This is a wonderful collection of comic strips that grows on you as you keep reading.
John McNamee has his own outlook on life, and many might find similar ideas to their own in this collection of musings. I would describe John as a hopeful pessimist, who sees life for the epic fail that it mostly is, but still marches on, with a vague hope for a slightly brighter future.
John's insights on life, relationships, work and hobbies are hilarious and relatable. His illustrations are minimalist, bordering on primitive, and that was the one drawback for me at first. I couldn't relate to the stick figures as well I should have. But then towards the middle of the book, the author gave an explanation to the nature of his style, and that warmed my heart. True, not all people are blessed with natural artistic talents, but anyone who would like to create art has the right to do so, and should be given the chance to succeed in their own way.
All in all, this is an an enjoyable book, perhaps not on par with the most brilliant examples of this genre, but still a great collection worthy of your time.

This collection of simply-drawn, single-page comics is really good. I had a few laugh out loud moments. I would definitely recommend this book to friends.

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Just Act Normal is a collection of Pie Comics all centered around trying to look “normal”. I have a dry, sarcastic sense of humor, so when I saw the blurb mentioned that type of humor, I had to check it out! The simple drawings paired well with the tone of the comics. Some of the jokes were better than others for me. I probably wouldn't check out another book by this author.

Nice collection of short comics. It's a slice of life genre. It's related to our current state. Illustrations not bad .All over liked it. Recommended to all!!!

Just Act Normal is the third in the PIE Comics Collection. I didn't love or hate it, but I lost interest towards the end. If you're looking for irreverent humor that is a nice distraction.

What had me pick this up: That cute cover with simplistic art style and it's promise of "dry, sarcastic humor".

It was a short and sweet ride. I enjoyed the art style that complimented the themes of the humor so well. It was quite hilarious at times but still lacked the punch it needed.

This was a collection of comics that brought out several topics like struggles and coping with childhood, society, work, love, world and yourself to the table all while being light and funny. I liked how it was all divided in several parts dealing with each topic.

Overall, it was a very relatable and interesting graphic novel anyone would surely enjoy!

Thanks to NetGalley and Oni Press for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book is a short and fun read about utterly relatable life situations. Some of the pieces were very deep yet it was portrayed in a comical way which I couldn't get enough of. I wanted to continue reading until the very end. It was simple, meaningful yet groundbreaking. The perfect graphic novel to read to pass time.

This book was such a hilarious read!!

The topics it covered were so relatable at times, and then suddenly the characters would do something random and strange and i'd burst out laughing! And i think that's what makes this book so great. It takes what we consider to be normal and then flips it straight on it's head! The adorable drawings were also brilliant, and I loved that the artwork was colored.

I look forward to reading the rest of the books in this collection!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Oni Press for providing the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Just Act Normal by John McNamee is a selection of humorous and quirky comics. A fun look at life and failing. Easy to read and brilliantly illustrated.

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟒.𝟖/𝟓

Synopsis: Just Act Normal is a compilation of Pie Comic strips that cartoonist John McNamee published on his Tumblr page.

My Thoughts: The book’s structure is divided into six sections: Coping with Childhood, Coping with Society, Coping with Work, Coping with Love, Coping with the World, and Coping with Yourself. Being a gag-a-day comic devoid of any continuity or recurring characters, the only commonalities the cartoons within each section share are their loosely-connected themes. Not unlike humor webcomics such as Berkley Mews and Jake Likes Onions, Pie Comics uses its simplistic childlike art style to its advantage to make astute observational and wryly humorous jokes regarding the human condition with a full-shot injection of absurdism, existential angst, and trope subversions, the perfect recipe to a bitter yet comforting meal.

Since NetGalley won't let me post excerpts from the book, you can see them along with my commentary on my blog or Goodreads review linked here:
https://sammythecritic.blogspot.com/2020/09/just-act-normal-pie-comics-collection.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3557943595?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

Final Thoughts: Overall, Just Act Normal was a funny and relatable comic strip collection worth taking a look at if you’re in the mood for a quick read with a fistful of laughs and light existential dread.

Need advice for coping with anything? Society, work, love, this book has you covered.
Some were very funny and only one or two that I had seen before.

It is a wonderful cartoon collection. Few random and simple lines and it creates a hilarious situation. Each cartoon was funny.
It explores circumstances of life from an extreme perspective of a naughty teenager or kid.
It deals with failures and inconveniences of routine life,. What we call a normal life.
And to fit in it we have to act normal.
A very easy read and highly recommended.

This is my first time reading something from A Pie Comics Collection and it was a quick, funny read. The artwork isn't crazy detailed, but that's okay because I think you're supposed to focus more on what is being said within the comics. Although I didn't laugh out loud with every comic, I still chucked at a good bit and even found some of them quite relatable. I can be a very sarcastic person and I've been told I have a dry humor, and that type of humor is portrayed quite frequently throughout this collection, so I enjoyed that! I'll be keeping my eye out for the next collection of John McNamee's comics, and I think you should do the same!

Thank you to Oni Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!

**Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!**

It's kind of remarkable how simple lines and drawings can be arranged in a way that just speak directly to you. And sometimes it's sad you can relate, or that it strikes a chord, but it's always reassuring that you're not the only one, you know?

I've seen a few of these comics around social media and I've always enjoyed them, so I jumped at the chance to read a collection of them. And I loved it! There were so many that I wanted to immediately share with my friends or my family and be like "relatable!!" to. I laughed often, was shocked sometimes, and even had a few "woah, that's hilarious and dark and is it bad I'm laughing??" reactions.

And in case it's not abundantly clear in descriptions, or from knowing the author is from The Onion, these comics are for adults. Like, VERY adult. Not all, but the ones that are...definitely are. It tackles coping with marriage, life, childhood, work, etc., in incredibly funny, surprisingly poignant, and often subtle clever ways. I appreciated that they directly spoke to a lot of the dark sides to adulthood and those feelings of being lost or without purpose. Like I mentioned, it's nice to see I'm not alone in having to confront existential dread, and that I can even laugh about it all.

And if that doesn't convince you to read this book, just know that one of my notes when I was reading and preparing for this review was "I, too, have opinions about grout." I think that's pretty compelling to read it.

Slowly clawing my way out of that reading slump and getting caught up on all the wonderful titles that publishers and NetGalley have granted me the last few months. I have needed every one of them. Rona, man. It’s a bitch.

Anyway. This collection. Is adorable. And relatable. And exactly what I think we all need right now. This is McNamee’s third collection in conjunction with The Onion, but I do believe it’s my first. Must remedy that, and soon. These absurd comics take a hard look at what it means to be normal, and why that’s all garbage anyway. There is no normal. There is just us, and what we do and how we live.

This collection began back in my day, the early ’00s when we all had flip phones and texted by hitting a number button 4 times to get an S. Those were the days. Once McNamee simplified his illustration style, his entire world opened up to explore any and all subjects he could think about.

It’s amazing what we can do when we readjust our perspective of “good,” or “normal” and just let ourselves create the way we can or want to. I’ve done a lot of that this year, too, and it’s been freeing and enabled me to create a wider variety of art than my previous expectations allowed.

Anyway. This collection. It’s out in November, so if you need a laugh in these wild times like I did, it might thaw your cold, dead heart and make you smile, just a little. It may make you feel seen, and it may resonate with you, and we need more of that right now. Always, but especially right now.

I've known John McNamee's work for a few years, initially reading Pie Comic on GoComics. He stopped posting over there, so I was delighted with I saw this ARC. Dry and sarcastic comics are my kind of comics. I couldn't stop laughing reading this one.

Thanks to Oni Press and NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A lovely book. McNamee has such a beautiful style. His drawings are so simple, and yet they capture aspects of daily life perfectly. As a cartoonist, I know that this is difficult to pull off. His comics are all wonderful, and I found myself laughing at a bunch of them. He also uses certain themes over and over again in a splendid manner.

I definitely recommend this book.

A collection of comics by John McNamee, JUST ACT NORMAL is a great pick for the cynical in your life!

I laughed so hard at this collection and I kept wanting to show my husband the funny ones but I ended up showing him the whole book. Excellent and quick read!

Complex messages on life and reflection mingle with humor and comic strip-like images and layouts in Just Act Normal. This was an entertaining reading experience stuffed full with visual vignettes about the world around us. Most enjoyable!