New review today for Still Making Your Diary Comics? by Fran Lopez. Also hey, it’s a new year and I’m getting low on review comics once again. I’m going to make a Chicago run one of these days (Quimby’s and Chicago Comics being mandatory stops), but if the weather is going to be this miserable for the entirety of January, I’ll need some comics to get me through. Send me your latest why don’t you?
Lopez, Fran – Still Making Your Diary Comics?
January 10, 2025
Still Making Your Diary Comics?
Go ahead, admit it: you have a very specific idea of what this comic is going to be like. That’s OK! I did too. But Fran really takes this in a completely unexpected direction, and it ends up being all about that creature he’s holding on the cover. It starts off like you’ve seen these comics start out countless times, as the first strip is about Fran talking himself into doing diary strips again, then we get a few about mundane aspects of daily life, even hitting the “I’m bored” type of strip very early in the comic. Then he literally stumbles across this creature, seemingly on the edge of death, and they quickly have to decide what to do with it. From there they have to deal with what to feed it, what kind of diapers to get for it, and how to hide it from the neighbors, before finally deciding that they’ll need to get out of town entirely. It turns into an odd surviving in harsh conditions/raising a child comic (even though the child is an alien maybe) which, again, kudos. I did not see any of that coming. He also has thin pencil drawings on each page (in the space not filled in by the strip), and each of them end up telling their own story if you’re paying attention. This one was an unexpected blast, which is the kind of thing that makes this whole reviewing hobby of mine still seem fresh and worthwhile 23 years into it. I still have one more of his comics to review, but after two comics I think it’s safe to say that yes, you should check out his stuff, and at this point it’s probably safe to just do a random grab of whichever one looks most intriguing to you. $5
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 1/8/25
January 8, 2025New review today for In The City #3 by Karl Christian Krumpholz, which almost makes this another week of comics from CXC. They’re for real almost out now though, and technically Karl mailed this one to me because I missed him at the con. Update your records accordingly!
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Posted by Kevin
Krumpholz, Karl Christian – In The City #3
January 8, 2025
Last time around I think I mentioned something about Karl’s comics making me want to grab a few drinks (in the “let’s get together with friends and talk nonsense” way, not the “sadly drinking alone” way). This time around I’d say he’s convinced me to somehow quit my job and go back to being a broke barfly full time. Logistically, this seems tricky! But it never hurts to have goals, right? This is more of Karl and Kelly’s late night tour of the city, with all of the horrors and joys that that entails. Like that sample image below. Would you believe that I picked it for the bottom part of the page, and the fact that that sleeping man had his middle finger up didn’t even register with me until now? Baffling. This time around the happy couple try to get their very drunk friend home safely (and discover a worrying long term problem along the way), end up on the wrong side of a gun (which, believe it or not, has a happy and hilarious ending), run into another friend and end up at a party on the top floor of a tall building where a game of chicken bingo breaks out (go ahead and guess the rules, then read the comic. Were you correct?), and eventually wind up in an excellent spot to see the sunrise. Of course, that’s only the big stuff. The charm of this series, the reason it might be the best thing he’s done (even with the shocking lack of Oola), is in the constant small interactions that make up the evening. I genuinely don’t know if he takes notes as he goes or if what’s depicted as one evening was actually several, but everybody he sees is a potentially completely unique situation, with the constantly increasing booze levels only raising the potential hilarity in each one. And there’s the possibility of danger, which he doesn’t shy away from here, but it helps that between the two of them they seemingly know everybody in town, which makes for a great safety buffer if they’re ever in a spot where they might need it. It’s another great issue and you should buy it. What else needs to be said? $15
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 1/6/25
January 6, 2025New review today for Messed #1 by Jay Kalagayan, Dylan Speeg and Clint Basinger. I’m writing this in the past, before I see if Illinois has a giant snowstorm today and tomorrow or if it ends up being a sputtering nothing. Exciting!
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Posted by Kevin
Kalagayan, Jay B., Speeg, Dylan & Basinger, Clint – Messed #1
January 6, 2025Website
I picked this one up at CXC (2024, future readers), mostly because Jay was a charming and relentless salesman. Also please understand, “relentless” is a good thing at a con; I can’t count how many tables I didn’t engage with because the artist couldn’t be bothered to make eye contact even though I’d stopped to check their stuff out. Anyway, I had a plan to review this one as a first issue, making a few suggestions, maybe a harsh criticism or two while the guy was just starting out to help in the long run… and then I checked out his website. This comic is from 2016, and he’s put out roughly a dozen issues since, so he’s both prolific (mandatory for this sort of story) and has most likely learned everything I was going to tell him by now. But hey, I’ve got to say something, so let’s all pretend, OK? This series is all about Lilliput, a sewer worker who sees all kinds of strange and unexplained things beneath the city. I’m guessing that this series really opens up in future issues (several images on the website were intriguing), but the first issue is pretty basic, with two main stories. The first one deals with Lilliput clearing out a clog of what looks like tiny versions of the worms from Tremors (which was a comparison Jay brought up to me at the con, and which is probably what sold it for me), and the second involves her having a long walk and talk with a giant talking… cricket? Both were told as if these events were a routine part of her day, which raises a lot of questions that I’m guessing get addressed later. So there’s plenty of weird stuff going on, but for a first issue I was honestly hoping for more. What’s Lilliput’s story? Who’s writing these reports we see between stories? Not a lot to push me towards a potential second issue based on this comic alone, but since he’s kept it up consistently in the intervening 8 years now I wish I’d bought the collection at the con and not just the first issue. So, to make sense of this jumbled mess, as a first issue I’d rate this as intriguing but so-so. Knowing that there’s another dozen issues changes the equation considerably, and I’m looking forward to getting the first collection at CXC 2025. Oh, also one of the artists is Clint Basinger, who seemed familiar to me. As is usually my solution to this vague sort of memory, I looked him up on my own website and it turns out that I reviewed a few of his comics back in the late 00’s. Look up his name and be amazed! $7
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 1/2/25
January 2, 2025Hey, I’m one for one on getting the year right! New review today for The Audra Show #7 by Audra Stang, and maybe one of these years I’ll go back and list all of the comics folks whose reviews started off the year around here. Wonder if there’s anybody listed more than once?
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Posted by Kevin
Stang, Audra – The Audra Show #7
January 2, 2025
Well, my big plan to reread the series before reviewing this issue fell apart after I was unable to find the first couple of issues. Does this mean I don’t have them? No, it means I moved a few months ago and my general comics organizational plan was iffy even before that. If and when there’s a #8 for me to review, I’ll be doing my own archaeological dig. Speaking of my crappy memory, has Audra done much autobio in these issues before? This one is about half and half, and all of the stories are a few pages long at the most. I mean, the second half is all Audra, so it’s not like she was mixing both types of stories together. Stories about her life deal with her obsession with American Idol back in the day (which inspired some of her first art, so I can now officially say that that show wasn’t all bad), putting together her own scrap books of famous people, her innocent phone call to the mother of a contestant, and the looming, seemingly inescapable presence of her asshole of a father. He starts off as background noise for a few of her other stories, but he really makes himself known by the end, to the extent that her last story is called “I’m Glad I Didn’t Kill Myself,” told as her current self in reference to the previous stories. I hope that dude fell down an open manhole and lives in the sewers now. Anyway, the first half of the book is back to the ongoing story, and I don’t know why I’m reviewing the book like this so shut up about it. This is heavily about Adelaide, as she’s having a thoroughly miserable time watching other people have crushes when her crushes don’t feel the same way about her. There’s also a brief dream of Owen’s, which naturally involves something bad happening to him at his job. Oh, and she prints a few letters! Well, emails, I’m assuming, but still, that’s always nice to see. I don’t know where she goes from here, whether it’s focusing more on personal stories or back to her universe, but I’m excited to see what she comes up with next. $12
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 12/31/24
December 31, 2024Last chance to type that year our, except for all of the times I’ll do it by accident in January. New review today for Cassetty by Chris Auman, and hey, at least the year is over, right?
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Posted by Kevin
Auman, Chris – Cassetty
December 31, 2024
Oh, the audio history that young folks will get from reading this. Quick, what’s the first method you consciously used to listen to music? If you’re roughly my age it’s a cassette, although CDs were right around the corner from that. If you’re born any time after 2000, it’s a safe bet that no physical media of any kind was involved. Well, dig into the history of the various options, and have yourself a few laughs while doing it. There are several stories in here, all involving our good old pal Cassetty. He stops by a bar where he runs into friends and enemies of various media types (including an LP who’s very happy about the recent trend of people using records again, some CDs and an old eight track that introduces him to some even older formats). And his l’il unknown child which is, of course, a micro cassette. Other stories include Cassetty going on a rampage in Chicago (since Chris lives in Chicago, this seems like it was probably cathartic for him), a double page spread of his dreams, more evidence of his rage towards CDs, his most humiliating moments and his hazy times during the peak of his popularity in the 80’s. Finally he really digs into some of the oldest obsolete formats, including a few I’d never heard of, along with some solid reasons as to why they didn’t make it. I’ll always have a soft spot for cassettes, even if they are objectively inferior to other formats, so watching this little man going on a rampage or two was a blast. If you don’t have that same sentimental attachment, that’s OK too, as you’ll learn a whole lot reading this comic. And there’s violence, so what else could you ask for? $7.50
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 12/19/24
December 19, 2024New review today for Nugget #4 by Tony Dipasquale! In website news, are there going to be reviews up over the holidays? Eh, probably. If it ends up snowing and I get stuck in town I’d call that a sure thing, if not I’d put the odds at 50/50. So if you’re really curious about it, keep an eye on the weather for Urbana Illinois!
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Posted by Kevin
DiPasquale, Tony – Nugget #4
December 19, 2024
This particular volume of Nugget is the longest one yet, with the longest stories yet: 64 pages and only two stories. Should I be irrationally annoyed that he didn’t call it “giant-sized Nugget”? No, I should not. Am I? Maybe a little bit. He seems to be drifting more into body horror this time around, or possibly I’m just noticing it for the first time. First up is a story about Nugget and a friend, seemingly lost at sea. They’re amusing themselves by making faces to each other and generally being friendly, which matters a lot for what comes later. They reach land and the friend makes a discovery: a strange orb that’s making noises that compels them both to lick it in return for visions. And boy howdy, can Tony ever draw some visions. I’ve compared this to Jim Woodring’s work before, and see no reason to stop doing that now. The orb quickly becomes a point of contention for both of them, which leads to some fairly brutal physical violence, in which the orb gets cracked. And if you’re thinking it might have been an egg, you were certainly on the right track with that guess. I’ll say no more about specifics, but it’s a grim tale of friendship and broken trust; that last page is going to stick with me for awhile. The other story is about Nugget, alone again, as he meets a sea nymph while he’s working on a giant head in his yard. Just roll with it! He falls for her immediately and takes her on a tour of the woods, where they stumble across a seriously violent act, and she decides that she wants more of that type of thing in her life. Nugget is heartbroken, but it turns out that there’s another sea nymph wandering around. Do we get to see what passes for sex in this world? I don’t want to say for sure, but I think so? You tell me. This is all entirely wordless, which I must have mentioned in past reviews but haven’t here, and it’s no less devastating for it. It’s the best issue yet, which has been true of all of them, which is a hell of an artistic trajectory. $14
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 12/17/24
December 17, 2024New review today for Airbag #3 by Brian Canini, which you’d think would be from my Cartoon Crossroads pile but nope, he’s just that prolific that he already has another book out since the con a few months ago.
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Posted by Kevin
Canini, Brian – Airbag #3
December 17, 2024
Programming note: I’m probably not going to review it since I reviewed the series issue by issue, but there’s a collected edition of Applewood Canyon out, and y’all should know about it. In case you didn’t want to buy individual issues, well, now you’re all out of excuses! Oh look, here’s a new issue of Airbag, which is how I’m going to segue into the actual review. He’s done a few of these now, each with its own theme, and they’re getting better each time. Considering my short term memory that might not actually be true, but they’re all great so work with me here. This time around it might be “themes” more than “theme,” since the stories deal with loss, feeling forgotten, social awkwardness and, uh, tricking another mouse into springing a mouse trap. Hey, he never said that all of the stories in these issues had to be about humans! The issue starts and ends with a boy who’s laughed off of the basketball court for having the wrong shoes on, with some wise words from his grandfather on how this sort of thing usually ends up if he follows the wrong path. Next we have a brother and sister, both with relationship issues of different types, dealing with the death of their mother and the conflicting feelings that came from it. Each get their own story as they try to connect with other people, with drastically different results. A grandmother and grandfather each tell their story about feeling abandoned, one with the self-awareness to realize why this probably happened and one who’s left without a clue. Finally there’s the longest story in the book, which deals with a college student whose drinking has gotten out of hand slowly, ever so slowly, trying to get her life back on track, or at least put together some semblance of a plan for it. Plenty of tears in here along with a few laughs, and plenty to think about if you’re one of those stoic types who doesn’t cry easily. As always, the man does a lot of comic series, so if you ever want to jump into his stuff without worrying about backstory, his Airbag comics are the way to go. $8
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 12/13/24
December 13, 2024New review today for Santos Sisters #7 by Greg and Fake Petre, soon to be a fancily collected hardcover edition by Fantagraphics! Well, for the first five issue, anyway.
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Posted by Kevin
Petre, Greg & Fake – Santos Sisters #7
December 13, 2024
I don’t know where I should mention this, so I’ll just do it up front: Fantagraphics is putting out a nice looking hardcover edition of the first five issues of this series in March, which you can and absolutely should pre-order here. Haven’t I been singing the praises of this book since #1? Don’t you trust me? Also you should check out the first six months worth of books coming out from Fantagraphics in 2025 because sweet Christmas are there ever some amazing looking books on their way. But this is not the place to talk about such things! This time around we get the second part of “What Time Is It?”, which if I was ruler of the world would be put out in larger installments, but I’m not so I’ll shut up about it. We have the sisters attend a chess tournament (mostly because Ambar is into one of the players), see a lot more of the plot gong on behind the scenes (what the heck is Quibble?) and get a good indication of how Todd is going to get mixed up in all of this. Next up is the cover story, and if you don’t get a laugh out of at least one line from that sample image, I don’t know what to tell you. Todd is once again front and center, as he’s kidnapped by Blue Agua for mating purposes. Which may just involve him fertilizing eggs, but thankfully it doesn’t go quite that far. Poor Todd is just trying to keep his job, and I’d call this story a good indication of Alana’s interest level in Todd. Then there’s a brief intermission of ads, which might be annoying in another comic, but here it’s just a pile of comics/people/other items that look, at a minimum, intriguing. Which, hey, is a good reason to buy a few comics before the big collection comes out, especially since that only covers #1-5 and 6 and 7 are out too. And #8, according to their website, but one thing at a time. Back to the comic! We get another wordless tale of the drunk bees, but it’s a shortie so I’ll leave it to you readers, and finally there’s “Trojan Horsing Around,” and if you guess that that might involve enemies of the sisters sneaking into their house using a literal horse disguise, do I have good news for you! Ridiculousness and hilarity abound, as we’re given one more example of why it’s a bad idea to have a fight against a villain in your home. As always, I’m barely scratching the surface of the one-liners and generally funny bits, and my talking about it doesn’t do justice to the utterly unique line it rides of innocent sincerity and mild cynicism. It’s a mix you won’t find anywhere else, and I’m thrilled that they’re getting recognition from a big publisher. $5
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 12/11/24
December 11, 2024New review today for Sportsbar, NY Part IV by Martin Pohl, although it should have a little mark over the “a” and I don’t know how to make it show up. Other than that, yep, that’s the title.
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Posted by Kevin
Pohl, Martin – Sportsbar, NY Part IV
December 11, 2024
Well, last time around for these reviews I was utterly unable to find a good link to buy Martin’s comics, and I’ve at least solved that this time around. And they’re all in print, so go get caught up why don’t you? If not, or if you’re waiting to be convinced, this is probably the first issue of the series where you don’t need a lot of knowledge of the previous issues to follow along. The pigeons, for example, are completely gone this time around, but if this is your first issue, you won’t miss them a bit. The art seems a bit, um, looser at the beginning, but it’s generally a minimalist type of comic anyway. What’s happening with the story? One of our bunny heroes is having all kinds of trouble with depression (well, specifically the Depression Wolf), the bunnies are also having relationship problems, and the two brothers seem to have lost their time machine. Which is the bare bones explanation of things, as the depression angle covers a good chunk of the comic (involving mental and physical therapy), and it could be argued that the therapy ends up hurting both of the bunnies in the end. We also get a grimly hilarious bit throughout the second half dealing with job interviews, with a depressingly accurate version of the low key humiliation involved with pretty much all of them. Funny stuff here and there again, a safe place for new readers to jump in, and it looks like the next issue is double sized, which Martin was kind enough to send my way. $5
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 12/9/24
December 9, 2024Well, I’m not even sure what happened with reviews last week. Unfortunately timed distractions is my best excuse, as I’d planned on writing a few of them. But don’t fret too much, here’s a new review for You Get What You Get by David Robertson.
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Posted by Kevin
Robertson, David – You Get What You Get
December 9, 2024
I’ve been reading David’s comics for… a decade now? Time doesn’t work properly in my brain any more. Anyway, my point is that this might be the most visually diverse issue of one of his comics yet. David always draws a few of his stories, so you’re obviously going to get his style for those, but several other stories were by people I hadn’t seen before, making this issue really stand out. Not that that would matter much if the stories were garbage, but good news everyone! There were some pretty solid stories in here too. Like what, you ask, as I set up the segue? Stories in here deal with the age gap in McDonald’s employees (with Clio Ding), trying to relate to a sign about loving music at a record store (with Zu Dominiak), the constant destruction of the old in favor of the new in this modern culture (with Helena Edwardson), a parody of Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s critique of the Black Hole Disney movie that went off the rails quickly in a delightful way (with Andy Hanks), the last “witch” to be burned (with Rozi Hathaway), the differences in depictions of a raised middle finger (with Olivia Hicks), when The Police (the band) finally and briefly got back together (with Marc KZ), the timeless majesty of Purple Rain (with Francesca Mancuso), and the impotent fury of watching as the host of a quiz show on tv gets the answer wrong (with Ludi Price). And lots more, obviously; I doubt if that’s even half of the stories. Are there stories that involve Star Wars in some way? Always, yes! Is there an oddly touching story involving a person dressed up as Goofy at a theme park? Very specific question, but also yes! It’s another solid pile of tales from David and friends, and hey, why not give it a shot? One of the joys of his comics is that they’re all self-contained, so don’t fret about being lost.
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Posted by Kevin
