All DCC books go hard in their own ways, but this one is especially poignant. There are a lot of emotional little ways we see characters connecting, and even Carl gets to meet fans at a convention, and the personal tragedy of multiple(!) families broken by unkind fate.
The drama is finely balanced by uproarious comedy, such as Mongo losing his virginity. With Mama Donut and Uncle Carl right there as he goes to Pound Town…and we later discover it was with a mama-bear (literally, kind of, retroactively; it makes sense in context).