Comic Review: Bread and Butler #1

Written: Liz Mayorga
Illustrated: Liz Mayorga
Publisher: Rosarium
Release Date: October 5, 2016

Bread and Butter is the latest release from Rosarium Publishing and centers around a young woman named Liana. She had moved to San Francisco in pursuit of her dream, designing and creating cover art for musicians. Instead she's found herself trapped in a job she doesn't care for, desperately clinging to her dreams and inspiration for fleeting moments as they pass her by.

Liz Mayorga is the mind behind Bread and Butter and the sole creator, Liz is from Southeast LA but has been residing in the Bay Area since 2004, where a love of DIY art and Zines flourished. You can see some of her previous work on her website lizmayorga.com.


The stories follows Liana who works at the De Young Museum Cafe. She came to San Francisco following her dreams and hoping to find other "weirdos," like her. What she found is all that glitters isn't gold. She's stuck working at the cafe she hates and can't afford to leave the city. The one thing that keeps her going is the brief moments in which she recaptures her inspiration and passion for art.

One thing this story gets correct from the very start is working in a service industry just plain sucks. It doesn't matter if it's retail, financial services, food prep, cleaning or anything else. It always seems like you really are dealing with the worst that humanity has to offer every day. There will always be people who complain about service being too slow, when in reality it has nothing to do with you, only other customers. I got mad for Liana while reading it. On top of that, not all of your coworkers are great to be around. Working a dead end job just to survive while putting your dreams to the side is a horrible feeling, it's almost as if you work then sleep just so you can work again.

The art in the book is different. Sometimes I feel as if it uses caricatures to depict people, other times it seems grounded in reality. One thing I really like is that the panels mix in what's happening, what Liana imagines happening and then occasionally some shots of the city. In fact, I'd go as far as saying that the art uses the city in a way that makes it seem as the city is a character in the events taking place, not just a setting.

The phrase bread and butter is meant to describe a job, or primary source of income for a person. This is what we're seeing. It's not a glamorous story about all of Lianna's dreams coming true over night. Instead it's a story about her bread and butter. Her real life. It's not over the top interesting but it holds your focus and you keep reading because in a way you can relate. How many people really get to do their dream jobs? You read the book after a day at work and you just sigh because it's good to know you're not alone.

You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He also plays classic arcade games on The Cabinet
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