Rainy Day Recess

A long-awaited collection

Thrilled that David Kelly's mid-90's comic strip has finally been collected and bound in this long overdue book. Such a treat to revisit the charming, poignant tale of Steven, a sensitive young boy growing up in the 70's who likes playing with dolls, has a crush on his best friend Christopher and prefers reading to sports (do I need to draw you a picture about where this is going?). He also has a rocky home life (his parents have divorced) and encounters bullies and teasing in school, and everywhere the loneliness of being different. Steven often has a rough time of things and left to his own devices escapes into vivid fantasy and comic books (both reading them and creating his own), but he is not a victim: calling upon the strange inner resilience of kids, he always seems to make it through in the end, and even learns to stand up for himself and for others. David's art work is a joy to behold: he gets the 70's period details absolutely, uncannily right, and his writing always connects emotionally (the entire "New Best Friend" section may be his strongest work ever, IMHO). The extras included here are various pages David produced over the years for titles such as Gay Comics, as well as 8 new pages created especially for this volume; there are also guest spots from Kris Dresen (of "Max and Lily" fame) and Ariel "Deep Girl" Bordeaux, and an eloquent, moving forward by Dan Savage, representing the It Gets Better Project, which is entirely apropos. A wonderful collection, and don't you miss it. Five stars.