So, uh, it’s too late to do much about this now, but the inside of this comic shows the wrong issue number. Based on everything on Matt’s website, this is issue #12 of his series. Based on the print on the inside front cover, it’s #11. I’ll be expecting my No-Prize (TM) in the mail. Is that how those things used to work? Anyway, this is only a concern to people like me who already have trouble keeping their comics remotely organized. This issue is a parody of an old Twilight Zone episode (or the remake of the same episode from the Twilight Zone movie, or the Simpsons parody of the same thing, etc.) based on a youthful William Shatner spotting a gremlin on the wing of his plane. The creature always ducked out of sight whenever anybody else looked, so he was dismissed as a crank. Well, this time around it’s a bus ride back from a model UN debate, and it’s not a gremlin actively trying to tear the apart, but instead a… kid hanging from the outside of the window? Look, to get through the good stuff first, I thoroughly enjoyed the cigarette ad parodies,the flashbacks to the start of the debate, and the goofy (but still rising) tension from nobody else ever seeing the kid. But, and this is the part where it may well be pure reader error on my part, it didn’t feel like the story ever resolved. Was it a kid hanging from the window? He looked like one of the kids at the debate, but there was never a moment when he was found hanging and Kyle is left looking like a crazy person. And the punchline of (spoiler, unavoidable, bail out now if you don’t want to know) the dangling kid apparently writing “wash me” in the dust on the outside of the bus? That would have made a lot more sense if it hadn’t been pouring down rain the whole time. I flipped back through this to try to see what I missed, but I’m coming up empty. Overall the parody aspects of this (and that back cover cigarette parody ad) still make the issue worth checking out, but it does seem like the overall story fizzled out a bit. Your mileage may vary! $1
Who else out there has old journals that they haven’t read for decades? Or are you that mythical creature who’s able to go back and read your real time thoughts about your (probably) high school and college days without wincing? My old cursive handwriting is indecipherable even to me at this point, which is almost certainly a blessing, but I still can’t bear to throw my old journals away. I’m mentioning this for a reason, and yes, sometimes my ramblings are actually leading somewhere! The impetus for this comic is that Jenny had to move, dug up a bunch of her old writings in the process and was inspired to make a comic about it. Well, at least two, technically; the second issue is also available at that Spit and a Half link in the title. As the title suggests, it’s all about her falling in love in those days when we all fall in love the hardest. There’s a sweet story about her first kiss (and a fast forward through the year of long distance romance that ended with a whimper), another piece about her falling hard for a guy but eventually being able to see through his aloof shtick to break free, and her travels with Jack (who had a number of red flags, but we don’t see how that all ends in this issue). There are also several pages of both poems and travelogues from her diary. As a well-known haver of “meh” opinions about most types of poetry, these poems weren’t bad, which is as high as my praise gets for that sort of thing. Her travelogues were engrossing, and while I wish some of those had made it into comics form, that would have been a tall order for that much traveling. Oh, and there’s exactly one page of a copied image straight from her diary, in cursive, which she says was about her brother. I couldn’t read any of it, so I have no idea, but I am glad that the rest of the text was typed out. See, I told you it would come back to handwritten diaries eventually! You might squirm a little reading this, as at least one of the clueless dudes depicted hit a little close to home for me, but Jenny is really great at this comics business and this issue is no exception. $6
25 years of writing reviews, and when a new book comes out by an artist I thoroughly enjoy, my first instinct is just to say “____ put out a new book, go read it!” and leave it at that. I’ve been reading and reviewing Katie’s comics for maybe 20 years here, and she’s absolutely reached the “master of her craft” stage. Go back and look at some of my reviews of her early minis if you’re curious; she was solid pretty much right out of the gate, but she’s on another level now. OK, it’s clear that I’m recommending this, right? Obviously. So if you don’t want even a hint of a spoiler, go read it now, I won’t be offended. For anybody who’s curious what this is about, stick around! We start off with a nearly unconscious man being attacked by a pasty white person, then go back to meet our hero, who’s getting a bad grade in class for a recent essay. She runs into a school friend that she’d lost touch with and her friends, they go out for pancakes and reveal their plan to her: there’s a mysterious strip club that seems to disappear and reappear, but since none of them are 18 they can’t go check it out. But Dolly is 18, so they goad her into checking for them. Dolly has a friendly conversation at the door of the club, but something seems to end the conversation abruptly, so they all head home. Dolly has an idea of what caused the conversation to end so she takes drastic steps to fix it an ends up deciding to try to get a job at the strip club. Things start off slowly, as we see the mundane daily events of a strip club before it’s full of customers, Dolly learns the ropes, and all the while odd things keep happening at the strip club. She also starts losing even more focus at school, and her friends get more and more worried about her, before everything finally comes to a head. Which is as far as I’m willing to go with a synopsis. Nobody, but nobody establishes a mood like Katie; nothing I write here is going to do any of that justice. And the colors! This would still work as a black and white book, but it wouldn’t be this gorgeous. Despite the subject matter it’s almost sweet (in an earned way, not a sappy way), and I can think of a dozen images off the top of my head that have been lodged in my brain since I read this last week. I’d say this is her best work yet, but to be sure I’d have to go back and read her older books again. Hey, what a great idea! In the meantime, this is going to end up on all kinds of “best of” lists by the end of the year, so get a jump on things and read it now! $19.99
I think this the first comic of David’s in ages that hasn’t had a single Star Wars related story in it. I was doubtful that the series was really dead (and it honestly never will be if Disney can still squeeze a few bucks out of it), but this feels like confirmation to me. What we have here instead is another solid collection of short comics, mostly a page or two. And a full color, giant poster image of the cover in the middle of this sucker, just in case you’re not sold on a comic until you hear about any special prizes. Stories in here deal with the shame of thinking that you’re watching a terrible movie (followed by the worse shame of realizing that you were dreaming the terrible movie), the sheer existential madness of worrying about the fight against collecting dust, trying to follow the rules when sending mail, wondering who white gold is for really, the seemingly hopeless fight against the onrush of AI, visiting a “realistic” animatronic dinosaur as a child versus going back there as an adult (written by David’s son Ethan), the glorious vagueness of time in the period between Christmas and the New Year, wondering how everybody seems to know the flags of all of the other countries and being dumbfounded at the simple answer, and the disappointment of being stopped from taking out a library book that you see on the shelf because somebody has already put a hold on it. That comic in particular is a love letter to libraries, rightfully so, and while that particular thing hasn’t happened to me yet, I think I might riot if it ever did. It’s another great pile of comics from this man, and if you somehow have made it this far without reading one of his comics, now is as good a time as any, eh? $7 (maybe? I’m not good with monetary conversions)
One thing I noticed while I was reading this comic was that Charles (as you can see in the sample image) signs each comic with 2027 as the year. Had I fallen into another time portal? Did he get bonked in the head before putting this book together? The answer is actually a lot more simple: he puts these strips out daily on his website, and he’s far enough ahead of schedule that he’s able to put future online comics into mini comics. Daily online comics, and even with that workload he’s (at least) 4 months ahead of schedule. The man is a comics making machine! So what about this particular issue, you ask? It’s another solidly fun collection of strips, and this time there’s even a possibly (?) unintentional crossover with the lead from Nick Forker’s Eyeland series, and they also revealed his one weakness. Which was kind of obvious, if you think about it. Other strips deal with trying to deal with a constantly shifting acquisition editor at a publishing house, going a little too far in trying to catch a porch bandit, not blaming everything on a plot hole wizard, never being happy with a commission, being desperate for paper to draw on, who shows up to the library when it’s incredibly hot outside, the free entertainment of a 24 hour diner, a sad wizard fight, and accidentally starting an art movement. And much more, but those are for you to find. Which will most likely happen some time next year, because his website only lists the collected editions as being available for sale, not the minis. But I’ll bet that if you catch him at a con this year he has these suckers available for purchase, so track him down why don’t you? $2 (probably)
Future readers, if you’re wondering why I’ve changed the format and am only reviewing two issues of this series instead of three (because Brian sells them in packs of three on his website), it’s because there’s been a long gap since #23 came out and I’m not sure of the current status of the series. Without spoilers I can only say that the series isn’t over (or if it is, that was one odd way to end it), but this way I can clear the decks for if/when new issues come out. Never let it be said that I don’t overshare in these reviews! There’s a lot going on in these two issues, and it seems likely that he was setting up some surprises for future issues. #22 is basically an exposition special, as we see how society is handling the revelation of Facelift, the copycat killers, the new curfew, and the sudden danger of attending a church orgy. From there we get a “debate” on the news between the relative of one of the victims and another guest who’s hoping to turn it into a discussion about the failures of society. Finally the issue ends with the appearance of… hm. Usually I’d never tell, but it leads directly into the next issue, so it was a victim of Facelift that managed to escape, covered in blood. #23 is an interrogation of the victim, which takes some interesting turns. This is where it gets into serious spoiler territory, so I’ll just say that she manages to give a description of Facelift, and a surprising result is found after analyzing the blood that was all over her body. And that’s where things stand with the series, as of late August of 2026. Unless Brian just hasn’t updated his store recently, but he’s usually pretty good about that sort of thing. So overall I’d obviously still recommend the series, and I think your best bet is to get a compendium or two of the early issues and see what you think. Only a crazy person would start with issues #22 and 23 of a series… $2 each (or $5 for a compendium of three issues)
Just so you know, this comic is so brand new (I’m guessing) that it isn’t even for sale on their website yet, but the title goes to a link to their store regardless. It’ll be there soon! This issue is a departure from the norm from Greg and Fake. Issues of their regular series usually have several stories, fake ads, and assorted other random goodies. This one seems to have a clear goal: for the team (and the legendary Bob Burden, creator of Flaming Carrot) to have fun with it. And hey, we get to go along for the ride! Things start off with a drug bust (involving the be-tracksuited villains from the cover and a baby with a long grey beard), but after they take those villains down they decide to look around for the possibly mythical jewels that are supposedly hidden in the house. There’s the hunt, a ghost, and finally a mysterious green hand that drags them down to the Land of Nod, which is where the Flaming Carrot is hanging out! I thought the title was a reference to the old Jay Stephens series of the same name, but nope. It’s at least a tribute, seeing as how Bob mentions Jay in his afterward. Oh, and the Flaming Carrot? He mostly hasn’t been around for ages, but he’s one of the best absurdist “heroes” of the 80’s and 90’s. Yes, there were several! Oops, sidetracked again. Anyway, after the sisters look him up on their phone (like I said, he’s been out of the picture for awhile), the Tin Man shows up, a little gnome creature (unfortunately for him) is just the right height to get the attention of the sisters by grabbing a butt, which leads to a confrontation, which leads to… OK, I’m describing too much. It’s a hoot, there’s a fantastic ending, Bob gets to write a solid afterward, and they even sketched some stuff in the open panels on the back cover. If this is purely a convention comic, go track them down! If you look at their website you’ll see that they’re going to be all over in the next few months. Including Columbus Ohio the day after my birthday? Hm, I might have to figure out a way to make that trip work. But yeah, it’s another issue of Santos Sisters, of course it’s worth checking out. No price listed, but it’s hefty. $7?
Oh glorious day, it’s my first Brandon Lehmann comic of 2026! And since it’s already late August, that’s far too long. Sure, I could always fulfill my promise/threat to go buy all of his older comics that I haven’t seen yet, but just roll with me on this one. This is another stellar collection of short comics, mostly one or two pages, and once again I’m going to have to go into my vagueness shtict to prevent any spoilers. Honestly, I’m more OK with giving away plot details of some complicated opus than I am of giving away spoilers to the punchline of a single page strip. Things start off with Brandon stopping by and explaining that there are five golden tickets randomly distributed in these issues, after which he goes into detail of what the winner would receive. That little joke was paid off beautifully halfway through the book, when I noticed my green ticket that was inserted purely to tell me that I was not a winner, which also went into some hilarious details. But hey, maybe the copy YOU buy will have a golden ticket! Stories in here include the origin story of Big Mouth Billy Bass (along with an experience in the official store), the frustration of being a ghost who’s stuck hearing people getting it wrong without being able to correct them, the disgusting answer to “what’s the catch?” about a house that’s too good to be true, the dangers of unleashing a genie without a plan for your wishes, the pay scale for kissers and kissees, Gambit of all people figuring out what’s really going on with the X-Men’s finances, a couple of ogres discussing their new decoration, a call for help that’s answered by the wrong people, Robert Smith: Professional Therapist (of which I can say no more), and the wonders of a seahorse parade. And more, of course, but there have to be some complete surprises in these comics. You genuinely can’t go wrong buying an issue of Womp Womp; I don’t think there’s a more solid laughs to pages ratio in all of comics. $10
I feel a little bad about using a double page spread as the sample image for this review, but the comic is made up of three of those spreads (so they’re kind of hard not to use) and Lily has the whole comic up for free at her website. So it’s probably fine! This is a short wordless comic, so once again I kind of wish I’d gotten one of her heftier comics at CXC last year. Sure, I probably got this because I was broke by the time I got to her table, but after seeing the other comics at her website I’m curious to see what else she’s done. But hey, who cares, you’re here to read about dog love! It’s a sweet comic, and by that I mean the relationship that it’s depicting. We see them casually going about their lives in the image below, and you could read a lot into those expressions if you were so inclined. Then on the next double page spread they start getting intimate, and on the final image they really get down to it. Tastefully, you creeps! She uses a looser style for this mini (her full comics look immaculate, frankly), but it’s cute and worth checking out. No price, but I’m guessing maybe $3? Like I said, it’s on her website either way.
Congrats to Matt on replacing (for the moment, anyway) Brian Canini and Nick Forker as the comics creators I have the most trouble keeping up with. In terms of reviews, I mean. If you’re a normal member of the comics reading public, they all make it pretty easy to stay caught up with their work. I’m doing the thing where I randomly grab an issue to review (he’s up to #19 as of this writing), and this time I lucked into a self-contained story. This one is mostly about Kyle, and he’s getting in trouble for seemingly very minor infractions. He’s also being punished by being forced to do yard work for former and current teachers and school board members instead of the usual detention. The comic is a nice slow burn of Kyle putting together the clues, getting confirmation by the other students involved before finally confronting the principal. That takes up the vast majority of the comic, but Matt was nice enough to also include a couple of single page strips (with a groan-worthy pun about a sharpened pencil (which is true of most puns; if you like ’em, you like ’em) and a funny bit about a frustrated teacher who can’t crack his knuckles), some activity pages and a lengthy text recap of some of the happenings around the school. Another solid issue, and at $1 you really can’t beat those prices.
If you’re curious as to why this comic doesn’t have a creator listed, please read my review of another comic in this series here. I go into the whole process, get on my soapbox as to why it’s important to clearly have your name listed somewhere on your comic (or at least online), etc. Now I’m thinking that Danny Ferbert might make these Derrick comics as well, but since I don’t have any confirmation on that outside of context clues, I’ll be sticking with the current listing for now. And to think I included that link to an old review so I wouldn’t have to get into all that. Anyway! This is another collection of strips about Derrick the dog, traveling with a tyrannical couple who seem annoyed at absolutely everything he does. I mean, look at that sample image. Let the dog pee! These mostly follow the four panel strip format, with Derrick and the family dealing with hazards like a roving gang of dogs chasing the car through a town, Derrick constantly running off, getting some water at a fast food place, walking through a whale park, and keeping Derrick away from dead things. And more, of course, but I always leave surprises for the people who actually buy the comic. There’s some funny stuff in here, and if you’re a fan of doggo mayhem you could do a lot worse. $2
I can be a little rough on anthologies at times, but that’s almost always for technical reasons, and this anthology does all of that stuff right. The artist’s name is clearly labeled at the bottom of their story (you’re not seeing it for the sample image purely because it’s the second page of a two page story by Kat Wong) and their contact info is clearly provided, usually in multiple formats. That’s all it really takes, so take note, other anthology editors! This is also one of those cases where the temptation to be lazy in the review is strong, because take a look at that list of tags showing all of the artists with stories in this sucker. SO many names that I’ve already reviewed, it’s just a solid list of names of a lot of the people doing the best work in comics today. But no, the show must go on! “The show” being me yakking about comics for a bit before that vague, undefined voice in the back of my head tells me that I’ve said enough. This one starts off with a strip from Roberta Gregory, and kids, if you don’t know who that is, she’s been doing this since (just after) the original comics underground days, and also just so happens to have a giant new collection of her work out as of maybe a week ago. Following that are stories about really getting into a deep clean (by Megan Kelso), sifting through the mess and finding the positive aspects of dealing with a father with dementia (by Meredith Li-Vollmer), getting into the cat psychology of chasing a laser pointer (by Kiku Hughes), being able to take in all of the different people that two people in a partnership can be over the years (by Robyn Jordan), maintaining your mood with scents (by Ellen Forney), drastically misunderstanding some Australian slang (by Natalie Dupille, but I would have honestly made the same mistake), regretfully going through how a stool became haunted (by L. Armstrong), living the life of a gargoyle gardener (by Lara Kaminoff), getting older and the dreams you have to leave behind (by Rachel Scheer), learning how to cope with and live in a terrible world (by Amy Camber, with some solid advice), some life advice for turning 50 (by Tatiana Gill), and the end result of doing kegels every time the world gets you down (by Marie Hausauer). That’s maybe half of the stories; there are 34 artists in here. All of the stories are either one or two pages long, and a whole bunch of them made me curious to see what other comics that author has created, which is another task that this anthology has done successfully. Also your buying this supports the Short Run festival in Seattle, so you get to support a great cause while reading a pile of great comics stories. Everybody wins! $15
One of the hazards of my “unstuck in time” method of reviewing these Eyeland comics is that sometimes an issue will end up being out of print. And hey look, that seems to be what happened here! It was sold out in both online stores I was able to find, but I’m including the link to Partners and Son anyway, because maybe they’ll get more copies eventually, and if not there’s plenty of other great stuff to check out at their website. Anyway! So do I remember what was happening in the story at this point? No way. Is this going to be what causes me to go back and read all of these issues sequentially, maybe reviewing the issues that I missed as I go along? Sorry, but no, not yet. What can I say, I’m enjoying the chaos. Lots to talk about in this one, starting off with a single page comic about what we all end doing with our old batteries. Um, allegedly. Next we get the bulk of the comic, which continues the story from the last issue (and Nick was nice enough to include a brief recap). From there we get maybe the single most action packed issue in the series. A couple of full page spreads of a giant cyclops attacking the wizard cat, several more pages of the fight, our hero unconscious on the ground, our other hero getting a cryptic message about protecting the eye dude, before they’re finally able to move on with their quest. Spoilers, maybe, but I’ve already reviewed #13. Other stories include a gathering of animals in the forest (which may or may not have been just an excuse for Nick to draw a bunch of animals, but he’s great at it so I have no complaints), an argument between the creators of the universe, tips for which pen to use for other artists, an advertisement for a truly disturbing cheese delivery service, and a back cover with some excellent advice on how to approach life. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that front cover! Embiggen that sucker and take it all in, there’s a whole lot going on there. It’s another solid issue, so track down a copy and give it a shot! $7
It’s always great to see a new comic from Kelly, but there was a brief moment when I cracked open the envelope, checked out the title and said “… oh.” I mean, she’s not wrong, it just briefly hit me a certain kind of way. This is a collection of several stories, mostly (if not entirely) dealing with aging and/or death. Kelly and I are roughly the same age, so you’d better believe that a few of these hit me pretty hard. Kids, or youngsters in their 20’s who think this will never happen to them, don’t rule this one out. It actually will happen to you, and I know I wish more people told me what to actually expect as you age, which Kelly does an excellent job of in here. There are several single page strips in here, dealing with how your perceptions change as you get older (her image of the grandma in the former hipster barbershop was brutal; solid chance that that lady had been a hipster in the 90’s), trying to navigate the maze of online help for an elderly client, and trying to navigate similar obstacles (along with literal ones) on a trip with that same client to the bank. The rest of the stories are longer, one detailing the step by step process of her having to get her gallbladder removed (and the extended recovery process; this was a fascinating journey with even more “fun” with dealing with medical professionals), and another going through her eye surgery several months after the gallbladder. That one was terrifying, as she went through the urgent need for the original laser surgery, her inability to keep from moving during her recovery period in no small part due to the fact that she had a comics convention to run, and the subsequent regular surgery to try to make the repairs stick. She led a terrifying but oddly boring existence for several months of that recovery, with it coming along slowly and her being unable to do most of the things that distract people from worrying about things like eye surgery. Other stories include a lengthy tale about Dorie (the woman mentioned above with online/bank issues), the terrible habits Dorie fell into, her eventual death and the problems of trying to deal with her family around that time. There are also a few other surprises (I loved both the “outtakes” and the specificity of an average day dealing with the eye surgery aftermath), but I have to leave something for you to discover. This is Kelly at the top of her game, and it’s absolutely worth checking out. Yes, even if you think you’re immortal. $15
Can you have a slice of life comic about a made-up world? I mean, sure. One of the main reasons why this comic was such a joy was because there was no need to have every little thing explained; this was a world of magic and odd creatures, and since both of those things were a given, we got to see some of them go about their daily lives. Things start off with a couple of vampires riding a scooter (which we only know because the first panel of the comic is a close-up of their fangs), followed by three kids hanging out and discussing their upcoming class schedules. Then they break out their hexes for the year, each surprised (and some disappointed) at what pops out of them. We shift to a school administrator trying to go about their day before hearing a crash, which leads to counseling a student who’s hanging out in a tree stump (who also happens to be a talking monkey). Another family appears next, which is where we get our first sighting of the creatures in the title in this comic. There’s no big quest or dramatic emotional reveal to be had in here, but it’s a world I’d like to experience again. It’s a hoot, is what I’m saying, and I’d thoroughly recommend this to anybody who loves a casually weird story. And it’s cheap! $5
Just so you know, the link in the title goes to a full and free version of this comic online. I didn’t see any links to buy a printed version like I did, but if you live near Columbus Ohio The Laughing Ogre still had copies as of 6/26. Or maybe contact Sydney directly through her website? I don’t know, this was originally an art show so maybe physical copies were meant to be limited. Anyway! I went into this as a blind grab, and my initial thought based on the cover (always a bad idea) was that this might be a memoir about heartbreak and getting over a relationship. That wasn’t at all the case: this is a comic about sexual assault and rape, and the various methods she attempted to get over those traumas. This is more of a primal scream than a comic, and a difficult one to critique in an objective sense other than my usual “I hope the dude responsible for this gets hit by a bus eventually” response. This starts off with her trying to come to grips with her PTSD and the constant doubts constantly flooding her brain, and it’s one of several single page images in this comic that just floored me. The image of the liquor bottle surrounded by her attempts to describe what happened was another one, and another image that needs to be experienced to be fully appreciated. There’s the casual way that the whole thing starts (the guy was a trusted friend, then it jumps straight to the aftermath and how the experience completely changed her. She didn’t report anything to anybody for months, she withdrew from friends and the world, panic attempts set it, and there was the extra trauma of trying to navigate life with her friends (who knew about it) trying clumsily to will her back to being her former self. Then there were her attempts to take control of her life before finally finding other ways to experience joy, but an experience like this never completely leaves a person. It’s a gutting experience as a comic and, while I’d recommend caution if you’ve been through a similar experience, there may be comfort to be found here in watching another person navigate it. $10 (if you can find a copy, if not it’s available for free online, so maybe take that $10 and donate it to a worthy cause?)
This comic is turning into a real mystery. I bought it at The Laughing Ogre in Columbus last month, and they had to basically invent a price for it since there was no clue on the comic. So I thought maybe once I reviewed it that I could verify that from his website, but it’s not listed there either, even though it came out only a couple of years ago. So I’m going with the theory that if you contact Cole, he could get you a copy of this, maybe for the arbitrary $7 I paid for it. If not, he has a number of graphic novels available, you could always give one of those a shot. That’s all well and good, but what’s the actual comic about? There are two stories in here, and the first is about Cole’s first time on a ferry, but it’s mostly a solid example of how (when you’re a kid, anyway) a crush can develop, blossom and then come to a crashing end all within an hour or so. Next there’s a sweet little story about getting swept up in a crush as an adult, then having to decide on the fly (when asked by somebody on the street) exactly how seriously you’re taking that budding relationship. Those are the basics, anyway; Cole also gets into some clan cultural stuff from the Yukon territory in Canada that’s fascinating. Why can’t we in the U.S. have a dance where all the single men dance first to attract all of the single ladies? That sounds like an absolute blast. Anyway, check this out if you can find it (Laughing Ogre had two more copies as of last month).
It’s one of my favorite types of comics: a collection of short pieces that mostly originally appeared in anthologies! Yes, you cynical bastards, I’m actually being sincere here. Those types of stories are generally lost to history otherwise, as most anthologies drop out of print quickly (assuming they had much of a print run to begin with), and these short pieces are an excellent opportunity for artists to challenge themselves. And for this one, even if you have been following every last bit of Brian’s work over the years, he was nice enough to put a brand new story in here too. This one has several long pieces and a few single page strips (one graciously included below by your friendly reviewer). First up is a fairly complex piece called Silk Stockings that, in 6 pages, manages to capture the feelings of being in an awkward vacation spot, discovering that your parents aren’t as well off as you’d like to think, and accidentally giving your budding sexuality a kick start by hiding in the wrong place for a game of hide and seek. Next up is a piece about the grim reality of going off to live in the woods after quitting your job, followed by a short strip (where Brian really flexes those artistic muscles), then a longer piece about a sad sack who goes out with the wrong girl (“wrong” in this instance meaning “is a spy under surveillance”). But wait, there’s more! Next up is a longer piece about a battle with a necromancer with soul stealing eyes (I admired his commitment to realism with this one, or at least the level of realism that comes with the concept of trying to attack a being that could kill you with a look), followed by a Tom and Jerry type of strip that takes a really dark turn, then a couple of single page strips that I’ll leave it to you to discover. That final punchline though, it did indeed get a solid guffaw out of me. Not a laugh, you see, but a legit guffaw. Those are hard to come by, so kudos to Brian for that. Look, if Brian ever puts out a real stinker of a comic, I’ll tell you about it, but this is another solid collection of stories from the man, and you should check it out, whether you’re already a fan or a new reader. $8
Let’s call this review an object lesson in why you should never trust the opinion of a reviewer. Go back and read the review for the first issue of this series, if you haven’t already. If you can’t be bothered, fine: I loved it, legitimately laughed out loud several times, and was eager to see more. So here I am, roughly three months later, seeing more, and my general thoughts on this one were… meh. Still some funny parts, but the whole thing seemed like more of a chore, which was not at all my experience from the first issue. And, since both issues are pulled from the same era of Chris’s comics (and since they both really need to be read together), it’s ridiculous to think that the quality changed much at all so, once again, that just leaves me as the dummy. I can live with that! Oh, I still haven’t given any synopsis of this. Basically think of Spinal Tap and you at least get the seed of the idea; Chris and a friend were bored in high school and made up a fake band with dozens of albums, all released in a comically short period of time (also with comically short album lengths compared to the amount of songs). There’s also an extended fake interview and even a few comics, all of which made me at least smile, so I honestly can’t tell you why there’s a disconnect in my head on this compared to the first issue. If you liked the first issue I do think that you’ll also enjoy this one, and I even included a link to buy both of them in a package deal (for $7 instead of the $6 for a single issue). Maybe somewhere down the line I’ll read these together just to see what’s wrong with my brain, but this is as clear of an example that I could present showing that my problem with a comic is me, with absolutely nothing to do with the comic. They were made at the same time, for the love of all that’s holy! $6 (or $7 for the pair of them)
Quick, you don’t know anything about this comic yet (unless you’ve read it already, obviously; this is for the people coming in new). Do you think this comic is about a baby who likes BLTs or do you think this is a comic about a baby who is part of a BLT? Just me for that last one? Ugh, that probably doesn’t say anything good about me. This one actually starts off a little smaller, as it’s all about a cranky baby who won’t eat their tomatoes. Many attempts are made (although I would have given up when the old standard of tomato soup and grilled cheese didn’t work), a professional chef is even consulted, but nothing prevents the baby from throwing a tantrum and tossing the tomato-based attempt on the ground. As for what it is that finally breaks through, it’s somewhere between difficult and impossible to spoil such a thing when it’s right there in the title. It’s a cute little story, but I may be burying the lead here, as it’s also a fold-out comic. No, not one of those comics that makes you wonder if you’re reading things in the correct order, this one just folds out into a giant maze in case you want to help the baby find the lost tomatoes (now that she loves tomatoes). This naturally made me wonder about the author, and it turns out that these fold-out comics are kind of A.T. Pratt’s thing; he has all kinds of them on his website, some with some truly impressively complex designs. If you’re a fan of those types of comics I’d suggest checking out a pile of his comics, if you’re only a fan of angry babies I’d suggest giving this one a shot. Yes, I’m afraid that you’re required to fall into one of those two categories. $5
Posted by Kevin 
