So Buttons #14: Life and Death

So Buttons #14: Life and Death https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sobuttonscomics/so-buttons-life-and-death is a 32-page, full color, digest size (5.5” x 8.5”) autobiographical comic written by Jonathan Baylis with art by Mari Naomi, Brian “Box” Brown, T.J. Kirsch, Sophia Glock, CM Campbell, Nathaniel Breen, Summer Pierre, Steven Arnold, Karl Christian Krumpholz, Ayoko Nito, and Lisa Rosalie Eisenberg.

The neat thing I like about So Buttons is the way Jonathan manages to weave unrelated stories together with a common theme. I mean, I guess all the stories are related since they are Jonathan’s personal life experiences, but they’re not dependent on each other. A single stand alone comic could be developed from any one of his stories, but Jonathan chooses to bind them altogether around a central topic, in this case Life and Death, and it works! The stories each tell a poignant tale that is interesting, entertaining, and revealing. It takes courage to put yourself out there as Jonathan does, but he manages to do it with a sense of strength and conviction that make So Buttons an endearing read.

Another factor that contributes in no small part to So Buttons’ appeal is the art. Each issue of this comic that I’ve had the privilege of reading is a smorgasbord of rendering styles that are as varied as the stories they accompany! So Buttons is a treat for any comics fan and a valuable teaching device for anyone that wants to learn how to do an autobiographical comic right!

As the title implies, this issue does touch on personal loss, so get out the tissues and turn the pages of So Buttons at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sobuttonscomics/so-buttons-life-and-death and http://sobuttons.com/order/ and find more at https://www.instagram.com/sobuttonscomics/ and https://www.facebook.com/jonathanbaylis