Montana Diary

Montana Diary is an interesting travelogue/mini-comic that melds history with current politics. It is about a road trip through "Big Sky Country" that delivers a history of the state, exploration of its national parks, sample of local culture, and reflection on contemporary politics and race relations. As a person in a mixed race marriage, Taylor shares her discomfort with social situations on her trip, admitting how she let her husband do the speaking, as she did not know how locals would react to them. She is also responding to the historical moment, living in the US after years of divisive hate becoming more and more pronounced. 

Thus, this book captures a few unique facets in its pages. It contains a response to a specific time, set in a particular place, and elucidating that place's history and geography. I think that the artwork is elegant and economical, depicting very human and occasionally humorous situations. It is alternately affecting, informative, and moving, portraying an intimate look into relationships and traveling. I think that it exemplifies the best characteristics of both diary writing and a travelogue, a compelling book that is surprisingly complex and enlightening in the short space of 32 pages. You will feel like you are there in the car with her, knocking back a huck shake while worrying about climate change.

Montana Diary is the work of Whit Taylor, who has been a very active cartoonist, editor, and contributor to multiple anthologies. She has won multiple Ignatz Awards, one for co-editing the anthology Comics for Choice and the other for outstanding series for Fizzle. She is also a contributing editor for The Nib.

The reviews I have read of this book have been positive. Rob Kirby wrote, "This thirty-two-page zine boasts a rich tapestry of content, more in fact, than many full-length graphic novels I’ve read of late. It’s an entertaining, genuinely rewarding read, created with equal parts heart and mind." Scott Cederlund opined, "It’s great to come away from a comic like this feeling like you’ve shared at least a part of the experience with the cartoonist and that’s what Taylor does in her cartooning."

Montana Diary was published by Silver Sprocket, and they offer a preview and more info here. You can also read the entire comic here, though I suggest you also buy a copy.