Description

Hogbook and Lazer Eyes  by Maria Bamford and Scott Marvel Cassidy

Hardcover – Fantagraphics – June 2024 – 64 pages

Fans of Maria Bamford’s acclaimed quasi-autobiographical Lady Dynamite Netflix series already know of her romance with LA painter Scott Marvel Cassidy, as well as her droll pug sidekicks Blueberry and Bert. Now the story has been recounted in this graphic novella written by Bamford/Cassidy, drawn by Cassidy, and narrated by the rescue dogs they’ve adopted.

For those unfamiliar with the story, newly single fortysomethings Maria Bamford and Scott Cassidy each signed up on the dating site O.K. Cupid, under the respective usernames “Hogbook” and “Lazer Eyes.” They went on a date, and then another, and soon, despite a history of Bipolar II disorder and unhealthy relationships for each of them, they fall in love and are married in 2015. We view all of this through the prism of their pug housemates, including Blueberry and Bert (who has an unnatural obsession with Michael Flatley of “Riverdance” fame), and the elderly bonded pair Betty and Arnold (who recount their star turn as interplanetary canine scientists in the second season of Lady Dynamite).

Cassidy’s fine art training translates with ease into graphic storytelling, with a naturalistic illustrative style that is a pitch-perfect match Bamford’s comic timing, making Hogbook and Lazer Eyes a beautifully illustrated love story, told by some incredibly charming pugs.