There You Were
by Diana Tamblyn
www.speedlines.com
BW, 12 pgs $3.00 US

The small press community has been without Diana Tamblyn for what feels like far too long. In truth it was just about a year and her reason for stepping away was a good one: she started a family.

Tamblyn returns to mini comics with There You Were. It’s the story of Josie, an unassuming woman. She works at a bank, but is barely noticed by her co-workers. She spends quiet evenings at home, more often than not falling asleep on the couch in front of the TV. She doesn’t appear sad or weird. She’s simply an introvert, quiet, focused, content. A series of wrong numbers at work and the steady, low-key affections directed at her by a fellow co-worker will make Josie undergo a subtle change through the course of this 12-page story.

Tamblyn’s comics (among which are Writer's Block and That Thing You Fall Into) are always quiet. They never feature large personalities and melodramatic emotion. On the surface the stories are simple, plain, reading like segments snipped from people’s lives and placed between covers. Her stories feel like reality; real people, real situations, real feeling. As you read them, you realize there is a lot of substance to her stories, a lot to enjoy. It’s good to have Tamblyn back at her drawing board. (Chad Boudreau)

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