New review today for Dear Missy by Daryl Seitchik, and yes, that does mean that my Spit and a Half order has arrived. Buy some comics yourself why don’t you? John Porcellino is both an incredible artist and a delightful online shopkeeper.
Seitchik, Daryl – Dear Missy
January 26, 2026
Who’s looking for a little mild heartbreak on a Monday? This one is told from the perspective of a young girl writing in her diary. Things start off fairly innocuous, as she’s writing about things she likes and how much she enjoys writing poems, before she gets to the heart of things: her parents are getting divorced, and she has no idea what her life is going to be like after that happens. What happens when her mom starts dating again? Or when her dad moves out? Will she lose friends at school over it? The writing is done with large single page panels (which is why the sample image is so cryptic), so it’s a quick read, but there are details in here that will stick in your brain and remind you of them later. As for the explanation of that image below, oof. I hope this is fiction, because the image of your dad moving out of the house would be heartbreaking enough, but bringing both cats with him would just be such an extra insult to the proceedings. It turns out that there are several Missy comics, so maybe I’ll keep looking for more, but this is one is solid by itself. Check it out, especially if you have any lingering divorce trauma in your life. $5
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 1/22/26
January 22, 2026New review today for, you guessed it, Cochlea & Eustachia Volume 2 by Hans Rickheit. Back to the mini comic reviews next week probably? Depending on the promptness of the postal service, I reckon. Unless somebody else has review comics on the way to me, that is…
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Posted by Kevin
Rickheit, Hans – Cochlea & Eustachia Volume 2
January 22, 2026
To readers of this website who are just discovering his work now and who think that maybe Hans has put out both of these books recently, a little reality check: that’s not the case. This second volume was at least a decade after the first, and he’s been working on it since 2014. If you’d told me that he spent about a month on each panel of this almost 200 page behemoth, based on the frankly absurd amount of detail in each image, I’d absolutely believe you. Just a gorgeous book from start to finish, full of beautifully detailed horrors. Should I tell you about the story? Fine, but this really is one of those cases where the art alone could carry the book. Things start off in almost a straightforward fashion: there’s a lone figure wearing a bear mask, crawling through the wreckage of civilization, hunting for a bird. He successfully knocks a bird out of the sky, cuts it open… and then removes a key from the carcass, which he uses to open up his own face. Yep, for a page or two there I was almost fooled that this was a typical post-apocalyptic story. Nope! We go inside his open face and see a character (that is soon named Fronky by Cochlea and Eustachia) who is clearly looking for something. He pulls two husks out of filing cabinets, plugs them into a device of some kind, and out come our heroes! Well, one of them, anyway. She has to pull her twin out of her husk, as she doesn’t really want to leave it. And, considering what happens to both of them throughout the book, she had the right instincts. The mystery of their origin is revealed, in case (like me) you were still curious from the last volume. Which has almost nothing to do with this one, in case you were wondering if you had to read them in order like I did. Anyway! Fronky was incapacitated somehow, and they manage to extract a black bubble from him. Which they then crack open, revealing an armadillo, which they then spend a lot of time chasing, and which figures into the overall plot pretty heavily. From there… you know, me going over this point by point doesn’t help either of us. There’s a giant with a globe for a head who’s hunting the twins, there’s a room full of exact duplicates of Cochlea and Eustachia, there’s a creep who’s using versions of them to power his vehicle, one of them loses an eye, and just about every oddity in this world is hunting them. Small details in panels are paid off beautifully down the line, and it somehow all ties together nicely. There’s a lot more nudity in this one than the previous volume, but it’s not like I’d call either of these appropriate for all ages. If you’re a fan of the odd and almost inexplicable (that somehow all makes sense in the end), I couldn’t recommend these two books highly enough. $36 (or get both volumes for a discounted price of $56)
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 1/20/26
January 20, 2026Sorry about being a bit slow getting out of the gate this year, an order to Spit and a Half should have some mini comics on their way soon. In the meantime, Hans Rickheit was nice enough to send me both volumes of Cochlea and Eustachia, and since Hans is an old favorite of mine who’s work I haven’t seen in ages, I figured: Hans Rickheit week! New review today for Cochlea & Eustachia Volume 1, so guess what the review is going to be later in the week?
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Posted by Kevin
Rickheit, Hans – Cochlea & Eustachia Volume 1
January 20, 2026
I’d occasionally like to go back in time and give the past version of myself a smack on the head. I reviewed a few comics from Hans way back in the early days of the website, starting in 2005 if my rickety archiving system is accurate. At the time it was obvious that he was an exceptional talent, which current me can confirm by reading those old reviews. And yet! I somehow managed to lose track of the guy. One look at his website shows that he’s been making books ever since, so that’s a pile of books I need to get caught up with in a hurry. Because (long-winded and meandering introduction over) this is an exceptional comic, unlike just about anything else you’re likely to see. Before I even get started on the story, I’d recommend to anybody reading this book to take your time on those panels. Every one has a level of detail that rewards lingering on it, and the choice to go full color (his previous comics were black and white) was inspired. So what’s going on in here? Oh boy. Cochlea and Eustachia are twin (?) human girls (???), and no, you cannot tell them apart unless they’re actively addressing themselves. The “human” part is dicey since one drilled a hole into the side of the other and no blood came out (there was also only a momentary sense of pain), and the “twin” part is in question because most of this volume deals with the repercussions of getting mistaken for another identical version of the girls who’s going around and causing chaos. Things start off with a mole man emerging from the his cage in the back of a giant statue of an anteater with a fancy collar (or possibly a taxidermied anteater), which rouses Cochlea from her sleep. This also lets the reader take a tour of this house, surrounded by a sea of bird skulls, which is filled with mysteries and wonders. And dangers! They’re both seemingly at constant risk of injury or death, although we do see later that the rules might be a bit different in their world. After observing both the mole man going about his day and their evil twin doing all sorts of damage, one of them is captured after being mistaken for the evil twin. Horrible things happen to her as a result (how did a phone get up there anyway?), after one particularly horrible thing happens to the mole man, and things take an ugly turn after a plug is pulled. No more from me about the story, as I feel like I may have already said too much. This volume also has a short story in the back, which shows the pair digging up a (still living?) body and doing some improvements to it, which I should also probably leave to the reader. Highly recommended, obviously, and once again, reader: take your time with this one. There’s not a huge amount of dialogue, but some of these images are guaranteed to stick with you. $25 (or $56 for a pack of volume 1 & 2)
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Posted by Kevin
“Update” for 1/9/26
January 9, 2026Ugh, I ran out of week in a hurry. So I’m going to cheat a bit: Cankor by Matthew Allison, The Hard Switch by Owen D. Pomery, and Cookies & Herb by Matt MacFarland for the graphic novels, and I have to mention the comics of Fran Lopez. Clearly that’s an incomplete list (I mean, no mention of the mini kus books at all?), but these jumped out at me after scrolling through the year. Now here’s my general plea: send me your minis to review! Or if you found a mini you loved, send it to me too. I’m going to be mostly broke for at least a few months, so I’m going to be relying on the kindness of strangers for a bit. It’s either that or I start digging through the dreaded boxes of old comics to see what I uncover…
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Posted by Kevin
“Update” for 1/8/26
January 8, 2026I Never Found You by Emma Jon-Michael Frank has really stuck with me since reading it months ago, which is as high of a compliment as I can give (I read a whole lot of comics). Assuming it even came out last year I’m guessing it got overlooked, but there’s no reason for you to do that. And even though they could now fit under comics or graphic novels, Greg and Fake Petre are really tearing it up with The Santos Sisters and seem unstoppable.
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Posted by Kevin
“Update” for 1/7/26
January 7, 2026This one is a bit of a cheat because I still haven’t written a review for it, but Kayla E.’s Precious Rubbish is on every “best of” list that I’ve seen, and deservedly so. I’ve actually started writing a review for it a couple of times and crashed out because attempting to describe everything I saw in that book was just too much to encapsulate. Read the reviews from the people who are smarter than me, you’ll get the idea. And on the comics side, let’s hear it for Dan Hill! He’s the madman we need for these times (I’m sure he’s a perfectly lovely gentleman).
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Posted by Kevin
“Update” for 1/6/26
January 6, 2026Keeping with the theme, Sean Knickerbocker’s Best of Three deserves a mention on any “best of” list. And for the comics side (although he’s getting closer to putting out regular graphic novels all the time), read Karl Christian Krumpholz if you aren’t already!
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Posted by Kevin
“Update” for 1/5/26
January 5, 2026Sure, most people have to go back to work or school from the holiday break this week, but I decided that I’m sticking with me “best of” idea for the year. Note: these aren’t in any kind of order, and I’m mostly covering stuff that I reviewed here. Since I hardly ever review the big Fantagraphics/Drawn & Quarterly/etc. releases, that means that my selections will be wildly different from the other lists you’ll see. But read those too! Generally speaking, those books are on the big lists for a reason. I’m starting off with maybe my favorite book of the year (but these aren’t going to be in any kind of order): Goes Like This by Jordan Crane. And what the heck, I’m also going to mention a (primarily) mini comics person each day too, so why not start with the guy I’ve reviewed the most: Brian Canini!
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 12/31/25
December 31, 2025New review today for Savage Beast by Ansis Purins! I never did get around to that best of list for the year, huh? Maybe I’ll put something together next week, or maybe I’ll forget all about it. Find out along with me!
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Posted by Kevin
Purins, Ansis – Savage Beast
December 31, 2025
Savage Beast
A new book from Ansis is always a treat, just to spare you any suspense regarding how this review is going to go. It was just last week that I was wearing my Zombre shirt to the gym and had the pleasure of watching a dude look at my shirt, silently mouth the word “Zombre” like it was a question, and go about his day. Too bad, as I would have had a grand old time explaining it to him if he’d asked. But hey, Zombre isn’t in this one, it’s all about cats! Do I always give comics about cats a positive review? Yeah, probably. And that’ll be true until I find the one comic about somebody being an asshole to a cat, at which point the streak will end. This one is a series of single page stories mostly about two cats (Skelly and Pip), with occasional guest cats thrown in. Ansis is also using occasional stickers and colors, mostly but not completely as part of his scanned images in the book (my cover had an actual sticker on it anyway), which made for an interesting look throughout. Side note: am I typing this while my cat Miles is literally cat yelling at me for closing the door while I’m doing this? Reader, you know it, so I’d better make this quick. Stories in here deal with the inevitable quest for quiet while you’re working (pretty on the nose for me today), the glorious dream of catching the mouse versus the reality of how much trouble it is, getting too worked up after watching a movie (cat edition), the sad origin story of Skelly (adopted as part of a bonded pair when the other half died only a week later, sadly I can relate to this one too), the tuna dance, and an unseen moment of cat peace. There are also stories about Ranger (it just never works to try to help a cat who seems too hot) and Cutlet (the shrieker) and Bob (awwww). I’m not seeing this on his website so it must be hot off the presses, but if you contact him through his website I’m thinking maybe $5 could get you a copy? I’m terrible about guessing prices so don’t quote me on that. He’s also putting out two new books next year, but for now… cats!
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 12/30/25
December 30, 2025Just in time to be slightly late for the holiday, the new review today is for Brandon Lehmann’s Stocking Stuffer Spectacular. Also I’m still waiting on my mysterious billionaire benefactor to 1. exist and 2. buy the rest of Brandon’s books and send them to me. Maybe for the new year!
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Posted by Kevin
Lehmann, Brandon – Stocking Stuffer Spectacular
December 30, 2025
I apologize for this being a few days late to be considered an actual Christmas review, but you know how life gets around the holidays. And hey, at least I’m getting this out during the weird holiday taint week. Can the holidays be funny, was the question I asked myself after seeing this arrive in the mail. Normally I’d think that the subject has been satirized to death by now, but then again I’d never seen Brandon take a crack at it. This one starts off with a Christmas song (with lyrics), so gather the family around the fire and give it a go! Next we get a mysterious tale of a secret Santa who keeps sending a single egg to their chosen person throughout the holidays, until we get the dramatic reveal at the end. Next we see the moments where the Home Alone bandits question their life choices before going into that McCallister house and have time to briefly ponder what might have been. I’m not even going to tell you what the next two stories are about (other than to tell you that Rudolph is a human this time around and Santana shows up for the holiday), because I believe in surprises for Christmas. Oh, and Meat Santa to wrap things up, another unopened present for you. Still, the bulk of this book is a Christmas Carol parody. You may think, like I did, that parodying that particular story has been done to death and that there’s no hidden sources of humor left in it. Again, you haven’t seen Brandon’s take yet. Scrooge has never been humbuggier, Tiny Tim has never been tinier, the ghosts have never been more downsized, and the true effects of Scrooge’s change of heart on a larger scale have never been more clearly and depressingly explained. Brandon’s single panel per page style makes using a sample image tricky for me (oh, the troubles I have), but he asks the important questions, so I had to include the question that’s been bothering historians for over a century. This one is packed full of funny bits and I couldn’t recommend it more highly, ESPECIALLY if you read it during the actual holiday season. $25
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 12/18/25
December 18, 2025New review today for Detours by Eli Bishop. Since I’m still short on review comics, maybe next week I’ll do some kind of a “best of” list? Eh, everybody else is doing it, so why not me?
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Posted by Kevin
Bishop, Eli – Detours
December 18, 2025
I’m going to stick with my lifelong habit of avoiding spoilers whenever possible, but the biggest story in here deals with a breakup, and I’m still blown away with how it happened. The details are left to the imagination, and they’re kind of irrelevant to my bafflement, which is: people really break up over text and THEN ask to meet up so they can explain it in person? I’ve seen the cowardly breaking up by text, I’ve seen breaking up in person, I’ve even seen breaking up in person in a public place to lessen the chance of any unpleasant blowups. But breaking up by text and getting into the details later? AND asking them to return a loaned book when you meet them? I’m in awe. That story is told as in a fever dream, which makes sense, and the surprisingly good news he gets while waiting at the park was a fantastic juxtaposition. I mean, the look that the bank manager gave when he realized that heartbroken Eli would be a terrible model for a photo op! Eh, that’ll all make sense when you read the story. Other stories in here include the secret conversations of hospital equipment (come on, you know you were wondering about them) and a crowd in the rain joining together to salvage some poorly placed road detour blocks during a torrential downpour. Also sprinkled throughout are some of Eli’s interpretations of headlines from a celebrity gossip magazine he saw and didn’t understand, and there’s some hilarious stuff in there. The joys of hitting middle age are sparse, but “I have no idea who these ‘famous’ people are and also don’t care” is definitely one of them. I’d recommend this for the breakup story alone, but there’s a lot of good stuff in here, so give it a shot why don’t you? $10
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 12/16/25
December 16, 2025New review today for Town & Country #4 by Alex Nall, making his welcome return to the website. Mostly because I misplaced this review copy a couple of years back, but still!
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Posted by Kevin
Nall, Alex – Town & Country #4
December 16, 2025
This one fell through the reviewing cracks somehow (Alex put this out a couple of years ago), which wouldn’t be all that notable except for the fact that his online store seems to be down completely and the only active link I can find for this issue goes to Birdcage Bottom Books. They’re great, don’t get me wrong, but the link shows as a security risk, so I’m using a different link that’s currently sold out. Maybe they’ll get more? Eh, I don’t know. Not the first time that I’ve reviewed something and wondered after the fact if a comics apocalypse happened while I wasn’t paying attention. Past me thought I’d be reading the previous three issues before trying to review this one, but current me is cranky and tired, so I’ll have to rely on my memory to keep these characters straight. Which isn’t as problematic as usual, since Alex put a brief synopsis at the start, and the theme of this issue is overall less about the people than it is about the town itself. The first half of this book is an oral history of the town given by one of its residents, and we don’t see any details about who or what’s happening until the end. This person goes through what the town used to be like, how the people used to interact, how sad it is that the younger generation can’t wait to get out, why they stick around, etc. If you come from a small town this one might hit you pretty hard, as it’s hard not to see some parallels to other places that I’ve lived. After a lovely centerfold depicting parts of the town (and a very brief story about Suzy), the rest of the book shows an outdoor wedding. Sure, Alex spends plenty of time with some character growth for several people (seriously, the number of things going on in the background makes me think that I still missed a few after reading this twice), but this is once again about the town and the various interpersonal dynamics happening. Also that ending didn’t involve any humans and it still got me. Here’s hoping that everything is OK in Alex’s world, as it’s odd not to see active links to his comics online. But if you can find this at a con or have better searching skills than me, give it a shot. It might not be the best single issue by itself, but it wouldn’t be possible without the character growth from the previous issues, and I’m still fascinated to see how it all comes together. $8
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 12/10/25
December 10, 2025New review today for Lauren Ipsum #32 by Charles Brubaker. What can I say, the man makes a lot of comics!
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Posted by Kevin
