Love is a Peculiar Type of thing is an odd little book. It was written by Box Brown, who is also the author of the comic Bellen. The title refers to the main characters, Ben and Ellen. Bellen is available online, although Box Brown is adverse to the whole webcomic culture, and so does not consider it to be a webcomic, but rather a comic which can be found on the internet (it is also published in a very small number of newspapers). In the end it seems as if he is just picking one brand of pretension over another, but who am I to judge?

Love is a Peculiar Type of Thing is a side project that he has been working on while writing Bellen. The two projects are not unconnected. In fact, the majority of the short comics that make up Love are really Bellen comics. What I found most interesting was the way in which the character of Ben and the character of the Author blended within the book. One of the first comics is called “I Hide Behind Anything I Can.” It is only one page, and it shows a drawing of Box Brown, cartoonist, and Ben, the character. The two look almost identical. Brown says here that he created Ben to hide his shame and anxiety. Ben was happy and optimistic, and slowly by projecting himself into this Ben character, he became him.

For the rest of the book it is unclear if it is Ben or Brown you are seeing. Even in “The Life of Ben,” I get the feeling that a comic entitled “The Life of Box Brown” wouldn’t read all that differently. Sometimes I wasn’t sure whether what I was reading was about Brown or Ben until I had finished the comic. This whole blurring between reality and fiction is what made the book most interesting to me. It had an emotional openness that is less common in comics today.

The style of the comic is very reminiscent of R. Crumb and the Underground Comix movement of the ’60s and ’70s. Though the art in Love has the same simplistic realism of his early Bellen comics, he has made significant stylistic advancements which are also reflected in his more recent work on Bellen. Thematically, his work is reminiscent of the Underground Comix movement as well. He is fascinated by issues of love, happiness, depression, sexual satisfaction, drug use, inadequacy and anxiety. What sets Box Brown apart for me is his optimistic outlook. He seems to have no reason for having this outlook. For Ben, most of his joy, contentment and resolution comes from Ellen, a fictional character. As far as I can tell, there is no actual correspondent to Ellen in Box Brown’s life. Still, he projects himself into this character, who is less insecure and more happy, in the hopes that this belief in the possibility of being a Ben will sustain him. Hope, without any rationality besides itself.

As I said, this is an odd little book. It is in turns melancholy, fascinating and touching. It taps into some of our most basic emotions, fears, and desires. It is not for everyone, but for those who enjoy this type of realism, it is well worth the ten bucks that it costs.

So Here is my Imperative: Hope. Even without reason. Until next issue, proliferate the nerdverse!