Snotgirl #1 Review

Writer: Bryan Lee O’Malley / Artist: Leslie Hung / Image Comics The first issue of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Snotgirl introduces Lottie Person, a fashion blogger whose glamorous public persona hides the mess she is in real life. Lottie lives a Photoshopped life: scroll her Instagram and you’ll find new outfits, flawless makeup, and shiny hair perfectly coiffed; look closer, however – see her in person, get to know her as readers do – and she’s a mess of insecurity, friendless, and her nose is dripping from uncontrollable allergies. In short, Lottie Person is the generic hater’s wishful thinking towards celebrities, that their happiness is as shallow as their beauty. And unfortunately, the premise doesn’t quite meet its promise in issue #1. If Snotgirl was meant to be endearing, so far it has missed me entirely. No one in Snotgirl is likable, including Lottie herself and a passing group of unreliable friends who ditch her the first chance they get to do anything self-serving. Lottie isn’t much better than they are, she waits for them to join their regular “Hater’s Bruch” for which she was stood up. She eventually meets a woman named Caroline, a fan of her blog who turns out to be cool – so cool that Lottie dubs her “Coolgirl” in her narration. All of her pseudo-friends have similar pseudonyms, from Cutgirl and Normgirl to Latteboy and Custodialdude (again, if any of this is meant to be endearing…), and Caroline, or Coolgirl, still sees Lottie as glamorous in person. This is where t…