I was sent to the website of this webcomic when it was about 70 or 75 pages in'referred, actually, by one of the great masters of webcomics, Kate Beaton of Hark! A Vagrant. I quickly realized it wasn't just a plug for a friend, it was an honest recommendation by an experienced artist. Hicks' "Friends with Boys", which I checked daily for updates after that (it made it onto my very selective list of regularly checked webcomics), always proved a good boost in the morning, a sense of keeping on track with a good friend.

It would actually be more fair not to call it a webcomic but a graphic novel that was first released in installments online. As a graphic novel, then, it's quite good. The art is certainly something to like; it's a pretty simple style, one in which it's always clear what's happening. The author invites you into her view of the world, both idiosyncratic yet refreshingly familiar, so to speak (should I say "realistic"? There are ghosts!). The story, to be honest, didn't pull me in quite so strongly on the level of an overall plot'actually, the ending felt kind of abrupt'but it made up for that largely on the strength of its key pieces, the little digestible conversations and scenes you get to peer in on. Oh, and the characters. They are few, but good, and when they run up against each other it's fun to watch. It's well told in terms of dialogue; Hicks certainly isn't lacking in that accurate sensibility of quirky modern diction, the kind Juno did an embarrassingly bad job of and Scott Pilgrim made me cheer for.

Overall, it's certainly worth a read. Even if it isn't the best graphic novel I've read, it's among the better webcomics. In fact, I'd give it 4 stars in the first category but 5 in the second, and since that's the form I encountered it in, that's what it gets. :p

Besides, it's always good to encourage the brave comic artists'the talented ones, anyway.