by Mike Favila, Editor

I have to admit, as soon as I read the title Hipster Animals, I was intrigued.  A total juxtaposition of two beings that couldn’t be more different? I was curious to see if the execution was as hilarious as the premise.  Fortunately, author Dyna Moe does a great job of immediately connecting the reader with the most curious of species, the hipster.  Living in the hipster central that is East Village NYC, it seems only inevitable that she would be able to compile this ridiculous list of annoying, yet familiar, archetypes.

Most of Hipster Animals revolves around the art, which is both stylized and immediately understandable.  Although it’s not exactly a new concept to develop a book around a blog, there was a unity to the sections, which were grouped quite either by snobbiness or annoyance factor.

Even though I personally hate many of these people in really life,  I was a little embarassed that I could personally identify with a few of the pages myself. (Rogue Biketavist was especially accurate, with its notes about mismatched jean cuffs.)   Maybe it’s the crowds I hang with, or my direct proximity to DC, but I would say that you could run into at least 80% of these people, given a week or so in the right location.

I brought Hipster Animals around to my friends and family, and everybody seemed to be able to identify one or more of these species. “Oh, Lead Ukelele in A Gangsta Rap Cover Band, that’s Jenny.”  That sort of thing.  I’m not sure these would resonate somewhere more earnest, like the middle of the US, but this book hits pretty well if you live on either of the coasts.

Hipster Animals is an awesome book to have around, just for people to browse through and get a quick laugh.  You could start marking the pages when you identify somebody you’ve met just recently.  If you know somebody in this book, it’s a good way to call them out as well.  Even if you can catch a number of Dyna Moe’s illustrations on her blog, it’s worth having Hipster Animals around.  Get it immediately!

Rating:

ComicsOnline gives Hipster Animals 5 out of 5 real bowls of pho!

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