Every day in April I will be featuring a humorous comic (either an issue or a series of strips) that I found particularly amusing. Feel free to e-mail me at bcronin@comicbookresources.com the comic stories that are your favorites when it comes to hilarity, and I'll see if I can't feature some of them this month, as well!

Today we look at an awesome original graphic novel by Kyle Baker called You Are Here. It is about a jewel thief who got out of the thieving business to become a painter, only now he has been pulled back into his old life (while trying to hide it all from his perfect, innocent girlfriend). It is a hilarious romp with stunning Baker artwork.

The introduction of the comic sets up the dichotomy between the two sides of the protagonist's life...







The dialogue is done as if it is from a script, which is a neat concept that works really well.

In any event, Noah's girlfriend, Helen, is basically a literal Disney princess. She actually talks to animals!!



However, what Helen does not know is that Noah used to be a jewel thief before he found that being a painter made him more money. The problem is that he has lied to Helen for the past year, pretending that he doesn't drink or smoke, and all he draws is paintings of flowers.

The wheels come off the cart when Noah goes back to New York City to sell his apartment and gets caught up with his old friends (who at first don't believe that he has gone straight)...



Things get worse when a guy with a vendetta against Noah gets out of prison...



To top it all off, Helen shows up in the city! Baker gets a TON of great humor out of contrasting Helen's personality with that of New York (there is a scene with her, a mugger and a sunset that needs to be seen to be believed).

Baker's dialogue format is used beautifully in a joke here...





So anyhow, everything comes together for a frantic story that works really well as an adventure story, even if there were no jokes. Baker's art is magnificent. I won't spoil anything else - go pick up this book! I don't know if it is in print, actually, but get it anyways!