How to Date a Girl in 10 Days [or so] #2

Posted: Tuesday, April 10, 2007
By: Steve Saville

Creator: Tom Humberstone
Publishers: Vented Spleen
Address: www.ventedspleen.com
Price: £2.50

And so the second edition of ‘How to Date a Girl in 10 Days [or so]’ carries on from where the first edition left off. In fact the first edition left off at as fairly depressing point so I am glad to report that things pick up here.

Tom our tormented, dateless, almost clueless protagonist gets a couple of lucky breaks [there’s hope for all of us]. Kate the girl he is smitten with responds and a date is arranged and he is contacted about a job interview. It all looks good, which is more than can be said for Tom who has yet to find his razor or his comb.

The art work that was modern and assured in the first edition is, if anything, even stronger here. The range of emotions shown by the characters seems to be more refined and specific. Ironical really because the cover is disappointing, in that its city scene through a window just seems a little distanced from the narrative within.

As with the first comic there is plenty of dialogue here, once again it is believable and realistic.

Enough of all of that though let’s get back to Tom. Well the date goes well, in fact Kate and Tom see more of each other and they actually have a laugh. Naturally there are plenty of awkward moments; the first kiss just had me squirming in my seat. So the physical desire is there but as for the action…no way, not yet.

This all feels so much like real people just trying to find each other and it ain’t easy. There is a positive even optimistic end to this second part though and even though Tom is still plagued by how to move from friends to lovers we begin to think that if Kate hangs in there it just might happen. Again this is all beginning to feel like some sort of male therapy session.

Problem is we have to wait till the end of the year until the third and concluding chapter is published.

So Humberstone here’s a word of warning, it better go well for Tom otherwise blokes the world over will be plunged even further into their self dug pit of hormone fuelled despair, and it will all be your fault. Come on Tom. For all of us, please.

In a word: Hopeful

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