New review today for Baggage by Violet Kitchen, and you’d better believe that this week is all about Cartoon Crossroads comics. Oddly, I’ve also been getting a lot of comics in the mail lately, which normally take precedence as far as reviews go, but, you know… convention.
Kitchen, Violet – Baggage
October 7, 2024
Have you ever thought about the hotel room you’re staying in? I mean, really thought about it, what’s it’s seen, who’s stayed there, what they’ve done while staying there? As somebody who worked in a hotel ages ago, I confine myself to “they clean it every day,” because any introspection past that is terrifying. Violet, on the other hand, really gets into it with this comic. I wonder if this insight comes from former (or current) employment in the field or just natural observations from life. This comic is all aspects of the hotel stay, from the human compulsion to try to make the blank area look lived-in to contemplating anything and everything that was done on that bed. It’s a evocatively told story, and if somebody told me that it was Violet’s poem before they decided to make it into a comic I would absolutely believe them. There’s beauty in this subject too, as a whole lot of dreaming also went on in that room. This is one of those comics that will make you think about something you’ve possibly never thought about before, and you can’t ask for more from a book than that. Meanwhile, now I have one more person that I have to seek out at the next CXC to see what else they’ve done. Plenty, judging by their website, so when you stop by there to check this one out, grab another one or two, won’t you? $5
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 10/3/24
October 3, 2024New review today for Sucker by Mary Shyne, and why yes, I am actually going to make a serious effort to get through my CXC review pile this month, or at least put a big dent in it. Too busy with work, schmoo busy with work, that’s what I say!
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Posted by Kevin
Shyne, Mary – Sucker
October 3, 2024
Here I am thinking that I had just read a mildly grim, thoroughly engaging if inexorable but self-contained mini comic, only to discover that it’s part of something called the “Graduation Day” universe. See, this is what I get when I gravitate to the small comics at CXC in the (completely vain) hope that I can maybe not spend all of the money that I allotted for the con while still checking out lots of new stuff. In case you were wondering, this year, as always, I spent more than that. I blame the completely unexpected new Marc Bell book from Drawn & Quarterly, but it was more than that. Anyway! Christ, there’s a comic right in front of me I’m meant to be talking about. This is about the friendship between Kaylee and… the unnamed main character? Maybe I’d know it if I read the other book(s) in this series. They’re getting ready for their confirmation, so if you went to Catholic school you know all about that. They’re inseparable, and have a crush, purely hypothetical, on a boy with bangs named Skyler. After the narrator gets talked into going to a show by Skyler’s band, he ends up taking an interest in one of them which, if you know anything about how best friends could behave in the early teen years, came with disastrous consequences. Or maybe not disastrous so much as inevitable, as the “loser” pulling away from their friend in jealousy is exactly the kind of thing that blew up so many friendships in those years. It’s a mildly heartbreaking story, but it’s honest, down to the utter bewilderment of the “winner” in the situation, and how once the crush was seen in reality and not from a romantic distance, the dude kind of fell apart. Check it out, but maybe get the other books in this universe too for context. Don’t be a cheapskate like me! $5
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 10/2/24
October 2, 2024Boy did I ever get a lot of comics at CXC this year. You’ll be reading about them soon, but it’s also crazy busy season at work, so please, as always, bear with me. To a few people at CXC that I planned to go back and visit because their table was busy when I came by, my apologies for forgetting to do that. Hi Karl Christian Krumpholz and MS Harkness! Maybe next year. New review today for Bunworld #1 by Maggie Umber!
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Posted by Kevin
Umber, Maggie – Bunworld #1
October 2, 2024
Go ahead, try to take in the majesty of all of those colors. You really can’t, because I can see the comic itself next to that scan, and there’s no substitute for the real thing. Did I occasionally get distracted in the conversation I was trying to have with Maggie at CXC because my eyes were drawn back to the cover over and over again? Reader, you know it. So sure, the colors are ridiculous, but how does it hold up as a comic? Well, as a professional comics reviewer (no matter how many years I do this, that kind of statement will always be laughable to me), I have to say… I have no idea! Genuinely don’t know how to separate the two. This comic tells the story of four little creatures: Piper, Bun, a tiny baker, and a surprise guest that comes later. And others, I think, but I may have lost consciousness a few times from all the colors. They want to make a cake, but they constantly forget about it, don’t understand the concept of a cake, or sometimes even forget each other. The whole story is perpetually disorienting while also being adorable, a combination I did not know could really be a thing. Do they eventually get their cake? No spoilers, but what a sad ending that would be for a comic as joyful as this if they didn’t. The really baffling part is the “#1,” but Maggie mentions clearly that it’s the first issue on the back cover, and I am absolutely fascinated to see what comes next in this series. $14
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 9/26/24
September 26, 2024New review for King Cat #83 by John Porcellino, which is a fine comic to review right before Cartoon Crossroads, I think. Say hi if you see me wandering around the show, or at one of the talks (I’m definitely going to make Art Spiegelman’s on Friday night, Kate Beaton’s earlier in the day if I can get to town in time). I’ll be the blond guy with glasses who looks like he lives in Ohio but has actually recently moved to Illinois.
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Posted by Kevin
Porcellino, John – King Cat #83
September 26, 2024
It’s time for another deep critical dive into everything wrong with the latest issue of King Cat, as per usual. Ha, tricked any new readers! I rarely if ever have anything bad to say about King Cat, so if you’re looking for a pensive, thorough, unbiased review, take it elsewhere. I mostly still write these reviews so that they appear on my website as a kind of beacon, even for people who scroll through the main page, that a new issue is out. Still, I will happily talk about what’s in here, because it prolongs the King Cat-ness of my day by at least a little bit. What’s John up to these days? Things start off with a grim comic detailing his empty apartment after his second divorce and the loss of his cat, followed by a comic about his incredibly leaky apartment. Next we see him waking up after falling asleep with a pen in this hand, writing a eulogy for his beloved nine year old Shar Pei dog, and taking his terminally ill mother around town to visit spots that she’s always enjoyed, which naturally leads to John taking his own trip down memory lane. Am I giving that story short shrift, seeing as how it’s probably the longest one in the book? Yep, and that’s so you can read it for yourself as unspoiled as possible, because there are plenty of lovely bits to it and I don’t want to yap about them here. There are a few pages of letters (I know letters pages are rare in any comic, but his are the only ones where I never skip a single one of them), a few more pages of dreams (several of which would ideally be transformed into comics if I had a pile of money that I could give to John so he could just make comics forever), and then his top 40 list, which made my idly wonder if there was ever exactly 40 items on one of his lists. That’s a lot of comic, are there more stories in here? You’d better believe it, this is a hefty issue. Just hints from now on though, so you’ll see an owl, a dead mouse, dogs, a tire shop, items spotted on a walk, a memory of plastic bag lined boots on a childhood walk to school, and a demolition derby. Another great issue of King Cat, and once again I have no idea where I’d recommend a new reader hop on this train (maybe Hospital Suite or one of his other collections if you can afford it), but the beauty of his stuff is that any issue is a good place to start. $7
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 9/24/24
September 24, 2024New review today for The Flaming Skull of Death by Chris Auman, and yes, I am reviewing more than one comic this week. But not many more! Luckily I’ll be heading to CXC in Columbus this weekend, so I’ll have more comics than I have time to talk about very soon.
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Posted by Kevin
Auman, Chris – The Flaming Skull of Death
September 24, 2024
True confession time: when there’s a code to be broken in a comic, even when the creator is nice enough to put the key to it on the inside back cover (like Chris did), I rarely if ever bother to crack it. Comics shouldn’t be work, is my general theory, but to each their own! Plenty of people would love to crack codes in their comics. I mention this because several key plot points of this one are in code, so buyer beware. Or buyer enjoy! It all depends on your preference. But then, you may ask, why am I bothering to review this, especially when Chris was nice enough to send me a few of his comics to choose from? Well, have you seen that title? It is mandatory for me to review any comic with a title that awesome. So what’s the comic about, except for the page that I didn’t translate, but believe it or not I did translate the rest of it? Jonas (after a wonderful page of a warning to the reader that what follows would be terrifying) is invited to his uncle’s castle. The message is cryptic, and references a code that his uncle was unable to decipher. He went along with it out of familiar duty, but the castle unnerved Jonas, seemingly more every time he visited. He decided to read the message that his uncle had left for him in the castle, which I glossed over, because it’s a full page of code, life is short and I am lazy. From there the skull appears and delivers his warning, which I DID translate, and which led to a chase scene. The rest of it is up to you, gentle reader, because I’m not spoiling the whole thing. It’s a fun book, even with me only having the vaguest idea of what a seemingly critical page says, with a solid ending. $6.50
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 9/19/24
September 19, 2024Didn’t I just apologize last week for the lack of reviews? Well, consider this a repeat. I’m going to unearth the comics I still had left to review (that’s right, they’re in one of the still unopened boxes from the move) and get a few together for next week. Oh, and there’s a new review today for the last of the mini kus pile, On the Honeylands of Mars by Matti Hagelberg. Also it looks like the kus folks are going to be at Cartoon Crossroads in Columbus next weekend, which I’m seemingly going to be able to attend even though I live in Illinois now. Go to the convention, it’s free!
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Posted by Kevin
Hagelberg, Matti – On the Honeylands of Mars
September 19, 2024
Every time I try to start this review I think of another layer of meaning to the whole thing and up doubting myself. Screw it, it’s not like anything on the internet is a historical document, at least not in the grand scheme of things. Just for as long as I keep paying the hosting fees, basically. Anyway! On the surface this is a simple tale about Lauri Kennta, the overlord of Mars, as he returns home after being away for eight years. We see almost nothing of Mars, except for his sad (and apparently constant) attempts to ask a young woman to marry him, as he’s politely misdirected by her parents. In terms of a palace, royal court or anything befitting and “overlord,”we’re left to wonder if the man is delusional or if they’re just details that aren’t relevant to this particular story. This particular story, again on the surface, shows him returning home, getting a hero’s welcome (so maybe I shouldn’t overthink things as to whether or not he was really an overlord), and finally getting some sleep. His dream, such as it is, shows the hopeless desperation he feels towards ever marrying that girl, and it also reminds him of the murder of a friend of his. For a “bonus” story, we also see a brief interlude from the perspective of the murderer, and it’s not a cheerful perspective to anybody involved. Have I broken my usual rule about saying too much about the contents of the comic? Kinda, yeah! But there’s a lot bubbling beneath the surface here, starting just with the cover image. It screams “get outta my yard!”, not the raw power of an overlord, and who knows what’s under the porch? And what’s the significance of his sleeping quarters changing to “fit the whole of space” in his dream? Plenty of stuff like is what I’m leaving for you to discover, so enjoy. $7.95 (or $22 for the latest set of four mini kus comics, which is what I always recommend)
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 9/12/24
September 12, 2024Sorry about the lack of reviews. Sure, I’m settled in (new address on the right, send me some comics so I can be sure the new mailbox works), but this new job is a lot, and I’m still trying to settle into some kind of routine. Bear with me, I do have a 23 year track record of reviewing, so chances are good that I’m not just going to vanish from the internet. Oh yeah, new review for Into the Thicket by Mark Antonius Puhkan!
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Posted by Kevin
Puhkan, Mark Antonius
September 12, 2024
Well, it’s inevitable with the mini kus books. I always run into one where I either don’t fully understand what the creator was going for or just don’t comprehend it. Sometimes both! As always, assume the fault is mine, but to help out, I’m going to do that thing where I quote the entirety of the synopsis on the back of the comic. It’s at least more coherent than I’ll be! “Toni ventures into the thicket, intending to perform a magical ritual to connect with his springtime spirit. As he delves deeper into the wilderness, he is forced to confront his innermost fears.” This is a wordless comic, meaning almost fully open to interpretation. It’s also gorgeous; Mark conveys quite a range of emotions from a character who is only showing his eyes for the entire comic. The fears that he confronts in the thicket grow increasingly terrifying, and they’re almost entirely in the second half of the comic, which is the part I rarely review anyway because hey, shut up reviewer! Don’t give the whole thing away. Is what I say when I’m reading a review, so I do my best to follow my own advice. Toni is clearly working through some PTSD and one gets the impression that he’s seen some terrible things, but this does seem to be a journey of renewal. Does it help him? Read it to find out! Like I said, it’s a gorgeous book, so don’t take my lack of understanding as a negative. If you’ve read more than a few mini kus books in your life, you know it’s pretty safe to trust these folks. And hey, if you’re worried, just buy the bundle of 4! I always recommend it for their comics anyway. $7.95 (or $22 for the sequence of 4)
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 9/4/24
September 4, 2024Hey, I made it to Champaign! I’ve had a working internet for a whole day now and boy howdy, that just never works right on the first try, does it? I went out with a mini kus, so I’m coming back to Illinois with a mini kus: new review today for Comicum by Majenye!
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Posted by Kevin
Majenye – Comicum
September 4, 2024
Gosh, what a wholesome and innocent cover! I sure hope that I don’t open this up and find out that oh dear. Well, with a title like that you should already know to keep the kids away, if not it will be fine if they learn all about “a cast of polyamorous characters who live in someone’s rectum (from the synopsis on the back cover).” And really, that’s only a fraction of the story. Things start off with a beautifully colorful page of various animals, dinosaurs and sea creatures frolicking with each other. If you take a minute to really examine the image you’ll see that some of them are doing more than frolicking, but never mind that. Then we meet our hero from the sample image, but we only follow him for about half of the comic. And oh, what a half! He dresses up for the convention named in the title, where we meet a spectacular array of characters talking about doing a spectacular array of things. It’s all mostly implied up until this point, but then somebody at the con makes the mistake of laughing about violence, which completely enrages Mr. Octopus, who murders several convention goers, and then the scene switches to someone who is, um, thoroughly enjoying the snuff film of the event, until he’s interrupted by somebody with his own agenda. I’d better stop there, as there’s plenty more for you to discover; and really, even me describing a few things doesn’t lessen the effect of you seeing it depicted here. It’s a cornucopia of sexual mayhem, and you’ll learn a lot reading it. One way or the other, but if you’re a prude, come on, live a little! $7.95 (or buy the bundle of four different comics for $22)
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Posted by Kevin
“Update” for 8/20/24
August 20, 2024So it turns out that moving from Ohio to Illinois (with as much stuff I have) is an incredibly time consuming process! I’d hoped to get another review or two in before I left, but here I am, leaving tomorrow, and most likely without an internet connection for the week after that. The new address is 306 E. California Ave Urbana IL 61801, in case you had comics you wanted me to review. I’ll be there Thursday, assuming all goes well, and why did I have to say that. Ah well. Back before the end of the month, in the meantime why not click on some random names in the “reviews by author” tab? Who knows, maybe you’ll find a new favorite artist.
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 8/8/24
August 8, 2024Oh, mini kus. You got here just in time to give me a few comics to review while I’m in the chaos of moving and already having most of my comics packed. New review today for Undertow by Sara Boica.
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Posted by Kevin
Boica, Sara – Undertow
August 8, 2024
Oh, mini kus. It’s always a delight to get a new stack of comics from these fine folks, and I’m always excited to see just what selection of four or more artists and stories I’m going to be reading this time around. Then I grab the first one out of the stack, and it’s a devastatingly emotional tale of trauma and loss and how impossible it can be to pick up the pieces, and suddenly my mood is changed completely. It’s an amazing comic, don’t get me wrong, but here’s a trigger warning for anybody who’s gone through physical trauma like this and maybe don’t want to be reminded of it. It’s a story told in a word or two per page, sometimes less, and you can almost feel the pain on the page with the many black smudges from Sara’s fingerprints. It feels like a story that had to come out, that hurt to come out, and the reader is left with the uncomfortable question of whether or not it’s any better for her now that it has. Never assume autobiography, is a lesson I’ve learned (and forgotten) many times while writing these reviews, so I can only hope that this is fiction. I doubt it, but this much pain on the page still has me hoping that that’s the case. $7.95 (or here’s a link to this and the next three issues of mini kus)
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 8/1/24
August 1, 2024New review today for Plastic People #13-15 by Brian Canini, and in case you didn’t see my last update, I’m moving in a few weeks, so please hold off on sending any review comics until you see an address with “Illinois” in it on the sidebar. Thanks!
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Posted by Kevin
