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Angloid
Alex Graham's first graphic novel tells the semi-autobiographical story of an artist trying to make her way in the world. Alex's comics contain the best of the 1960's underground comics movement in their approach to philosophical ideas, but without hyper-masculine focus. Full of surreal imagery, aliens, spirits, ne'erdowells, and kind-hearted misfits, Angloid is an incredible story.
- GenresGraphic NovelsComics
158 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2018
65 people want to read
About the author
Alex Graham
7 books55 followersAlex Graham is a painter and cartoonist from Denver, Colorado, currently residing in Seattle.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 1, 2023
Haven't read much published by Kilgore but this is my favorite so far. Impactful story about a young artist trying to navigate their way through all aspects of life. Worth checking out if you like bio-comics.
December 11, 2021
It took me a few pages to fall into the rhythm of this book, but having read Alex Grahams more recent book, Dog Biscuits, I was more than happy to give this this one a fair shot and I'm really glad I did.
Angloid is a book that doesn't offer any resolutions or lessons. The main character is a bit off-putting, but only because she's so relatable. It's hard not to see a reflection of all the things we hate most about ourselves, or at least try to bury the deepest. Angloid is a walking embodiment of all the self resentment we can harbour, all the destructive and alienating behaviours, the desperate need to connect and to fit in while still wanting to maintain a genuine sense of self, even though that is the same self that makes people want to avoid you in the first place.
It's hard to say this is a book ABOUT anything. Sure, Angloid is a struggling artist but the story doesn't linger on that or try to romanticize the creative process. It's just an honest account on how much of a toll, sure, creating art, can have on the psyche...but moreso how much just being ALIVE can grind us down. How showing our true selves can often lead to feeling the most alone. How pursuing and opening ourselves to love, or attempting to "get our shit together" can often lead us to the worst lows that we can imagine. And how suicidal ideations can just linger amongst it all, reminding us all too often that it could be so much easier to stop trying all together.
This book didn't make me feel good, and neither did Dog Biscuits. But that's only because of how real they both felt. The trauma's the characters experience are all too familiar. We've all experienced that sudden crumbling of a friendship over the course of a night, that slow motion reveal of who someone is and how little you mean to them once they've really seen you. And yeah...it feels shitty to read all over again, but it also reminds me that I'm human. We've all felt it because we're all alive, and life after all can be a real dick sometimes. But at least we can make art about it and connect over how universal, how NORMAL it is to sometimes feel like a big old loser weirdo sack of shit.
Angloid is a book that doesn't offer any resolutions or lessons. The main character is a bit off-putting, but only because she's so relatable. It's hard not to see a reflection of all the things we hate most about ourselves, or at least try to bury the deepest. Angloid is a walking embodiment of all the self resentment we can harbour, all the destructive and alienating behaviours, the desperate need to connect and to fit in while still wanting to maintain a genuine sense of self, even though that is the same self that makes people want to avoid you in the first place.
It's hard to say this is a book ABOUT anything. Sure, Angloid is a struggling artist but the story doesn't linger on that or try to romanticize the creative process. It's just an honest account on how much of a toll, sure, creating art, can have on the psyche...but moreso how much just being ALIVE can grind us down. How showing our true selves can often lead to feeling the most alone. How pursuing and opening ourselves to love, or attempting to "get our shit together" can often lead us to the worst lows that we can imagine. And how suicidal ideations can just linger amongst it all, reminding us all too often that it could be so much easier to stop trying all together.
This book didn't make me feel good, and neither did Dog Biscuits. But that's only because of how real they both felt. The trauma's the characters experience are all too familiar. We've all experienced that sudden crumbling of a friendship over the course of a night, that slow motion reveal of who someone is and how little you mean to them once they've really seen you. And yeah...it feels shitty to read all over again, but it also reminds me that I'm human. We've all felt it because we're all alive, and life after all can be a real dick sometimes. But at least we can make art about it and connect over how universal, how NORMAL it is to sometimes feel like a big old loser weirdo sack of shit.
May 2, 2023
Seemingly somewhat autobiographical to Alex Graham's own journey, Angloid is a story of a self-deprecating and alcoholic artist who presents a veneer of normalcy to get through her day to day. The struggles to maintain the brave front weighs down on Angloid heavily, and she can often come off as a bit abrasive. But Graham's script has an authentic enough touch to it to make Angloid a pretty relatable and empathic character. Angloid touches on the struggles to sustain a career dependent on creative output, but Graham takes no time to linger on this. The comic is no means a "woe is me" type of thing - it feels brutally honest and succinct. The book really sells the grind that it takes to just be alive - artist or not.
Graham's cartooning is spectacularly unique and feels like an animation of a fever dream. There's plenty of detailed hatchwork happening, but most of Graham's linework is simple, angular lines. I say simple - but I can't fathom how someone could so readily innovate such a distinctive signature style. She makes it look easy with the confident cartooning, though I assume the lesson behind Angloid is that it's easy to make things look easy even if they aren't at all.
Graham's cartooning is spectacularly unique and feels like an animation of a fever dream. There's plenty of detailed hatchwork happening, but most of Graham's linework is simple, angular lines. I say simple - but I can't fathom how someone could so readily innovate such a distinctive signature style. She makes it look easy with the confident cartooning, though I assume the lesson behind Angloid is that it's easy to make things look easy even if they aren't at all.
November 19, 2025
Really enjoyed this lovely tale, nice to read something less refined than other Alex Graham, and in a lovely raw and playful way that made it so deeply enjoyable to read and experience. I really loved it's conclusion and the cosmic beings that interrupt the story.
February 2, 2023
So good! I really felt Angloid's struggles and despairs as an artist and human.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews