We Are Here Forever by Michelle Gish
My rating: 3/5 cats
i didn’t know anything about this evidently very popular webcomic before BEA, when i encountered these little purple cuddlemonsters on a poster and my WANT muscles were activated, leading my feet to the booth, where i got a signed arc and a pin:
fans/those of you more savvy in the realm of “things that are popular in the world,” will be pleased to know that this is an “all-new, stand-alone collection.” dum-dums like me, who are turning up late to the party (WELCOME, DUM DUMS!), won’t even know the difference!
so, basic rundown: these comics take place on a post-human earth, which is now populated by little purple creatures called puramus. where did the people go? where did the other creatures go? no one knows! right?
As a reader, you can simply enjoy the adventures of these well-intentioned goofballs as they explore and learn. Or, for those who prefer to read more closely, clues to their mysterious origins are there to discover.
clues, you say? lemme at these clues!
the book is segmented into four parts, representing four different points in time, with a little wink in the introduction:
To provide an overview of their history, the book’s twelve chapters include chronological jumps, and they’re not always forward in time.
however, the four parts are clearly labeled: Year 1, Year 147, Year 628, and Year ???, so even a dum dum who didn’t know this webcomic was happening out on the computerwebs will understand that this final chapter is the one that is perhaps “not always forward in time,” and it just might provide all the answers to your whys and hows. well, maybe not ALL of them. us dum dums have many questions about many things we do not understand, and this book isn’t even making any promises to definitively answer the ones pertaining to itself:
Not all pieces of the puzzle are on the table. Maybe they never will be…
so, figure it out or don’t—these things are pretty cute either way!
FYI: all of my pictures are from my b/w arc—the finished book is in glorious color.
as the kids say: relatable content
as the kids say: i feel seen
as the kids say: same
as the kids say: THIS IS SOMETHING THAT I HAVE ALSO ENCOUNTERED IN MY LIFE AND I CAN SYMPATHIZE/EMPATHIZE AS A RESULT OF HAVING HAD THIS EXPERIENCE
lest you infer from my image-choices that this is a 100% depressing book, rather than just me letting my gloominess guide my planchette, observe:
enough of that uplifting stuff, though; here is my favorite—and DEEPLY CHILLING—panel, depicting those wacky paramus reenacting the end of humanity:
shudders, every time…
did i love this book?
i liked it, but i didn’t love it. i probably would have enjoyed it more if i was less of a dum dum—if i’d had some previous familiarity with the creatures and their (our?) world. there’s a difference between a “standalone” book and an “introduction” to a series, and while the stories were cute, they were kind of—AS THE KIDS SAY—random; i didn’t feel any particular connection to the individual characters or the creatures in general, and there wasn’t a unifying narrative thread connecting the isolated episodes.
still, i am glad to have discovered these little buggers, and i will certainly be checking out both their future and past adventures right here:
https://wearehereforevercomic.com/
where she has also generously created puramus reaction GIFs:
https://wearehereforevercomic.com/blo…
like this one:
and this one:
so cute! so purple! so just like us!
check it out in full glorious color, because it is NOW AVAILABLE!!
read my book reviews on goodreads
