Reading in the Time of Monsters 009 - Achewood, Utopia of Depressed Dudes with John Perich

Reading in the Time of Monsters

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Reading in the Time of Monsters 009 - Achewood, Utopia of Depressed Dudes with John Perich

Peter Berard

Jun 28, 2023

On this episode of RITTOM, we talk about Chris Onstad’s great webcomic Achewood, an absurdist slice of life comic and “love letter to the English language.” Friend and fellow writer/organizer John Perich joins me to explain what Achewood is, why it’s a big deal, and how a webcomic about cats and stuffed animals says more about consumer culture, masculinity, and depression than a lot of works with more studiously serious approaches manage.

Read John’s newsletter! Disparaging the Boot

Read Achewood! Here’s the first comic in the legendary May 2004 run.

Support Onstad’s Achewood comeback!

Intro music by a friend, soon to experience a big life event! Shouts out!

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Reading in the Time of Monsters

The old world is dying; the new one cannot be born; now is the time of monsters. What better time to read, and read seriously? Every pedant on the internet thinks they're a critic because they have cultural preferences and their various streaming and social media services encourage them to state these preferences in little boxes. But some of us think criticism is something more. We know that criticism implies a way of being- a rejection of complacence, a dedication to searching high, low, and in between for insight and perspective, a constant development of the critical toolkit. Not only does that way of being point towards a better existence, but it also makes for criticism that's more fun to read. That's the gambit of this podcast- that there's an audience for something other than same-same mediocrity and parasocial agreement-clubs.

There should be one free episode a month. There will be another for people who become Citizens by subscribing at the Citizen (or Chieftain!) level at Melendy Avenue Review. MAR includes numerous text reviews a month, various life updates and guest posts, cute cat pictures, etc.

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