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Nepotism
You know, I get all kinds of random comics submissions for the site these days. I can usually find something positive to say about almost all of them, as the sheer level of will in putting a comic out usually lends itself to some positives. Still, it’s rare that I get something that’s as well put together as this, and I think it’s Geoffrey’s first book. Half of the book is The Labyrinth, a story that was one of the highlights of the SPX 2002 book. It’s a story about Jorge Luis Borges, one of two that I’ve received this week, in one of those odd cosmic coincidences. The second half of the book is split into three different stories with three different artists, all written by Geoffrey. The first one, called The Question, is drawn by Janet Alexander, and it’s a silent tale about a cute little thing asking questions all day long that never get answered. The second one is called Fought Over. Drawn by Russell Hawley, it’s a nature tale about two males fighting for the right to mate with a female with tragic results, but probably not the ones that you might think. The last one is called The Birthday Boy; Marc Raab draws one hell of a creepy tree. The boy in question asks the tree how he can tell how old he is, and I think you can guess where it goes from there. All of these artists bring something to the table. Janet has adorable characters with densely layered backgrounds, Russell’s depiction of the animals is incredible on all kinds of levels, and Marc, like I said, draws a great talking tree. But Geoffrey doesn’t need the help drawing. His minimalist (sort of) style is perfect for the tale that he’s telling, although the sheer range of talent on the other stories helps bring the whole comic together. This is the best first effort I’ve seen since Lumakick, and if you haven’t seen the SPX 2002 anthology The Labyrinth is worth the price ($3.50) by itself. Buy it now so you can tell people (in a few years, when he’s rich and famous) that you got the first comic that this guy ever put out. Oh, and check out the website for samples and stuff…
