By Dustin Cabeal

Lady Stuff won me over with the cover. It got a slight chuckle out of me, and so I knew that I wanted to read it. Now… I’m not a lady, but I am married to one, and so I found this book to be quite amusing. It wasn’t exactly stuff I didn’t know about, but rather for me it was things I can relate to on the other side of the aisle.

The stories are all single page gags, which is to say that there are a setup and a punchline on each page. Sometimes it’s a quick joke, other times there’s a build up to the gag. Usually, when I read a collection of comic strips, there’s a point in which I become punch drunk, and the gags stop working and you have to wonder if there was just too many similar gags collected. Not the case here. I was surprised by how quickly I was able to read the entire book, but that I never got bored or found it repetitive. That’s a huge credit to creator Loryn Brantz because I have read too many collections that instantly became boring and repetitive. I wanted to finish reading Lady Stuff, rather than needing to finish it for this review.

The artwork has an intentionally simple style, which plays to the strength of the humor. The line work is clean with thick lines that give it a distinct style. There are some strips that are better illustrated than others which shows some gradual growth to the art. The strips are mostly in black and white with usually one or two colors to highlight a gag or give a quick background.

Lady Stuff may be geared primarily towards women, but if you’re in your thirties, you’ll find plenty to relate to, even more so if you’re married or have had a least one adult relationship. It’s a fast and enjoyable read.

Score: 4/5

Lady Stuff: Secrets to Being a Woman
Creator: Loryn Brantz
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing