cover image Life's a Bitch: The Complete Bitchy Bitch Stories Vol. 1

Life's a Bitch: The Complete Bitchy Bitch Stories Vol. 1

Roberta Gregory, . . Fantagraphics Books, $16.95 (240pp) ISBN 978-1-56097-656-1

Midge McCracken is the self-destructive pessimist every office has. Not to mince words about it, she's a bitch. Gregory, one of the underground comics movement's few female movers and shakers, first introduced Midge, aka Bitchy Bitch, in her series Naughty Bits . This mammoth collection includes the first half of Midge's story, and a never-before-published comic on her lost decade, the '80s. Readers follow Midge through several decades, illuminating how she ended up a 40-year-old snarky office drone. Every panel includes Midge's internal monologue, always expecting the worst and usually getting it. Some of the stories focus on her office-mates—annoyingly cheerful Sylvia and her quest to solve all her problems through positive energy; power hungry manager Pam; intolerant Christian Marcie and her fight against Satan in all his forms. The art is loose and scratchy, bursting into manic episodes. It's crass, it's crude, it's biting, and it's uproariously funny. Gregory doesn't shy away from politically incorrect topics. Don't mistake Bitchy for a female Dilbert. Her life is filled with real problems that make us like her despite her offensive exterior. (Aug.)