I've been a big fan of Poorly Drawn Lines for a long time so I was really excited to see there was a book coming out with lots of new comics, but in all honesty, I didn't find many of them to be up to the standard that you usually see in Reza's work. There are a few standout comics that did make me laugh and the book makes lots of accurate points about the world we live in, but it wasn't really enough. Sadly this book was a disappointment for me!

Despite not being familiar with Reza Farazmand's previous work,  Poorly Drawn Lines , I decided to read this collection of comics after recognizing the artist's style from my Instagram Explore pages. I follow quite a few artists who draw lil comics on Instagram and while I don't specifically follow Farazmand, I had stumbled upon enough of his pieces to recognize his work and some of his recurrent characters. 

This collection of comics, with each page typically consisting of a set of four images that compose a single comic, was slightly funny, but not laugh out loud funny for me or revelatory in the way that I found Allie Brosh's  Hyperbole and a Half  even though that collection didn't make me laugh much either. Each of the comics can function as a standalone, unrelated from the rest of the book, and the characters don't often repeat, save for Ernesto the Bear and Kevin the bird that pop up frequently on Farazmand's Instagram account (and were probably prominently featured in his previous collection too).

The collection is loosely organized into the following themes, but doesn't always flow smoothly from one piece to the next: The Human Experience, Social Creatures, Changes, A Strange World, and Thoughts on Things.

Comics for a Strange World is a smidge existential, a touch sadistic, and full of dry humor. While I remember chuckling a few times while reading, none of the comics really stuck around in my mind after I finished reading it. I did photograph a few of the pages to send to my friends and I included one on my blog post that I think that we probably all could use help remembering sometimes. 

To see the included comic, visit www.girlwithabookblog.com!

its one of my boyfriends favorite webtoons  sometimes its really deep and philosophical sometimes it just mocks that very same philosophical sense. its good but still not at the mindblowing sense.

The cartoons are witty.  Even though I read through the entire book in two sittings, they never got old.  The humor is primarily of the absurdist variety (squirrels, bears, and ducks discussing philosophy, purchasing guns, and so on), interspersed with examples of the perversity of human nature.  Recommended.

extremely nice and funny compilation. love it!

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This is a creative book.  The neat thing is that the book comes with its own logic set.  If you read the introduction, you will learn why kitty cats smoke, birds converse and dogs are concerned with life insurance.  It is cute.

It is simply not strange enough for our tastes.  Such is humor.  Some will enjoy until LOL becomes an accepted norm.  Others will become itchy and possibly bored and do a neighbor's laundry, or something.  

We are sorry.  It simply isn't our style.  Again, sorry.  We like the idea of animals cavorting, conniving, conversing and smashing things to the earth.  But, we are more hard-core, one would surmise.

Oh, and Comics for a Strange World has some overly salty language too.  Yeah, we do not love that.  No.

I've been a fan of Reza's comics for a little while now and was very excited to have the chance at an advanced copy of this book. I definitely got more than a few giggles from it. The only reason I didn't give it five stars is because I've read other comics from the author that I enjoyed more (but weren't included in this collection) but that is just because of my personal humor and nothing else. Reza writes a lot of jokes about how difficult being an adult is and how often we all just want to lay in bed, watch TV and gorge ourselves on ice cream and pizza. The jokes are extremely relatable and the artwork is completely adorable. I loved the book and will continue to read whatever I can get my hands on from Reza. Keep up the great work!

I have only seen these comics on funny picture apps, but I never sat down and looked for the website. So I was pretty excited to get some in my hands. My only complaint with the book was it was so short. The introduction made it sound like there would be a lot more to it. I felt let down by the length, which usually isn't such a big deal. This time, I needed more to be able to give it a five star. Another twenty pages is the only difference.

The comics were funny. I was laughing pretty loudly and disturbing others. I was getting quite a few dirty looks, but I couldn't help it. These comics were very dry and very funny. They were magnificent. I am a huge fan. 

Since I am not a regular reader, I couldn't tell which were the new comics and which were the ones from the website. I am impressed when I can't tell. Means the author has a consistent voice and drawing style.

I loved this book, and read it in one sitting! Highly recommended for anyone who needs some humor in this tumultuous world. My only complaint is that it's not ten times longer!

A simple collection of comics, this books offers a cynical, twisted, funny, and delightfully relateable view on the human experience.

There isn't much to review.  The title is pretty accurate in that the comics are "poorly drawn lines", which would be okay if they were...entertaining.  But each page just sort of made me feel more "blah" about it than the page before.  Nothing about it really made me laugh, or react at all.

Ah. So much truth in such few words. 

These are the kinds of comics that truly crack me up. 

Wrap a little bit of truth up in a little bit of oddness…finding the little cracks in our world, in our culture. It’s humor gold. 

Ponderings on life, religion, technology, demons, the afterlife, English Muffins. 

But a little more off-beat than you’re used to. 

I finished all my work at the last minute. 
And I didn’t even use caffeine. 
Just good old-fashioned desperation. 

Good stuff. 

Can I have a word with you?

This is a collection of comics about a strange world, not unlike our own. Despite the ghosts, talking animals, and “the general absence of any coherent laws of nature,” the stories are ones we can relate to and understand, after all, that is the original goal.

I finished this collection of comics in a single sitting but one can really stop and come back at any point. The book is divided into five sections: The Human Experience, Social Creatures, Changes, A Strange World, and Thoughts on Things. Some comics hit close to home and really made me think, while others just left me giggling. Reza Farazmand’s hyper self-aware sense of humor is an acquired taste, but one I quite enjoy.

Thank you Net Galley for letting me view this book. 
I've read previous works by Reza Farazmand and enjoyed them. And thus I also enjoys this very much. 
Short (maybe too short?) and funny.

I've seen Reza Farazmand's comics around the internet, and found them hilarious. I'm not sure if the new ones in the book are less funny overall, or if reading them one after another dulls the effect. Either way, this book didn't do much for me.

I love Reza Farazmand's work: the style of his drawings, his substantive wacky humor, and the variety of subject matter that comes across as relatable whether it's talking animals, technology, or human folly. I couldn't help reading these pages out loud to whoever happened to be in the room with me, to the delight of my friends and kids. My only critique is that I wish there were more pages to this book, that there were more comic writers in the world as talented as Farazmand, and that he and I were related or next-door neighbors. Going holiday shopping online at the Poorly Drawn Store now.

If you're a fan of Poorly Drawn Lines, then you will definitely want this book. If you've never heard if Poorly Drawn Lines or Reza Farazmand, then, well, you need to read this book. It's hilarious, spot-on and I can guarantee you that you'll find at least five comics that perfectly describe your life. 

Basically, go read some Poorly Drawn Lines, then nab a copy of this book. It's worth it.

A fun collection of comics. I wasn't at all familiar with this artist/comic strip, but was definitely entertained and will look for more on the future. Some jokes didn't land, but as a whole the humor was a great match for my own.

Welcome to sideways world.

If you’ve ever read Reza Farazmand’s web comic Poorly Drawn Lines, then you know more or less what you’re in for here: irreverent humor, a dash of commonsense observations, and just the right about of black comedy. 

COMICS FOR A STRANGE WORLD is a bit hit-or-miss; a equal number of the pieces had me guffawing in happy shock as did those that stumbled and fell flat. A fair number seem a direct response to this crazy, heart-wrenching Drumpf era we now find ourselves in; see, e.g., the opening panel, which is the first of five favorites I included below. 

But don’t worry: Ernesto the talking bear and his duck sidekick Kevin make several appearances, and this strange world is also populated with a fair number of talking animals, self-aware ghosts – and even a dinosaur packing heat. (“It’s his right.”) 

Try it! You won’t be sorry, and you just might help Ernesto out of that slump. 

** Full disclosure: I received a free electronic ARC for review through NetGalley and Edelweiss. **

This was pretty cute and witty. It's not the laugh out loud kind of humor; it's sarcastic and dry. The art is really simple but really good. This comic deals with the great existential question of how humanity has been altered by the rise of advanced technology but I find the more interesting question to be why can't we all live in a world with talking animals?