Be a Man

by Jeffrey Brown

Jeffrey Brown's own self-parody of his "ultra-sensitive" graphic novel, "Clumsy." A heaping of in-your-face male chauvinism, over-the-top machismo, and self-involved gratification. For all those jerks who complained that Jeffrey Brown was a sissy, finally you can see him "Be a man!"

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Humor, Comic Book, Slice Of Life, Comedy, Graphic Novels Comics

32 pages, Comic

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Jeffrey Brown was born in 1975 in Grand Rapids, Michigan and grew up reading comic books with dreams of someday drawing them, only to abandon them and focus on becoming a 'fine artist.' While earning his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Brown abandoned painting and began drawing comics with his first autobiographical book 'Clumsy' in 2001. Since then he's drawn a dozen books for publishers including TopShelf, Fantagraphics, Drawn & Quarterly, McSweeney's and Chronicle Books. Simon & Schuster published his latest graphic memoir 'Funny Misshapen Body.' In addition to directing an animated video for the band Death Cab For Cutie, Brown has had his work featured on NPR's 'This American Life' His art has been shown at galleries in New York, San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles and Paris. Jeffrey's work has also appeared in the Best American Comics series and received the Ignatz Award in 2003 for 'Outstanding Minicomic.'
He currently lives in Chicago with his wife Jennifer and their son Oscar.

Reviews

[Bogdan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This artist is definitely not in my zone of interest. The graphic isn`t impressive and it`s the same thing with the story, too. Not bad, but not so funny either. Just ok.

[Cris · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you haven’t read any of the other Girlfriend series please don’t judge Jeff and his work by this book. His other works tell the stories of what happened…this is a joke! Saying that I gave it 3 stars because it’s a sick joke. I don’t like that too many people will think that this is a good thing. 😢. Already I have read reviews thinking he was serious, this is why you should always read a couple books by an author, not just be a one and done.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

very chauvinistic but also hilarious.

[Juli august-schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I learned from this book is that sexism and stupid boys are hilarious.

[Myk Pilgrim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked this up on a whim.
I get the idea behind the self-deprecating jokes and the rough and ready art style but at the end of the day this book just wasn't for me.

[Jeff Bassin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seemingly a parody of Brown's inner ID, but I haven't read Brown's other work so this wasn't a good starting point. Hard to appreciate in the 2019 climate, though that's seemingly the point. I might revisit after I read more of Brown's work. I appreciate the art style and the tiny "homemade" book presentation by Top Shelf.

[Mauro German · Rating 4 out of 5]

DEFINITIVAMENTE hay que leer primero los otros tres tomos de la saga "De las Novias". sino esto no tiene ni el mas mínimo sentido ni humor.

[Eider Sánchez · Rating 4 out of 5]

What’s interesting about this comic is that I feel most men will feel identified with how much of our mind is always focused on, well, sex.

[Malbadeen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't find this book on goodreads right after I read it, but I loved it so much that I snuck in the review after reading Unlikely (which was kindly purchased for me by Sarah after she saw me go berserk for Jeffrey Brown):
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
one more thing for you to know about this book is that it's only 3.00 and you should buy more than one copy (as I did) so you can hand it out to friends at a moments notice.

[Candice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone who knows Jeffrey Brown knows that he is hypersensitive, nostalgic, and gets his heart broken all of the time. This comic is not to be taken literally! Brown's representation of himself in "Be A Man" is tantamount to his actual character in his first work "Clumsy." In these short vignettes, Brown is rude, misogynistic, angry, and self-absorbed. Hilarious if read bearing this in mind.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

...read this one second. it's an even more self-deprecating comic about how he came off so un-manly in Clumsy, so scenes from the first book are recreated with a new macho spin. funnier, not so sad.

[Leidz Lannister · Rating 3 out of 5]

aww I liked clumsy better. this book makes clumsy seem even sadder in comparison because these are the things he could have done, he could have been a jerky asshole. but he wasn't. and he just got hurt in the end. poor guy.

[Kagan Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I got your medicine right here"
brilliant....
also possibly a loose quote.

[Lizzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Luckily I have nothing rife to say about this. It's just funny and awesome and well done. A nice treat for people who have read the Girlfriend Trilogy.

[denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

To truly appreciate the humor, you must read Jeffrey Brown's Clumsy first.

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you read Jeffrey's 'Clumsy', this a funny revisit to it! Both are great buy!

[Esme · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hahaha

[E. Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely hilarious follow-up to Clumsy. I love sardonic humor.

[Camille · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will have you in stitches. Soo very funny. What does in stitches mean, anyway?

[Adam Bessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Self-conscious hyper-hipster uber realness (is that hipster? wait...my head hurts).

[James Kinsley]

After reading one of Jeffrey Brown's books, I always like to revisit this gem. Context is vital - it'd be a shame if someone were to read this not knowing the heartfelt nature of the work Brown's riffing on, and not realise that the bravado on display is parody. It's throwaway, but offers a lot of giggles.