Borb

Usually, when a homeless man drinks his life away on New York City’s streets, no one gives a damn. But in this case we do, thanks to Little (Shutterbug Follies) detailing the deep, deeper, and deepest lows of one nameless man’s homelessness. Little takes us through a series of endless raw deals: the homeless man loses his teeth, gets peed on, gets bed bugs, and gets arrested, yet he trundles on, chugging vodka in an almost constant daze. These darkly funny mishaps (accompanied by plenty of fart and barf sound effects) are amusing—especially paired with the brilliant use of the four-panel-gag comic strip format. But as Borb’s alcoholism becomes even more severe, and he continues to fall through the cracks of modern society again and again, a despair grows, and it’s unclear where the joke is really coming from. Little’s elegant linework, minimal dialogue, and unwavering focus on the man’s day-to-day struggles are powerful, giving us a gruesome, slapstick view of society’s underbelly. (Apr.)