Garbage Night

Description

In a barren and ransacked backyard, a dog named Simon lives with his two best friends: a raccoon and a deer. The unlikely gang spends their days looting the desolate supermarket and waiting for the return of the hallowed ‘garbage night’ – but week after week, the bins remain empty. While scavenging one day, the trio meet Barnaby – another abandoned dog who tells them about the ‘other town’ where humans are still rumored to live. Spurred on by hunger and the promise of food, the trio joins up with Barnaby and set off into the unknown…

With echoes of post-war, derelict places, Garbage Night explores how animals may internalize their changing environment and express their thoughts, fears and hopes.A surprisingly melancholy tale of a dog, raccoon and a deer left behind to scavenge food after a human apocalypse. […] Lee’s creating a nice tension by setting her funny-animal-comix against the bleakly beautiful backdrop of an empty, semi-ruined suburbia.

—NPR

Both readers inhabiting economically depressed communities and those comfortably distanced from them will shudder as they plod alongside this deteriorating group of increasingly edgy friends. […] Grim, deeply affecting, and timely.

—Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW

A simple yet absorbing tale of friendship and survival in a postapocalyptic world. […] Lee’s expansive universe of anthropomorphic animals comes alive through her spare use of detail: her verbal worldbuilding gives readers just enough information about animal society and what came before to spark the imagination, and vivid, expressive cartooning fills in the gaps. The result is a quiet, heartbreaking new installment in what promises to be a tremendously imaginative serial.

—Publisher’s Weekly, STARRED REVIEW

Contemporary fiction is full of postapocalyptic stories, but Lee’s sly comic, about animals left behind after humans disappear, stands apart. […] The ample depth of feeling and intriguing backstory are in captivating complement to Lee’s artwork?against saturated, jewel-toned backgrounds of the ravaged landscape, her cartoonish, stylized animals, with their slouching tube socks and churlish attitudes, have a lighthearted, almost playful look.

—Booklist, STARRED REVIEW

Bright colors and bouncy drawings carry this story of friendship, trust, and fear. […] it’s a bite-sized treat of a book.

—The Comics Journal

Lee’s superb world-building immediately answers any questions new readers may have about the setting, and each character is expressive and endearing […] Only a cold-hearted reader wouldn’t root for these precious, punk animal teens immediately.

—Women Write About ComicsJen Lee studied at the School of Visual Arts in NYC for a BFA in illustration, whilst also taking classes in comics, graphic design, and writing. Lee currently freelances in a farmhouse out of Idaho. Some of her clients include Drop Dead Clothing, Burton, Boom! Studios, and Nickelodeon. Her work is influenced by artists such as Marc Boutavant, Dave Cooper and Andrei Tarkovsky.PL

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