Scenes From A Marriage Vol 2
Matt MacFarland
60 pages
https://www.mattiemac.com
https://linktr.ee/Mattiemac17
Scenes From A Marriage Vol 2 is a 5 inch x 5 inch (~12.5cm x 12.5cm) partially black and white, partially colour comic zine about, well, marriage life. The zine is filled with comics that are one or two pages long, with each page featuring four panels per page.
I haven’t laughed so hard while also feeling called out at the same time for a very long time.
Scenes From A Marriage opens with a short and sweet dedication before launching right into the comics. From the very first one, I was laughing out loud and enjoying myself thoroughly. I wonder if Matt looks back on that first one and shakes his head because he didn’t realise just how appropriate it would be for the rest of 2022. I won’t spoil the whole thing, but I will say that even the spirit world is feeling the inflation.
The chuckling and laughing continued on to the point that Wanderer started giving me weird looks from the kitchen until I told him about what I was reading. One specific comic I could have sworn was taking from our life (though a friendship and not a marriage). A scene from my life played out right there in the comic with the husband character marching in to announce some sort of bad news the wife character doesn’t want to hear about while she prepares to listen to true crime videos. I feel so called out.
I enjoyed each and every comic in this zine. There are so many great ones to mention, but I want to add in one more to what I’ve already mentioned. In one comic, the husband character finds he’s ‘speaking’ in text and emoji speak and doesn’t know how to stop. It’s just so funny and adorable to me.
There’s no way I could review this zine without mentioning how much I love the covers – yes, front and back – on this zine. It reminds me of those t-shirts in the 90s with the cartoon characters facing forward on the front but on the back, you could see their behinds. There’s only a little behind on the behind of this cover (which gave me a giggle), but I just absolutely love the touch of looking at the characters’ backs on the back. Even the title is on there – backwards! Love it.
There’s so much I love about this comic. From the humour to the art style that just fits everything so perfectly, Scenes From a Marriage Vol 2 has quickly and easily become a favourite in my collection. Definitely check out this and Matt’s other creations. My completionist heart needs it all!
