Are you familiar with Lisa Hanawalt? If not, how is that even possible? She is a brilliant cartoonist, show-runner, writer, illustrator, podcast host- the list goes on forever and ever. She designed the entire look of Bojack Horseman, has created comics for Lucky Peach (RIP) and Drawn and Quarterly, and is the creator and show-runner of Tuca and Bertie. You may not be entirely familiar with her work, but you must have seen her brightly colored and lovingly created plant and animal people at least in passing- she is everywhere! Her podcast, Baby Geniuses, which she co-hosts with comedian and writer Emily Heller (who is also fantastic- treat this as your gateway to Emily as well) is always a delight of oddities, hard truth, and juvenile (in a great way! women are silly and gross, too!) humor.
If you are curious about Lisa’s work, then try dipping your toes into Coyote Doggirl, a beautiful, weird, sad, and powerful little book about Coyote Doggirl and her trusty steed Red as they head for the hills with some bad guys fast on their tails. Literal tails; Red is a horse and Doggirl is half coyote/half/dog. Lisa is, unsurprisingly, an unapologetic “Horse Girl”, and her love of horses permeates nearly all of her work- but this piece especially. Her color work is deeply saturated and haphazard in all of the best ways, and her character design is always a delight. She favors simple lines, but her detail work shines. Every animal person (and animal animal) is an individual, and each has a visual and internal personality that vibrates off the page.
Coyote Doggirl is not as funny as a lot of her other work, but it is also not as long, so if you are unsure about giving her a go then this is a relatively harmless (there is violence!) way to try. Her artwork is beautiful, she’s a neat person, and if you like this, there is plenty more of her work for you to experience!
On a personal note, this marks two more “Bingos” (Red, Gateway, Fresh Start, Cannonballer Says, Money AND Gateway, Orange, Nostalgia, Pandemic, Shelfie) AND a Double Cannonball! Last year I only made it halfway to my pledged single-Cannonball, but this year I am on a roll- which is SUPER exciting for me, as I have always loved reading and this is the first year since a brain injury back in 2016 that I have been able to read (and feel) almost like my old self again.