Hark! A Vagrant

Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton
Drawn and Quarterly, 2011
166 pages
Humor; Comics
5/5 stars

Source: Library

Having come across the strip online, I was excited to pick up the book and receive more of Beaton's literature and history based humor. It's kind of nerdy, just like me!

I was so happy to open this book and see that the very first comic was one of my favorites: the Brontë sisters rating men (you can check it out here). Charlotte and Emily swoon over the douches while Anne scorns their poor taste in men (I happen to think that Rochester and Heathcliff are total douches and thus wholeheartedly concur). This is the comic that got me interested in reading Anne's books even though I have yet to do so. But I have good intentions! (2012 reading goal?)

The second comic is completely different with figures from Canadian history (which I can confirm because I googled all of their names). Although I didn't immediately understand it, there were still funny lines. There are other comics that also seem to focus on Canadian history that still worked for me; bonus: I got to look them up and learn more about our northern neighbor (hello Canadians!)

Don't worry, I'm not going to summarize every strip; I just wanted to a. show two I really liked and b. show the wide variety of topics that Beaton covers. It's mostly history and literature but sometimes just random silly stuff.

One thing I would have liked was Beaton's comments on every strip. She comments on some but not all. I collect the Pearls Before Swines treasuries specifically because Stephan Pastis provides (usually hilarious) commentary on almost every strip and I think that insight into the creator's mind is incredibly valuable and enjoyable for a reader. Perhaps Beaton will put out another collection with this additional information.

Overall: Definitely worth a read if you're part of the nerdy crowd...which includes you as you are reading this book blog :)