“The first one’s free” is a tried and true marketing scheme and it works wonderfully with digital comics. I had heard about Li’l Depressed Boy through the internet, but never had a chance to read it. Bored one day, I decided to use my phone to comb Comixology’s free section. LDB #1 was amongst those offerings. I was completely enamored with that first issue. I loved the character’s rag doll appearance and his experiences with women seemed to mirror mine. I quickly picked up the first TPB from my LCS and blew through it. I wound up buying issues #5, #6, and #7 that same night and picked up the then newly minted #8 from my LCS that Wednesday, adding it to my pull as well.

The issues opens with a nice montage of LDB’s failed attempts to woo the opposite sex, in anticipation with his first date with Spike, (how she got this nickname is explained within the issue) his boss at the local cineplex. Writer, S. Steven Struble does a good job of showing both the awkwardness and euphoria the can accompany such a date. Later we accompany LDB to work, and we’re shown the hierarchical divide between the ushers and concessions. The issue ends with news that seems to bum out our hero. While certainly not the best of circumstances, it’s far from the worst case scenario. Hell, it’s far from some the unpleasantness shown early on in this issue. Sina Grace’s minimalist style gives the art a truly indy feel and invokes the raw emotion the story depends so much on.