Seeds and Stems by Simon Hanselmann Review

Seeds and Stems collects the numerous short Megg and Mogg strips Simon Hanselmann created between 2008 and 2019 (though most are from 2016-19) for various anthologies and zines, and some are previously unpublished, so don’t expect a continuation of the story from Bad Gateway. It’s still an amazing book of super-funny comics that fans of this series are going to love, as I did.

Some of the best stories that stood out for me: when the gang take a bunch of sleeping pills and go on an hallucinatory adventure; when they go to see a creepy Polanski-esque sci-fi movie called Halo Chamber that segues into a spooky tale involving Bruce Lee and then unexpectedly reveals Werewolf Jones’ fate; Low Income Single Father, which is just a day in the life of WW Jones and had me laughing so hard; Beauty Pageant, where Jones forces his two wretched sons to compete in drag in a girls’ beauty pageant; and Jaxon’s Vasectomy, which is more of Jones being the worst dad in history after Jaxon impregnates a bunch of girls at his school.

Those are the most memorable but I enjoyed almost everything here. Most of the other stories are just riffs on things fans will be familiar with from previous books: the gang bullying Owl, endless WW Jones wackiness, Megg and Mogg’s increasingly troubled relationship, and Megg and Booger’s on-off affair. Even if it’s more of the same, I love Hanselmann’s dark humour and these characters and their hopeless world, so it didn’t bother me in the least and I had a blast.

The book is published on different coloured paper utilising different coloured inks, sometimes in full colour, and sometimes drawn in a variety of styles like watercolours or pencils, showing Hanselmann’s skill as an artist, while also matching the trippy content of the stories. The physical book also comes with a special plastic orange cover and label to make it look like a prescription pill bottle, similarly playing on the stoner theme.

The occasional story feels sit-com-y, like when Owl prepares the house for a landlord inspection only for Jones to stumble in at the last moment and fuck it all up - who else but Werewolf Jones?! And some of the stories were just meh to pointless: WW Jones fisting scenes, confused stoner wordplay, Megg getting drunk and stumbling around, and The Secret of the Dogfingerer starring Jones’ boys. But those are just 20 or so pages out of 358 and, considering how hard some of the stories hit, the general high quality of the overall book, and how much I loved reading it, there’s no way I can give Seeds and Stems anything less than the full five stars.

Simon Hanselmann is a superb cartoonist who continues to tell the most original and funny stories. Maybe the content is a bit too much for some - too depressing/weird/unpleasant - but I love this series and this book. Seeds and Stems won’t disappoint any Megg and Mogg fans at all - though if you’ve never read any Simon Hanselmann books before and want to give him a shot, I recommend starting with Megahex.