Peepshow is Joe Matt's brilliant debut--and it has all the growing pangs a great comic should have: It's sometimes awkward, squeaky, and the inch by inch panels are sometimes a pain to squint through. But this is great stuff. Smart, unafraid, dirty, and hilarious, Matt tells the story of his background, personality and new relationship with girlfriend Trish. Most are one-pagers, with "filler" cartoons on Boob the cat, but there are extended episodes without the requisite "punchline," most memorably on how he struggles in resisting porn and masturbation, both of which Trish doesn't approve. (Sorry, I can't be euphemistic. If you don't want to read about a white kid from Philly masturbating, this comic is probably not for you.) Best of all is the guest comic by Seth at the back of the book that turns the autobiography on its head. Seth confirms and tells you Matt's actually worse than how he presents himself!

This is NOT sentimental stuff--this isn't Jeffrey Brown--but it isn't offensive, and thankfully there isn't much nudity, either. I definitely don't recommend this for your kids (with a title like Peepshow, who would?). And unlike another reviewer, I'd say intelligent women with a sense of humor would love this too. Unlike Matt's later work, his adolescent despair doesn't bog this book down. Peepshow is unexpected, frank, coarse and fun.

I found this book very worthwhile. I originally bought it, and after browsing through the inside, I was about to immediately return it (found the art tiny and unappealing). I decided to read it anyway, and found that I enjoyed it alot. This book contains a bunch of B&W vignettes and stories about the author and his girlfriends. He is painfully honest and the flow is awesome (think: Crumb, Clowes), but there is one problem. I only buy graphic novels so that i can re-read them forever. After first reading, the binding began to rip, and the first two pages fell out.

Love the book, but if I can't re-read it (because spine falls apart), goodbye!

I loved this book. Joe is being more honest than most of you might believe. I grew up in that "small suburb of Philadelphia" directly across that street from Joe, and I have to tell you that the stories are real. It was like reliving my childhood reading Peepshow. That underground fort across the street from 7-11...my older brothers helped build it. He was as germ-phobic, and nerotic in real life as he is in Peepshow.

I am however disappointed that my brothers and I never got a mention in the book.

The problem with taking Harvey Pekar's comic works as a guide and trying to do the same thing is that it requires a huge talent--you must do it exactly right for it to work. Joe Matt shows us how it ISN'T done.
Pekar chronicles his own life, warts and all. Joe Matt can't see past the warts, and has come to the erroneous conclusion that simply recording his problems and fears equals *A*R*T*. It ain't that easy!
Pekar, although he writes about himself, also pays attention to the people around him. They're forever saying things that you find yourself remembering. Joe Matt's view of life is adolescently centered on himself, and everyone around him is reduced to shallow caricatures. Yes, he is self-aware of this, but that doesn't make the end result worth reading.

At first I wasn't so sure about Joe Matt but he's really grown on me. He's so painfully honest about himself that it's amazing. Especially the story where he beat up his girlfriend. That was shocking that he included it in his comix... most would edit something like that out. He has a wonderful grasp on the stuggles of long-term relationships - and he manages to keep it pretty damn funny at the same time. His more recent comics about his problems(?) with porn are wonderful too. Any man who isn't embarrased to print a 10 page comic of himself dubbing his friends' porno movies is a saint in my book. Wonderful.