Welcome to Double Take, a column dedicated to highlighting different comics and each’s merits through a discussion between two veterans of the comic site space. One is yours truly, the person behind the Eisner Award-losing SKTCHD, David Harper. The other is friend of the site and the Eisner Award-winning comics critic Oliver Sava.

If you’re a regular reader of SKTCHD, you know I rep hard for Mark Mosedale and Si Smith’s 2026 graphic novel Gigs. Published by Top Shelf, this book is one I’ve very strongly advocated for on multiple occasions at this point, and I suspect that hype machine will not die down anytime soon.

It certainly isn’t this week, as now, we’re talking about it on Double Take, as I had to find out what Oliver Sava thought about this graphic novel and to see whether his perspective might lead to me seeing the book in a different way. For those that are unaware of it, Gigs is about a future where AI has taken over all the regular jobs, everyone gets universal basic income, and they can only maintain that if they continue to do the gigs that are assigned to them by an all-encompassing app that dominates their world. While it feels ripped from the headlines, it’s a human story at its core, and in all the best ways.

It’s also an anthology, in a way, as Gigs is told across a series of stories of varying lengths rather than one larger narrative, but they all connect in the end while enhancing one another in the process, something that makes for a very unique read. But does it work? Or am I overhyping the efforts of Mosedale and Smith? There’s only one way to find out, and you can do that by reading Oliver and I’s discussion about this book, its merits, and, in particular, Smith’s art.

There’s only one way to find out.

David Harper: Oliver, my feelings are known to some degree about Gigs. I wrote a bit about it in a previous edition of my Friday column, and while I didn’t dig deep, I suspect most recognize that I’m a bit of a fan of what Mark Mosedale and Si Smith have done with this Top Shelf graphic novel. That’s part of the reason I wanted to talk to you about this book. I figured you’d either be a cold splash of water in my face about how great it is or you’d reinforce my beliefs about it. I know you were enjoying certain aspects of it, but now that you’re through it, where do you stand? Did Gigs work for you?

Oliver Sava: The word “work” sends me into an existential panic, so yes, Gigs did its job. Oh god. “Job.” Excuse me while I go scream into the void. 

Gigs bummed me out because the concept isn’t far-fetched at all. The least realistic thing about an app assigning jobs that need to be performed in order to secure government-provided basic income is that its name would be as honest as “Gig”. And of course the idea that basic income would be implemented at all. It’s very interesting to see the dark side of the theoretically utopian concept of basic income and how it could be used to continue exploiting labor, and even though Gigs ends up in a more hopeful place, I couldn’t shake that feeling of sadness.

That said, I was captivated throughout and impressed by the scale of what Mosedale and Smith accomplished. I appreciate the structure of standalone chapters that each have their own distinct tone and narrative arc, and the visuals do incredible work immersing the reader in this dystopian future. It’s so easy to get swept away in all of the details, from the architecture to the character designs to the various types of drones that crowd the sky. I especially love the coloring and the texture Smith creates by layering small scratchy lines of different shades. It’s a genuine feat on a technical level, but there’s also a strong emotional core at the heart of it all. 

Because this is essentially a collection of connected short stories, I’m curious which of the stories resonated with you the most? The last year has been a real whirlwind for you professionally, and I wonder how that shaped your reading experience.