Mark Beyer’s inimitable self-taught style-mixing off-kilter imagery and boldly geometric compositions-has been featured in Art Spiegelman’s RAW and on MTV’s Liquid Television, but Agony is its most essential expression. Originally published in 1987, this East Village Candide is an eccentric, grimly hilarious delight.

Amy and Jordan are just like us- hoping for the best, even when things go from bad to worse. They are devoured by fish, beheaded by ghosts, menaced by bears, and hunted by the cops, but still they struggle on, bickering and reconciling, scraping together the rent and trying to find a decent movie. The perfect solace for anxious modern minds, courtesy of one of the great innovators of American comics.

Now if only Amy’s skin would grow back…