As Felix obsesses over his ex, his friend Holden falls in love. The problem – Holden is the last Sasquatch in the world. Shenanigans ensue in Sasquatch in Love #1 from Action Lab Entertainment.

SASQUATCH IN LOVE #1

Writer: Jason Nutt
Artist: Alexis Vivallo
Letterer: Josh Southall
Editor: Shawn Gabborin
Publisher: Action Lab Entertainment
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: July 29, 2020

Previously in Sasquatch in Love: Seattle veterinarian Felix Bitterman had a bad break-up and moved to a small town in Oregon. He still misses his ex. He finds an unlikely friend in Holden, the last Sasquatch in the world.

CLASSIC STORY MEETS SASQUATCH

Sasquatch in Love #1 opens with Felix wandering through the woods carrying a box. He’s looking for Holden, who pops out to take the package, which is the bookcase he’s been waiting for. Oh, but Felix got it in birch verneer, not white! It won’t match! Right from the start we see that this is not your stereotypical Sasquatch. At least he has a new bookcase, and he arranges to play Scrabble with Felix the following night.

This is an opening issue so we still have some characters to meet. Next in line is Grace, a young woman who put herself through film school only to find herself in a job documenting the exploits of Doctor Vogel, a Sasquatchologist. In the tradition of quirky, if not downright kooky, characters, Dr. Vogel is trying to locate a Sasquatch by the time-honored tradition of dressing up as one, specifically a female one.

Felix gets called to the library by Sheriff Judy. As it so happens, the library is running their annual poetry competition, which brings out droves of bad poetry by the locals, with the exception of the mysterious H. Jones who has won two years in a row and never collected his prize. Meanwhile, Judy is investigating why something that leaves a patch of fur behind keeps stealing books from the library and then returning them. (Yes, it’s Holden; he’s kind of sweet.)

As Grace follows Dr. Vogel around in the woods, Holden sees her and falls in love. But she’s a human, and he’s big and hairy and shy. And cleverly manipulative. Yes, it’s Cyrano de Bergerac in the Pacific Northwest as Felix agrees to stalk Grace for him to find out what she likes. Felix is not the sneakiest, nor the smartest. He gets caught in a Sasquatch trap and Grace has seen him following her and thinks he’s creepy. All Felix finds out is that they’re leaving town the next day.

In a last-ditch effort to tell Grace of his love, Holden writes Grace a poem, and yes, he is the mysterious H. Jones. He drops it off at her hotel room and sabotages Dr. Vogel’s van. Unfortunately, the paper he wrote the poem on was a pilfered sheet of Felix’s letterhead…

A MOST CHARMING SASQUATCH

The art of Sasquatch in Love #1 is very cute. Now we know there’s going to be a Sasquatch in it, but it is fun to see him looming up in silhouette behind Felix and reach out for his shoulder. When we finally see him, he is big, jovial, and expressive. He lives in what may be the body of a downed plane, or it could be an old camper. He’s scrounged some furniture, a plant, and lots of books, not to mention a TV. It’s a charming take on the intelligent Sasquatch.

Felix is such an obvious stalker, especially in his car with the crushed hood. I like the sequence when he tries to track Dr. Vogel and Grace into the woods. He loses them almost immediately. Dr. Vogel put sack of hamburgers out as a Sasquatch lure, and the hapless Felix, who didn’t bring lunch, can’t resist them. He and Grace end up having a long conversation with him hanging upside down in the snare, which is amusing. Grace also leaves him there and doesn’t cut him down.

BOTTOM LINE: NOT A BAD START

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Sasquatch in Love #1. There are a lot of tropes here, but it is a lighthearted book with some funny moments and a touch of sweetness. I like Holden and I’m curious to see where this goes next.

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