Broken Frontier

Some serve a higher purpose: to convey universal truths about life and our world.

Often, comics have another intended purpose: to provide the creator with a living.

Basic Instructions has yet another purpose: giving the reader simple advice on how to go about many of the myriad tasks that make up day-to-day living.

Oh, sure - some of them might not be the most applicable of situations for most of us. And, to be fair, there is a disclaimer at the bottom of each page warning that this is a comic strip, and "any advice contained herein is intended as humor, and should not be followed as actual instructions or advice."

Yet Scott Meyer's comedic guide to life contains a lot of actually useful information. I know this, because otherwise it wouldn't be nearly as entertaining to see that advice subverted in strip after strip.

Each comic in Basic Instructions has two key elements - the instructions itself, on topics ranging from How to Apologize Without Accepting Any Blame to How to Pick a Password. These instructions, while occasionally played for laughs, are usually seemingly earnest and, if read outside of the context of the comic, could well qualify as useful and insightful pieces of advice.

The rest of the comic presents Scott and his friends, in photocartooning format, bringing the topic to life. They often might follow the letter of the advice with disastrous or ironic results, or simply help capture some of the absurdity of the most commonplace activities in life. They are, invariably, funny.

Scott Meyer spent many years as a stand-up comedian, and it shows. Basic Instructions is about finding the humor in normal elements from the world around us. It is an easy and effective formula that he delivers well - the simple art style gives each page a sense of timelessness (regardless of the topic at hand), and fits the tone.

Navigating the comic is a bit challenging. It's structured like a blog: you can step backwards, day by day, from the current comic, or you can view the archives a month at a time. While one can read this comic without worrying about continuity, it would be nice to have some easier options at hand. And Scott's fictional comic self does seem to live a linear life at times - but the reader doesn't need to follow it in order to enjoy each individual strip.

In the end, if you're looking for some easy advice on how to brighten up your day, reading this comic makes for an excellent step one.