Cryptid Club

October 10, 2022
This amusing if slight collection from Andersen (Fangs), first serialized on Webtoon, features semi-interconnected snippets of various monsters and mythical beasts as they mosey along their everyday lives. Andersen’s trademark caricatured, full-color style complements the subdued one-page comics, with punch lines rooted in quotidian human experiences: the Loch Ness monster struggles to tell Bigfoot a picture of him isn’t the best; after an eye-patched seaman warns of conniving, seductive sirens, an abrupt cut shows one yearning for a boyfriend; and Cthulhu offers self-encouragement to overcome his anxiety to pick up the phone. Some ghosts encounter the spooky “Flatwoods monster” and nervously exclaim “I like your dress!” to prompt a neon, blood-dripping reply: “It has pockets.” Occasionally characters reappear: after a jackalope and ghost flirt, including admiring the ghost’s gams, the ghost later shows up exercising on “leg day.” The supernatural interactions remain low-stakes; readers aren’t going to encounter any deep philosophical or political commentary in these pages. Anderson’s got plenty of fans, who can expect frequent chuckles if rare guffaws here.