Ménage à Bughouse
Written by Stephen Lafler
Art by Stephen Lafler
CO2 Comics
Release Date: June 4, 2012
Cover Price: $39.99 HC; $24.99 TPB

Steve Lafler spent twelve years (1992-2004) writing Bughouse, during which he explores so much of the characters and the world, that it can be tough to encapsulate. The book follows the virtuosic Jimmy Watts and the other members of his band, Bughouse, as they rise through Bugtown’s (read: NYC) music scene during the jazz and ragtime explosions. Now, all three of the Bughouse stories – Bughouse, Baja, and Scallywags – are collected in this new omnibus from CO2 comics. Although he initially wanted to deal with the intertwinement of drug culture and the music scene, he also wants the book to be fun, and so the stories are light and breezy.

The way that Lafler deals with drug abuse is actually pretty unique in its own right. Everyone is almost laughably blunt about drugs in the book. Some sample lines of dialogue…