Private Beach

It's difficult to place the setting of Private Beach, if only because different issues of the comic came out over a span of times and, well, I was a bit young when it first hit stands. However, I find that works in this volume's favor. Trudy's struggles with finding a decent job and her snark with her friends still ring true today, and I admire the way that Hahn is able to portray a 20-something woman and her social group without seeming as though he's pandering. The strange/supernatural happenings in her life are more than incidental, but they just provide a creepy backdrop to a life that is mainly average. I love the interplay between the everyday and the bizarre.

Private Beach started a little slow, but soon sucked me into it's quircky and strange world. The art work was simple, but enjoyable, and the story got gritty quickly. I really wish there were more books in this series.

Unfortunately, the version I had (for kindle) was a bit glitchy in the last chapter, which made the text hard to read. I could still - mostly - follow the storyline, though.

I'd recommend this graphic novel to anyone who wants to spend a bit of time immersed in a odd universe that seems to look an awful lot like our own.

I received a free review copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Quirky and fun graphic novel about a group of 20-somethings. Perfect for graphic novel fans and the casual reader alike.

Finally - A Solid, Slightly Weird, Winner

This is a smart, funny, sly and wholly satisfying collection of all of Hahn's Trudy Honeyvan comics, punctuated by a brand new story that closes Trudy's story arc. Everything about it is appealing.

Not to sound like a grump, but sometimes these sorts of indie comics collections can be just tedious studies in self-absorbed navel gazing, interrupted by belabored, obvious insights or whiny gripes. Well, absolutely nothing like that happens here. From page one, (which may be one of the best page ones in recent comics history), we know that Trudy Honeyvan is a heroine to be reckoned with. With dry humor, deadpan wit, likeable vulnerability, and a touch of smiling snark she navigates life in the company of her equally appealing twenty-something friends, and you immediately feel a sympathetric connection with her.

Indeed, this may be the first collection I've read in which I actually even liked the promotional Foreward and the author's Introduction.

The stories are along the lines of magical realism, but mostly realistic, (especially early on), with just a touch of the fantastic to spice things up. Instead of the usual pretentious huffing and puffing, Hahn makes this look effortless. The incidents in Trudy's life pile up in an increasingly odd and slightly off-kilter fashion, but it all makes sense and it always feels natural and real, if a bit unnerving. As Trudy and her friends provide running commentary on Trudy's life, we just go along for the ride, like some kid sister who gets to sit quietly in the back seat while the grownups talk.

Eventually we drift into a sci-fi feel, but what twenty-something doesn't at some time feel like her life is drifting into sci-fi territory. Maybe that's the underlying inside joke behind the collection. Regardless, though, and without reference to the overall story arc, the little incidents, moments, events, sidetracks and digressions that make up Trudy's life are well worth following.

I wasn't sure at first how I felt about the stark black and white drawings. But Hahn makes it work. These are not grubby, artfully inartful, drawings. The characters are expressive and the action is clear. In many panels the joke is in the characters' reactions as drawn, and at least to me that's a sign of an assured and crafty artist.

This book collects all seven of the original stories, which were originally published in 2001-2002. The story arc was never completed. Until now. Hahn has written a chapter 8 that answers all of the main plot questions left over from the series' cliffhanger ending. I don't know how fans managed to wait fourteen years for a resolution, but at least we newcomers won't be left hanging.

So, the upshot, for me, is that this book is fun, it's just the right amount of edgy, it's inviting and generous, and it's a little dark around the edges. Just like a life well lived. An excellent find.

(Please note that I received a free advance copy of this book from the publisher when my ecopy wouldn't display properly. This was for the purpose of writing a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)please see note below.

This was…a bit odd.

Overall it was an interesting story. But it was almost more interesting as a slice of life - the whole supernatural element seemed like it was shoehorned in. I got caught up in the story of these people's lives, but the chapters seemed a bit disconnected.

Listening to the Elastica album Elastica was a good choice - but again, for following these people's lives.

Of course, it didn't help that it put me off at the beginning by using "gay" as a pejorative. And using a bus of kids with disabilities for laughs. I didn't know if this was just a sign of the times, or if it had a point.

Recommended, maybe, if you like weird, and maybe if you like following people's lives.

Private Beach

This was a really interesting graphic novel that had a wonderful clean-art style. Whilst the first volume was released many years ago, in its newly released complete form it still felt incredibly timely and contemporary in its depiction of a twenty-something’s dealing with the familiar issues of image, career and relationships.

From this jumping off point it slowly begins to take a surreal skewed twist on life, the tone akin to maybe something like Black Mirror with it’s play between the ‘arbitrary everyday’ and science fiction.

Private Beach is quirky, humourous and edgy, with elements of science fiction, adventure and political satire. I definitely enjoyed the core elements of Private Beach but I did find the ending a little unfulfilling as well as frustrating, as I whilst conclusive in one sense, it seemed to be begging for a continuation.

A good one for David Lynch fans.

Private Beach by David Hahn is a comic in which nothing is as it seems—an ordinary job offer turns into something bizarre, a consultation with a Magic 8 Ball gets freaky, and other slightly weird happenings to Trudy Honeyvan and all of her friends.

The artwork in this book is amazing, but I'll be totally honest—I didn't really get all of the different directions that the story went. Sometimes just kooky, normal life fore twenty-somethings, sometimes totally outrageous with a sprinkling of sci-fi. This is a collection that had a long-awaited new ending to it, so maybe if I had been on the Trudy Honeyvan bandwagon before this complete volume, I might have a different outlook on it. But for me, the artwork is the best part, not the plot (if there was a main one).

A quirky, odd, wonderful graphic novel. Fans of the Twilight Zone or David Lynch are to enjoy this book. Don't try and read too much into the stories and just go with it, it is a strange journey, but well worth the trip. The drawings are simple, but so interesting. I highly recommend this book.

A brilliant, totally engaging story. Three twenty-somethings, two of whom are sisters, and their male sidekick go through life until a fantastical twist ending takes the story beyond the realms of realistic fiction. Set up in chapters which could stand-alone as shorts they are eventually all connected and tell a slice-of-life tale. These girls are very quirky characters and 100% not politically correct in their topics of conversation. They do and say surprising things which a reader has to admit that they've thought or said themselves at some time. There are also very poignant parts which give the story depth such as a day in the life of the sister who is a nurse and a visit to a male friend who received a large insurance settlement from some unknown event which led to the loss of one leg. Trudy is the main character and the overreaching arc concerns her and the fact that he is one of these people who strange, ironic or coincidental events happens to all the time. The seven original issues are fantastic though they end abruptly. While the new final chapter takes the story to a bizarre conclusion. I fell in love with the characters right away and highly enjoyed this unusual story.

David Hahn's art is a beauty to behold. A little reminiscent of Mike Allred or Mark Buckingham with nice clean lines. Hahn has an ear for snappy dialogue. The scene with the seal in the first issue made me laugh out loud. The series works well just telling the story of 3 friends drifting through their mid-twenties. If it wasn't for the last issue, the odd things Trudy sees throughout the series could even have been ignored. The last issue takes a left turn off a cliff and turns the series on its ear. It feels too rushed and tied up into a nice neat bow for such a huge bombshell.