The Waiting Place

Summary:

Everything changes for high-school senior Jeffry Dietz when he is ripped from the familiar camaraderie of suburbia and transplanted to a tiny, tourist-trap town in the upper Midwest. Jeffry's quiet desperation in this sluggish, pre-cable modem world doesn't stop him from making new discoveries, new friendships, and new enemies. Collected for the first time in a single volume, this highly-acclaimed teen drama of spinning wheels and racing hearts helped make Eisner-award winning writer Sean McKeever (Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, Teen Titans) and fan-favorite artist Mike Norton (Green Arrow/Black Canary, Runaways) into mainstream comic-book mainstays. This edition also includes a brand-new story by McKeever and Norton.  (Summary and book cover courtesy of goodreads.com)

Review:

I enjoyed this anthology quite a bit.  Though the summary only mentions Jeffery, the series is about a group of teens, their interactions and the chaos that comes while trying to figure out what to do with their lives.  In the beginning it was confusing at a few times, but it improved after getting to know the characters better.  The series definitively takes place in the 90’s, which added a nostalgia aspect to the story overall. 

At times, the characters can seem slightly stereotypical, but in ways I enjoyed it.  The character dynamic gave enough personality to bounce off each other and explore the attempts to “escape” a small town and figure out what’s next.  It was this aspect that made the story line painfully realistic as I crave "happy endings".  The epilogue in particular had a melancholy twist of realism to me.

Rating: 4 stars!

Who should read it? Fans of slice of life stories and those looking for a blast from the 90’s.