ARC FESTIVAL 2026! Compiling comics created by Andrés Magán in small notebooks between November 2025 and January 2026 the strips in Big Comic for Boy combine absurdism with off-centre reflections on life. With more than a hint of zine-style DIY culture Big Comic for Boy has a very tactile feel to it – a glossy cover wraps around interiors printed on recycled paper, with stickers applied to the exteriors.
That small press vibe also very much applies to the work itself which has a raw energy and immediacy that reflects the manner in which it was originally put to paper, complete with mistakes and crossings out that give it an endearingly honest appeal.
Gloomy existentialism, sometimes bordering on and even crossing over into outright nihilism, permeates much of the work here. The strips largely take the form of mini meditations on the crushing oppressiveness of life incorporating the bleakest of humorous twists. Sometimes the comics feel like they are directly autobiographical in sentiment, if not necessarily in the events they depict. On other occasions these feelings are channelled through anthropomorphised animal avatars. The other recurring theme that manifests itself is love and the idea of finding that special person acting as antidote for the otherwise pointless nature of being.
It’s in the randomness and the unpredictability that Big Comic for Boy succeeds, despite it often retracing variations on the same thoughts. In one strip an avian character considers that in a determinist world all time including our highs and lows has already happened and we’re simply going through the motions; in another a dream involving a nightmarish horse leads to a desire to escape the routine of everything; and in another a self-blaming fox-like persona hates everything but via time travel at least has the comfort of fleeing to an era where knowing no one provides some small element of relief.
Big Comic for Boy is a reminder of an era before self-publishing became arguably too sleek and too concerned with perfecting everything before presenting it to an audience. As I said above there’s something very immediate about this comic that captures the spirit of the moment it was created in without refinement or self-editing. And that, ultimately, is undoubtedly its greatest strength.
Andrés Magán (W/A) • Peep Media, €12.00
Buy online here from Gosh! Comics
Review by Andy Oliver
Andrés Magán will be tabling at the ARC Festival comics fair on July 11th-12th. For the full details on everything ARC has to offer check out their website here.
Poster by Lando
