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tildahlia's review against another edition
1.0
This book is bad. I can't quite work out whether you are meant to empathise with the characters, be disgusted by their narrow misogyny or whether it's simply meant to be a mirror to middle-class, white, heterosexual relationships of people in their 30s but regardless this book is boring, infuriating and really has no broader message or redeeming features. Read Alison Bechdel comics instead.
geekwayne's review against another edition
4.0
'Our Expanding Universe' by Alex Robinson is a slice of life graphic novel about growing up, changing and making room in your life for what's important.
The book follows three men named Scotty, Billy and Brownie. Billy is our main character and he's got trepidations about having a child with his wife. Scotty is about to have his second kid, but he's got some other secrets that he's keeping, even from his friends. Brownie is divorced without kids and happy in his life of video games and pot smoking. We get to know the women also, and the stories evolve and change. Throughout the comics are themes of cosmic events which show how how small our lives are and how life goes on. There is a sequence in a planetarium that I just loved.
It's a slow moving story, and I wasn't sure aboutit at first, but as the story progressed, it hooked me in. It's probably not that original, but Alex Robinson's cartoon style was really great. It's probably not for everyone, but I found myself really liking it.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors, Top Shelf Productions, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
The book follows three men named Scotty, Billy and Brownie. Billy is our main character and he's got trepidations about having a child with his wife. Scotty is about to have his second kid, but he's got some other secrets that he's keeping, even from his friends. Brownie is divorced without kids and happy in his life of video games and pot smoking. We get to know the women also, and the stories evolve and change. Throughout the comics are themes of cosmic events which show how how small our lives are and how life goes on. There is a sequence in a planetarium that I just loved.
It's a slow moving story, and I wasn't sure aboutit at first, but as the story progressed, it hooked me in. It's probably not that original, but Alex Robinson's cartoon style was really great. It's probably not for everyone, but I found myself really liking it.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors, Top Shelf Productions, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
mbrandmaier's review against another edition
3.0
My takeaway from this: change ruins everything, but it is inevitable so just accept it.
saidtheraina's review against another edition
4.0
About five months ago, a child moved into my home.
For the first time in my adult life, I could not accurately be described as "child-free."
I am a third parent in this arrangement - while they spend some time most weeks with other family members (including their father), I am one of the two adults living with them in their primary residence.
This is new.
This story examines this phenomenon. Not the specifics of my situation, at all. But of becoming a parent. Of inviting a child into your life. Of allowing your life to change. In ways that are not entirely comfortable or fun.
Let me be clearer: It's not about parenting - it's about deciding whether to parent, or embracing that decision once it's been made.
In the case of this book, it's an adult heterosexual cismale, living in the city, who is struggling with the decision to conceive a child with his partner. He's also watching his friends, one of whom is a divorced single guy living alone, another who has kid(s), and is struggling with his marriage. Does our hero want to follow in the footsteps of dissatisfied guy? Or let it all come crashing down and curse himself to be lonely alone guy?
It's a whole lot of white whine/angsty privilege/men who hurt, it's true.
But there's a piece of me that seriously gets it. Our protagonist has choices, and that's a challenge all its own.
Robinson's work feels like a long, more serious and jaded episode of How I Met Your Mother. A geek version.
He doesn't need color for his stories - these people are the point, not the images of them. I do love his layouts, though.
These aren't likeable people, so don't look here for that. But there's a level of realness to them that is special.
I intend to keep reading everything he puts out.
For the first time in my adult life, I could not accurately be described as "child-free."
I am a third parent in this arrangement - while they spend some time most weeks with other family members (including their father), I am one of the two adults living with them in their primary residence.
This is new.
This story examines this phenomenon. Not the specifics of my situation, at all. But of becoming a parent. Of inviting a child into your life. Of allowing your life to change. In ways that are not entirely comfortable or fun.
Let me be clearer: It's not about parenting - it's about deciding whether to parent, or embracing that decision once it's been made.
In the case of this book, it's an adult heterosexual cismale, living in the city, who is struggling with the decision to conceive a child with his partner. He's also watching his friends, one of whom is a divorced single guy living alone, another who has kid(s), and is struggling with his marriage. Does our hero want to follow in the footsteps of dissatisfied guy? Or let it all come crashing down and curse himself to be lonely alone guy?
It's a whole lot of white whine/angsty privilege/men who hurt, it's true.
But there's a piece of me that seriously gets it. Our protagonist has choices, and that's a challenge all its own.
Robinson's work feels like a long, more serious and jaded episode of How I Met Your Mother. A geek version.
He doesn't need color for his stories - these people are the point, not the images of them. I do love his layouts, though.
These aren't likeable people, so don't look here for that. But there's a level of realness to them that is special.
I intend to keep reading everything he puts out.
spraffy's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
uosdwisrdewoh's review against another edition
4.0
This is probably my favorite of Alex Robinson's works since Box Office Poison. BOP knocked me over when I read it almost 20 years ago, and while Robinson's works since have been good, it's telling that I can't even recall the names of characters in Tricked or Too Cool to Be Forgotten, whereas I can describe Sherman, Ed, Dorothy, and Stephen from BOP as if they were old friends. It almost works against Robinson at this point. Each new book is a dare to himself that he can make you care about these new guys as much as you loved his first characters, and in Our Expanding Universe, I feel he's gotten closest to that goal yet.
If I step back outside of my gut feeling for the characters, it's obvious how much Robinson's storytelling techniques have grown over the past two decades. Pages are masterfully composed and the tour-de-force centerpiece in a planetarium stuns. As his cast of New Yorkers inching towards middle age navigate the big questions in their lives, everyone's expressions strike the exact right indelible chord. I wanted to clip and frame so many of these perfect reaction panels.
I didn't know these people (and had a slight resistance to do so), but by the end, I really felt for everyone, even the kind of annoying blowhard friend, who I hoped would meet his comeuppance, but who turned out to be just muddling through life like everyone else.
If I step back outside of my gut feeling for the characters, it's obvious how much Robinson's storytelling techniques have grown over the past two decades. Pages are masterfully composed and the tour-de-force centerpiece in a planetarium stuns. As his cast of New Yorkers inching towards middle age navigate the big questions in their lives, everyone's expressions strike the exact right indelible chord. I wanted to clip and frame so many of these perfect reaction panels.
I didn't know these people (and had a slight resistance to do so), but by the end, I really felt for everyone, even the kind of annoying blowhard friend, who I hoped would meet his comeuppance, but who turned out to be just muddling through life like everyone else.
mschlat's review against another edition
3.0
I loved Robinson's [b:Box Office Poison|106837|Box Office Poison|Alex Robinson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327892079s/106837.jpg|102976] and thought his graphic novel [b:Tricked|106843|Tricked|Alex Robinson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347400465s/106843.jpg|102982] was excellent. However, I found his more recent work [b:Too Cool to Be Forgotten|2396554|Too Cool to Be Forgotten|Alex Robinson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347454313s/2396554.jpg|2403572] to be pretty meh. This work is somewhere in the middle. It's got a great ensemble cast like Box Office Poison and an interesting cosmic montage near the end like Tricked, but with a focus on families and the choice of whether or not to have kids. We follow three male friends --- one with a kid and another on the way, one trying to have a kid but somewhat ambivalent about it, and one single guy who's frustrated that his friends are disappearing into families. True to Robinson's earlier works, you see everything from a ton of perspectives, and I love his cartoony art style matched to realistic dialogue. I found it a fun read, but I wasn't sure what to make of our main protagonist (the soon-to-be father) or his naiveté. There's not really a sense of closure (which may be the point), and a day after finishing the book I needed to check it again to see what the ending was.
stefanvalenti's review against another edition
4.5
Ideally I would have rated this a 4.5, but I figured Id round up because I did really enjoy this book. I really enjoy slice of life stories like these, plus Alex Robinson’s page layouts are incredible. They’re super inventive and engaging, incredibly creative. The characters felt really fleshed out and real, and I felt invested in their problems. It felt bittersweet and melancholic at a lot of points, which usually reflects life. Idk, I’m starting to rant. Who cares, nobody reads these anyways. Point is: I enjoyed this book! I’m excited to see what Alex Robinson does next.
urban_mermaid's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. I love how complete Alex Robinson's characters are and how very real the lives they inhabit present themselves on the pages. It's also been a treat through the years to grow up along various life stages of his stories. The story here was a little thinner but I still devoured this and will continue to read everything he writes.
buzzlightqueer's review against another edition
2.0
I found myself rolling my eyes every few pages at the general misogyny, objectification, and general stupidity of the men in this book. I suppose it was an accurate portrayal of these characters, but it still fell short of anything great.