White Bread

Written by Austin
Illustrated by Austin
Self-published

I picked this one up at last year's Richmond Zine Fest, if I am remembering correctly. It's a little philosophical piece using the idea of a slice of white bread as an avatar for a white teen(?) living in the suburbs.

Our cute but troubled avatar (he wears Converse sneakers) walks through his world, looking at every aspect of his life, from trying to experience the world to forming attachments to exploring the world around him. We see some of the positives (social action, jamming in a band) and negatives (distractions, television news, drug addiction) of life, concisely presented in a few pages.

By the end, our edible avatar encourages us to look for support and not to give up on our dreams. It's positive reinforcement in comics form, and while the artwork is pretty basic, I enjoyed the message. And sometimes, that's the most important thing.

No idea where you can find this one, but Austin apparently lives in Ohio, so maybe try a local fest around there. I wonder if he's done anything since?