I Left the House Today!

May 11, 2020
Calin’s instantly appealing artwork—her selfie send-ups are so cute and goofy one wants to hug her—shines in this collection of autobiographical comic strips, originally serialized online. Often accompanied by her lanky, freckled boyfriend, Calin’s doe-eyed, frizzy-headed cartoon avatar makes her way through college, keeps up with fashion, watches beauty YouTubers and Bob Ross videos, gets spooked by spiders, tries on uncomfortable bras, and obsesses over her unruly mane. Calin draws marvelously malleable faces and figures, transforming a character from sultry to grotesque in the space of two panels. She has a deft hand when it comes to visual gags and comic exaggeration; under her pen, an ill-fitting jacket expands to David Byrne–esque dimensions and a bad hairdo makes her head swell and distort like a balloon. The jokes are short, simple, and sweet, but the fantastic black-and-white art—a blend of gag manga, European influence, and web cartoonists like Kate Beaton—helps sell and elevate the comedy. Many readers will find plenty to relate to in Calin’s four-panel mishaps, and even those who feel grown out of it all might still fall for her style. Agent: Seth Fishman, the Gernert Company.