>For part two of my guilty pleasures blog, I’ve chosen cult favorite Blue Monday by Chynna Clugston . The series teems with indie hipster quirkiness, a touch of punk rock sensibilities, pop culture references, and is quite funny, but it does have an element of teen girly soap opera-ness that just makes a manly man like yours truly feel a tad guilty for enjoying it.

Blue Monday follows the mis-adventures of Bleu Finnegan and her circle of misfit friends,Clover,Erin, Alan, and Victor as they deal with high school and all the complications of that awkward phase in life. the girls exchange pranks with the boys, Bleu has an almost unhealthy obsession with Adam Ant, and all the kids love ska and British pop music. Chynna Clugstons art style is a combination manga and western ‘zine indie comics, and a little bit of old school comic strip style. During moments of intense emotional displays, the characters become super-deformed manga figures. I think I enjoyed the series because of the pop culture obsession that runs rampant in the pages, which is what kept me reading despite the inherent girliness of the book.

I discovered the series a few years ago when I was on a big Oni Press kick, since they were producing quality, self contained graphic novels and felt compelled to give Blue Monday a try after hearing some good things about it. I did indeed enjoy it, but wouldn’t want anyone to know it…which you all do now.

-Jim

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