"You Will Own Nothing and You Will be Happy," #1 is Another Hanselmann Hit!

As I started reading the newest comic from Simon Hanselmann, titled, "You Will Own Nothing and You Will be Happy," the first thing I said a few pages in was, "Really, zombies?" I entrusted in him though and by this debut issue's end I was hooked and can't wait for the next entry (which Hanselmann has promised will come out quarterly). For those of you unaware of Hanselmann and his immense talent, however, you might be asking who exactly he is.

Simon Hanselmann has created a variety of little Universes for his characters of Megg, Mogg, Owl, Werewolf Jones, and everyone else. You've got the kind we've seen in, "MegaHex," and its assorted books leading up to, "Bad Gateway." There was the, "Crisis Zone," one where COVID-19 and its impact on the World was reflected in real-time upon the characters--it also brought Hanselmann a ton of acclaim. There are books that I'm not quite sure where they fall into what part of the Hanselmann-Multiverse, or Hansel-verse (as I'm calling it), such as, "Below Ambition," and other self-published stuff (some of which was collected in, "Seeds and Stems." Now we've got the latest reality we're glimpsing in the Hansel-verse (I'm going to make this a thing, mark my words) and it features the gang dealing with--as I said somewhat incredulously at the start, zombies. Yes, zombies.

In a lengthy backmatter section that closes out the comic Hanselmann outright admits he wanted to tackle something that seemed hacky and played out because he simply wanted to do something fun and see how well he could make it work. Doing the depressing comics such as, "Bad Gateway," with all the exploring Megg's familial trauma relates too much to a lot of what Hanselmann went through in life as a child and is hard to dig into, he says. Zombies, though? That's just a recipe for some twisted fun and allows Hanselmann to explore a lot of concepts of society falling apart violently--a subject he lightly scratched the surface of in, "Crisis Zone," and dives headfirst into here.

The comic itself contains Hanselmann's usual superb artist and snarky wit. The issue mostly involves Megg, Mogg, and Owl holing up in their house and feeling claustrophobic as the world essentially begins to end outside. The panels for these chapters/"Days," are cramped and awkward, just how the characters feel. Then, when moments occur of them stepping outside we get the most beautiful splash pages of a ruined city. Megg and Mogg are understandably at first incredulous at the idea of a zombie apocalypse whilst Owl is a mix of terrified and borderline delighted his high-tech security system will get used (he never trusted poor people and wanted to be safe) as well as all the doomsday provisions now being ingested.

As Megg and Mogg are wont to do, everything gets screwed up by the issue's end and we conclude on a cliffhanger about just how bad things might get for everyone. As I mentioned, Hanselmann plans to release issues of, "You Will Own Nothing and You Will be Happy," on a quarterly basis along with his other projects with big publishers (the backmatter discusses how he decided to do this as a self-published endeavor as it was the most cost-effective choice). The first issue is now sold-out but there will be another printing alongside the new issues. This new entry in the Hansel-verse (mark my words, I'll make this a thing) is a real treat. I may have said, "Really, zombies?" at first, but now I'm saying, "Really, zombies!" with great excitement.

5 out of 5 Stars.

Simon Hanselmann's "Below Ambition," Mixes Depressing and Funny into a Strangely Satisfying Blend

Simon Hanselmann has spent years doing his, "Megahex," comics featuring Megg, Mogg, Owl, Werewolf Jones, and other surreal characters. He then achieved massive critical and commercial success with his strip, "Crisis Zone." It chronicled his characters in an alternate continuity of sorts as they responded in real-time (he did the strip daily) to COVID-19 shutting everything down throughout 2020 and resulting in utter mayhem. A collection of, "Crisis Zone," was published in 2021 and it was a massive book that practically burst at the seams with all the wild hijinks and events that took place. It was one of my favorite comics of the year. How does Hanselmann possibly follow up such a book? Well, you can't really go larger, so why not narrow the focus? Hence, "Below Ambition."

"Below Ambition," is a series of vignettes that focus on Megg and Werewolf Jones as their two-person band, Horse Mania, tries and fails to succeed at live shows because they frankly suck. We witness Megg and WJ failing miserably to get their tech to work or make anything resembling music, all the while being absolutely vicious to any other band sharing sets with them at various bars. Compared to the sprawling, "Crisis Zone," this is absolutely minimalist, focusing mainly on Megg and WJ simply being miserable, high/drunk, and getting into trouble when they aren't screwing around in the alleys behind bars. It sounds horrifically dark and it is, but Hanselmann is a master at injecting humor into even the grimmest of situations. One strip features Megg so intoxicated she can only lay on the stage and beg for someone to just kill her while a bar's audience stares on aghast besides a friend/drug dealer of WJ's yelling about how the show needs some, "Live suicide!" The humor is as pitch-black as a cup of espresso and hits you just as hard.

If I may have a light spoiler in my review, the last strip takes us the farthest into the future I think a, "Megahex," comic has ever gone, featuring Megg with a young daughter who stumbles upon an old, "Horse Mania," record. This inspires a variety of feelings in Megg from nostalgic, to sad, to somewhat horny. The result is the book closing with a scene that is as raunchy and graphic as it is strangely sweet. I honestly could see people who only know Hanselmann for, "Crisis Zone," being really turned off by the extremely dark tone of, "Below Ambition." However, if someone is familiar with his earlier works or liked the really sorrowful-yet-funny, "Bad Gateway," then this should appeal to them immensely. I dug it.

5 out of 5 stars.