Hey anybody with more than one cat, check out those tips in the sample! Solid advice in there. This is listed as being the conclusion of the “Hey Cat” trilogy, but there’s more than enough context in here for a new reader like me to catch up. Or like you, if you’re also new to the Nachoverse. No, I am not going to stop using that pormanteau when it seems to fit with the creator’s name and/or title. I may have a problem. This is a collection of strips, ranging from a single page to a few pages, dealing with life with, around and about his cats. There’s him, his girlfriend Jessica, her cat Noodle and the other cat Bologna. Was Bologna his cat or hers originally? I missed the origin story for that one. Anyway, they helpfully include several nicknames for both cats so that you can keep up with what they’re called in the story. Kind of how like each character in a Dostoevsky novel would have several variations on their names. Yep, pretty much exactly the same thing. First we get a nice map of the general area, inside and out, to keep things in context. From there we get all kinds of strips, and I’d rather do my usual thing of keeping things vague, if you don’t mind. There’s the story of how they slowly got Noodle to socialize (she spent some time on the streets, so she was a bit wild), their various efforts (and inevitable failures) of keeping them indoors, their uselessness at dealing with household bugs, how they watch him change the litterbox (agreed, it’s a weird thing), and lizard murder. Oh, and also the trajectory of the Heathcliff and Garfield strips. He says that Heathcliff has gotten surreal lately, so I might have to check that out. This is also leaving the last third of the book a mystery, but you already know that fleas are involved. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that his cats talk. It’s adorable, it’s funny, it’s occasionally sad, and it’s chock full of cats. What’s not to love? $3 (ish, Patreon confuses me)
I’ve been sick for the last week and a half, so please bear with me as I try to remember how this reviewing thing is supposed to work. Why yes, I have been doing this for over 21 years now and it should be second nature, but hey shut up. Quick, take a look at that cover and build a mental image for yourself on what the comic is going to be like. Done? What did you guess? Was it fluffy? This is actually the story of a secret agent cat who’s given a “big” job to do by what looks like a Christmas tree with a cat head. we learn a little more about it, but not much, and we learn that our hero is mostly doing this because he’s expecting a big payout. So maybe he’s a mercenary and not a secret agent? We also see that a dog cop is in hot pursuit of him later, so yeah, maybe he is a crook. Things end on a delightful if baffling cliffhanger, and this is a damned solid first issue of a series. Just enough hints to get the reader intrigued, with promises of more to come. So hey, it’s a good thing that he sent along the first four issues of the series, right? Still, if you’re not afraid of a little risk, Brandon’s art is always welcome and there’s more than enough for you to give in and buy an issue to check it out. For the more cautious types out there, I’m sure more reviews are coming, so just stay tuned! Which is a thing I wonder if younger people even understand, as far as phrases go. See? I should have wrapped this up a few sentences ago. Rusty! $5
It’s can’t be easy to write in a compelling fashion about ambivalence. Don’t get me wrong, Rob and John clearly love each other a whole lot (it’s adorable how Rob feels like he must have met John somewhere before, because it just feels like this guy has always been a part in his life), but neither of them had much interest in the institution of marriage. And yet! Should I maybe mention what this book is about, especially since it’s not going to be out for another couple of months as of this writing? This is the story of Rob and John’s marriage back in 2013 (on my birthday, which has no relevance to the book), how it came about, their attitudes about it, and what decided them on the concept. And, at its core, it’s about how the practical arguments for marriage ended up winning out in the end. Well, it’s also about the societal obstacles to their marriage (it wasn’t legal in all 50 states in 2013, which still seems shocking, but it was legal in Minnesota at least), their lives before and after, and Ginger, maybe the cutest dog in the world. Granted, I say that about most dogs, but it’s also usually true. I tend to veer away from “spoilers,” which maybe doesn’t apply in this case because they end up getting married, but there’s also the fact that this book isn’t out yet, so what’s the point in telling you all about something that you couldn’t possible read for another couple of months? Gloating, because I have a review copy and you (probably) don’t? Sure, I’m just petty enough for that to be a factor, but I’m still not going to give in to it. But to go back to what I said at the beginning, this is a story of ambivalence, and it’s still incredibly compelling throughout. I mean, Rob was planning on putting in half a day of work on his wedding day because the actual wedding wasn’t until 4:30pm, if that tells you anything. He also talks about the first married gay couple of the US, way back in 1971, believe it or not. Was there trickery involved? You’d better believe it! But it was for a good cause, and it was funny watching them turn bureaucracy against itself. Finally, he ended this book with a beautiful story about the two of them, and this one I’m not even going to give a hint about. But it was wonderfully done, and it did a great job of tying the whole story together. So basically what I’m saying is that you should rush out and buy this when it’s available, and if you’re the impatient type I’d recommend a few of his anthologies while you wait. Oh, and Rob, if you’re reading this, I didn’t notice any typos, and I’m usually a bloodhound for that sort of thing. So you’re in the clear on that front! $21.95
One of the most prolific people in comics is at it again, and this time it’s about a historical event. Well, sort of. I don’t think this is based on a true story, but that’s also the beauty of it: if it was a true story, chances are that none of us would have ever heard of it. Things start off with an illustrator putting together a children’s book until she’s interrupted by air raid sirens. She’s in England in World War II, and that sort of thing was all too common back then. Edie is also feeling like she could do more to help in the war effort, so after lunch with a friend she meets up with another friend who’s involved in the intelligence aspect of the war. Edie’s plan was to help by drawing some illustrations to be placed around town, but instead she finds out that an old boyfriend of hers is suspected of being a spy for the Germans, so she somewhat reluctantly takes up the job of ingratiating herself with him again. After a brief training session she takes a job near his house and “happens” to run into him. She’s not suspicious at first, but after planting a bug in his phone and listening in she starts to have other ideas. From there it’s a bit of a cat and mouse game, with her trying not to get discovered and him refusing to listen to the suspicions of his friend telling him that her timing in arriving was entirely too convenient. And if you’re wondering if all this sneaking around leads to a big old shoot-em-up eventually, you had better believe that it does. I don’t remember the rules on the size of “actual” graphic novels, but this is 72 pages (per his website) and sure feels like a graphic novel to me. There’s also a lovely epilogue that I sadly can’t spoil, but just trust me on this, OK? If you’re looking to get somebody into Rob’s work (or if you’ve been holding off on taking the plunge yourself), this would be an excellent place to start. Based on historical events, with none of the weirdness that I love so much/that might turn off the more normal folk. I’m lousy at conversion, but it’s probably right around $10.
A gentle suggestion for Alex before I start the review: a character guide or brief synopsis tucked away somewhere on the inside front cover would be a good idea going forward. That’s true for roughly every ongoing series where the issues come out several months (or years) apart, and I was able to keep it all straight this time, but if this turns into a homespun behemoth, it’ll be helpful. So what’s this comic all about? It’s a series of stories about various people who live in a small town, with several of them bouncing off each other. Things start off on the inside front cover with a brief check-in with Sherman, who has a new lady in his life. Obviously I’m going to be referring to some things that happened in the last issue, so if you haven’t read it, prepare to be occasionally confused! From there we see how Stanley and Luann are dealing both with them having the house to themselves for the first time in decades (their son grew up and moved out) and the closure of the plant that previously employed Stanley. Next we see how Suze (Sherman’s new lady) is doing, which is quite well, thanks! From there we go to the heart of the book, which is the story of Don in his later years, dealing with his children, going about his days and how suddenly grief could still creep up on him. I’m leaving this as vague as possible because it was occasionally gutting and I’d rather not spoil some of Alex’s best emotional writing that I’ve seen. Next we get a grim story from the early years of Andy, the helplessness of his mother in the face of abuse and indifference from the authorities, and what he’s doing now. Finally we end up with another look at Sherman and how he handles Wally showing up at his job. Oh, and I forgot about this: there’s one more story on the back inside cover, written up like a newspaper story that covers the closure of the plant and the reactions of some of the former workers. You know, maybe Alex just didn’t have the space to put in a synopsis at the start of this comic, as this sucker was packed with stories. A book like this could get maudlin in a hurry, and it does at times, but as a whole Alex does an excellent job of modulating the tone of the book so that things never get too high or low for long. This is not a man where I’m comfortable saying that something is his best work (he has way too many good comics out there to be sure), but when it’s all said and done it might end up being just that. $8
Like it says on the cover, this was previously published as Clan Apis a whole lot of years ago. And a whole lot of years before THAT it was published as five comics. So is it cheating if I review something twice? Eh, sort of, so please send any formal complaints to my manager, who is me, so they can deal with them appropriately, which is to either ignore them or laugh if they’re well written. Also the original graphic novel was black and white and this is in full, glorious color, which was always the best way to read it. So what’s this book about? Well, you should know that this is an “all ages” book, that Jay is a biology professor, and that he is a pioneer of using comics to impart scientific information to his students. You’re going to learn a lot here, is what I’m trying to say, and that’s almost certainly true even if you think you know everything there is to know about honey bees. There’s also a fairly engaging narrative going on, so even if you’re trying your very best not to learn anything new, you’ll still be invested enough in it to keep going. Also, you’re going to learn plenty of new things, so just accept that now. This is the story of Nyuki, and we’re taken through her larval stage, her process in becoming a bee, an understanding of the various jobs of the different types of bees, and the dangers that are present in the outside world. We also see how different hives interact with each other, how queens keep control, how they keep it down to only one queen at a time and what happens when an insect or animal dies in the hive. I am exceedingly tempted to throw a whole lot of bee facts at you right now, but I’ll limit myself to one: did you have any idea that bees could sting other insects without their stingers being pulled out? I did not, but found it fascinating. And that they kill invader bees by swarming them and flapping their wings so fast that they basically cook the rival bee? OK, that was two facts. Bees have an exceedingly short life span (less than two months), so Nyuki was never going to fly off into the sunset at the end of the book, but it does a fantastic job of showing the importance of all bees working as a unit and how all of their actions are designed to keep the hive going. There’s also an appendix in the back filled with even more facts and Jay walking the reader through his creative process, including how he managed to show emotions while still getting around the whole “bees have no facial expressions” thing. It’s an engaging, informative book, and forgive the incredible tackiness of this, but I’m going to quote the final line from my original review now: Fun for all ages, in a way that few things are. $12.99
Jonathan has never been nominated for an Ignatz award? Seriously? That seems like an absurd oversight to me. Oh hi, did I already get distracted from my review? Sorry about that, but he mentions that fact a couple of times in here, and it’s ridiculous. But hey, maybe this issue will get nominated next year, because it’s packed to the gills (a phrase I’ve never understood, but never mind that) with winners. First up is the tale of how he settled on his facial hair, how it ties in to Ethan Hawke and what happened when they met (Rachelle Meyer). Next is his memories of sitting with Tom Spurgeon and Carol Tyler at the aftermath of an SPX, which I really have to get to next year (Lance Ward). Then there’s a page by Carol freaking Tyler herself, which is all her, as she agreed to let Jonathan publish one of roughly 100 unpublished pages she found recently. If you were wondering whether or not Kerry Washington was a mensch, does Jonathan (and Ben Passmore) have a story for you! Next up is his story about Grant Morrison, and I have to take a minute here, because it’s about an original page of art he bought from All Star Superman years ago and his debate about whether or not he should sell it, as times were tough during the pandemic. I read All Star Superman literally last week (not for the first time, but in the fancypants “Absolute” edition) and he’s right, it’s the best Superman story ever told, and the only one I’ve seen where the Clark/Superman difference was actually portrayed as big enough to fool people. He also mentioned something I’ve noticed, where I’m roughly 50/50 on Grant’s work, but the 50 on the positive side is VERY positive. But he did this over his own talking head, so now I’m thinking our lists don’t coincide. Doom Patrol in the “bad” pile? Madness (art by Tony Wolf). Josh Bayer draws a true and necessary story about Johnny Rotten, and how inexcusable it was that he ended up a Trump supporter. “The Monkees of punk” was dead on, and if anything maybe a little unfair to The Monkees. Next is the story of a real punk band, Fugazi, his meeting Ian MacKaye and Ian’s story of his time in the crowd at SNL when Belushi wouldn’t go on stage unless a punk band was the musical guest (J.T. Yost). The quality didn’t dip a bit for the last few stories (how could it when Josh Pettinger, Noah Van Sciver and Miss Lasko-Gross were involved, among others) but it’s best to leave a few surprises for y’all, right? Also, I’m going out on a limb here and saying this was my favorite issue of the series so far. Have I said that before? Maybe! But this is the latest issue, so if I have ever said it before, this is the NEW favorite. Pretty good sign when somebody can keep topping themselves like this, huh? Give it a shot, why don’t you? $8
So I finally got the chance to meet Keith Knight at CXC this year (a story for another time), and I was wearing Jaime’s Tortilla Comix t-shirt. Keith has been friends with Jaime for years (he also told me that Jaime did the artwork for the second season of his Hulu series “Woke”), and he let me know that Jaime had intended to be at the convention too, but was dealing with some serious health problems but that things seemed to be looking up. I mention all this mostly because Jaime uses his introduction on the front inside cover to tell the reader all about it: he had a heart attack. And had two stents put in, but they got infected but he ended up needing open heart surgery. So yeah, there was a bit of a delay in getting the issue out! He does mention in his intro that the year pushed him into finally putting out a story about his dad, as his health problems put some things in perspective and made him want to get some of his more personal stories out before they “are lost to time.” That’s a lot before even getting into the comic, but it seemed like some context was important. Jaime has three stories this time around, and they really run the gamut. First up is a piece on his memories of Saturday morning as a kid in the early 70’s. His mom worked all day on Saturdays, so that meant he had that time almost completely to himself. The cartoons are the one thing that I wish kids today could relate to, but since every cartoon ever made can be watched at any time now, having that chunk of time set out specifically for certain cartoons is a lost concept. Still, it brought up a lot of memories for me, even though mine were mostly from the early 80’s. Next up is the story of the time he owned a new and used record shop in California, meaning that famous musicians would occasionally pop by. One time Carlos Santana and his younger brother came in and were having what seemed to be a personal and private conversation in Spanish, so Jaime politely asked them (in Spanish) if they needed any help in the store to show them that their conversation was not as private as they might think. They left, Carlos came back several times over the next few months, and it ended in a hilarious conversation I’m not even going to try to recap. Finally there’s the story about his dad. This is one of his more personal stories, and it’s a heartbreaker. His dad was drunk and abusive, to the point that his mother left him when Jaime was four years old. They spent a year in San Francisco, he eventually convinced Jaime’s mother to come back to him, and you can probably guess that things don’t have a happy ending. It’s a poignant reminder of the impact family can have even if they’re only around for a short time, and how even the most terrible people can leave you with at least a few positive memories. If you’re already a fan of his this is obviously a necessity, and if you’re new to his work this is as good a place as any to hop on. And if you’re a publisher reading this, for the love of all that’s holy, the man has been making comics for 30+ years. Get in touch with him and put out a complete edition of his comics already! $5
There are times when the title tells you everything you need to know, and this is another one of those times. Brandon actually sent along a couple of new comics for review, but since I recently watched the fancypants Criterion edition of Night of the Living Dead, reading this sucker first seemed like a no-brainer. Oh dear god, I had no intention of making a zombie pun there, so let’s all agree to ignore it. This is the story of a new zombie running across a terrified and cornered human for the first time, and he knows what comes next. He does, however, have a few questions, so it’s a lucky thing for him that he’s next to an old timer zombie who can guide him. This is the part where I refuse to walk you through that conversation, as several parts of it were things I had wondered myself, and the older zombie came armed with a few surprising facts. It also had several funny lines that I have no interest in spoiling. Looking over Brandon’s shop I was once again reminded that this man is prolific, and that one of these days I should really check out some of this older stuff, as it pretty much universally looks like the kind of thing I’d like. And since I have liked everything else I’ve seen, very much including this one, it seems like another no-brainer. Oh no, not again! $6
Fair warning here: this is going to be one of those reviews where I try to interpret some fairly abstract stuff, while also engaging a book that’s at least a little bit about how much you should put yourself out there while also maintaining your own health and sanity. As I’m somebody who doesn’t use any social media and has no advertising for this website (meaning that I’m basically content to shout my opinions into the void, with little to no idea how it’s being received until I meet people at conventions), this makes me uniquely unqualified to talk about this graphic novel. And yet! Page by page, message by message, I found myself being pulled into this story and wishing there was any reasonable way for things to get better for the dirty moppets depicted in it. The main characters are introduced as Complications, Heartache, Rebellion and Commitment, to give you some idea of where things are headed right away. The art style reminds me a lot of Dame Darcy, but her work usually had a playful edge that is not present here. Which is why it’s always folly to compare artists doing their own thing roughly two decades apart, I suppose. I’ll confess to not being all that invested in the ongoing narrative of this book, but several pages struck me as being full of wisdom, and not the usual motivational poster level of “wisdom” that’s often mislabeled as such, but beautiful and true things that people should be following in their daily lives. Is there a more tiresome thing that a reviewer quoting such things? Fine, I’ll only indulge myself once: “I’m not an algorithm, I’ll fucking stab you.” Most of them were more about life, muddling through it and being judged by others, but that one really spoke to me. If this seems like a so-so review, it’s more because of my style than the book. If I go back and flip through something a few times after finishing it, like what happened with this book, the author did something very right. Check it out when you’re in an introspective mood, or if you’re ever feeling like being a happy creative person in a constant spotlight is an impossibility. $19.95
Well, it’s official: Brian broke the website. His productivity did it, specifically, and it’s not like he held a gun to my head so I’d review his books a few at a time. Still, this might have to be the norm for a few of his series. When you last saw me talking about Applewood Canyon, I was assuming that that was it for the series and that it had wrapped up in fairly confusing fashion after five issues. I was wrong, which is a thing that happens on a regular basis, and Brian was nice enough to give me the next few issues at CXC in Columbus last month. So, breaking this down by issues, #6 had the escape of our “heroes” (probably need to come up with a better descriptor for casual murderers and a dummy) through the sewer system along with some narration that described what they were all going through, #7 showed them the horrifying truth about Coconut Valley, and #8 had their new plan after being denied entry back into Applewood Canyon. I can instantly see that my problem with spoilers is going to be a big deal while covering a few issues at a time, so let’s just say that any review with more than one issue involved is going to have at least a few spoilers. I liked their trip through the sewer, as we learned a lot more about the characters through an issue of conversation and narration. I would have liked to have learned more about Coconut Valley in the seventh issue, but I get why he’s trying to keep it vague for the time being. And #8 was great for showing just how diabolical this crew could be, with some mayhem sure to follow in future issues. I’m no longer making guesses for how long this series will last, but I am enjoying the ride.
It’s time for a rasslin’ show! Andrew starts this off with something that I didn’t know I needed: a flow chart of every character, with links to their exes, friends, enemies, casual hookups, and secret identities. Things were getting a little out of hand, so this is welcome information to have all in one place. A big old wrestling show needs an opening number, which involves Kevin maybe letting his hatred for the police get the better of him. The matches themselves start off friendly enough (between two new characters, who I’m guessing we never see again, but who knows in this comic?), but things get personal in a hurry when it’s Marisol versus Tina. A double page center spread of some wrestling action follows (as is almost mandatory for this particular clash), and it ends in the only way it really could, but I’m not spoiling a bit of that perfection. Also Dick Punch (the former mayor) is scheming behind the scenes, so you’d better believe that that comes into play later. There’s one final match, a few characters really pour their hearts out, and that’s the end of that. I honestly have no idea where Andrew is going from here. This feels almost like it was wrapping things up, but there are still dangling plot lines all over the place, so who knows? It’s definitely a satisfying conclusion to this little wrestling storyline, and I’d very much recommend getting these two books at a minimum. He even catches new readers up! $5
Grant’s back to working on Dodo comics, after roughly two years away. Not that there was a pandemic in the middle of that that might account for a delay or anything, right? Right away I want to mention something he does perfectly here, and that’s the recap. With this long of a gap between issues, and a fairly complex story, (including a fight over potable water and basically the origin story of Medusa), something to remind readers of what happened before is essential. Take note, other comics people with ongoing stories who take long gaps between issues! This one is mostly silent, and it deals with an attempted theft in the temple of Hermes. It’s also ten pages long, which isn’t much space for the story to progress, if you’re wondering if I have any quibbles about the comic. “Want more comic” is generally a good problem for a writer/artist to have, but it makes it tough to review anything specific without giving the whole thing away. So I’ll just say that it moves the story along a bit, and sooner or later this will be one of those series where I read the whole thing in a chunk rather than counting on this lousy memory of mine. Also included in here are a few pandemic strips, from the early pandemical times of 2020. They’re brutal, as far as pandemic stories go. There’s one funny strip out of four of them, the rest deal with the death of this grandma (whose husband wasn’t allowed to be with her when she died because of fears that he’d take covid back to his nursing home) and the death of a friendly neighbor of his. Now I’m wondering if he did more covid strips, but if they’re all this grim they’d probably be a tough read. Not that that’s a bad thing. I’m as cynical as anybody and even I’m shocked at how quickly any and all precautions (and memory!) of the pandemic have vanished. I at least thought everybody would remember that there was absolutely no reason for work meetings to still be held in person, but now I’m just rambling. I’m a bigger fan of his My Life in Records comics, to be honest, but I do think he’s building something here too, so check it out. $3
Less than a year in their household, and Oola already has her own comic. I see big things ahead for this cat! If you’re not familiar with Lighthouse in the City (Karl’s ongoing daily strip series), Oola came onto the scene in November of 2021, several months after both of the cats who had been with them for many years passed away. She made an instant and gigantic impact in their (the other half of “their” is Kelly, his partner) lives, so naturally Karl decided to put together this collection of strips where she was the star of the show. Is it technically kosher for me to review a book where I’ve probably already read half of the strips in other comics? Well, since I don’t have a boss, the only one to decide that is me, and my answer is: when it comes to cats, all rules go out the window. Reviewing something like this, as is the case with the vast majority of comics involving cats, my objectivity goes out the window, so if you’re looking for a detailed, erudite review about the linework and the meaning behind certain strips, move right along. What does that crazy cat get up to in here? Without giving too much away, there’s her introduction to the house, some odd leftover behaviors from her early life on the street, her Halloween cat arched back (the same thing my old cat, Sassafrasquatch (20 year mascot of this website), used to do), the futility of their trying to sleep when she wanted to play, her great escape, her SECOND great escape, what always happens when glass items on a mantle and a cat come together, and several strips based on great comics artists from when Karl was overdosing on comics with just himself and Oola in the house. I was also fascinated by the single image strip of her sitting on a hardcover collection of comics with one of those fabric bookmarks attached to the spine. Somehow she was just sitting there and NOT attacking the bookmark, so I can only assume that he was taking some artistic liberties with that strip. It’s a funny and adorable comic, what more do you want? Check it out already! Unless you hate cats, in which case I can’t believe you read this far into the review. Oh, one last note for Karl and Kelly: I noticed a small continuity error. In the first strip, while you two were discussing whether or not the time was right for another cat, you mentioned getting a pair of cats. But (as of this writing, anyway) you still just have the one cat. Any plans to rectify that? $6
I finally got to meet Andrew at CXC this year (2022, future readers), and he was delightful. Not that that matters to y’all, but in the unlikely event that you were holding back on checking out his comics because of a previous terrible Andrew in your lives, this one seems nice. As for the comic, it’s about wrestling! And a spectacularly convoluted and manipulative plot that I’m not even going to get into a little bit, in the hopes that it catches you by surprise too. Except for the fact that now you’ll be looking out for a plot. Ah well. The internet porn company that employs roughly half the cast from the original Meeting Comics has decided to branch out into wrestling, but they have a small staff, so things start looking dicey when Laura breaks her ankle while practicing. Who could possibly take over such a job on short notice? Well, Thomas is on the staff, and his ex-wife did do a lot of superhero work, which also involves some extreme physical activity. But things have been tense between them, what with her leaving him for Kevin’s wife, and him ending up with his former nemesis. If you’ve been waiting for all of that to get resolved, this issue goes a long way towards making that happen. I don’t know if something like that could ever be fully resolved, but the involved parties spend some time talking to each other, and things certainly end up in a better spot than they were before that broken ankle changed everything. Other than that we have wrestling, horniness, Val, partying, and an alarming revelation about some lapsed medication and what it may mean for one of the relationships. Vague but enticing, that’s my goal. The big wrestling event is actually occurring in the next issue, which means I just might go back to my old ways and review it next week, as I’m really curious to see how that all plays out. Of course, since it’s the busiest time of the year at work, “next week” might end up being in a few weeks anyway. If you were nervous about this issue because you hate wrestling (you weirdo, give it a shot, it’s just a big goofy athletic soap opera), there are still lots of parts with the old Meeting Comics crew that you know and love. Try it out, if you aren’t already on board. $5
Yes, of course this stood out to me at CXC this year! Look at that cover, that’s all kinds of wrong. Max graduated from CCAD here in Columbus this year (I just checked his resume on his website), so he’s had a few years to practice making comics. This one takes a while to get to the cover image, and there is actually a (fairly) reasonable explanation for it, as far as these types of things go. Things start out with our bird hero resting on a park bench, smoking a joint. A kid walks by, tosses a baseball over his shoulder in the general direction of the bird, which hits him square in the eye and causes him to drop his joint. This, naturally, calls for revenge, so he tries to ask another man in the park if he’s seen this kid, but notices that this man already has two black eyes (to his one from the baseball) and is talking to an ice cream sandwich. What I can only hope is a hallucination follows, and he wanders off to spot somebody else with marijuana in the distance. A brief conversation ensues, he smokes something that is very much not marijuana, and he’s immediately off on a psychedelic adventure that, yes, involves him growing breasts as a side effect. It’s a fun story, although if you’re looking for one of those grand morals to tie it all together you probably shouldn’t look in a comic called “Bird With Tits.” But it’s worth checking out, and hey, the guy is more or less just starting out in comics, so throw some encouragement his way! In the form of money. For his comics. $5
Postal Constituent: Zitkala-Sa/Gertrude Simmons Bonnin
It’s my first book from Caitlin in ages (finally got to meet her at CXC in Columbus this year) and I had completely forgotten how tricky some of these titles were. Which is a problem to exactly nobody outside of me, so I’ll stop talking about it. Postal Constituent was/is a series of small comics done by Caitlin over ten years; I’d highly recommend going to her website and looking at the display for her event in 2019 if you need more details. The short version is that she has done a whole lot of these over the years, and all the ones I’ve seen are meticulously researched (this one has a bibliography with 7 sources). This one is the story of Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, who gave herself the name Zitkala-Sa later in life. It recounts the peaceful portion of her childhood, how that ended abruptly when she left Indiana to go to school 700 miles away when she was 8, and her time training herself to be an effective public speaker. She was a big speaker in the fight for women getting the right to vote, using her story to bring a unique and often forgotten perspective to the proceedings. Apparently there’s still come controversy over her methods and intentions, which seems silly 100 years later, but people can get worked up about damned near anything. Including offhand remarks in reviews by a dummy like me, but that’s just a fun story I heard at CXC and completely unrelated to this comic. This is a fascinating read, with a real gut punch of a final line: “The fight to ensure native American voting rights continues to this day.” Spectacularly depressing that that’s still a problem, but she’s right. Check it out, learn some history before the country slides any further backwards when it comes to voting rights. I’m not seeing this listed on her website currently, but maybe just email her to ask about it. I bought it less than two weeks ago, so there are copies around somewhere…
So, who out there played point and click text adventure games back in the day? That might not even be the correct term, but they were computer games mostly in the late 80’s and 90’s where you had to type in commands to solve a mystery or complete a task of some sort. My touchstone is Day of the Tentacle (with a few Spacequest games thrown in), so just look that one up if you’re still baffled. Anyway, this is an entirely too accurate recreation of the feeling of playing one of those games, and I mean that in the nicest possible sense. This one starts off with the main character sitting in a chair at home, with no obvious clues of what to do or where to go next. He enters “take lamp,” is informed by the omniscient and maddening narrator of all such games that he already owns the lamp, and then switches his command to “pick up lamp.” But the lamp is still connected to the cord, so he can only walk so far from his starting position. To continue the game he decides to drop the lamp, which has disastrous consequences. Does this story seem ridiculous? Welcome to the world of those games! Just imagine trying to figure out what was happening in those things with no internet around to help you. The character continues on to the haunting page I sampled below, and then he has to get to work on figuring out that mysterious door. Honestly, my only quibble with this comic is that it ends a bit abruptly. Unless it’s meant to convey the real life moment when you’d just stop playing a game like this out of sheer frustration, in which case it was perfectly done. If you’re familiar with this type of game you’re going to love this, although I can’t be held responsible for any feelings of gaming PTSD you get while reading it. If this type of game is an alien concept, give the comic a shot! You can see what life used to be like in the gaming world. Or just play the remastered Day of the Tentacle that’s currently on Playstation (and I think Steam). Try that sucker out and see how far you get without cheating. $5
To the readers who are faint of heart and/or stomach: this one isn’t nearly as disgusting as the previous issue, so maybe this is where you should give Andrew’s stuff a shot? Spoilers for the end of the review where I say whether or not I like the comic, I guess. The bulk of this issue is once again the story of Moleboy, and he’s put together a quick and informative “previously on” section for new readers/people like me with short memories. All other small press comics creators with ongoing series, take note! In the last issue our hero had recently rescued some bird eggs with plans to put them in his own backyard and had been going around town making art in the sewer tunnels. This one starts off with him smoking pot with a friend and quickly realizing that he is hopelessly inexperienced compared to his friend when it comes to talking about the ladies. From there they go to a local convenience store but have the bad luck of running into a couple of cops who, sadly, have a keen enough sense of smell to tell what they’ve been up to recently. A quick conversation ends as these things usually do (with the cops searching their bags for little to no reason), and they’re both informed that they’ll be bringing tickets to their homes the following day. This means that their parents are going to find out, which is obviously a thing to be avoided. One set of parents find out, but one friend is able to phone the other one to give them a quick warning. But it turns out that this is happening at the worst possible time for a growing teenage boy! Oh, there’s also a spectacularly awkward scene at school where Moleboy is picked as the volunteer to work with a female self defense instructor, but that’s best left for you to discover. Also included are several short strips of varying degrees of funny, horrific and disgusting, but I’ll leave you to label them all according to your own personal preferences. I’m enjoying the series, but I’m also a well known weirdo. You know the drill: go to his website, check out some samples. $10
Long time readers of these mini kus reviews know that there are usually two reasons why I blow it in the reviews: it’s incomprehensible to me (most likely because of my stupid brain and not the creator of the comic) or it’s so short that there’s just not much to say. I mean, that’s assuming that I succeed in the other reviews, if such a thing could ever be said about a review. Anyway! This time around it’s the second of the two options. This is a silent comic that’s full of double page spreads, so when you’re already dealing with a mini comic that just doesn’t leave a lot of real estate to cover. Why don’t I start off by telling you that the French phrase that makes up the title means (according to the back of the comic) “you are confident and carefree.” However, the back of the comic may be trying to fool the reader, as Google translates it literally as “flower with gun.” Maybe both are correct, based on the comic itself. It’s the story of a young man who takes his bow and arrow and goes out hunting. Is killing the mark of success, or is it bringing back something that his (I’m assuming) lady love prefers? And what’s so great about arrows anyway? Huh, it turns out that there was a fair amount to talk about after all, and all without spoiling the story. 21 years in, I just might be starting to get the hang of this reviewing thing… $7.95
Posted by Kevin 
