Review by Frank Plowright

Before being elevated to a new level of fame with Fun Home, Alison Bechdel produced the domestic comedy of Dykes to Watch Out For. Spent is far closer to that in tone and spirit than her memoir material, also involving a broad cast, some of whom are very similar to the cast of Dykes. It’s also a very modern day comedy of manners and an introspective form of concern about the way the world is heading.

In this world ‘Alison Bechdel’ has one successful graphic novel memoir to her name, which has been adapted as TV series, and she lives with her partner Holly running a sanctuary for abandoned goats in rural Vermont. The wider cast are vehicles to explore modern attitudes and habits along with a form of soap opera drama, while ‘Alison’ remains somewhat distant from everyone, wanting to produce a new book about the pernicious effects of capitalism. Sparrow and Stuart’s daughter J. R. has left for college, and they want to experiment by adding someone else to their intimacy; J. R. has the fervour of youth railing against change coming too slowly; Holly’s online activities become successful and lead to increasing time spent pandering to a perceived audience, while Alison’s sister has become increasingly right wing in her views. She wants to write her own answer memoir to Alison’s success, and expects Alison to type and edit it for her. Alongside that, everyone is getting older.

As such, Spent is a gentle form of social observation, extremely elegantly drawn, with a befuddled ‘Alison’ almost always standing outside looking in, wanting to ensure she’s doing the right thing. She fears people are too distracted by their own obsessions and problems to care about the world going to hell in a handbasket.

Real people and some presumably real incidents are inveigled into a fictional world, with some items more obviously based on reality. Almost all the moments where a broader, laugh out loud comedy develops concern the TV show and its aggressive showrunner, which certainly reflect the egotistical delusions of Hollywood, while a sly humour often applies elsewhere. ‘Alison’, though, remains self-aware throughout.

Spent can seem to meander, but there’s little included without later purpose, and Bechdel’s emotional plotting is something to admire. The process is a quiet seduction over a dense graphic novel, and by the end you’ll be taking leave of old friends.