I Hope This Helps: Comics and Cures for 21st Century Panic

By Tommy Siegel

The author and artist shares 200+ comics, essays, and guides to coping with twenty-first-century panic: “an absurdist take on the anxieties of the internet era” (CBR).

With comics titled “Choose your social anxiety coping mechanism” and “What your coffee drink of choice says about you,” Tommy Siegel offers clever and sardonic commentary on our social media-driven culture, as well as a series of devastatingly funny relationship comics starring his popular Candy Hearts characters.

Siegel’s comics began as doodles in the back of a van while he toured as a rock musician. They quickly earned a viral global fanbase and shout-outs from cultural heavyweights including Ringo Starr, Tim Heidecker, Vic Berger, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. With a perfect balance of absurd humor and insightful writing, I Hope This Helps outlines the journey from the author’s earliest “van doodles” to the socially-distanced awkwardness of today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Oct 6, 2020
• ISBN: 9781524866624

Book preview

Reviews for I Hope This Helps

[villemezbrown · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A musician tries drawing a webcomic a day for 500 days straight, but drags his mildly amusing cartoons down by inserting text pieces about how hard it is to draw a comic every day for 500 days straight. In heaven, Charles Schulz is sneering and flipping this guy the bird.

[V Sridhar Subramaniam · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A good sense of humour. Perceptive. Self deprecating. Makes you think.

[Lise Lærdal Bryn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

fun book all pictures made me laugh out loud lots

[oldandnewbooksmell · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is a comic book that has highlights from Tommy's viral "500 Days of Comics" project, along with three essays about the experience of being a creative person in the age of social media and how our phones are changing our brains and relationships.

Meh, I just didn't get it mostly. At first I was really into it but then, once I got farther in, I found myself caring less and less for the comics.

I didn't find it at all that funny... some comics made me smile, but most didn't do anything. I also just not a fan of poop jokes or the constant "Millennial is Glued to Their Phone" jokes, even if it is a millennial making that joke.

[michlynnmo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book free via Netgalley.com.I was scrolling through the library of available humour books on Netgalley.com looking for something funny to read, and thus review. The premise of the book: a personal challenge to create 500 cartoons in 500 days. The completed book displays many of these cartoons and discusses the challenges of modern media (AKA our addiction to social media), being in a band and other humourous and timely topics. I really enjoyed the stories and the cartoons that were displayed. Many of them were funny and some were thought provoking. This is a little over 200 pages packed with 2020 relevant topics and cartoons. While it was a humour book, it was nice to know that other people have the same anxieties as I do. My favourite page was titled "What your coffee preparation method says about you". #IHopeThisHelps