Autobiographical comics have a bad reputation, and in many cases with good reason.  They’re often packed with angst posing as insight, and shock tactics posing as fearless introspection.  The urge towards memoir seems like it’s drawn from the artist’s need for acceptance and recognition, and in most cases this leads to lame,  limpid comics that I wouldn’t wish on a talking pig.  Not that a need for acceptance and recognition is bad in itself, who doesn’t struggle with that from time to time?  The difference lies in books where the insight is real and unflinching, where the more ribald details are not just for shlocky shocks, but part of a tightly woven exploration of character.  It’s books like these that not only satisfy the urge to peek behind the curtain of another person’s life, but have the potential to profoundly affect your own.  It should be mentioned that THE ALCOHOLIC is more semi- then straightforward autobiography, but anyone already familiar with Jonathan Ames’ work as an author/essayist/performer will be able to tell you that any artifice is pretty thin.  Ames tells the story of his own struggle with substance and love abuse, and the combination of his engrossing, honest, and often hilarious story and Dean Haspiel’s nuanced cartooning have created a book that is as thought-provoking as it is entertaining.  I’ll be shocked if I read anything better than this between now and the end of the year.