bad, but the melodramatic tone gets boring quickly. After four issues with little plot by the end of each previous issue, the characters and story have managed to move forward. This issue feels like it's purposely stalling LDB's pain with some attempts to throw in misplaced humor. For those who are already heartbroken, this is just something to depress you even more and should be avoided, though hopefully the next issue will have some uplifting moments to bring LDB out of the dumps as well as the rating... For more of the lovable LDB, check out our other reviews of the series found below. The Li'l Depressed Boy #2 The Li'l Depressed Boy #3 The Li'l Depressed Boy #4
Rating
5.9

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Meet the Author

About / Bio
An all-around nerdette, I’m a comic book connoisseur, horror aficionado, video game addict, anime enthusiast and an aspiring novelist/comic book writer. I am the head of the comic book department and the editor-in-chief of Entertainment Fuse. I also write and edit articles for Comic Frontline. I am also an intern at Action Lab Entertainment, a comic book publisher at which I edit comic book scripts, help work on images in solicitations and help with other comic book related project. My own personal website is comicmaven.com.

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