Book Review: The Fun Family

Book: The Fun Family written and illustrated by Benjamin Frisch

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Description:

Beloved cartoonist Robert Fun has earned a devoted following for his circular daily comic strip, celebrating the wholesome American family by drawing inspiration from his real home life... but the Fun Family bears some dark secrets. As their idyllic world collapses and the kids are forced to pick up the pieces, will their family circle become a broken mirror, or a portal to a nightmare world? In his debut graphic novel, Benjamin Frisch presents a surreal deconstruction of childhood, adulthood, and good old American obsession.


Rating: 4 stars

Review:

The Fun Family is a twisted story of when the family dynamics start to crumble. After the father's mother unexpectedly died, the family seemed to go through a quick decline. The parents' problems multiplied leading towards divorce but that's where the some what normalcy ends. The mother Marsha left to stay in a nearby motel with Mikey and J.T., two out of the family's four children.

Meanwhile, the father Robert is in such a deep depression that he spends his days sitting on the couch in a tattered old bathrobe doing nothing. Not in the state to do much of anything, that left the other two children Robby and Molly to care for the home, their father and all their financial matters.

This story is pretty messed up with the oldest child Robby turning into the parent because with neither of his parents working he had to take on all these responsibilities. He unfortunately had to grow up really fast. Things seemed to go from bad to worst but some how it worked out the way it should at least for this story. I'm not particularly a fan of the ending but it truly goes with the story.

Out of all the characters, poor little Robby is my favorite because he had so much responsibility placed on him when he should have just been a kid. Despite being a warped and parodied version of the comic strip The Family Circus it is interesting to read.

The author took an out of the box approach to telling this story because at times it's totally crazy, most of the characters are truly a mess. However, this story does has heart albeit if not slightly demented but it's there. The artwork tends to be bright and colorful meanwhile the story is dark and a little twisted.

During Happier Times:

And Not So Happier Times: