Observational humor and drama at its best!

Keiler Roberts’ comics have a simple facade. Minimalist and realistic drawings of people and places in thin black lines against uncoated white paper. Matter-of-fact records of events in Keiler’s life told either through a dry humor, or a sober drama. Most of the pages are taken up with silly things Keiler’s daughter, Xia says or does.

But behind this simplicity and perceivably “easy gimmick” of “kids-say-the-darndest-things” is highly skilled cartooning. Keiler’s austere joke delivery will make you laugh out loud (so be careful where you read this), and her observations on life are sharp and nuanced.

The longest story is a complex tapestry of memory, fantasy, and reality. Keiler tells recalls watching “The Little Man Who Couldn’t Read,” a film strip she once watched in school about illiteracy, which branches off on tangents, only to be shaken by the reality that Keiler’s own memory of the cautionary tale is completely wrong. It’s a fun and funny rabbit hole in the middle of shorter vignettes about raising a child.

Author: Keiler Roberts
Publisher: self-published
Page Count: 142pp
Size: 8 x 10
Notes: softcover, b/w
Date of Publication: 2015
ISBN: 978-1507804759