False Knees is one of my favorite comics online. I will always read ANY collection of theirs. The topics are subtle but funny and hopeful.

This was a light-hearted and bubbly collection of short comics.

The differing artstyles kept this interesting and fresh. Some of the artwork I would have enlarged and hung on my wall.

Many parts had my chuckling and after reading, it brought me a much-needed moment of relaxation and joy.

Ew, it's beautiful encapsulates the day to day human activities in the charming layer of humour and mirth. Joshua Barkman entices the readers with witty dialogues and equivalent fun retorts that will definitely satisfy everyone's tickle bone. The book shows these moments with the passage of seasons and how the birds highlight the themes of loneliness, creativity, astute observations, philosophical divulgence border lining comicality and irony.

This was a fun, lovely collection of comics! The art is stunning and a lot of the comics had me giggling a little. I'll be looking to pick this book up when it's published!

I love these so much, I’m so buying this in print if its printed. Its such a fun little comic collection and brings me joy

Joshua Barkman is hilarious, and I adore these comics. I could read 100 pages more. The art is actually really good for a comic, which is even more impressive.

This was super cute and silly! I never thought I'd relate to a bird but there were some that I did. This humor is some of my favorite kind and I love the simplicity of it. Great job.

I love this book! It's such a weirdly uplifting and humorous look at the world around us, from a point of view we don't normally consider.

Joshua Barkman was nominated for an Eisner Award for his previous collection about animals, False Knees. And this time he brings us another similar collection, about the inner lives of birds (mostly. Sometimes cats and other creatures).

Ew, It's Beautiful is a comic collection that's at times heartwarming, funny and witty, drawn in a charming style. I will buy it in paperback as soon as it comes out.

Ew, It's Beautiful: A False Knees Comic Collection by Joshua Barkman

All of us have moments where we watch birds chirping and wonder what they’re saying. Well, this book is the answer to that question. In this book, we enter the world of birds. We are part of their conversations, thoughts, and day-to-day lives. With aesthetically pleasing, detailed art, paired with delightful humor, the author explores the themes of beauty, excitement, wonder, and curiosity.

The first page of the book made me gasp. The art was gorgeous; I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did. The vivid detailing and beautiful color palette drew me in. As someone who loves birds and has a budgerigar, I appreciated the accuracy with which the birds were drawn. The background art was impeccable! I can’t praise it enough.

The book’s division into seasons, each balanced with an equal amount of humor and emotional depth, enhanced my reading experience. While not all the stories were amazing, most of them were. And that is what made me show my favorite panels to everyone around me. From college friends to family, none of them were spared from a hearty laugh and a delightful lesson.

The highlight of this collection was how it captured the quirky, private thoughts we all have--ones that might not resonate with everyone, but feel deeply familiar to ourselves. Most of them resonate deeply, even though they are rarely spoken out loud. And—where do I begin with the humor? It was fun and had me laughing out loud in public. Ranging from obvious jokes to subtle sarcasm, the humor made this book a refreshing read.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone looking for a light, uplifting read that’s easy on the eyes.
Rating-4.5/5
Thank you, Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing, for allowing me to read this beautiful book.

Ew. It´s beautiful was an incredible journey, one of my favorite reads so far. Through the most absurd and funny situations, concepts and elements that can be explored with great mastery at a narrative and graphic level are presented.
Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for this advanced reader's copy.

My thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an advance copy of this new book of cartoon strips featuring birds, raccoons, kittens and others living large, making mistakes, acting foolish, and doing stupid things, sometimes for love, sometimes because well, animals are a lot like us.

The first movie I ever saw in the theaters was Walt Disney's Robin Hood. I was a child of the tv era, but this movie so big, so loud, so full of animals doing things people did shaped me in many ways. I became a huge fan of animation, a huge fan of Robin Hood, and a big fan of animals in general. Why wouldn't my dog talk to other dogs, discuss their day, the food they ate, and what they sniffed. What are birds so noisy on the branch outside my apartment, well because they are discussing their day, and the foolish people who lived in the neighborhood. This made a lot of sense to me. Still does. Crows have two different languages, one for other crows, one for their family. Elephants mourn. Animals have far more of a life than we give them credit for, and probably far more than we want them to have. Which is why I enjoyed this collection so much, one that was new to me, though it has been very popular on the Internet, and now popular with me. Ew, It's Beautiful: A False Knees Comic Collection is written and illustrated by Joshua Barkman and features a year in life of various creatures of a wood, making mistakes, making each other laugh, and living frankly their best life.

The book starts in the Winter, moves through the seasons, until the Fall. Crows play on snowbanks, Birds flirt, discuss the politics of the wood, get caught in spangly things. A racoon discourses on the first time he ate a pickle, a rapturous affair, and one not to be forgotten. And cats act like cats.

The cartoons are told usually in four panels, sometimes longer. The jokes are funny, and safe for all ages. Perfect to read when a day is not going the way one wants, or to keep a good mood going. The art is really good, almost photorealistic in a way, with different birds and different types all looking unique to themselves. The colors the way things look, the simple tilt of heads, really great art. One can stare at the pictures and get in them.

The work of Barkman was new to me, showing that there is some great stuff going on in cartooning that I am missing, and I thank Andrews McMeel for introducing this to me. I have a nephew that hates my corny jokes, but loves animals, or as he likes to say a friend and ally to things with two legs, four legs, or fins. I am sure he will like this. And maybe show his uncle how to find more strips online.

I have seen these comic panels around the web on different platforms like Facebook and Instagram. They are always enjoyable and it's great to see them in a print book. Absolutely loved this one, funny short comics that take mere minutes to read and brighten your day with laughter. This is a great book for anyone who enjoys quick comics like All My Friends Are Dead by Avery Monsen and Jory John.

Oh, how I love funny pieces of media that have underlying deeper themes...

"Ew, It's Beautiful: A False Knees Comic Collection" has everything from hilarious bird behavior and everyday animal actions presented in a punny way to questions that confront you directly with moments from your own life.
I highly recommend reading this, no matter if you need a smile, want a beautiful art style to admire, or think about the silly human race through a new lens.

This review is brought to you by me, as well as the two pigeons who have been watching me for the entire time it took me to type out this text and are probably wondering why I was laughing about pictures of their relatives earlier.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with this ARC in return for an honest review.

A delightful coffee table book and a perfect gift for friends this summer. The panels don't have an overarching plot, but they're hilarious and a nice sample of the False Knees comics style (and they're Canadian!).

This was delightful! Admittedly, there were a few comics in this book that I didn’t get, but I enjoyed most of them and genuinely found a lot of them to be hilarious!

Ew, It's Beautiful: A False Knees Comic Collection by Joshua Barkman
lighthearted slow-paced
Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0 ⭐

Beautiful illustration style, quirky humor, but awkward pacing/ordering?
As a collection of comic strips/panels I didn't expect to see any kind of strong narrative connection but did find how the book was ordered was a little odd. The book is broken into seasons with winter being the only one that showed strong connection to the season it was placed in. Additionally, and this might be a personal preference, I found it slightly jarring how some sections had a number of purely illustrative pages slotted in among the comics. While absolutely gorgeous I did feel that it threw off tone by jumping between humor (albeit beautifully drawn), and purely aesthetic pieces. I personally would have preferred if they had kept all of the stand alone art pieces to a single section for me to flip through and appreciate as a whole rather than interspersed.

A good collection for those who are already a fan of the artist or who enjoy one page/four panel style comics.

Thank you NetGalley & Andrews McMeel Publishing for the review copy of this comic

A delightfully offbeat collection of the everyday musings of birds and other creatures! Ew, It’s Beautiful is the perfect palette cleanser or coffee table book to flip through when you need a laugh, since each comic strip is self-contained and usually only a page or two in length.

You'll enjoy if you like puns, existential humour, and beautiful line illustrations.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced reader's copy.

It was honestly so funny 🤣🤣🤣
I laughed so many times. Quick, simple, yet so entertaining comic. It was more like memes than comic 🤣🤣🤣
The illustrations were so beautiful. Beautiful and funny. What a book!

Thank you to Joshua Barkman, Andrews McMeel Publishing, and NetGalley for this perfectly amazing book.

A nod to one of the comics contained within, Ew, It’s Beautiful: A False Knees Comic Collection by Joshua Barkman imagines what birds would say if they could talk to each other.

I’ve followed False Knees on IG for years. I was very excited to see a collection. Artful, funny, snarky, and occasionally sweet. ​I enjoyed this and would absolutely recommend it. We can always use more reasons to laugh. Thank you to NetGalley and Andrew’s McMeel Publishing. 5/5