Diary Comics - Softcover

"Like Beaton and Kolchaka, Harbin's interesting and insightful perspective on life is what makes these strips so enjoyable--his sharp, self-deprecating sense of humor also helps." -- Rich Barrett, Mental Floss "Diary comics are a genre that can be easy to dismiss at times, but Harbin's self-awareness and craft make this an essential collection." -- Tom Murphy, Broken Frontier "You've probably seen a few packages of autobiographical strips from Dustin Harbin available over the years, but this 5 x 6.5,? 236-page Koyama Press edition aims to be premiere iteration, with some pages removed and others newly added to create more of a linear picture of life and artistic development." -- Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal "It's [Diary Comics] a poignant, richly detailed account of the cartoonist's life and his struggles with creativity, finances, relationships, and depression, and represents a significant turning point in Harbin's career." -- Oliver Sava, Los Angeles Times' Hero Complex "Dustin Harbin has incredible skills as a draftsman and a great sense of comics rhythm... Exquisitely crafted, self-contained strips with satisfying fourth-panel punch lines... The book [is] more like a personal diary than a daily log, which is maybe what all those other diary comics should have been doing in the first place."-- Jake Austen, Chicago Tribune "In the scene, Harbin finds himself floating above the table in a euphoric daydream, only to have [Seth] chide him for use of metaphor. We'll have to disagree with Seth on this one -- in the case of Diary Comics, a little metaphor goes a long way." -- Brian Heater, PAPERMAG "Autobiographical comics are hard to do. Honestly, most of them stink. These do not. In fact, these small, intimate comics by Mr. Harbin carry off a very graceful balancing act between the mundane and the fanciful. He's a charming host -- inviting you in putting you at ease with his gracious manners and then telling you deep-felt experiences." -- Seth, author of Palookaville "Dustin's willingness to push himself in these comics makes them special, opening his mind and life to the audience he's meant to connect to, taking what is at times the character of himself and revealing the man. That's always the best part of autobio comics, an ability to confront something true." -- Kate Beaton, author of Hark! A Vagrant "With this zine, I was blown away by Dustin Harbin's honesty and the depth of his self-reflection. I don't know if it appealed to me as an autobio cartoonist, as a general human, or both, but it very much scratched an itch." -- Mari Naomi, author and illustrator of the award-winning graphic memoir Kiss & Tell: A Romantic Resume, Ages 0 to 22 (Harper Perennial, 2011), the upcoming books Dragon's Breath and Other True Stories (2D Cloud/Uncivilized Books, 2014)

Since 2010, Dustin Harbin has been sporadically documenting the ups and downs and sideways of his life in comic form. From their humble beginnings as a sketchbook exercise documenting the quotidian, oftentimes with hilarious results, Harbin's Diary Comics have grown into quirky existential examinations of life and living. Dustin Harbin is a cartoonist and illustrator who lives and works in North Carolina. He's best known for his autobiographical comics, as well as many, many illustrations of people and animals, often mixed and matched.