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Peepshow #11-14
Spent
Spent by Joe Matt Meet the original antihero Joe a master of a domain that includes more than twenty-three self-edited eight-hour-long videotapes of bootlegged pornography; a penny-pincher who never fails to make a dime off his friends; a chronic masturbator who doesn't understand why he never has a girlfriend; an obsessive collector frantically searching for the toys of his childhood; a callous son who throws out every gift his adoring mother gives him; a man so lazy that he urinates in a bottle rather than walk to the bathroom. Everyone and everything is fodder for Matt's autobiographical comics, even having lost the love of his life for documenting his crush on her best friend in the pages of his legendary comic book series Peepshow . Matt's biggest target for ridicule, however, is himself.Wearing his neuroses and fetishes on his sleeve, he knows he is a jerk and does nothing to hide it. This humiliating honesty has made Matt a comedic genius who has been hilariously and shamelessly chronicling his pathetic existence for close to twenty years.
120 pages, Hardcover
First published July 10, 2007
4 people are currently reading
391 people want to read
About the author
Joe Matt
57 books98 followersJoe Matt was an American cartoonist.
Matt grew up in Lansdale, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and started drawing comics in 1987. He is best known for his autobiographical series Peepshow, exploring themes of social awkwardness, abusive relationships and addiction to pornography.
Besides his cartooning career, Matt was known for his large collection of vintage Gasoline Alley comic strips.
Matt lived (illegally) in Canada from 1988 to 2002. He then moved to Los Angeles, California, where he died of heart attack in 2023, at age 60.
Matt grew up in Lansdale, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and started drawing comics in 1987. He is best known for his autobiographical series Peepshow, exploring themes of social awkwardness, abusive relationships and addiction to pornography.
Besides his cartooning career, Matt was known for his large collection of vintage Gasoline Alley comic strips.
Matt lived (illegally) in Canada from 1988 to 2002. He then moved to Los Angeles, California, where he died of heart attack in 2023, at age 60.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 116 reviews
January 17, 2019
No one ever said that porn addiction is easy. Joe Matt is rather brave in including his/his character's depravities, with so much talk going on. So much empty philosophizing. What strikes me problematic is just how similar every single frame in the graphic novel is. Its like xeroxing the pictorials again and again, with only the dialogue changing, but not really. In this way, I guess, it mirrors that grievous addiction (which usually has no name)--it is a sleek plateau of sameness you would rather overcome*.
*he heh
*he heh
September 19, 2016
Look at that cover. This book’s exactly that: a cartoonist wanking himself into oblivion, literally and figuratively - and it’s brilliant!
I loves the superhero comics but if it weren’t for great indie cartoonists like Joe Matt, I’d probably have left the medium behind years ago. When indie creators are as compelling and gifted as Joe Matt is, reading about an ordinary schmuck talking about his life in an empty room is vastly more exciting and gripping than seeing the Green and Red Lanterns fighting in space for the fate of eternity or whatever for the umpteenth bloody time!
But I get it, for some people superheroes are all they want from comics full stop and that’s fine. And really this kind of meditative and literal masturbation isn’t going to appeal to many either, but I adore the indies and for anyone else who does Joe Matt’s books are a must-read.
I especially liked Spent because of Joe Matt’s friendship with fellow cartoonists Seth and Chester Brown, whose comics I also love and who both appear in this book. Joe and Seth go book-shopping and end up bickering over an obscure Canadian comic called Birdseye Center; later Joe, Seth and Chet meet up for lunch and Seth and Chet end up ribbing Joe’s cheapness.
It doesn’t sound like much but their interactions made this book for me. They’re clearly close friends and it’s great to catch these “behind the scenes” glimpses into their friendship to see what these creators are like (or at least Joe Matt’s version of them) though Seth and Chet do seem a bit mean to Joe too.
But if Joe makes Seth and Chet look a bit bad, that’s nothing compared to how he mercilessly depicts himself here. He talks about his porn addiction, how he spends hours and hours editing porn tapes, the grotty rooming house he lives in, the jars he pees in so he doesn’t have to leave his room and head down to the bathroom he shares with several other tenants.
At one point he even starts tearing apart his own books, critiquing his art style and admitting that the ending to The Poor Bastard was made up and the portrayal of his childhood in Fair Weather was completely false, despite both books being supposedly autobiographical. It’s fun to watch Joe beat himself up on the page though!
All of it - the art, the writing, the insight, the self-deprecating humour, the voice in these pages - is wonderful and shows a perfect understanding of comics storytelling. He manages to give substance to the seemingly insubstantial which is remarkable. That’s why it’s sad that Spent is still his last book even though it was published in 2007 (his laziness is part of the pasting he gives himself too - the man’s nothing if not self-aware!).
Besides a handful of original pages for the 25th D&Q Anniversary book last year, Joe Matt’s only other comics contributions have been as an archivist of the Frank King Gasoline Alley strips from the early 20th century. He’s a collector of those strips and their republishing was made possible thanks to his hobby. It’s still a shame that a man of his talents isn’t doing anything with them but I guess he’s just fed up with making the effort and getting no money in return.
Yeah, Joe Matt’s a gross, pathetic dude and not a terribly great person either but he’s got the guts to unflinchingly look at himself honestly, fearlessly revealing his flaws and publicly dissecting them to create a book that’s uniquely his own - and that’s quite something. He’s also a helluva cartoonist who manages to make a navel-gazing exercise hugely entertaining for the reader.
If you like indie comics and especially the kind Seth and Chester Brown produce, their compadre Joe Matt is every bit as fantastically skilled as they are and Spent is definitely worth checking out. Spend some time on this quality read!
I loves the superhero comics but if it weren’t for great indie cartoonists like Joe Matt, I’d probably have left the medium behind years ago. When indie creators are as compelling and gifted as Joe Matt is, reading about an ordinary schmuck talking about his life in an empty room is vastly more exciting and gripping than seeing the Green and Red Lanterns fighting in space for the fate of eternity or whatever for the umpteenth bloody time!
But I get it, for some people superheroes are all they want from comics full stop and that’s fine. And really this kind of meditative and literal masturbation isn’t going to appeal to many either, but I adore the indies and for anyone else who does Joe Matt’s books are a must-read.
I especially liked Spent because of Joe Matt’s friendship with fellow cartoonists Seth and Chester Brown, whose comics I also love and who both appear in this book. Joe and Seth go book-shopping and end up bickering over an obscure Canadian comic called Birdseye Center; later Joe, Seth and Chet meet up for lunch and Seth and Chet end up ribbing Joe’s cheapness.
It doesn’t sound like much but their interactions made this book for me. They’re clearly close friends and it’s great to catch these “behind the scenes” glimpses into their friendship to see what these creators are like (or at least Joe Matt’s version of them) though Seth and Chet do seem a bit mean to Joe too.
But if Joe makes Seth and Chet look a bit bad, that’s nothing compared to how he mercilessly depicts himself here. He talks about his porn addiction, how he spends hours and hours editing porn tapes, the grotty rooming house he lives in, the jars he pees in so he doesn’t have to leave his room and head down to the bathroom he shares with several other tenants.
At one point he even starts tearing apart his own books, critiquing his art style and admitting that the ending to The Poor Bastard was made up and the portrayal of his childhood in Fair Weather was completely false, despite both books being supposedly autobiographical. It’s fun to watch Joe beat himself up on the page though!
All of it - the art, the writing, the insight, the self-deprecating humour, the voice in these pages - is wonderful and shows a perfect understanding of comics storytelling. He manages to give substance to the seemingly insubstantial which is remarkable. That’s why it’s sad that Spent is still his last book even though it was published in 2007 (his laziness is part of the pasting he gives himself too - the man’s nothing if not self-aware!).
Besides a handful of original pages for the 25th D&Q Anniversary book last year, Joe Matt’s only other comics contributions have been as an archivist of the Frank King Gasoline Alley strips from the early 20th century. He’s a collector of those strips and their republishing was made possible thanks to his hobby. It’s still a shame that a man of his talents isn’t doing anything with them but I guess he’s just fed up with making the effort and getting no money in return.
Yeah, Joe Matt’s a gross, pathetic dude and not a terribly great person either but he’s got the guts to unflinchingly look at himself honestly, fearlessly revealing his flaws and publicly dissecting them to create a book that’s uniquely his own - and that’s quite something. He’s also a helluva cartoonist who manages to make a navel-gazing exercise hugely entertaining for the reader.
If you like indie comics and especially the kind Seth and Chester Brown produce, their compadre Joe Matt is every bit as fantastically skilled as they are and Spent is definitely worth checking out. Spend some time on this quality read!
November 20, 2007
Joe Matt desperately wants to be Robert Crumb. Unfortunately being uncomfortably honest about your porn addiction, your urine jar, your miserliness, your intense misogyny, your self-loathing, etc. ad nauseum does not make you a comix legend anymore. Sorry Joe! I'm afraid that particular niche market has already been snagged! Not to mention that at least Crumb is an incredible artist, while even the drawing style in this looks exactly like that of fellow self-loathing nebbish and close friend, Seth. I don't understand why when men whine about how hard it is masturbate 20 times a day, it's somehow seen as brave and counter-culture. But I guess my favorite part of the book would have to be when he talks about how proud he is of giving his ex-girlfriend a black eye by punching her in the face. Way to be REALLY repulsive! High fives!
April 9, 2013
Hamlet thinks of himself as neither a saint nor a villain, a middling kind of guy
I am myself indifferent honest
Which makes his next remarks startling
but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better my mother had not borne me: I am very proud, revengeful, ambitious, with more offences at my beck than I have thoughts to put them in,
imagination to give them shape, or time to act them in.
He's unexceptional, and therefore unexceptionally vile – we all are, that is what he is saying :
What should such fellows as I do crawling between earth and heaven?
There's such a wellspring of self-loathing in human beings, and Joe Matt's series of deliberately repellant autobiographies continue a tradition that started with St Augustine, passing on through Thomas De Quincey and Henry Miller, so he's in good company. As censorship falls away and becomes something quaint like antimacassars and doileys the self-revelations become ever more scortatory, ever bleaker, ever nastier. Joe Matt's unflinching self portrait as a girlfriendless chronic masturbator and porn addict (which comes first?) is, we hope, earnestly, exaggerated for comic effect, and there are a lot of grins to be had through the frequest barfing the reader will be doing. As it happens, I'm also reading Edmund White's My Lives, a book of autobiography and though these two authors are possessed of very different perspectives, yet they share the same compulsion to tell us everything, I mean, everything. They're the Ancient Mariners of sex addiction. Edmund includes the imagined reactions of his friends (Did you really have to put that in, Ed? Did you ever hear of TMI!!??) and Joe includes a chapter which tells of the emotional fallout caused by the revelations we've just been reading about (since the 6 chapters in Spent were issued as 6 separate comics).
Ever more self revelatory, ever more self loathing, ever more frankly disgusting, this is the literary version of reality tv.
I feel the need to reveal to you that I kind of love this stuff, but I wonder where we're all going on this darkening road.
I am myself indifferent honest
Which makes his next remarks startling
but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better my mother had not borne me: I am very proud, revengeful, ambitious, with more offences at my beck than I have thoughts to put them in,
imagination to give them shape, or time to act them in.
He's unexceptional, and therefore unexceptionally vile – we all are, that is what he is saying :
What should such fellows as I do crawling between earth and heaven?
There's such a wellspring of self-loathing in human beings, and Joe Matt's series of deliberately repellant autobiographies continue a tradition that started with St Augustine, passing on through Thomas De Quincey and Henry Miller, so he's in good company. As censorship falls away and becomes something quaint like antimacassars and doileys the self-revelations become ever more scortatory, ever bleaker, ever nastier. Joe Matt's unflinching self portrait as a girlfriendless chronic masturbator and porn addict (which comes first?) is, we hope, earnestly, exaggerated for comic effect, and there are a lot of grins to be had through the frequest barfing the reader will be doing. As it happens, I'm also reading Edmund White's My Lives, a book of autobiography and though these two authors are possessed of very different perspectives, yet they share the same compulsion to tell us everything, I mean, everything. They're the Ancient Mariners of sex addiction. Edmund includes the imagined reactions of his friends (Did you really have to put that in, Ed? Did you ever hear of TMI!!??) and Joe includes a chapter which tells of the emotional fallout caused by the revelations we've just been reading about (since the 6 chapters in Spent were issued as 6 separate comics).
Ever more self revelatory, ever more self loathing, ever more frankly disgusting, this is the literary version of reality tv.
I feel the need to reveal to you that I kind of love this stuff, but I wonder where we're all going on this darkening road.
September 27, 2023
I woke up feeling depressed today. Could be lack of sleep, the rainy weather, my ETFs being down, and a bit of exhaustion from over-exercising the past few days. But it may also be because I just read the complete published works of Joe Matt!
This one has Matt at his lowest point. All the addictions, social issues, and poor work ethic come to a conclusion here. These 4 issues took years to come out, he talks about spending months on just a single panel. He also spends more time remixing porn tapes and masturbating than he does anything else. His dreams of living frugally and on lightFIRE don't seem to be paying off.
Honestly, it's just sad to see all the issues he exposed about himself in the late 80s are still plaguing him into the 2000s.
It's interesting that Matt spends time with Chester Brown and Seth but its only ever Seth talking in the comics.
It's unfortunate that we never got another issue of Peepshow. His cartooning here is more crisp than the previous issues. The book version has green coloring but the comics had a red color throughout instead. The green is probably nicer.
This one has Matt at his lowest point. All the addictions, social issues, and poor work ethic come to a conclusion here. These 4 issues took years to come out, he talks about spending months on just a single panel. He also spends more time remixing porn tapes and masturbating than he does anything else. His dreams of living frugally and on lightFIRE don't seem to be paying off.
Honestly, it's just sad to see all the issues he exposed about himself in the late 80s are still plaguing him into the 2000s.
It's interesting that Matt spends time with Chester Brown and Seth but its only ever Seth talking in the comics.
It's unfortunate that we never got another issue of Peepshow. His cartooning here is more crisp than the previous issues. The book version has green coloring but the comics had a red color throughout instead. The green is probably nicer.
April 12, 2012
Joe Matt unleashes a vision of bachelor hell in this graphic novel adaptation of Notes From Underground. It isn’t really, but if there was ever a modern exploration of Dostoevskyian self-loathing and seething hatred for mankind set in a shared house in Canada, it’s this frightening piece. A confession: for a brief period in my teens I exhibited signs of such obsessive masturbatory proclivities (such as storing up sex scenes on VHS for easy midnight use), but this ended when the hormonal eruptions passed. This book explores a lifelong involvement with pornographic movies over actual meaningful relationships. Most men have secret dirties on their hard drives or materials for personal autoerotic use beyond adolescence, and any denial of this fact is a LIE you horny losers, but the question remains: why do men hate themselves so much? And is the answer simply, feebly: because they can’t get women to like them?
Martin Amis said in an interview that it is pointless to feel resentful towards women for refusing to like you, since they can detect a bachelor’s simmering resentment and loneliness a mile off, and will keep as far away as possible, thus trapping the bachelor in his woman-hating fume forever and ever. Or words to that effect. So the easiest option for the nerd is to face the potential humiliation and embarrassment of the dating scene and take each gradual annihilation of confidence and self-respect on the chin. Hmm. Thank God we have Geek2Geek in these enlightened times. This is scabrous self-parody, fun but with worrying ramifications for the author’s sanity. Most of it is probably charming exaggeration.
Martin Amis said in an interview that it is pointless to feel resentful towards women for refusing to like you, since they can detect a bachelor’s simmering resentment and loneliness a mile off, and will keep as far away as possible, thus trapping the bachelor in his woman-hating fume forever and ever. Or words to that effect. So the easiest option for the nerd is to face the potential humiliation and embarrassment of the dating scene and take each gradual annihilation of confidence and self-respect on the chin. Hmm. Thank God we have Geek2Geek in these enlightened times. This is scabrous self-parody, fun but with worrying ramifications for the author’s sanity. Most of it is probably charming exaggeration.
January 13, 2020
Los cómics en los que el protagonista es el propio autor suelen pecar de que el dibujante se muestra a sí mismo o como un héroe o como una víctima. Por eso es bastante refrescante ver cómo Joe Matt no tiene reparos en retratarse como un ser despreciable y odioso: tacaño, ruin, obsesivo, mal amigo, mal novio, mal compañero de piso... Claro, el problema surge entonces cuando el antihéroe de la historia te repugna y no sientes ninguna empatía con él.
Podría haber existido en este cómic una historia bastante fascinante si Matt hubiese profundizado más en su relación con sus célebres amigos con los que comparte profesión... pero hasta esas reuniones que podrían haber sido geniales las convierte el autor en un festival de la competitividad y la hipermasculinidad que no me interesa en absoluto.
Leer este cómic ha sido un ejercicio interesante... pero desagradable.
Podría haber existido en este cómic una historia bastante fascinante si Matt hubiese profundizado más en su relación con sus célebres amigos con los que comparte profesión... pero hasta esas reuniones que podrían haber sido geniales las convierte el autor en un festival de la competitividad y la hipermasculinidad que no me interesa en absoluto.
Leer este cómic ha sido un ejercicio interesante... pero desagradable.
April 1, 2018
In contrast to the verdant tinted artwork reminiscent of the occluded world of The Matrix, Joe Matt’s, Spent is a highly exposed piece of comic book smut with perhaps too much openness. In fact, not perhaps, it is way too open in all aspects, overflowing with indulgence, pointless discussions, and an unceasing litany of Frat House type jokes that lose any charm (that they ever had) after their first offering. Spent proves Joe Matt to be the pathetic piece of shit his auto-biographical cover would suggest: alone, exposed, and spent of any vitality, fluid or otherwise.
True story: it wasn’t until I graduated from college that I actually spent a significant amount of time reading comics. It was during this time that, for whatever hidden forces at work at my local library, I ended up reading a lot of autobiographical ones that magically appeared on the shelves. Instead of triumphant stories of success and battles won, they for the most part, amounted to pathetic tales of drudgery and failure. Having recently graduated college, I was able to sympathize and commiserate with all the characters within. In an aimless state of mind, I really enjoyed these unabashedly human tales that fit so perfectly into the aesthetics of a comic. Whether the tale of a despicable alcoholic, the victim of a mediocre bildungsroman , or even the famed Harvey Pekar’s banal early years, the realness of human life was comforting. Unflinching mediocrity reflects the vast majority of most people’s lives, unless you’re born into wealth or have killer looks, and these unfiltered stories had a real impact on me.
Since I enjoyed those, I was excited to dig into Seth and Chester Brown’s comic book colleague Joe Mattauto-bio styled work. I giggled at the cover page as I swiped it off the shelf. After the first part I giggled no more.
What went wrong? You might be asking. However, the right question is: what was ever right?
Where Kevin Smith’s 1994 classic, Clerks shares a similar duo-chromatic veneer and an equally ribald subaltern verbiage, it’s loaded with charm and laughs that delight throughout, Spent, on the other hand, ejaculates all of its charm within the first few pages with a refractory period that lasts for the next 100 pages. Once you get past the shock appeal of a cartoonist talking about pornography addition and his ensuing chronic masturbation, the novelty evaporates quickly. Do you really want to read a comic about a grown man’s relationship with his right hand? Do you really want to hear about and then see the quantity and quality of his narcissistic activities? I don’t and I doubt you do either.
When he’s not expositing his perverted solo activities, Joe Matt curiously discusses esoteric Canadian comics, mutual fund interest rates, and wait for it… his piss jar collection. Yup, our sicko author has more in common with /b/tard neckbeards than we would expect. In between leaks into the piss jar, porn is dubbed (who the actual fuck does this?) and complains about an ex-gf and life in general throughout most every other page.
Even when there is an iota of charm, too much time and repetition are spent on it. This gives Spent the feel of an aimless comic because that’s exactly what it is. 10% memoir, 90% perversion, and 100% degeneracy, Joe Matt is the Bodhisattva of human shittiness – finding Nirvana in the bliss of a self-propelled orgasm.
Just when I thought Joe Matt hit peak degeneracy, I was completely unprepared for his coup de grace of disgrace. Not only does he speak glowingly about giving is ex a black eye but, even fantasies about hunting her down and shooting her. This fantasy is utterly unconscionable. During both of these instances Joe Matt is either smiling or laughing with glee.
What a sick fuck.
Just because a person in a story is despicable doesn’t necessary mean it’s a bad tale but for Joe Matt’s Spent, his awful character is the fetid cheery on an already rotting sundae of awfulness. With unfunny jokes, dull repetition, and pointless narration that is literally just Joe Matt just talking to us through himself in the comic, Spent is a worthless piece of literary shit.
The author’s very words on page 121 make my very point for me, “It’s not even a story … Just page after page of me whining about porn. It’s masturbation in comic form. At some point the readers going to realize that it’s going nowhere… No payoff, no epiphany, no nothing… He has no self-awareness or insight, they’ll say… And They’ll be right.”
That’s right Joe Matt! You have no awareness or insight you self-absorbed narcissist fuck.
*P.S. I lost all my respect for Harvey Pekar with this little gem of his from the back cover: “I dug Spent; it’s funny, poignant, and solidly constructed.” No Harvey it’s not funny and it has a foundation of sand as its base. Screw you!
True story: it wasn’t until I graduated from college that I actually spent a significant amount of time reading comics. It was during this time that, for whatever hidden forces at work at my local library, I ended up reading a lot of autobiographical ones that magically appeared on the shelves. Instead of triumphant stories of success and battles won, they for the most part, amounted to pathetic tales of drudgery and failure. Having recently graduated college, I was able to sympathize and commiserate with all the characters within. In an aimless state of mind, I really enjoyed these unabashedly human tales that fit so perfectly into the aesthetics of a comic. Whether the tale of a despicable alcoholic, the victim of a mediocre bildungsroman , or even the famed Harvey Pekar’s banal early years, the realness of human life was comforting. Unflinching mediocrity reflects the vast majority of most people’s lives, unless you’re born into wealth or have killer looks, and these unfiltered stories had a real impact on me.
Since I enjoyed those, I was excited to dig into Seth and Chester Brown’s comic book colleague Joe Mattauto-bio styled work. I giggled at the cover page as I swiped it off the shelf. After the first part I giggled no more.
What went wrong? You might be asking. However, the right question is: what was ever right?
Where Kevin Smith’s 1994 classic, Clerks shares a similar duo-chromatic veneer and an equally ribald subaltern verbiage, it’s loaded with charm and laughs that delight throughout, Spent, on the other hand, ejaculates all of its charm within the first few pages with a refractory period that lasts for the next 100 pages. Once you get past the shock appeal of a cartoonist talking about pornography addition and his ensuing chronic masturbation, the novelty evaporates quickly. Do you really want to read a comic about a grown man’s relationship with his right hand? Do you really want to hear about and then see the quantity and quality of his narcissistic activities? I don’t and I doubt you do either.
When he’s not expositing his perverted solo activities, Joe Matt curiously discusses esoteric Canadian comics, mutual fund interest rates, and wait for it… his piss jar collection. Yup, our sicko author has more in common with /b/tard neckbeards than we would expect. In between leaks into the piss jar, porn is dubbed (who the actual fuck does this?) and complains about an ex-gf and life in general throughout most every other page.
Even when there is an iota of charm, too much time and repetition are spent on it. This gives Spent the feel of an aimless comic because that’s exactly what it is. 10% memoir, 90% perversion, and 100% degeneracy, Joe Matt is the Bodhisattva of human shittiness – finding Nirvana in the bliss of a self-propelled orgasm.
Just when I thought Joe Matt hit peak degeneracy, I was completely unprepared for his coup de grace of disgrace. Not only does he speak glowingly about giving is ex a black eye but, even fantasies about hunting her down and shooting her. This fantasy is utterly unconscionable. During both of these instances Joe Matt is either smiling or laughing with glee.
What a sick fuck.
Just because a person in a story is despicable doesn’t necessary mean it’s a bad tale but for Joe Matt’s Spent, his awful character is the fetid cheery on an already rotting sundae of awfulness. With unfunny jokes, dull repetition, and pointless narration that is literally just Joe Matt just talking to us through himself in the comic, Spent is a worthless piece of literary shit.
The author’s very words on page 121 make my very point for me, “It’s not even a story … Just page after page of me whining about porn. It’s masturbation in comic form. At some point the readers going to realize that it’s going nowhere… No payoff, no epiphany, no nothing… He has no self-awareness or insight, they’ll say… And They’ll be right.”
That’s right Joe Matt! You have no awareness or insight you self-absorbed narcissist fuck.
*P.S. I lost all my respect for Harvey Pekar with this little gem of his from the back cover: “I dug Spent; it’s funny, poignant, and solidly constructed.” No Harvey it’s not funny and it has a foundation of sand as its base. Screw you!
November 13, 2018
I can’t figure out if I dislike Joe Matt or not. And it’s so strange because I feel the same way with Seth and Chester Brown, and the three of them are such good pals in real life (at least it seems that way in their graphic novels). Even though I kind of dislike them, I appreciate how they portray themselves truthfully in their comics (kind of as douchey dudes). So that makes me want to like them. But then they say/do things that make me dislike them. For example, there’s a panel where Joe Matt says “no wonder that I’ve got misogynistic tendencies. I resent the power that women hold over me.” But it’s like, that’s your own issues dude, just because you haven’t had much luck with women doesn’t make women the problem. (And Chester Brown has a really good response to him in that scene). Anyway, those little bits in the comics made me feel a bit uneasy.
Besides that, the rest of the writing was fine and I like his art. This was my first Joe Matt graphic novel and I would be open to reading more of his work (which seems to be hard to come by and I’ll definitely have to interloan them from other libraries). I really do like that he’s open about the fact that he’s a jerk and I guess the whole point of the comic is to show that he sucks and he’s not hiding that fact, which makes me really struggle with rating this.
Besides that, the rest of the writing was fine and I like his art. This was my first Joe Matt graphic novel and I would be open to reading more of his work (which seems to be hard to come by and I’ll definitely have to interloan them from other libraries). I really do like that he’s open about the fact that he’s a jerk and I guess the whole point of the comic is to show that he sucks and he’s not hiding that fact, which makes me really struggle with rating this.
January 10, 2026
.An addiction memoir of sorts, this book covers roughly the same topic as JM friend and collaborator Chester Brown’s jerk fest THE PLAYBOY. I suppose as a metaphor for the masturbatory nature of autobiography, both books are a success. But, to me, this book eclipses the other for the flashes of insight we see at the beginning that slowly fade into panels of obsessive avoidant thought patterns and disgusting personal hygiene habits.
Just a few times we see a quick flash into JM’s past where fear of rejection from a childhood crush pushes him into building a fantasy narrative around said crush’s inherent unlikability—Why would he ever be attracted to her in the first place when she is already so gross and tainted by other people? Of course, this is projection. And it is wonderfully displayed. Then, it recedes and we hear more and more about his unbelievable bouts of masturbation and his absurd chronicling of pornographic scenes—later mirrored by his obsessive preservation of early Canadian comic strips.
At this point, I sort of checked out. I was hoping for more insight but it doesn’t come. The moment we think it’s about to happen, he’s interrupted by another target for his externalized disdain and then shortly after, a cat takes a loose shit all over his shirt and the book is over. I get it, and thematically it works. Doesn’t quite fly for me though.
Some of the obsessive thinking and behaviors are embarrassingly relatable. I can only assume others feel the same way or his work wouldn’t be as popular as it is. Maybe most of us are just too embarrassed to admit it. Maybe there’s bravery in that? Or maybe it’s just more avoidant behavior on his part—some version of: “if I can just share all of this out there, it will somehow absolve me.” We see a little of that with the reference to domestic violence that ended a relationship, but it is never developed from there. Just like how Joe Matt may have never developed from the moment he convinced himself his crush was disgusting.
Generally I don’t want my time back but I’m glad I borrowed these books from the library rather than bought them.
Read on a hardcover collected edition.
Just a few times we see a quick flash into JM’s past where fear of rejection from a childhood crush pushes him into building a fantasy narrative around said crush’s inherent unlikability—Why would he ever be attracted to her in the first place when she is already so gross and tainted by other people? Of course, this is projection. And it is wonderfully displayed. Then, it recedes and we hear more and more about his unbelievable bouts of masturbation and his absurd chronicling of pornographic scenes—later mirrored by his obsessive preservation of early Canadian comic strips.
At this point, I sort of checked out. I was hoping for more insight but it doesn’t come. The moment we think it’s about to happen, he’s interrupted by another target for his externalized disdain and then shortly after, a cat takes a loose shit all over his shirt and the book is over. I get it, and thematically it works. Doesn’t quite fly for me though.
Some of the obsessive thinking and behaviors are embarrassingly relatable. I can only assume others feel the same way or his work wouldn’t be as popular as it is. Maybe most of us are just too embarrassed to admit it. Maybe there’s bravery in that? Or maybe it’s just more avoidant behavior on his part—some version of: “if I can just share all of this out there, it will somehow absolve me.” We see a little of that with the reference to domestic violence that ended a relationship, but it is never developed from there. Just like how Joe Matt may have never developed from the moment he convinced himself his crush was disgusting.
Generally I don’t want my time back but I’m glad I borrowed these books from the library rather than bought them.
Read on a hardcover collected edition.
February 21, 2014
perfect. makes me want to do a comic on my own sad existence. people that gave this a bad review are taking themselves too seriously and therefore, suck.
June 8, 2022
Joe Matt is the least interesting (and, in my opinion, the least talented) of the Toronto triumvirate of Chester Brown, Joe Matt, and Seth. Matt himself in the final chapter of this book laments that it basically goes nowhere--pretty much like his life. Matt lacks the ability so evident in Seth and Chester Brown to make the mundane graphically interesting. Matt's multi-page account of making dub porn tapes (editing out all the stuff he doesn't want, looping favourite scenes, etc.) is perhaps itself appropriately dull, tedious, and repetitive, just as making those dub tapes must have been. It is, however, dull tedious repetition that is also not particularly interesting. It doesn't help that Matt's solution to the problem of having words in what is actually a protracted sequence of someone doing something silent is to have him engage in a constant soliloquy that, to my ear anyway, simply does not sound plausible. He's not much better at dialogue, as the extended meal scene with Chet and Seth demonstrates. Matt fails to make his decidedly unattractive persona someone interesting to read about. Protagonists can be unpleasant people, but Matt simply document unpleasantness, without really succeeding in making us identify with his persona. He also lacks Chester Brown's (or Seth's, for that matter) willingness to really go for broke. For a book that takes its title from Matt's chronic masturbation habit, this book is remarkable PG. For masturbation comics, you really can't beat Chester Brown's The Playboy, though, so perhaps the paleness of this book shouldn't surprise me. Still, I was disappointed.
August 9, 2021
Sure Joe Matt is a gross oversharer, but as he says in this volume, you can’t even trust how gross he tells you he is because he exaggerates in these volumes. Here we have more interactions with Seth and Chet and more info about his classic comic collection and quite troubling porn addiction (I feel like if a young Matt had porn available like it is today, he might have been even worse). Amazingly he does seem to be really good with what little money he has, spending little and sharing wisdom about compound interest and never touching capital. We miss you Joe Matt, hope you’re doing well these days.
May 19, 2021
This was a fun, albeit an uncomfortable read. This book tells the story of the anti-hero Joe Matt, who is a compulsive masturbator and porn addict, who pees in a jar in this dingy apartment and drives people away with his habits and resents everyone (specially women) who don't like him.
Read it as purely entertainment and not take it too seriously. Wouldn't call it garbage but isn't an award winning book either.
Read it as purely entertainment and not take it too seriously. Wouldn't call it garbage but isn't an award winning book either.
August 3, 2018
Otra entrega autobiográfica del autor, centrada parcialmente en su tacañería y su adicción al porno. Se deja leer. Más que nada porque si tu cómic se centra en explotar tus defectos, y estos son tan cotidianos y tan poco relevantes como ser un perezoso, un tacaño y un pajillero, no vas a llamar mucho la atención.
October 23, 2010
Firing Another One Out: Joe Matt’s Spent
Like many older comic readers (and we seem to be quickly determining the course of the market by our numbers alone as the main demographic), I prefer not to buy single issues of comics. Were it my only hobby, perhaps things would be different, but it’s not, and as a former single issue and collector, I prefer to read the compilations and graphic novels for the story value instead of the market value over the course of a few decades. Occasionally, this can be maddening, because the reader has to wait for months on end to digest story arcs that fellow comic readers are up in arms about. In Joe Matt’s case, it’s a gift and a curse to hold my breath until his Peep Show collections are released in larger volumes.
His newest collection, Spent (2007, Drawn & Quarterly) is every bit the masterpiece that his two previous collections were (Poor Bastard and Fair Weather, respectively). The author/artist paints himself as a character top-heavy with flaws: compulsive masturbation, social avoidance, an obsessive need to collect comic strips and classic radio shows, and a niggling desire to squirrel enough money away that he never has to work another day in his life by living off of his ‘nest egg’. I actually learned that Matt defected to Canada (until 2002) because the American/Canadian exchange rate was more beneficial for his dream of being independently wealthy.
What makes Matt’s work so endearing is his ability to expose all of these reprehensible (and oftentimes identifiable) character flaws in a comical light. Panel after panel delves into the disgust of fellow cartoonist friends (Chester Brown’s disdain being at the top of the heap), Joe’s own neurotic ‘hamster wheel’ of self-loathing, scheming and his love/hate relationship with pornography, which he painstakingly edits onto EP formatted videotapes after removing any scene with a man’s face. The reader feels repulsed by this ’character’, yet identifies at times, relates and even feels a twinge of sympathy at the cheapskate of a corner he’s painted himself into. I almost wonder how he lives on such a near-impoverished budget now that he lives in LA.
In Spent, Matt grapples with his the critical hindsight he applies to his previous work, agonizes over whether or not he can continue to invest so much time into his pornographic dubbing while finding and maintaining a meaningful long-term relationship at the same time, and defends himself at the verbal slings and arrows of his relentless and longstanding friends in diners where he refrains from buying food (because it would cut into his budget). There is so much to love about his work that I’d rather not ruin all the laughs, the neuroses and the internal soapboxes crammed into this 120 page gem. At $20 (in a beautiful hardbound edition, no less), buying this book was a no-brainer for me. It rounds out his other two comedic black-and-white masterpieces perfectly. And one can see that the artwork he bashes in previous strips has undergone a marked and laudable improvement. Well done, Joe. Now I have to wait patiently for the next compilation.
Like many older comic readers (and we seem to be quickly determining the course of the market by our numbers alone as the main demographic), I prefer not to buy single issues of comics. Were it my only hobby, perhaps things would be different, but it’s not, and as a former single issue and collector, I prefer to read the compilations and graphic novels for the story value instead of the market value over the course of a few decades. Occasionally, this can be maddening, because the reader has to wait for months on end to digest story arcs that fellow comic readers are up in arms about. In Joe Matt’s case, it’s a gift and a curse to hold my breath until his Peep Show collections are released in larger volumes.
His newest collection, Spent (2007, Drawn & Quarterly) is every bit the masterpiece that his two previous collections were (Poor Bastard and Fair Weather, respectively). The author/artist paints himself as a character top-heavy with flaws: compulsive masturbation, social avoidance, an obsessive need to collect comic strips and classic radio shows, and a niggling desire to squirrel enough money away that he never has to work another day in his life by living off of his ‘nest egg’. I actually learned that Matt defected to Canada (until 2002) because the American/Canadian exchange rate was more beneficial for his dream of being independently wealthy.
What makes Matt’s work so endearing is his ability to expose all of these reprehensible (and oftentimes identifiable) character flaws in a comical light. Panel after panel delves into the disgust of fellow cartoonist friends (Chester Brown’s disdain being at the top of the heap), Joe’s own neurotic ‘hamster wheel’ of self-loathing, scheming and his love/hate relationship with pornography, which he painstakingly edits onto EP formatted videotapes after removing any scene with a man’s face. The reader feels repulsed by this ’character’, yet identifies at times, relates and even feels a twinge of sympathy at the cheapskate of a corner he’s painted himself into. I almost wonder how he lives on such a near-impoverished budget now that he lives in LA.
In Spent, Matt grapples with his the critical hindsight he applies to his previous work, agonizes over whether or not he can continue to invest so much time into his pornographic dubbing while finding and maintaining a meaningful long-term relationship at the same time, and defends himself at the verbal slings and arrows of his relentless and longstanding friends in diners where he refrains from buying food (because it would cut into his budget). There is so much to love about his work that I’d rather not ruin all the laughs, the neuroses and the internal soapboxes crammed into this 120 page gem. At $20 (in a beautiful hardbound edition, no less), buying this book was a no-brainer for me. It rounds out his other two comedic black-and-white masterpieces perfectly. And one can see that the artwork he bashes in previous strips has undergone a marked and laudable improvement. Well done, Joe. Now I have to wait patiently for the next compilation.
February 6, 2021
Wygląda jakby Joe Matt, Seth i Chester Brown założyli się kto stworzy najbardziej ekshibicjonistyczny komiks. Seth ze swoim egoizmem i zafiksowaniem na punkcie nieznanych rysowników jest jednak przy pozostałej dwójce łagodnym barankiem. Zarówno Brown, który opisywał doświadczenia z prostytutkami, jak i Matt, relacjonujący uzależnienie od masturbacji i pornografii to wyższa szkoła łamania tematów tabu, szczególnie, że mówią o swoich doświadczeniach. Zresztą autor "Spustu" nie tylko o pornografii opowiada, ale też o własnym skąpstwie, lenistwie i nieprzystosowaniu do życia. Można oczywiście brać to dosłownie, a można za klucz interpretacyjny przyjąć jedną z kwestii, która pada na kartach "Pamiętnika", gdzie autor wyznaje, że trochę podkoloryzował treść poprzedniego komiksu autobiograficznego, żeby zrobić lepsze wrażenie na czytelnikach. Szczerze mówiąc podoba mi się założenie, że również tutaj jest to świadome przegięcie, ale przede wszystkim muszę przyznać, że mimo pozornie odrzucającej tematyki, "Spust" jest dziełem inteligentnym i zmuszającym do myślenia
August 6, 2025
I enjoyed the original Peepshow strips (before it became a periodical comic book) and The Poor Bastard, but having made it through Fair Weather and getting two issues into Spent, it's clear that Joe Matt was not an unproductive artist because he was lazy or addicted to porn. He was unproductive because he had absolutely nothing to say. In the original Peepshow strips, Matt admits he started aping Robert Crumb's tell-all "I'm a piece of shit" shtick from his autobiographical work because, and I quote, "it was easier than coming up with characters and a story."
Although Joe Matt is arguably the best draftsman of what I'll dub The Toronto Trio—or was until Seth's influence downgraded his cartooning ability significantly starting with Spent—Chester Brown is definitely the best storyteller, while Matt himself is only saved from the distinction of being the worst in that regard because the obscenely overrated Seth is the third member. Whether working from stream-of-consciousness, autobiography, history, or literature, Chester Brown has a natural storyteller's instinct to construct arcs that work regardless of the project. In the one-page Peepshow strips, Matt doesn't have the space necessary to tell a complete story, and there's a certain novelty to him being the "other" Robert Crumb. Even then, things started wearing thin near the end of that volume, and my interest only picked up when Seth and Chester Brown were introduced into the cast. In a way, this made the strips function as "issue zero" of Brown's Paying for It.
The Poor Bastard continued to maintain interest, given that it was centered around Matt's imploding relationship with his then-girlfriend, Trish. In this work, Matt's selfishness, manipulative disregard for anyone he could take advantage of, and sex addiction were key points of characterization that shed light on why he was incapable of forming healthy, lasting relationships—romantic or otherwise. This led to an arc that culminated in Trish leaving him and what, on first reading, seems like a moment of self-revelation in which Matt realizes why his life is as miserable as it is.
There is no such narrative structure in the following story arc, Fair Weather, which consists of a series of nearly interchangeable scenes that serve no purpose other than to show that Matt was just as selfish, manipulative, and cruel as a little boy as he was as a grown man. This trend continues in Spent, with Matt showing unrelated scenes of himself lusting after teenage girls, masturbating to pornography, abusing other people, or being abused by his so-called "friend" Seth—who seems to spend time with Matt for no other reason than that he enjoys having someone deserving to shit on.
It has become clear that Matt was "lucky" enough (at least as an artist, if not as a person) to have the Trish situation unravel in the first six issues of the regular Peepshow comic, as it's clear Matt does not have the self-awareness of Robert Crumb. Nor does Matt have Crumb's creativity (it should be remembered that autobiographical comics were only ever a small slice of Crumb's overall output, while Matt never did a comic about anything other than himself). Rather, Matt borrowed Crumb's shtick to make up for the fact that he did not have anything to say as an artist, accidentally had some interesting things happen to him in the early issues, and now, in the scant remaining issues of Peepshow, all he can do is repeat the same points over and over, lacking the character to view his flaws as anything other than material for his comic book.
Although Joe Matt is arguably the best draftsman of what I'll dub The Toronto Trio—or was until Seth's influence downgraded his cartooning ability significantly starting with Spent—Chester Brown is definitely the best storyteller, while Matt himself is only saved from the distinction of being the worst in that regard because the obscenely overrated Seth is the third member. Whether working from stream-of-consciousness, autobiography, history, or literature, Chester Brown has a natural storyteller's instinct to construct arcs that work regardless of the project. In the one-page Peepshow strips, Matt doesn't have the space necessary to tell a complete story, and there's a certain novelty to him being the "other" Robert Crumb. Even then, things started wearing thin near the end of that volume, and my interest only picked up when Seth and Chester Brown were introduced into the cast. In a way, this made the strips function as "issue zero" of Brown's Paying for It.
The Poor Bastard continued to maintain interest, given that it was centered around Matt's imploding relationship with his then-girlfriend, Trish. In this work, Matt's selfishness, manipulative disregard for anyone he could take advantage of, and sex addiction were key points of characterization that shed light on why he was incapable of forming healthy, lasting relationships—romantic or otherwise. This led to an arc that culminated in Trish leaving him and what, on first reading, seems like a moment of self-revelation in which Matt realizes why his life is as miserable as it is.
There is no such narrative structure in the following story arc, Fair Weather, which consists of a series of nearly interchangeable scenes that serve no purpose other than to show that Matt was just as selfish, manipulative, and cruel as a little boy as he was as a grown man. This trend continues in Spent, with Matt showing unrelated scenes of himself lusting after teenage girls, masturbating to pornography, abusing other people, or being abused by his so-called "friend" Seth—who seems to spend time with Matt for no other reason than that he enjoys having someone deserving to shit on.
It has become clear that Matt was "lucky" enough (at least as an artist, if not as a person) to have the Trish situation unravel in the first six issues of the regular Peepshow comic, as it's clear Matt does not have the self-awareness of Robert Crumb. Nor does Matt have Crumb's creativity (it should be remembered that autobiographical comics were only ever a small slice of Crumb's overall output, while Matt never did a comic about anything other than himself). Rather, Matt borrowed Crumb's shtick to make up for the fact that he did not have anything to say as an artist, accidentally had some interesting things happen to him in the early issues, and now, in the scant remaining issues of Peepshow, all he can do is repeat the same points over and over, lacking the character to view his flaws as anything other than material for his comic book.
March 11, 2019
Not as interesting as The Poor Bastard, this sequel finds Joe spiraling in his porn addiction and reminiscing about his youth. Years of isolation and no productivity have taken their toll on his thinking and creativity, and it shows in this final volume. While the previous volume featured a host of characters, this is mostly Joe stewing alone in the shitpile he's made for himself. This makes for a more boring read, just a repulsive guy pissing in jars and editing porn (I wonder if he feels upset about all the time he wasted thanks to Pornhubs ease). If you wanna understand the mindset of a real asshole/creep, this book would serve you well.
February 17, 2025
[12:08, 10/02/2025] `nonsoleggere`: Più interessante per la storia del fumetto autobiografico che bello
[12:08, 10/02/2025] `nonsoleggere`: Non è tra quelli che ti avrei consigliato 😬
[12:09, 10/02/2025] `nonsoleggere`: Però chissà, magari ti piace 🤷🏻♂️
È vero, la sua dipendenza dai film porno ri-editati dall'autore è interessante, soprattutto per la maniacalità con cui questo processo viene descritto. Il resto del libro sono stereotipi, autocommiserazione, autocommiserazione e stereotipi.
October 23, 2022
Deprimente, desagradable. El autor se describe a sí mismo como alguien bastante despreciable (misógino/machista -hasta el punto de dar un puñetazo a su novia-, extremadamebre tacaño, mal amigo, mal hijo… Un asco). Pero esa sinceridad hace que en el fondo sientas un poquito de lástima por él, porque es una víctima de sí mismo y la consecuencia es una vida miserable. No es una historia al uso porque no hay un nudo y un desenlace claro. Y te acaba dejando un amargo sabor de boca.
November 25, 2020
I liked Maude the cat
December 3, 2024
Saw too much of myself on Joe Matt, but also he’s much scarier and angrier and even more obsessed, so I can breathe easy. Also “was”….RIP. Really loved this. My good friend is definitely a Seth and I’m a Joe. Again….the similarities aren’t actually that pronounced. Don’t worry.
January 11, 2024
Sus reflexiones sobre el cómic son interesantes, pero el resto del libro, o la parte del medio, es súper monótona, tal y como él mismo dice. Entiendo súper bien eso.
July 25, 2017
Un autre emprunt au hasard à la bibliothèque. Il y avait longtemps que je n'avais pas "rencontré" un auteur/personnage aussi désagréable et méprisable que celui-là. À éviter pour rester de belle humeur. Sans compter que ça ne mène nulle part.
May 4, 2018
Chester Brown in “Paying for it” used the medium of comics to narrate his trysts with prostitutes and portrayed the moral and ethical challenges around ‘paying’ for gratification and in a way opened up the debate about the whole stigma of visiting a brothel. I loved the book for the diligent approach it adopted to drive home uncomfortable options and politically incorrect actions. Joe Matt’s “Spent” follows the same template but unfortunately fails to achieve the greatness of the former. This, in my opinion, is primarily due to the subject being handled - addiction to pornography-driven masturbation. Since the subject here is much narrower, the focus is mostly on him devouring hours of pornographic videos, painstakingly using a video recorder to create compilation videos and of course masturbating to extreme limits of physical endurance.
While the book wasn’t enjoyable, I can still see merit in the work. The sheer size of the global pornographic industry, the social impacts of porn on marriages and sex and the fact that most of us have a partial “been-there-done-that” understanding of the subject make this book worth reading. Atleast once!
While the book wasn’t enjoyable, I can still see merit in the work. The sheer size of the global pornographic industry, the social impacts of porn on marriages and sex and the fact that most of us have a partial “been-there-done-that” understanding of the subject make this book worth reading. Atleast once!
December 3, 2008
I think Joe Matt should do a Joe Matt version of everything everyone writes. But that's just me. Though few will argue that the man can draw, the events and attitudes he conveys with his talents range from egotistical to mundane to downright repellent, some might even say bordering on psychotic. So much the better. Joe Matt thrives on exposing his basest instincts and embraces his seemingly many faults like beloved playthings. I have a feeling I'd get along with him really well, eventually regretting that we ever spoke while still looking forward to our next conversation. Or maybe he's nothing like this in real life, but for some reason I hope and believe that's not the case.
It just dawned on me that my two best male friends, both of whom exhibit selfish and vulgar qualities constantly and alternately delight and infuriate me at every turn, are actually named "Joe" and "Matt"! I just blew my own mind!
It just dawned on me that my two best male friends, both of whom exhibit selfish and vulgar qualities constantly and alternately delight and infuriate me at every turn, are actually named "Joe" and "Matt"! I just blew my own mind!
January 4, 2011
"The Poor Bastard" himself, Joe Matt, continues to chronicle his miserable existence in comic book form. Not as good as its predecessor - the story doesn't have as clear a trajectory and the wrap up isn't much of a wrap up - but not without its warped charm, and his artwork just gets better and better. This time around Matt directly addresses the fact that much of this "autobiography" is pure fiction, underlining again that there is a level of self-awareness and self-satire that doesn't always register with his often-appalled readers (myself included). Still, I really hope he's got some new material to mine for his future work - a third time around regarding the author's travails with porn addiction, etc. wouldn't exactly be the charm.
Read
March 9, 2016A masturbatory book - delivered mostly in soliloquy by the author, or in conversations about the author, in simple square grids - about how compulsive masturbating and pornography curating is preventing the author from doing any cartooning: like one of those old men who are permanent fixtures of a bar, this book calmly acknowledges its own failure in its unintentionally serious jokes at its own expense. It adds nothing to the world other than another instance of the author's name.
December 5, 2017
Otra recopilación de Peepshow a cargo de Joe Matt. En esta ocasión, se trata de un Matt más reflexivo que, en su constantes monólogos y diálogos con Seth y Chester Brown, roza la depresión. El dibujo es mucho más estiloso que en sus inicios y el personaje es tan carismático que resulta todo muy divertido. Sin embargo, no puede desprenderse de una sensación de agotamiento y falta de ideas de la que el autor es visible y dramáticamente consciente.
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