Hot Dog Taste Test

Lisa Hanawalt's debut graphic novel, My Dirty Dumb Eyes, achieved instant and widespread acclaim, from The New York Times to the comedian Patton Oswalt. Her designs define the look of the wildly popular Netflix Cartoon Bojack Horseman, featuring Will Arnett and Amy Sedaris. Her culinary-focused comics and illustrated essays in Lucky Peach magazine won her a James Beard Award. Now, Hot Dog Taste Test collects Hanawalt's devastatingly funny comics, single-page gag jokes, gorgeous paintings, and screwball lists.

Hanawalt tucks into the pomposities of the foodie subculture, imagining bananas as high-end accessories; offering wine-buying instructions based on which varietal is sure to make you cry, itch, or crave red meat; and crafting an eerie comic about being a horse lover yet an avid carnivore (could the designer of the hit animated series Bojack Horseman really leave horses out of it?).

Hot Dog Taste Test explodes with color, hilarity, charm, and, occasionally, reproductive organs. Lush full-spread watercolor paintings of birds getting their silly feet all over a kitchen, a fully imagined hot dog show (think Best in Show but with hot dogs), and a holiday feast gone awry are the creamy icing on this imaginative rainbow-colored cake. But Hanawalt's wit extends far beyond gags - her social commentary and musings on popular culture are as keen and funny as her watercolors are exquisite.