How To Be Suave is just that, a guide on how to be suave. I mean not really because it’s a comic book and it’s not like you can just teach that stuff with a comic book, but yeah it’s totally about that. Confused? You shouldn’t be. Let’s start again. This is a comic and its fun; so don’t take it so seriously, but take away the message it delivers because it’s good! The comic actually has a third person narration for the entire story and as such nothing breaks that narration. We’re introduced to Eric and how he used to look before getting suave. He runs us through his life and we’re introduced to the girl he likes and the Dick that’s always hitting on her. No seriously his name is Richard, but Eric calls him Dick. He looks like a Dick or a dick if you prefer.
After being walked through Eric’s mundane life we find him at the pub drinking a pint when he notices a well-dressed man sitting nearby. You could even say that he was… dapper… I was going to say dapper. Anyways the man leaves the pub and forgets his pipe. Eric takes it and looks for the man and can’t find him so he takes the pipe with him. He gets it home and rubs it to read the inscription on it and a puff of smoke blows out and suddenly the man from the bar is there! Eric asks if he’s a genie and the man tells him that he followed him home from the pub. From there the suave guy teaches young Eric how to be suave. Will it work? Can you follow the same steps? Will Friends ever have a reunion show? Two out of three of these questions will be answered.
The story is simple. It really is very much a “how to” and the message is just as simple… I’m not going to tell you what it is then you won’t read the book. The story is humorous. It’s not exactly a knee slapper, but there are parts that will make you smile or even make a small sound of joy similar to a chortle. It’s fun. It’s short and it’s worth reading for sure.
There isn’t a lot of art, but what there is comes to us from Neil Slorance (Dungeon Fun). It’s definitely his style of rounded heads with the same beady eyes and faces void of details. I personally love Slorance’s style so his addition to this story was a delight for me. His visuals work hand in hand with writer Campbell Miller’s story. The suave guy has a great look and the example of going over the top with the suave style was a highlight of the story.
Really the only negative I have for this story is the lettering also done by Miller. Its looks like handwriting which was fine because it probably is, but there were times when it all kind of blurred together. It would have been nice to have a word here or there to be bold just to emphasis a particular point or beginning of a new sentence. It’s all legible, but again blurs together at times. Otherwise it’s a fun story and worth the read.
The creators are based in the U.K. so if you’re State side like me you’re going to have to go with the internet option (link below). Otherwise it releases on Monday the 16th through Pipe Down Books and they’ll be having a release party the night before at Sparklehorse in Glasgow. I don’t know what a Sparklehorse is but it sounds awesome. Seriously I think I need to move to the U.K. or something. Anyways check it out!
Score: 3/5
Writer: Campbell Miller Artist: Neil Slorance Publisher: Pipe Down Books Website