Sitting down to write this review right after reading this comic has the effect of making it feel like I’m still in a dream. Maybe I should give it some time to settle? Eh, best to ride that feeling. So right away it’s clear that if you’re looking to get off of this planet for a bit, this comic is a good place to start, eh? It’s probably best not to write this like it’s analogous to our own reality, but I’ll give it a shot. First there’s nothing, then something, then several people fall from the sky encased in what looks like gelatin cubes. It seems like many are content to stay there, but one of them lands near a flower, pushes his way out, and meets the creator of the universe. Or at least somebody who seems to have some answers. These answers may be more questions, and there may be conditions placed on these answers. Still, what would an origin of the species story be without the protagonist eating something that he probably shouldn’t? This, as it must, leads to a polka dot onesie. From there a sleeping pegasus is seen in the distance, and a creature as curious as this one is obligated to check it out. This pegasus allows him to fly, but is this a good idea? How much wisdom is really out there? This is a damned fine comic, with maybe more questions than answers, and an ongoing question of whether or not the creatures who think they know what they’re doing actually know anything. But isn’t that always the way? $10 (ish, once again I don’t know currency rates)
If you want to keep my interest in any sort of science fiction or fantasy comic (as I am aged and jaded), it helps to have one heck of a premise to start with. This one certainly has that covered, as the central conceit is that there’s a finite resource that allows faster than light space travel, that resource is about to run out, and everybody has to figure out where they want to be when that happens. Some people have the resources to make that choice for themselves, some don’t and are having that choice made for them. We’re following a small crew of scavengers who are trying to find scraps of this material in shipwrecks while still managing to get to where they’d like to end up when it all runs out. Naturally, there are other scavenging crews with the same idea, and things tend to get a bit tense at times (as that sample image may indicate). Still, an interesting concept isn’t going to take you very far if there’s no character work, but Owen has that covered too. In the space of about a dozen pages we get a solid idea of the two human characters and the octopus (ish) alien in the crew, and it’s hard not to get instantly invested in their struggle. He also does an excellent job of world-building, although I guess universe-building may be more accurate, along with the changing attitudes of the people doing business with each other. There’s a glimmer of hope to the whole thing as well, as there might be another option for travel. All they have to do is convince one of the richest people in the galaxy that it’s best to share it for little to no profit of his own. If you’re in America at the moment, you can probably already guess how that’s likely to go. This read like a self-contained graphic novel for most of it, but by the time all is said and done (without spoilers), it would be a shame if this is the end of the story. This is the first book I’ve read of Owen’s, but after this one I’m hoping to go back and see what else he’s come up with. That man can tell a hell of a story. $20ish (UK prices, don’t ask me to convert such things)
The link goes to the collected edition of these three comics for the sake of simplicity, but you can always get the individual issues from Brian’s website instead. Aren’t I helpful? These three work really well together, as they’re very focused on the police response to the serial killer on the loose. #16 is basically a chase comic, as Facelift calls the cop who made fun of him to try to explain why he’s doing what he’s doing, and the whole time the cops are trying to triangulate his location. I say that like I know what it means, but it’s on cop shows, so something like it must be real. Do they find him? Since there are two more issues to go in this review, I’d say it’s not looking good. #17 deals with the cop in question getting a gun sent to him in the mail from the killer, and another characters tries to find a church that’s right for them. Churches in this series don’t match many churches from our reality, so it’s a bit of a struggle. Finally #18 gets to the funeral for the city council member who was killed several issues back, with a grim and moving eulogy from his partner. The transition to the next scene actually got an audible chuckle out of me, so I’m not going to spoil it, but I feel safe saying that I’ve read enough to Brian’s comics to think that that was his intent. So overall the series is still moving right along, and I’d still recommend grabbing a compendium or two to see if it’s your thing. Will I ever catch up to him in these reviews? I’m only four issues behind now, so I live in hope. $4.99 (or $2 per issue)
Most of the time I choose the sample image in the hopes of summing up a comic in one picture. As this is an impossible task, I usually fail. But I do at least always choose an image that either makes me laugh or blows my mind in some way, and the image below does both things. Just take it all in, before I get started talking about the comic. What do you think the comic is about? It’s Tile (a character Maryanne has been using in online strips and regular comics for a lot of years) going off on an adventure with her flying elephant. She’s worried about running into pirates, which is where the sample image comes in. From there she learns that she’ll have to deal with the flower-trees and their minions, as they’re stealing all of the paperclips from the capybaras. A secret tunnel is discovered, and inside of that tunnel is something that can help them with their task… or not. It depends on whether or not they run into Souffle. Even if that happens, they still have options. Also, will hats be involved? I hate to spoil such a thing, but yes. Yes they will. One of the things I love about Maryanne’s comics is that they’re so very hers. I feel like if somebody handed me four unnamed pages of this comic in a row I’d be able to tell pretty quickly that it’s one of her comics. There’s action, a quest, and capybaras. What more do you need out of a book? $2
When I saw Dan Clowes give his talk at CXC (in 2023) he made a point that really stuck with me about the unreliability of memory. His mother and brother had just passed away, and while he had faith in their ability to tell their shared family history together, now that it was just him he had no way to verify anything that he might have misremembered and felt their shared history slipping away. Why am I bringing this up? Like I said, it stuck with me, but it’s relevant to my review of this comic. I got this at CXC 2024, and there’s a kinda sorta name (good old Google helped me out with an actual name), but no website, no way to find anything more about them. Then when I did find them, this comic wasn’t listed as being for sale. So, we’re left with my memory, and since I stopped by this table alone: was this tiny comic a con freebie to give people a sample of her work? Or is just currently sold out on her website? The story is fairly simple, but adorable: a mouse is enjoying the heck out of a chunk of cheese, but one day that cheese disappears. The mouse then sets out on a quest to find more cheese (but a short quest, as the comic is only 7 single panel pages long), but how does the journey end up? It’s a cute comic, and worth a buck or two if you see it at a convention. Or if it’s free, it’s especially worth it. Just don’t count on me being the one to remember which of those options is true.
I’m linking straight from the publisher because they’re in the UK and they have a lot of books you’ve probably never heard of. Explore, try something new! Anyway, this is my third Tillie Walden review, and in the first two I believe I used the word “masterpiece” unironically. So I guess you could say that I had high hopes for this one. And they were… met? I think? Here, I can’t resist quoting Tillie from her website trying to summarize this book: “This book. Oy. Probably my strangest work, and secretly one of my favorites. Don’t ask me what it means because I definitely don’t know.” And now you want ME to talk about it? Madness, but I guess that’s why they pay me the big bucks. Side note: nobody pays me any bucks, but I’m always willing to take them. This book is significantly shorter than her other two books that I’ve reviewed, but it feels like one of those books that is actually significantly more revealing of the author than they may have intended. Not that I have any inside scoop on that theory, which is why it’s just a theory. This one starts off with a woman on a couch, about to start a therapy session of some kind. We see what she sees, which is an exploration of her life, what she wants out of it (privacy and peace, mostly) and what causes her to leave her comfort zone, which is a relationship and a cat, not necessarily in that order. She tries city life, leaving the quiet city she’s built in her head, but in the end she just can’t take it. The rest of the book, which I’m not going to talk about because I’ve probably already said too much, deals with her unpacking her decision and taking in all of the pros and cons. Among many other things, but that’s why you can read it for yourself. It’s at least partially fiction, because her time in space is mentioned, and there’s a lovely ending that I didn’t see coming. I hope she’s done with her Walking Dead spinoff comic soon, as I’m really curious to see what other original stories she can come up. As for you, if her gigantic graphic novels seemed too intimidating, here’s a shortie just for you! $17
See, this is the trouble/joy of reviewing a series issue by issue instead of all collected into a graphic novel. Last time around I was a little down on the comic, or at least a little “meh” about it. But this issue takes a completely unexpected turn, and I’d be willing to bet that that previous issue will still end up being an important piece in the whole story before it’s all said and done. In this issue we get to see a bit of Chad’s early life and how his relationship with his family suffered during the years that he was selling weed. See? Unexpected! Things start off with a kitchen conversation between Chad’s mother and grandmother, and it’s the first time we see something that turned out to be a regular occurrence: Chad’s mother calling him to check in, and Chad ignoring the phone call. As his grandmother’s health declines the need for him to take one of these calls gets more and more urgent, but since he’s not aware of any of this the reader is left wondering if he’s ever going to do the right thing or if he’s unable to focus on anything past dealing. We also see young Chad, who had his problems for sure, but boy is it ever mandatory to slap anybody who says “you people” in that tone. Not that I could hear the tone, but it practically screamed off the page. While this was all going on we also still checked in with his dealings, and his annoyance with the whole thing seems to be increasingly impossible for him to ignore. And there’s a letter column! With thoughtful questions and equally thoughtful answers from Chad! Sorry to get so excited, but you see that kind of thing so rarely anymore. Any doubts I might have had about this series starting to become too predictable are now gone. Now the only question is if I manage to wait until the next con to grab the next issue or just order it straight from him. It’s not available as of January of ’25 (2025 in case AI me is writing these in the distant future), but they’re prolific enough that it’ll most likely be out soon. In the meantime, be like me and get caught up why don’t you? $10 (ish, or you could order the set of the first six issues for $50ish)
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
Oh, random comic review mailings. You’d think that after 23+ years of reviews that I’d be numb to them, but nope, every time I crack open a mailing with an unknown name on it, I’m still hopeful and delighted. Eh, don’t mind the corniness, I’m feeling sentimental for some reason. Fran was nice enough to send a few comics (and he has a few more available at his website), so you’ll be seeing more of his stuff here soon. I honestly liked one of the other titles better and was going to review that first, but that horse head on the cover sent out a siren song to me that could not be denied. Like it says on the cover, there are two stories in here. The first one is all about the horse head, and things start off with a local old man setting up a lawn chair near the horse head in the street. It’s art, not an actual horse head, so don’t get all grossed out. People come by, ask about the head, the old man does an admirable job of avoiding the subject, a dog makes its own opinion known, and we see a completely different side of the horse head when everybody goes to sleep. The other story deals with a space explorer who has to wait a thousand days to get any response to his messages, which leaves him a whole lot of time for his thoughts to wander and for any locals to check him out. I liked the diary style entries, as each was sent off as his own thoughts for the day, before things take a real turn that I’m not going to spoil here. The art was a vaguely sloppy but meticulous combination (I’m aware that that makes no sense) that had the effect of making everything seem to be constantly humming, not moving but vibrant. Kinda like the old Dr. Katz cartoon, which is only a reference for my fellow olds. Anyway, two great and completely different stories, well worth a look is what I say. $5
You know, I thought that “Bald Knob” sounded familiar, but this old brain ain’t what it used to be in regards to remembering specifics like that. Luckily, I have an easy cheat option: use the search function on my website! I can’t decide if that’s pathetic or hilarious. Both? Anyway, I was right: John Hankiewicz put out a mini probably 15 years ago or so with the same title, and Robert Sergel put out a graphic novel called Bald Knobber about 6 years ago. Relevant? Related to this comic in any way? Not at all! But if you’re curious, look them up yourself and be amazed! Now that that bit of nonsense is out of the way, what’s up with this comic? It’s the start of a series (and the second issue is already up on his website, which is promising) about two guys who are staying at a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Glenn is trying to make the next great American rock album (it’s more specific and defined than that), and Shad is mostly there to help and/or keep his eye on his troubled friend. Glenn had been through a breakup recently and he wasn’t taking the whole thing very well, so to Shad this seemed like the perfect distraction. Things start off with Shad trying to convince Naomi (who he’d hooked up with the night before) to leave before Glenn saw her in the morning, as he didn’t think that would help Glenn’s mood, but that plan did not work out. We spend a lot of time getting to know all three of these characters, which is crucial to any kind of lengthy series. The two of them get to their job, Shad takes off his shorts for his walk (which, creepiness aside, does seem like a great way to enjoy nature if you’re alone), and they discuss how they still need a drummer for their band. Meanwhile we see a lot more about Naomi’s life with several generations all in one room, which seems like the sort of thing that’ll come up again later. Finally they all go to a local music show in the hopes of finding a drummer or at least having a good time, and we even get a bit of a cliffhanger in terms of Glenn’s love life, even if it seems like he’s heading towards a disaster. I’d call this a solid first issue with plenty of avenues he could still explore. $6
The people have spoken, and I’m assuming that what they said was that they wanted more adventures of Oola as quickly as possible. If you’re unfamiliar with Karl’s work, Oola was a cat that entered their lives (Karl and his partner Kelly) after both of their long term cats had passed away. They didn’t have specific plans to get another cat, but cats don’t wait on human timetables for such things, and the little creature quickly took over a solid chunk of their home and lives. A few of these strips first appeared in other comics, but mostly they’re new, and if you’re at all a cat lover then you’ll be delighted. If not I’m not sure what you’re doing here to begin with, but I suppose you cold-hearted cat haters could also take some joy in how much disruption Oola causes in their lives. Also sometimes it’s tricky to pick a sample comic, but this time it was a no brainer. Hanging something over your bed with a cat in the house is just an invitation to head trauma. I know, it always seems like they couldn’t possibly reach/destroy/knock down at item that high up, but they tend to take that sort of thing as a challenge. Other stories in here deal with the lesson of a cat jumping into the shower, the quiet moments (they exist, even for the most manic of cats), her imaginary spy adventures that always seem to devolve into biting, her opinion at being left alone in the house for a few days, Oola as the mighty hunter, the unfortunate meaning of Oola in the Tamil language, and the true origin of her zoomies. Lots more, but I’m not going to spoil all of her adventures. I know they’re happy with just Oola in the house, but from a pure storytelling perspective, introducing a new cat would set up all kinds of great story possibilities. Sure, it might completely upend their lives, but think of the mayhem! Eh, I might have to work on my sales pitch about this. Anyway, it’s another great issue of Oola fun, and if you need a laugh in your life you should get both of these issues ASAP. $10