Caroline Cash's gay, modern take on the ‘60s underground comic continues! In this tales of an adolescent expedition to Victoria’s Secret, an ode to a favorite bar, and more late-night bad decisions. Features a cardstock foil cover and stickers!
Caroline Cash is an American cartoonist based in Chicago. She specialises in zines, prints and underground comics and she is best known for her autobiographical comic book Pee Pee Poo Poo, winner of the 2024 Eisner Award for best limited series.
Caroline Cash’s one-person anthology returned for the second issue in a row in 2023 and the third one overall. It’s yet another treat that continues to be one of the few comic books I consistently buy whenever a new issue comes out. As with the previous installments, this one contains a mix of autobio and slice-of-life comics, each of which is distinctly Cash’s art style while playing around with different aesthetic choices.
BOOBS — One page of Cash extolling the best things about being a lesbian which includes “uhhhhhhh… Yeah. Boobs.” Yay!
Victoria’s Secret — A teenage Caroline Cash experiences the awkwardness of trying on and buying a bra as a budding lesbian. The late 2000s/early 2010s nostalgia energy emanates resplendently from references to Glee, Fall Out Boy, and Invader Zim, all complemented appropriately with grungy black-and-white art.
Dudes Rock — Two dudes hang out at a party and catch up with each other. It has a “guys who talk themselves up as being more successful than they actually are” tone permeating the dialogue. Furthermore, Cash’s magenta hues emphasize the party atmosphere's liveliness and simultaneous mundanity. All of these elements end up fitting together perfectly to create a relatable comic for anyone who has dealt with that kind of person above (or is probably one themselves).
The Life of a Young Hot “Freelance” Cartoonist — Cash describes an average morning in her life with acutely self-aware observation. The black and whites are done with screentone, so it does feel like reading a slice-of-life manga.
Danny’s in memoriam — Cash waxes nostalgically about Danny’s, a Chicago bar that closed in 2020 (what, you didn’t really think the title was in reference to the diner chain). In good, bad, and just okay times, Danny’s was the go-to place to lounge around and therefore, a treasure trove of memories. Anyone who has had that one hang-out place can relate. I don’t know why orange was chosen as the main color scheme for this comic, but it does give out a warmth that evokes that reminiscence.
Come Home: Part Two — This is a continuation of the last story in #420 centering on a person named Casey whom the main character knew. As far as I can tell, she seems like the type with a blase external aura who really deep down is screwed out of her mind, but we’ll have to see in the next installment whether my assumption is true.
My favorite comics ranked: Dudes Rock Danny’s The Life of a Young “Hot” Freelance Cartoonist Victoria’s Secret Come Home Part 2 BOOBIES
Overall, PeePee PooPoo #80085 is no stinker. My only question is what Caroline Cash will title the next issue since she missed the window to follow up #420 with #666.
It's frustrating to read Caroline Cash comics because she's TOO good! There is such an innate understanding of visual flow, such a knack for a punchline, such a pleasure in looking at her art. I especially love the Chicago angle. This was a wonderful addition to the PeePee PooPoo ouevre.
How could I not read something called PeePee PooPoo? Intrepid and gritty and directionless…there are no boundaries. What’s not to love? Pro tip: get you self a good early 2000s soundtrack to go with. It’s short-you’ll only need about three songs.
Another quick hit of comedy and observation from a twentysomething punk lesbian alt cartoonist living in Chicago. I got a laugh from the adolescent Victoria’s Secret story; who knew dorky young lesbian girls could feel equally weirded out and guilt-induced around Victoria’s Secret stores in the mall as dorky young hetero boys? The flight montage set to Liz Phair lyrics and the cover homage to Wimmin’s Comix were also fun to see in this issue.
following in the big crumby trajectory of issues #420 and #69, issue #80085 is a confident and mature step forward in Chicago’s premiere one-lesbian anthology by Caroline Cash. from strikingly resonant memoir to accomplished gross-out gags, all rendered with gracefully adept classic cartooning, PeePee-PooPoo is one of 2023’s most exciting new comics. as Silver Sprocket’s best-seller this year, it’s refreshing to see an artist get the traction she deserves
I'm only gonna' leave a review on one of these, but I've read a bunch of Cash's work and I just don't get the hype? Is it because the title is funny? As a trans woman, Cash's comics read like TERF adjacent 3rd wave feminism and donesn't have any depth beside "I'm a weed smoking dyke and my life is hard". I get the Teen Vogue brand of this shit is in high fashion and all the rage at the moment at the moment but like what's the substance? Sorry, but yawn. 4/10.
Caroline Cash's third entry in her anthology series features yet more fun and well drawn stories mostly focused on queer romances, making comics and living in Chicago. Though the stories aren't huge draws for me in terms of substance, her approach to making comics is pretty captivating. Her manga influenced aesthetic coupled to '60s undergrounds and 'late 80s/early '90s American alternative comix really ends up crafting some pretty distinctive designs. The gags are all on point, both in the form of dialogue or in visual gags (as a Midwesterner, seeing "Schlitz on tap" signs was a nice touch).
Not revolutionary comics by any means, but its clear that Cash is willing to experiment a lot with her cartooning over just three issues, giving each new issue something novel to appreciate.
I could feast and gobble up all of Caroline Cash's books. The style is fresh but familiar in the best way possible. I feel like I'm reading vintage Archie Comics from an alternate universe where chaotic queers run amok.