I Want You

The early minicomics of Hanawalt (Coyote Doggirl) crackle with the raw, fearless sense of humor she honed in her later books, then put to work on the animated series BoJack Horseman and Tuca & Bertie. This collection showcases Hanawalt’s weird but uncomfortably familiar worldbuilding, where tiny birds invade the bodies of plane passengers, abortion is performed by luring the fetus out with chocolate, and recurring anthropomorphic characters She-Moose and He-Horse engage in mundane activities that take sharp turns into absurd comedy or casual body horror. The volume mixes short comics with illustrations of animals and listicles like “Bad Pets,” “Worst Sandwiches,” and “Is It Scary or Cute?” Hanawalt’s funhouse-mirror anxiety warp hits a comic high pitch in “Things We Are Sorry We Did Last Night,” in which she starts by waking up next to a horse only to recall more and more outrageous regrets. “It feels good to reflect on all the important lessons I learned by being in my twenties and making a ton of dumb mistakes,” Hanawalt writes in her introduction. But for all their raunch, gross-out humor, and unabashed goofiness, these comics don’t feel like outtakes. They hit as freshly funny and subversive, and will appeal to dedicated fans of Hanawalt’s peculiar oeuvre as well as those just getting an introduction. (Aug.)