When I first picked this issue up I was surprised at what a simple and great idea this is; the format is that of a diary with each page as a page from a real dairy with drawings and thoughts that Ralphie had on that day... and its very funny: I laughed out loud more than a few times. You can tell that the jokes come from someone with a left of centre sense of humour; the 'cloud of midges' drawings are comedy genius.
The art is very simple and done to great effect in a doodle style. If the art was super sharp it just wouldn't have worked as well. The point is you're meant to think this is a real diary...and maybe it is...
There's a rant about the abuse of mobile phones and how he would like to abuse the person using it, there's a rant about picking the right comedy birthday card, (does anyone really buy the talking cards anyways), and the state of morning TV. It's fun and it's simple and that's what's so great about it. The only thing I would ask is that Ralphie puts more on the page; there's a couple of days where there's no entries at all, and this to me is a waste of space, which could have been filled very easily.
So, give fatty Bridget Jones the boot and give Adrian Mole a slap - check out Ralphie!
David Golding