I’ve never read Diesel Sweeties the webcomic prior to this collection and frankly I’m not going to track it down daily. I’m spoiled on the full collection and it’s too much work to check it weekly. YOU WIN AGAIN PRINT! Seriously though I liked this. I think Diesel Sweeties represents a point in most people’s lives… at least most cool people’s lives. I guess if you never got into music or the arts you’d probably be like, “this book sucks”, but then I’d question why you exist in the first place. So what the hell is this book about? Well it’s about Indie Rock Pete and how he’s basically better and more indie than you are. The collection is made up of one to two page stories/conversations that tell a joke or make a sarcastic comment of some kind. If you understand the material you will see that it’s making fun of people that live their lives like Indie Rock Pete as much as it is embracing the life style as well; when you boil it down to its simplest context its witty conversations.
I personally enjoy any comic that talks, deals or references music. Even if it’s a band I’ve never heard of or completely fictional. It’s just something that I find awesome and always manage to get sucked into. I’m sure I haven’t read every comic that has a strong music influence, but if you search the site you’ll find that my money is where my mouth is on this one.
I can’t really spoil the jokes for you, but trust me if you’re of the same generation as I then you’ll really enjoy it. If you’re from a younger generation you’ll probably also enjoy it because you’re living your life like Indie Rock Pete, but will find it relatable for different reasons. Also damn your youthfulness because I can rent a car without any problems as long as I have a credit card or want a higher deposit put on my debt card.
It’s pixel art which is awesome. At times it’s like reading an old school RPG, but better because you can actually relate to the subject matter. Because it’s pixelated art it’s kept very simple looking, but there is a complexity to its design. If you’ve ever tried to create a “sprite” then you already know how difficult the task is. Diesel Sweeties doesn’t just rely on reusing the same character design over and over. Indie Rock Pete changes clothes based on the situation and grows and shaves his facial hair. I appreciate when a fictional character changes their clothes; it’s just lazy to assume that someone would wear the same thing day after day I don’t care if they aren’t real.
I enjoyed this collection, but I will give you one warning: don’t read it all in one sitting. The jokes lose their sting after a while. They’re still enjoyable, but it becomes a task to finish it rather than a treat. Break it up in multiple readings and you’ll like it a lot more. I would also recommend this to anyone that was looking to get a friend into comics. It’s something that is very accessible and has nothing to do with the usual genres people associate comic books with. I had fun reading it and again if you have a life worth living, you will too.
Score: 4/5
Writer/Artist/Creator: R. Stevens Publisher: Oni Press Price: $19.99 Release Date: 9/11/13