Self Employee of the Month

Self Employee of the Month is the 4th book in the Beardo 5 part comics collection by Dan Dougherty. It was published in 2015. At this point there are only 5 books in the series but as Dougherty's life progresses I am thinking that there might be more coming in the future.  I hope so.  I love this series which is autobiographical.  I met Dougherty a few years ago at Chicago's Printer's Row Lit Fest.  He hasn't been there the past 2 years but I hope to see him there next month.  I will have read all of his books by then and have many questions to ask him about his work and about cartooning in general.

The story opens with Beardo writing an agenda for a self employed staff meeting. Interspersed throughout the book there is a roll call, productivity report, advertising report, an accounting report, a self employee of the month award presentation, and an annual Christmas party that gets changed to a holiday party in order to be open minded.  He attends Comic Con with the first 3 books in this series but only sells books when he is in the bathroom and his attractive wife is handling the sales.

The author shows the reality of life as an artist when he shows Beardo denying friends' attempts to get free art jobs out of him. The reality of being a cartoonist in the 21st century is also discussed with newspapers turning away cartoons that they like due to dwindling budgets. Of course, the need to get a "real" job comes up when Beardo begins substitute teaching in elementary school.

I loved when he and his wife Meg went on a date to the Art Institute in Chicago where I live and visited one of my favorite exhibits, the Thorne Miniature Rooms. This exhibit has been open almost 100 years and has 68 miniature rooms decorated from time periods covering the 1600s to the 1930s. Chicago is the setting of the story probably because the author lives in the suburban area. Part of the setting included our town's first polar vortex in 2014.

I think this book is the funniest one in the series. With Beardo's sarcastic quips about working from home, his imaginary alcoholic cat friend Whiskers, and comments about being at Comic Con, he had me chuckling throughout the book.

This is the best book in the series. Way over 5 out of 5 stars!