Simon Hanselmann has seen some shit. The Tasmanian-born comics artist—who now resides in Seattle—writes and draws comics about the druggy, sexy, hilarious adventures of a witch named Megg, her cat familiar/boyfriend Mogg, and their werewolf drug dealer roommate Werewolf Jones. Hanselmann has always said these adventures were inspired by stories from his own life, so I’m not speaking out of school when I say the weird cat hard-ons and “chem-sex” in Hanselmann’s new graphic novel Bad Gateway ring true. I don’t know how we got here, to this room covered in garbage and bong water, but it feels weirdly like home.
Bad Gateway opens with a story catch-up (the Ed Piskor X-Men: Grand Design reference is not lost on me) about all the drama from Hanselmann’s last collection, Amsterdam, which saw Megg cheating on Mogg, and the departure of the straight-laced owl, Owl. The absence of Owl’s squarish grounding precipitates more intense lows for the trio: Megg’s unsettling plot to remain on welfare, the sale of her treasured limited-edition roller blades, and the ensuing snorting of spilled amyl nitrate off parking lot asphalt.