I am Going to Be Small

by Jeffrey Brown

Everyone needs something funny to stick in their pocket to read on the train, or on a lunch break, or in line at the DMV. This is that something. Jeffrey Brown sets aside the sappy sentimentality of his autobiographical comics to bring you this subtle and subservise, laugh-out-loud, giant-size Small collection of gag cartoons. Enjoy.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Comix, Humor, Comic Book, Sequential Art

384 pages, Paperback

First published August 16, 2006

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

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mutherfocking hillarious.

[Kricket · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some made me laugh very hard.
And some I did not understand.
But I always love Jeffrey Brown's artwork.

[Malbadeen · Rating 5 out of 5]

hee-hee-ha-ha-ho-ho!
I love this collection!
I love the size.
I love the cover.
I love the content.

Proof of it's greatness:
#1. I almost fell to my death when I stepped off a curb without noticing because I was so immersed in this book as I was walking home the oher day.

#2. Despite the fact that I covet sleep, My brother (who is staying with me) and I, keept saying "wait, wait...just one more!" as we re-read through this book the other night.

#3) the comic with the sperm. HA! SUCKA'S you'll have to buy it for yourself to know what I mean. Which you can do by supporting the great Top Shelf Productions at http://www.topshelfcomix.com/catalog....

[Dave Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most consistently funny -- and therefore enjoyable -- comic collections I've read...ever. That is since Kliban died. The comparison is worthy because there's the same edge on offer from Jeffrey Brown.

More personable than Kliban but there is so much good stuff here that he has plenty of space to wander.

You gotta love it. I do of course.

Give me more, Jeffrey, give me more.

[Kelnundrum · Rating 5 out of 5]

i learned that jeffrey brown and b. kliban have similar humor
also, i re-learned the joys of life through laughter

[Maria Rowe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this more than Brown’s girlfriend trilogy. About half the comics were amusing, and half I either didn’t get or didn’t think were very funny. I liked the illustrations though and this is worth a look.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not love this. I thought that the comics were not funny. The only redeeming quality was the short story at the end with the animals. Other than that, I wasn't impressed. Which is unfortunate because I loved his other book called Clumsy.

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was nice, a bunch of sketches with Brown's humor being what it is.

Liked some of them, some weren't that funny or well, I didn't like.

Most of it was ok, I guess, but it wasn't enough. Hit or miss!

[Andrew Shaffer]

Is this 14 years old already? Read it then and loved it...now, I’d say I’m more into his mopey, whiny comics. 🤕

[Andy McCarthy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good and some not so good cartoons. Absolutely never laughed out loud.

[Megan Kirby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some funny gags, but mostly fell flat for me.

[Maggie Paris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is hilarious. It takes a step wayyy back from Jeffrey Brown’s sensitive side in the girlfriend trilogy. He has a surprisingly morbid sense of humor at times. This is a great book to own especially if you are ever creatively stumped. You can pretty much just crack it open to any page and find something entertaining.

[Emilia P · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am feeling unnecessarily generous to Jeffrey Brown today. I read this book in the main Takoma Park restaurant, Mark's Kitchen, eating a Kimchee Omelette and drinking 3 cups of coffee. But man, I like Jeff Brown in bite-sized bits better than long mopey stories. One of the best things about him is his sense of humor, which shines through and is more the focus in page-long comics. His major topics: girls, nose picking, problems with religion, loving music, concern about baby-making, generally being awesome are on full view here as well. Alot of funny love+sex stuff especially - I think he borrows knowingly from Life in Hell, and maybe even a little from The Far Side, with of course, lots of stuff from life. I found myself laughing at lots of different kinds of jokes, and wanting to read more. I dunno, I just thought it was great, fresh, and made me want to draw some flippy do. and is there anything better than that?

[Anina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like Jeffrey Brown's stories about his failures with getting girls (although he must be doing better now that everyone he dates knows they will end up in a comic?)

Anyhow, this is just a bunch of little one-liner short shorts. Most of them made absolutely no sense. I made my friend read some to make sure it wasn't just me. He did not get them either. They are like inside jokes. I would recommend this only for people who knew Jeffrey Brown in the 8th grade.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Jeffrey Brown, so when I saw this in Top Shelf's $1 sale, I had to pick it up. I believe I described this to Shane as 25% laugh-out-loud funny, 50% amusing, and 25% "well, that's a comic". I definitely got my $1 worth of laughs - maybe even $5 worth of laughs? I definitely laughed enough that Shane said "I'm going to have to read this funny book!", though maybe not enough to advocate buying it.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this one whenever I was on the toilet. It's filled with one-liner comic strips, many dealing with obscurities and peculiarities, and little (if any) continuity between them. I found times when I laughed out loud, and times where I'd turn the page over and over and not come up with something to laugh about. In a word: quirky.

[Wes Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really the rating should be like 2 1/2 stars. The back of the book says this is the definative laugh out loud collection of gag strips, though I found it neither defining of Brown considering other works or laugh out loud, in fact, I barely laughed at all! Some of the stuff is time-stop funny, like, it takes a little time to laugh about them; kind of like a Mitch Hedberg joke.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's not that Jeffery Brown is a master artist, but I've really come to love his little thumbnail slice of life style. This is, as the cover states, a collection of gag comics, meaning they're flippant, weird, profane, and simply hard to categorize. Enjoying this as a little different side of the cartoonist, having read many, if not most, of his more serious titles.

[Kian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've owned this book since 2007 and it has never not made me laugh. I've laughed so hard I cried. At a one-panel gag! In the last year, it has disappeared from my collection (no doubt stolen by joy-fearing fiends) and I miss it terribly. I suppose these aren't for everyone, but goddamn, these comics are for me.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a collection of comics, many of which were one or two frames, this really kept my attention, made me think, and made me laugh more than I thought it would. I never really thought of a comic in the same way as I think of a stand-up comic until sitting with this collection. I'm intrigued by the creator's mind and wonder about some of his more full-length works.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like I Am Going To Be Cute.

This collection of sketches and one-panel comics is not my favorite Jeffrey Brown (I prefer his long-form comics) but on a cold, crummy day they hit the spot.

[Daisy · Rating 4 out of 5]

just picked this up . . . a quick read but satisfying. what i learned about jb was that he likes to draw things with nose-picking, chubsters, and religion. my favorite strips are those with him and his lady friends. very endearing.

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite collection of Jeffrey Brown's work, but still quirky-funny, and made me giggle on numerous pages.

[Tim Franzen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun collection of comics. "Hey kids! It's Roachy!"

















'

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

i hate jeffery brown but i certainly can't hate this book.

[Jesica Steimer]

not his shineyest book. more of a dull primered sort of a novel.

[Abbey · Rating 3 out of 5]

prefer the autobiographies. some of the made me literally laugh out loud and want to tape them on my door. some just weren't that funny. over-all semi-enjoyable though

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice to see Brown out of his box in this random assortment of one-panel gags and comic strips. Reminds me of everything from James Kochalka to Tony Millionaire.

[Shaun · Rating 2 out of 5]

Only marginally funny and full of boy's club, misogynist-style humor. This one didn't work for me on multiple of levels.

[Meem · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Don't know why I read this.