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Overcompensating is billed as “a 100% true journal comic about things that actually happen five days a week.” Some of that might be true. I find it a little hard to believe that the conversations and actions of the characters actually happen five days a week. Maybe I don’t get out enough.

However, there is one character named after the author, Jeffrey Rowland, so maybe there’s some kernel of truth to each comic. There are other characters named after friends of the author, along with others that appear to be fictional. Here you’ll find wonderful folks like Weedmaster P, Tallahassee Econolodge, The Englishman and Madame V. There are more characters and they are all very unique.

What they do is allow us to examine life from different outlooks, but I doubt you’ll find yourself agreeing with any of them. As a matter of fact, you will probably stand against most of them. In such a diverse cast, there are usually some crazies and a couple of more reasonable types to poke fun at the crazies. I haven’t found any reasonable characters I could empathize with.

It’s just not that kind of comic. Overcompensating is all about those little things in life that just don’t add up right away when you think about them. There are other comics that do that too, but not to this degree. It’s kind of like the comic takes an idea to its logical extreme yet that’s just a stepping stone to the real joke. And it’s usually a jarring step even though the comic is amusing enough.

I can appreciate Mr. Rowland’s style of art and I appreciate that he can write a good joke. I also enjoy the zany cast of characters and the examination of the minutia in our crazy lives. There are a number of comics that have strong emotional content and I can tell that he puts a lot of thought and effort into this comic. However, I’m not sold on Overcompensating because it just doesn’t hold together. It sounds uncharitable to say it this way, but it rambles on and borders on free association of unrelated emotions and ideas. There are themes that run in the comic but no overall vision that I could discern, other than outrage at the status quo - like a stranger in ill fitting clothes on your street corner yelling into the wind about the price of avocados.

That, perhaps, may be the thing that endears Overcompensating to its readers. According to its Project Wonderful stats, it has quite a respectable readership. I can only assume that this comic’s audience enjoys the strong feeling and variety of topics. If that sounds like fun to you, then Overcompensating might be a comic you’d like.

-Please note that the large arrows on the outside edges take to you to the next and previous comics. The little arrows on the inside will jump you to first and latest, respectively. I mention it because it wasn’t obvious to me and I had to experiment to get things to work right. There is also a random comic feature and a calendar to navigate the comic with.

Overcompensating
by Jeffrey Rowland

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