Spent Hardcover – July 10, 2007

I liked Matt's book The Poor Bastard and quite enjoyed the interactions with women and his relationship struggles. This book however shows Joe Matt later in life, and it seems all he does is cry over his porn and masterbation problems. I'm nearing the end thinking to myself "where is this going?" only to have Joe Matt (SPOILER ALERT) tell me as a reader I'm probably disappointed and there is no plot. You were correct Mr. Matt. The Illustrations are nice.

It's sad when autobiography goes nowhere. I loved Joe Matt's early work and decided to see what he's been doing since I haven't check in on his work since the 90s. This book goes nowhere. It doesn't even leave the station. Literally pages of his interior monologue about his porn tastes. And at the end, he sums it up as narcissistic and self-indulgent. The fact that he knows he's making crap makes it even worse. Instead of just being bad, it becomes an insult.

Brutally honest, pathetic story of a lonely artist and his hilariously sad life and adventures. I am sure there are millions of Joe Matt's out there.They just are hiding in their apartment watching porn, and now they all have a voice.

This graphic novel is an intimate portrait of a man analyzing his own relationships with the women that comprise the sources of his immediate gratification... that is, the porn stars and the scenes he meticulously edits onto a masterworks collection of eight-hour VHS tapes. His days melt into one another, editing, masturbating, and making sly deals and invasive conversation with his friends, guilty that he is spending his time being spent rather than writing new comics. His ultimate releases are the carnal kind, debasing himself and feeling like garbage because of the various ways it affects his relationships, the women in his life, his work, and his sanity. He is unapologetic, however, understanding that the price he is paying for moments of bliss and immediate gratification is part of some long-term plan to catalogue and squirrel away what small joy pornography and financial investments bring him.It’s not a particularly hopeful story, but the illustrations and execution of the book are beautifully rendered. I also love the fact that several other artists have cameos in his story, appearing in a beautifully stark monochrome impression of what they must really be like eating dinner in Canada, discussing addiction to masturbation, lack of sex lives, being shy dorks, and comics. The most beautiful part of this book is truly its honesty, compromising nothing for Matt’s need to be honest and reflective to his audience. In the truth, the shame, the guilt, Matt presents an ugly beauty that he shined to brutal transparency.

Tells the story of a miserable cartoonist who spends most of his time creating bootleg adult video, to the point of exhaustion. Then he has no time/energy to do any work on his graphic novel. Additionally he collects vintage comic strips. Occasionally engaging. Includes flashbacks to explain how he got where he ended up at. Swearing, adult content.

The good thing about "Spent" is that the graphic art is wonderful. The lines are nice and crisp, and Joe Matt clearly is a talented artist.The bad thing is that - whether intentional or not - the protagonist Joe that he presents to us in "Spent" is such a dreary, pathetic drag. He is addicted to dubbing his favorite moments from porno films onto blank tapes (he's got hundreds upon hundreds of hours of tape as a result), addicted to saving money and watching it accrue interest yearly (he therefore becomes a somewhat reclusive miser, deathly afraid of spending any money despite the fact that he's got tons in the bank). He will spend money on long-sought-after collector's items that his friends want, if only to sell it back to them for several times what he paid. He spends too much time brooding over his torturous childhood (and it apparently wasn't that bad - simply your same-old-routine of young boy is nerdy and watches "contraband" porn and wishes girls liked him and boys didn't tease him so much).I can spot the protagonist's self-deprecation in "Spent," and for the most part, I can appreciate that it has its place there. Certainly people like him thrive on such behavior. That's fine. I can understand that. But the lead here is such a unlikable guy, I found myself hoping it would pleasepleaseplease get better, or end more quickly than it did.I am also willing to concede that, as a woman who was relatively popular in school, I simply may not be able to relate. For that reason (and because of the nice artwork), "Spent" gets three stars from me.

What could have been a very funny Graphic Novel due to it's bleakness as subject matter, 'Spent' is well drawn and seems to be inspired by comic- drawing-legend Crumb. Yet the dialogue lead story is pretty sad and true to be told, totally pointless. As a Graphic Novel that is divided into four sections, each four years apart, it's kind of a study on Joe Matt's Porn-Addiction when he is living a single life after splitting-up with his girlfriend Trish. I can't honestly recommend this book to anyone but if there is any consolation to the years of work, like Crumb, Joe Matt is honest but unlike Crumb he doesn't seem to posses much of a sense of humour. It's a Graphic Novel based on Self-Loathing, Shallowness and Painfully Sad in places, which barely scrapes by as a story. It's a useful warning I guess to realise that Porn-Addiction is a sad road to nowhere.

This book is a bit scrappy and has gone to the back of the shelf as i don't like the graphics