Hogbook and Lazer Eyes

By Maria Bamford and Scott Marvel Cassidy. Published by Fantagraphics. 

Hardcover, 64 pages, Colour, 2024.

Fans of Maria Bamford’s acclaimed quasi-autobiographical Lady Dynamite! Netflix series already know of her romance with LA painter Scott Marvel Cassidy, as well as her droll pug sidekicks Blueberry and Bert.Now the story has been recounted in the graphic novella Hogbook and Lazer Eyes, written by Bamford/Cassidy, drawn by Cassidy, and all told by the rescue dogs they’ve adopted.

For those unfamiliar with the story, newly single fortysomethings Maria Bamford and Scott Cassidy each signed up on the dating site O.K. Cupid, under the respective usernames “Hogbook” and “Lazer Eyes.” They went on a date, and then another, and soon, despite a history of Bipolar II disorder and unhealthy relationships for each of them, they fall in love and are married in 2015. We view all of this through the prism of their pug housemates, including Blueberry and Bert (who has an unnatural obsession with Michael Flatley of “Riverdance” fame), and the elderly bonded pair Betty and Arnold (who recount their star turn as interplanetary canine scientists in the second season of Lady Dynamite).

Cassidy’s fine art training translates with ease into graphic storytelling, with a naturalistic illustrative style that is a pitch-perfect match Bamford’s comic timing, making Hogbook and Lazer Eyes a beautifully illustrated love story, told by some incredibly charming pugs.

"Comedian Bamford (of the streaming series Lady Dynamite) and her husband, artist Scott Cassidy, sketch out their life together in a series of wry, pug-centric vignettes... Cassidy has a knack for bringing the animals and their spaces to life." — Publishers Weekly

"There's a lot that's more or less about Hogbook and Lazer Eyes — it's more or less narrative, more or less experimental, more or less autobiographical, more or less ironic, more or less perfect." — Artillery