After reading the first issue of John’s bible drawings I was very curious to see how he’d progress, and this one is if anything even more engaging than the first issue. If you’re not familiar with the book, or only familiar in the sense that it’s been in the culture for just about forever and you’re bound to learn a few things about it, don’t fret. John goes into great detail in his notes after the comics about the sources he uses, his basis for shifting to opinion a few times, even the debates about which translation is best. So yeah, even if you barely know anything about the bible, you’ll know a lot more about it after reading his notes. This one (no big shocker here) starts off right after the stories in the first issue, which John rightly refers to as the “patriarchal/matriarchal tales” of the first section of the bible. And, as those of us who have read the book know (it was ages ago, yes I read the whole thing, ask me about it sometime), those stories get problematic in a hurry. They’re also very much about the characters and/or actual historical figures, so expect to learn a lot about mistresses, kidnappings, exiles, sexual assaults, etc. Yes, including stories that involve some of the biggest names that are still revered today. It makes you think, and explains why so many of these stories were barely ever mentioned in church or Sunday school. It’s fascinating stuff, and his art really makes these dusty old stories come alive. I’d recommend checking both issues out, but if you can only afford one I’d suggest this one. $15
Now that was one heck of a comic. It all starts off casually enough, as our (unnamed) hero has insomnia, wakes up at 3am and decides to take a walk. I’d submit that nothing good in human history has ever happened after deciding to take a walk at 3am, but our hero obviously doesn’t subscribe to that theory. As he’s leaving his cat runs out the open door. Cat owners know the terror involved in that situation (remind me to tell you about the time I chased my very indoors cat through an open courtyard during, yes, the early morning hours with nobody around). Which maybe wouldn’t be that bad, as he lives in an apartment building and the cat is just loose in the hallway, but then the elevator door opens and the cat runs inside, leading to a whole thing. I’m not sure how much to give away here, but that sample image below, of our hero finally getting onto an elevator? If you can take one look at that other guy and think that situation ends well, do I ever have some bad news for you! From there it’s a steady escalation, as it turns out that there’s quite a lot of activity happening in that apartment building at 3am, along with the extremely disquieting sense that you’re never completely sure how real any of what’s happening actually is. It’s a thoroughly entertaining and more than slightly creepy book, so of course I think you should check it out. $5
Have I run out of words to talk about King Cat? No! But I must confess, I’m currently spending a lot more time sitting here and thinking about the comic that I am writing about it. And if you were looking at a sped up recording of me typing this review (you creep), then you’d see me getting up and puttering around the house a bit rather than my usual business of madly typing until all of the thoughts are out of my head. Um, a peek behind the curtain there, I guess. Maybe it’s because these books are rare and I’m trying to savor it? Probably, because if you think this is the issue where I’m finally going to stop recommending this book, you are completely mistaken. There’s a lot of death this time around, as John’s mother, cat and one of his best friends have all passed away since the last issue. He’s as open as it’s possible for a person to be while talking about these events, and I doubt very much that you’ll be able to get through this comic without crying a few times. But there’s funny stuff in here too, so don’t go thinking it’s entirely grim. Other stories in here deal with John trying to get woodchucks to stop pecking holes in his gutters (in hilariously cartoonish fashion), tasting the dog, unwelcome visits from the cat while sitting on the toilet, how many geese are in the picture, trying to make the ultimate pattern for a dream machine, things left on the nightstand, remembering a trip to the circus and how Zorro fit into it, learning the Dewey Decimal System from a nun while having class outside, a few Buddhist stories, and several more quiet pieces. Of course there’s also his top 40 (and at this point I’d genuinely have to read all of his old comics again to see if it was ever actually exactly 40), several pages of brief synopses of dreams, how he picked out his dog Gretel, and several pages of letters. Look, his comics are a whole mood, and mine instantly improves any time I see a new issue in the mail or at a comics shop. If you’ve somehow made it this far if life without reading any of his comics, fix that already! $7
Is there a word for the feeling you get when you realize that the comic that you randomly bought from an artist at a comics convention was, in hindsight, probably not the best choice out of their available work? Eh, probably not. It’s just that in looking up Stephen’s info for this review, his Upstate series seems like it’s much more my type of thing, especially since I have no attachment to Sonic, or even enough knowledge of the characters to get what I’m pretty sure are most of the jokes in this comic. Still, I had a good time reading it, and that ending got a legit chuckle out of me. As you may have guessed, this is kinda sorta a parody of Sonic the Hedgehog, the lead character of a series of games, comics and cartoons, but set in the far future. Sonic (Mach in this book; if there’s a character actually named Mach and I’m getting this all wrong, I’m OK with that level of ignorance) starts off this comic in a grand fight with the evil Professor, and we’re quickly made aware that this is a flashback and Mach is actually an elderly hedgehog who’s being cared for by a robot. The rest of the book is an appreciation dinner for Mach (that he wants no part in), Mach catching up with an old enemy and, like I said, one fantastic ending. If you’ve got a lot of love for this character/series I’m sure there’s plenty here that I missed, but if you’re going into it fairly new like me there’s still funny stuff in here. $7
Well, this is embarrassing. A review with no pictures? For a comic, which is the most visual of all mediums? Well, when I reviewed #7 of this series I had to grab pictures from Steve’s website, and this one is so new that it isn’t ON his website yet. And the book is too large for me to scan, so any pictures I’d put up would be unconnected snippets of much larger images, so basically worthless. Look, I’ll keep checking his website, and if he updates with images of this book I’ll, um, borrow them again and post them here. In the meantime, Steve has really outdone himself visually with this one, which makes it even worse that all I have to convey that for now is my words. Last time around I was impressed because Steve presented several larger stories in the comic, with my theory being that his style was evolving. Which was a ridiculous thing to think, because this one is almost entirely ad parodies, which by nature are rarely even a full page… and I’d still call this one a step up from his previous issue. Which I loved! Anyway, the framing device here is that an unemployed dude spends the day hanging out at home and reading the newspaper which, as is the case of the few remaining newspapers that have survived into 2025, mostly ads. To be clear, I would have liked this just fine if the book was all ad parodies, because Steve is a genuinely funny writer and several of these got a chuckle out of me. But no, he goes much farther than that. The ads are increasingly encroached upon by other ads as you go on. First there’s the acidic teeth cleaner that drips down onto the lady who’s trying to feed her cat a vegan diet, then the roided-up dude literally breaking the wall into an ad for drugged chocolate bars, or the job deletion robot’s laser beam bouncing off a protected brain in one ad an onto a real estate ad, and on and on it goes. The whole book (outside of wrapping up the framing device story in the end) is an engaging puzzle to read how the ads effect each other, which order you should be reading these (some are easy to follow the chain of chaos, others you as the reader could go a few ways), and the few ads that manage to stay walled off from the increasing madness. There’s also a reason for it all in the end, which I’m not going to get into here, but I thought it was nicely handled. This isn’t on his website as of mid November 2025, but I can’t imagine that’ll stay the case much longer, so check it out why don’t you? Don’t let the price tag scare you, you’ll be getting quite a lot of comic for that price. $15
No, that’s probably not the actual title, but after wondering what to call these comics the first time around I’ve decided to just go with the first phrase and call that a title. Just trying to keep these even slightly distinct from each other, since I have more of his comics to review eventually. This time around we get several excuses from our hero as to why he’s calling in sick to work on every day of the week, which is… exactly what happened in the last comic of his that I reviewed? Huh. Lemme just go back and make sure I didn’t buy two copies of the same thing… nope. It even has another recipe for a hot dog casserole, but here’s the twist: this one doesn’t have sauerkraut in it. But it does have peas, which is another instant veto from me. But if he keeps putting these recipes into every one of these comics, I’m bound to run across a recipe I like one of these days! So if you’ve already somehow picked up the previous issue I reviewed and see this one at a con, should you buy it too? I mean, yeah, probably. This one is longer than the previous issue, has more jokes, more excuses for calling off work (but probably fewer that have any chance of helping you in a practical sense), and hey, color covers are always nice. Two comics isn’t enough of a sample size for me to understand what Glenn is getting at here by making two minis with the same theme (and with covers that are very similar), but I’ll read a few more of these and come up with something. Deal? No price again, but maybe a couple of bucks?
Maybe some day I’ll understand why it’s so rare for artists to have simple ways to buy their comics on their websites, but that day is not today. The link goes to a store that is currently sold out, but hey, maybe they’ll get more copies! Also back in my review for #13 I figured out that Nick is doing more continuing stories now and that I should stop my habit of reviewing random issues. I then promptly forgot all about that before reviewing this one. Better luck next time! This is a collection of several short pieces that are almost certainly parts of larger stories, but I’ll do my best. First up is the story of a badger having a conversation with several animals. He tells them that he has a secret he’d like to share with them… but only if they give up something they value. Next up is the shortest story, starring our hero the eyeball, discovering drinking, dancing and fun. I’m guessing this would have made a lot more sense in context, but I’ll get there eventually. Next is an equally short piece about an amnesiac with a cooked chicken (attached to a penis) for a head waking up in the back of an unknown vehicle. The next piece looks like the start of a story, as it deals with a young man who gets in an accident, rejects death, comes back to life and has a series of visions when he’s drifting in and out of consciousness. Finally there’s a baffling piece about a snake and a… sentient zit? The management here at Optical Sloth (me, it’s always and forever just been me) regrets not reading the previous issues for context, and will get on that in the near future. Before the end of 2025 is my pledge to you! And since it’s already mid-November, that’s serious business. The bottom line is that Nick is still putting out quality comics at an impressive pace, and I’m content just to watch his mind work, even without full context. If you’re like that too, give this one a shot! If not, the man has at least two collections available, maybe start with one of those and see what you think. $7
I feel like there’s a certain type of old school comic reader who would still, somehow, in this disastrous world of ours, make a fuss over the fact that the image on the cover never occurs in the comic, so I’ll acknowledge that that’s the case. But what’s in the comic is even better than them somehow making their way to space, so don’t worry about it! There are four stories in this Eisner award winning series (hey, congrats!), along with the usual and constantly growing array of ads, and this time even a letters page. First up is the dramatic tale of Alana saying that she’s quitting the sisters to become a tattoo artist. How will her friends react? Will anybody take her seriously? Will she be any good at inking tattoos? OK, no more hypothetical questions in my review, but you know I’m not going to answer any of them. Next up is a story of the boys going nuts for Pokeman cards and buying them all up before some local kids can get theirs, which leads to them getting offered old baseball cards out of pity, which leads to the birth of a new and terrifying villain. Or maybe just a walking public service announcement? Dammit, I said I was done with the hypotheticals. Boozy Bee’s wife almost gets caught in the act, but can she manage to hide her lover before… ugh, once you start with the questions you just can’t stop. Finally there’s the story of a man, his wallet, the need for cash to buy shawarma and an irresistible ad for massage service. The need to ask another hypothetical question is killing me, but I’ll move past it. It’s another solid issue, and they’ve built up such a massive cast of characters that the Santos Sisters don’t even need to be in every story to still have a fun comic. Buy that collection from Fantagraphics why don’t you, then get caught up with the individual issues? They work fast, so you’re running out of time to catch up before it becomes a hopeless task. $5
I wonder how many of the people reading this remember spinner racks. Fellow adults/middle-aged people, give me a second here. Younger folks, you could literally spin those racks in a circle, and the racks would be covered by the latest comics available. Sometimes a little digging would uncover hidden issues in these racks, or if you were lucky even the last few back issues of whatever series you were looking for. Sure, the rack kind of beat up the comics a bit, but it was definitely convenient. This not particularly helpful explainer doesn’t say much about the inside of this comic, but at least now you know what the title means! This is a collection of Eli’s interpretations of the covers of several old comics. He first shows his version of two covers, then on the following page shows the actual covers along with a synopsis of the stories and whatever he knows about the covers (or trivia about the contents, if it’s relevant). I recognized a few of these (including this one) before I got to the actual cover, and in every instance that I recognized Eli’s version was an improvement. I also hadn’t realized that so many older comics never credited the cover artist, let alone the colorist or letterer for it, so a lot of that stuff is literally lost to history. Which is why I tend to call it out when I review a mini comic with no contact information in it. Before you know it it’s 20 years later and somebody is discovering your comic for the first time, and they’ll have no clue who made it. Anyway, this was a blast for me, and I think it would also be interesting for people who’ve never heard of spinner racks (but I must admit that my opinion is not exactly subjective). $12
I recently watched all of the Treehouse of Horror episodes of The Simpsons (well, re-watched the first dozen or so, watched the rest for the first time), so maybe it’s just because they’re fresh in my mind, but that’s what came instantly to mind after reading this. These issues are also Brian’s chance to create whatever stories he wants without necessarily thinking about a long term plan, just like those episodes. I say that and I’ll probably end up figuring out around #12 or so that he had a master plan all along. Anyway! This is another collection of short stories, although I think at least a few of the characters have appeared in some of his other comics. First up is the longest story in here (called Basement Machine; it takes up exactly half of the comic), dealing with a woman who’s spiraling because of recent break-up before starting to hear an odd but insistent noise in her basement. How far would you go to uncover the mystery behind something like that? Speaking as someone who’s currently living in a house where the basement locks from my side, I personally would have given up long before she did. There’s one quick but poignant story in here about how a bookshelf changes over time and what is heard by that shelf over the years, and then the next story covers the rest of the comic. It deals with a bullied boy who does some quick math in his head (based off of comic book super hero origin stories) and decides that if he rolls around in poison ivy, he’ll become Poison Ivy Man. Is he correct? I’ll let you discover that part, but this was also a solid story about a quiet kid who tries to do things the right way to get the bullies to like him while not being a total pushover. Altogether it’s another solid issue of Airbag, and it’s another one that I’d recommend. These are also great if you see him at a convention, since they’re self-contained. I mean, I’d also recommend all 22ish issues of Plastic People, but one of those options is significantly more of a financial commitment than the other one. $10
Matt’s taken time off comics here and there (go to his website, he’s very clear about the release dates for his books), so it’s heartening to see that he has a release schedule now and he’s clearly sticking to it. Two comics in two months is impressive in the small press comics world, but he’s clearly planning on keeping these monthly, and I don’t see much reason to doubt him. This one is mostly about our hero Kyle getting into a jam of not finishing his third of a joint school project (which leads to the promise of bodily harm from the other two participants if he doesn’t get his act together) and trying to get out of it. Along with many, many jokes, which I guess some people might not like, but I appreciated the commitment to the bit if nothing else (and OK fine, I also laughed at more than a few of the jokes). Anyway, Kyle hears about an old hoax involving a picture of dried up corpses of fairies that were found in the woods decades ago and decides to make that his contribution to the project. But time is running short and, to put it mildly, Kyle has trouble focusing on his schoolwork, which of course leads to some shenanigans by the end. It’s another fun story, and my only complaint about the book is the fake newspaper story on the back cover of the comic. Not the story itself, mind you, just that my copy (or maybe all copies?) ended up so faded that I couldn’t really read it. It’s a minor thing, and it didn’t effect the story, but I am one of those people who watches all the bonus content for things that I like, so I would have liked to have read the whole story. Oh, the problems I have. Check it out why don’t you, give the man some incentive to keep up that monthly schedule! $1
I’m doing my level best to stay focused on this comic, but did you know that she has a comic on her website that’s made entirely out of felt, encased in a felt cheese grater? Granted, it was purchased for a book collection and is not for sale, but wow is that thing ever impressive. It looks like Hannah is working on her first graphic novel at the moment, but she does have a few other comics available, so it’s not like she’s brand new to this. And the bags she has available for sale! OK, I’m wandering far away from this comic, but seriously, check out her website. This is a flip book that’s also an accordion comic, meaning that each of the covers above depicts a different time in her life, and that you need to pull the comic out like an accordion to read it. Kids, accordions are musical instruments that… nah, I don’t have the energy for that. If you can’t picture it, you’re already on the internet, so I’ll bet you know how to find a picture of one. The comic is a snapshot of moods, one where she’s surprised at how casually she ended up with a girlfriend living with her and another by how much better her next relationship is by comparison. It’s a shortie, so there’s not a whole lot to say about it other than it’s universally relatable to everybody who’s ever thought they had it good only to finally find the real thing. The craftsmanship of this book is impressive too; part of my reviewing so many comics over the years means that I’ve reviewed several accordion comics by now, and they inevitably seem to start falling apart after a few reads. This sucker is sturdy and would take some serious effort to pull apart (not that I recommend trying). After reading this I’m very curious about her upcoming graphic novel, so you can expect that to be reviewed here after next year’s Cartoon Crossroads (or sooner if I see it at Chicago Comics or something). $20
Was I expecting something autobiographical after seeing that title? Reader, you know I was, but this is actually a dream comic. Scott sent along a big bundle of his comics (21 issues I think?) in this series, and they’re arranged by theme. The first five issues are dream comics, but what am I going to do, NOT review the first issue in the series? Madness. Maybe it would have made more sense to review the first five issues as a chunk, but I’m committed to this one now, so maybe don’t be shocked if the next four issues are a bundled review. Trivial information for people who didn’t ask! Scott does dream-like comics very well, and this issue is no exception. Forms are constantly splitting and merging, perspective changes, reality is in doubt, and there’s a general sense of wondering what you just read after finishing it. I mean that in the best possible sense! Trying to describe any kind of dream comic is a fool’s errand, but I’m just that kind of fool. Things start off with a gorgeous sequence of images attempting to coalesce into a theme before finally settling on driving down a highway towards a town named Rapunzel. The car shifts into him being one (or two) stray dogs who had to sing for their supper, which is what he had always been. Their supper was lettuce, which was guarded by witches flying kites. Of course, he never was a dog, which he also figures out eventually. There’s more, but I think you get the general sense of it, and I don’t want to spoil even a dream. More to come, so I’ll have a more informed opinion as I go, but this was intriguing and I’m curious to see more comics in this series. So far I’m only seeing this for sale as a bundle of the first five issues for $25.
This is a delightful story about an aspect of childhood that is often overlooked: your relationships with the older non-relatives in your life. Maybe this isn’t as much of a thing currently; I don’t have kids and I’m not a kid, so it’s entirely possible that families rarely if ever interact with their neighbors any more. But back in the day! Back then (I’m a couple of years older than Matt, meaning that we both had our childhoods in the 80’s), it wasn’t at all odd to knock on the doors of elderly neighbors asking for candy or cookies, maybe hot chocolate if it was cold, to use their phone to call the parents to check in (and try to get more time before you had to come home), etc. That, if you haven’t guessed yet, is the “Herb” in the title. Matt’s first memory was actually at Herb’s house, after his wife had come home from a trip to the hospital. Matt and his family were chatting and joking with them before Herb’s wife took a drastic turn for the worse right in front of them, leaving Herb all alone in that house. Matt’s family got him a dog pretty quickly after that, and Matt would often stop by for cookies or just to watch tv and hang out with Herb. His family eventually moved a few miles away from Herb when he was about 10, which at the time basically meant that he lived on the other side of the world to Matt at the time. There was also the whole going through childhood, then puberty, then college thing (which distracts us all), meaning that Matt only saw Herb one other time. Herb wasn’t doing well at the time and Matt mostly wanted to get out of there, but years later he dug into Herb’s life to try to solve the mystery of what he was really like. This book is much more than just that story, as Matt also goes into detail about his reactions to his upcoming brother (conflicted, to say the least), his intentional (and unintentional) attempts at being a daredevil, his obsession with The Greatest American Hero, his relationship with his high school girlfriend’s mother… a life, basically. With plenty of bits skimmed over, because this isn’t a full autobiography, and he does a solid job of not straying too far from the overall theme. No shockers here because I’ve been a fan of his work for awhile now, but this is maybe his best comic (that covers a lot of ground, so it gets a qualifier) and it absolutely is worth checking out. $15
I finally met Sean for the first time at Cartoon Crossroads this year (or at least it seemed to both of us like it was the first time meeting; it’s always possible we met briefly at a previous con and then forgot) and he’s delightful, in case anybody was wondering. When he told me that this book was a collection of previous stories from his anthology Rust Belt Review (up to #7 as of this writing, and for anybody who wondered why I stopped reviewing them after the first issue, I just haven’t seen any more out in the wild) I figured it would be a collection of unconnected stories, but since I’ve liked his other comics I had no troubles with that. Reader, this is a graphic novel, and a damned good one at that. It flowed seamlessly, with no indications that it was previously released in serial form in his anthology series. I actually reviewed the first maybe dozen pages years ago, and it’s after that that things really start getting good. The basic story is that there’s a slacker named David living at his friend’s house, going nowhere in life, until his friend decides to move back and gives David an ultimatum to move out. That’s right around the time that David’s father reportedly died, leaving him $20,000, which is what he needs to maybe work on his dream of starting a landscaping business. But of course he throws a party first, and that’s where the reader sees that he’s under surveillance. The cast of characters just keeps growing from there, as we quickly learn that a large amount of money was stolen by David’s father (closer to millions than $20,000), the people who had the money stolen are trying to track it down, his father’s old partner is also trying to track it down, and Sean keeps up an admirable pace with this heist story. Well, not heist, I guess, more of a “getting the money after the heist” story. Is there a word for that? Anyway, it keeps you guessing throughout, Sean spends the time necessary to make every one of these characters feel believable and real (with their own quirks and problems), and it all comes together beautifully in the end. Thoroughly recommended, give it a shot why don’t you? $20
I’ve started this new tradition at cons where if I get to the table for Floating World Comics while I still have money to spend, I’m getting a random graphic novel. Sure, I could spend five minutes going through them to make it less random, but then I’d inevitably want to get half a dozen of them, and since they mostly sell graphic novels and my billionaire benefactor has yet to appear, this seems like a bad idea. I mention all of this to say that I didn’t know a thing about Emma’s work before reading this book, and flipping through it at home made me wonder why I picked it. At first glance the art is crude, but after reading it I’ve revised my opinion of the art upward (it’s sparse, but lush when it needs to be, and it’s not like the many panels of Egbert thinking about his lot in life need lavish backgrounds). But the story more than makes up for anything else I might think is lacking. This is the story of Egbert, a thoroughly miserable dude who only finds meaning in his bird-watching habit. But he’s terrible at that too, consistently being the one with the fewest sightings in his club. Even in his club of kinda sorta societal rejects he stands out as pathetic, and he’s consistently unpleasant enough that he doesn’t evoke any kind of sympathy from his peers. We spend a whole lot of time with Egbert in his (completely alone) home life, where he actually puts himself through “training” to become a better bird watcher (I’m not going to spoil this wonder by revealing his methods), talks a lot about (and to) his “online therapist,” and falls in love with anybody who’s even slightly nice to him (but he doesn’t seem to have much of a idea of what love is). I was settling in for another comics tale of a sad sack loser when something happens that changes the whole dynamic: Egbert finds a severed hand in a tree. Suddenly he has the respect of his peers, has an interview scheduled on the news, and overall thinks this is his big chance to make a splash. And, predictably, it fizzles out; there was never a realistic chance of the evening news airing a long interview with a guy who found a hand. But now Egbert has the itch and knows what he has to do to get attention, so how far will be go to chase that high? It’s a genuinely funny book on top of all of that; the recurring gag of him being called a creep because he was walking around everywhere with binoculars surprised me several times, as did his habit of completely forgetting that he owned a cat. I wouldn’t call it a laugh riot, but it’s an engrossing and balanced read, and Egbert even gets the confrontation he was dreaming about by the end. Check it out, it also turns out that Emma has several other books available, so my graphic novel purchase might be a little less random next year. $20
I was so hoping that this would be a light romp about some friends talking and having a fun night out on the town, but considering the subject matter (and the country) involved, I guess that was never going to happen. There’s still plenty of humor, love and insight, but there’s also terror and threats possibly coming from every direction. I should backtrack a little: this came out in 2019 and won the Ignatz award, then won the Prism award in 2020, so plenty of people knew all about this, it’s just new to me. There’s even a sequel (Trans Girls Hit the Field) that I’m all kinds of curious about. I bring this up because the reality on the ground is probably even more grim now than it was in 2019, so I don’t know why I was expecting all sweetness and joy. Well, hoping, not expecting. Still! I’m an optimistic dummy sometimes. This one is all about Cleo and Winnie going out on the town, obviously. Cleo is new to transitioning and is incredibly self-conscious about her appearance and whether or not she’s “passing,” while Winnie has been at this for awhile and is the one encouraging Cleo to keep going with their planned fun night no matter what they run into. Reading this also really highlights the genuinely terrifying list of threats that you have to clock if you’re trans on any given night. Why is that dude on the train staring at you? What’s the best way to react to getting casually called a “gentleman”? There’s also the sheer terror of having to use a public restroom and the relief of finding one that just contains a single toilet. Still, I don’t want to spend too much time on the negatives (if I haven’t already), because the heart and soul of this comic is the joy and the conversation. Winnie always being a source of comfort and courage (even though it’s eventually revealed that that’s mostly because she’s been through exactly what Cleo is going through and knows that it does in fact get better), Cleo pushing ahead in spite of it all, and them managing to have a mostly wonderful time out, assholes be damned. Flipping through this again, it’s the joy that stands out, and that’s what makes up the bulk of the comic. It’s a comic that pulls no punches, but it’s also a hell of a read. Check it out, is what I’m saying. $7
I mean, I was VERY tempted to call this “Oh Peas and Carrots,” but I doubt very much that that’s actually the title of this mini. Which led me to conclude that there probably wasn’t a title at all, so here we are! This is a delightful comic, which folds out to show different excuses for calling in sick for every day of the week. I doubt very much that any of them would work in a practical sense, but they were funny, and hey, if you’re on your way out at your job anyway, try a few of these out to see what happens! There’s also a recipe for hot dog sauerkraut casserole, which sounds horrific to me because I can’t stand sauerkraut, but honestly? The rest of it sounds pretty damned good. Which overall makes this comic pretty practical, right? Excuses for getting out of work and a workable recipe. His art style reminds me slightly of Max Clotfelter, mostly because of those densely penciled black backgrounds, but Max still has a leg up on him for sheer sordidness (which I mean in the best possible way). I managed to grab a few more of Glenn’s comics at the con and it doesn’t look like any of them have a title, so it’ll be fun trying to keep these all straight in the weeks ahead. Oh well, reviewer problems, I guess. One comic in from the guy and I’m intrigued, so check this out if you get the chance. $2 maybe?
So last year at Cartoon Crossroads I got Ruby’s graphic novel “bird comic.” (that’s how it’s always listed), but I got it from her publisher, not her directly. So this year I got an issue of Bogue, but didn’t make any connections to the previously mentioned graphic novel, since I didn’t get it from her. Which is a shame, because I loved that book, and would have happily made a fool of myself gushing about it to her in person. Oh well, I’ll have to find some other way to embarrass myself, I reckon. But hey, what’s the deal with Bogue? Well, she had several issues of this series available, and I got this one more or less at random. Which actually turned out to be fine; it’s not the usual case at all where I’m lost by jumping into the middle of a story. Each issue is basically a fashion show for various types of bugs, sprinkled with some funny bits and (in this issue at least) a sneaky but warranted bit of social commentary. I’m about as far away as possible from being any kind of a fashion expert, but this is adorable and some of these bugs would absolutely benefit from some cute outfits. The hats alone on that first page were a perfect look for those bugs. There doesn’t seem to be a simple way to actually buy these comics at her website, but if you send her an email I’ll bet the two of you can figure it out. For fashion lovers this is mandatory, for the rest of you, be honest: you’ve always been curious about bugs wearing clothes, right? This is a safe space, you can admit it. Well, here’s your chance! $5 (if I’m remembering correctly)
I have to imagine that most people reading this would be at least open to dogs taking things over at this point. How much worse could they do, really? This series sure feels like it’s heading in that direction, but since this issue is mostly setting the stage, we’ll have to wait a bit for the actual revolution. Tim explains in his introduction that this story was originally intended to be a background story for a graphic novel he’s working on, but a concept like that was always going to get out of hand and now he’s torn between keeping it as a short series or making it a graphic novel of its own. As you may have guessed from that cover, this story is told as a recap to a younger generation of dogs who have only known the world after the revolution. Things start off with our hero gaining awareness in a cage, trapped in a terrible and hopeless place. I originally thought it was a PetSmart or one of those places where they keep the cats and dogs caged in tiny rooms, but it’s even worse, as you can tell if you read the sample page below. Yinlod escapes, enjoys his freedom for a bit, and finally digs up a bone with mysterious writing on it. This causes him to have a vision, and I’m assuming we’ll get more information on that the next time around. Tim also included the first chapter from the graphic novel that this story was originally meant to be part of, which was maybe kinda sorta autobiographical up to a point? He mentions in his introduction to that story that he was suffering through a breakup while writing it and the character was suffering through a breakup, so maybe I’m just assuming over here. That one goes along like you might expect for a few pages, before his dog gets up on his hind legs and makes him breakfast. I’m not going to lie, I’m also very curious about the direction that that story is taking. Also I hear you cat people, especially since I’m more of a cat person myself, but let’s be honest: cats could never get organized enough to take over the world. Smack it around like a ball of yarn, sure, but not run it. Two future graphic novels (probably), small bits of each included, I’d strongly recommend giving this issue a shot. Even if it isn’t up on his website quite yet, but if you get ahold of Tim he has copies available (unless he ended up selling out at Cartoon Crossroads). I think this one was $8 maybe?
Posted by Kevin 
