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A review by mrsthrift
Diary of a Mosquito Abatement Man by John Porcellino
3.0
My friend Rita Brinkerhoff recommended John Porcellino's King Cat stuff to me. While I was waiting for it to come into my local public library, I decided to read this, his autobiographical graphic novel about his career as a mosquito abatement man. This is a quick, short book of collected comics and stories from his five years in the business of exterminating mosquitoes.
Some of the stories are about sights and experiences from the day-to-day life of being out in nature all day, in public areas. You see some weird stuff. It is interesting in the way that the daily rhythm of any job has some irregularities that provide entertainment value. The latter part of the book is a reflection on the morality of mosquito extermination, and the responsibility John feels as someone who sprays poison into the water and clouds of toxins into the night air. Like, on one hand, it's just a job. On the other hand, it is kind of a toxic job. As John develops health problems and his environmental awareness awakens in the late 1990s, he finds it more difficult to balance his job with his new belief system.
I enjoyed the progression of JP's work over the decade. From the beginning, his work was crude - both the subject matter and the drawing style. There is a sort of raw, young punk energy to his stories, and an undeveloped voice that just shares the happenings without any context or insight. By the end, his drawing style has become slightly more refined, and instead of daily going-on's, his narrative is more reflective and his style develops immensely. His job immerses him in nature, and eventually he can recognize all the types of insect larvae and the plants you find in marshy places, and he starts naming them in his comics. I love that.
Some of the stories are about sights and experiences from the day-to-day life of being out in nature all day, in public areas. You see some weird stuff. It is interesting in the way that the daily rhythm of any job has some irregularities that provide entertainment value. The latter part of the book is a reflection on the morality of mosquito extermination, and the responsibility John feels as someone who sprays poison into the water and clouds of toxins into the night air. Like, on one hand, it's just a job. On the other hand, it is kind of a toxic job. As John develops health problems and his environmental awareness awakens in the late 1990s, he finds it more difficult to balance his job with his new belief system.
I enjoyed the progression of JP's work over the decade. From the beginning, his work was crude - both the subject matter and the drawing style. There is a sort of raw, young punk energy to his stories, and an undeveloped voice that just shares the happenings without any context or insight. By the end, his drawing style has become slightly more refined, and instead of daily going-on's, his narrative is more reflective and his style develops immensely. His job immerses him in nature, and eventually he can recognize all the types of insect larvae and the plants you find in marshy places, and he starts naming them in his comics. I love that.