November 15, 2017
Website
Jonah 2017
For a minute there I thought this was going to be another one of those wordless minis that left me more or less baffled, but then the talking started to bail me out. What can I say, it’s tricky to depict time travel without words. Um, spoilers. On the first page alone there’s a man in a fish, a talking octopus (who is talking about robots), five skulls, a talking crab (who is talking about an hourglass), a robot (standing next to the hourglass), and a robot in a different location next to a grandfather clock. That’s your introduction to this world, and in a lot of ways it would probably be better for you if that’s all you knew about this story. So if that’s all the convincing you need, get yourself to an online ordering station, you’re done here. For the rest of you, from there we see an elaborate tunnel structure (that may or may not be alive), a winged cat lady and a strange box that gets dumped into the ocean. Another man goes looking for the box (while also looking for types of fish for a menu, apparently), goes through a time portal of some kind and starts seeing stuff that’s even stranger. Yeah, that’s all you get for this one. I could go on, but I’m looking out for you here, OK? Surprises are hard enough to come by in this world, why ruin one that is as delightful as this? $6
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Posted by Kevin
November 13, 2017
Website for Paula
Share the Love
If I ever manage to collect all the time in the world, I should really go back through these mini kus books and rank them somehow. 60+ issues in, I don’t think there’s a really terrible one in the bunch, and the vast majority are amazing in one way or another. This time around we get a series of conversations of snippets of dialogue, mostly dealing with relationships or how somebody sees the world. There’s an older man who talks to a couple about his past (while throwing in some casual racism, which seems to be mandatory in elderly storytellers who impose themselves on people), a couple on a date and the unfortunate test that the lady offers to the man to show his interest level, another couple where one is happy to settle in and the other wishes for more, and a child with an older woman going swimming together (and the brutal honesty that comes from the child in her direction). There’s a lot of wisdom in this one about a variety of subjects, so on the off chance that new mini kus books aren’t an automatic purchase for you at this point (they should be), this is one that’s definitely worth a look. $6
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Mini Kus, Nina Hoffmann, Paula Bulling, Share the Love | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
October 27, 2017
Website (to buy the book)
The Complete Strange Growths 1991-1997
Look, I’ve been doing this for a long time now, and usually have no trouble starting to ramble about any comic. With this, I hardly know where to begin. This collection reprints the first 13 issues of her comic in their entirety, meaning that even the comic recommendations are included, so it was a heavily nostalgic trip to read through. Some of the names listed there are still making comics, but most of them have vanished. Are they still drawing occasionally? Have they moved on completely? Do they even think about their old comics, and if so are they proud of that time or ashamed? But all that has nothing to do with Jenny’s remarkable book, so I shouldn’t dwell on it. Jenny was one of the pioneers of the self published mini comics movement of the 90’s; for whatever reason her comics were rarely in the comics shops I went to back in the day, so I only ended up with a few scattered issues of this series. After reading this collection it’s clear that I was missing out, and that I should have spent more effort back in the day tracking these down. Like I said, this collects the first 13 issues, has a new introduction by John Porcellino, a new interview with Jenny and Rob Clough, and several of her scattered strips from anthologies. In other words, it is as complete a volume of the works of Jenny Zervakis as we’re likely to get, and I can only hope that this leads to more collections like this in the future (complete Silly Daddy, here we come!). When it comes to reviewing this as a comic, well… this is where I get stumped. It’s wholly original, it evolves as it goes on (I was going to mention some of the rougher poetry of the earlier issues, but Jenny talks about that herself eventually), but most of the earlier strips are still pretty great. Sometimes she’ll tell stories about her family (I do wonder what eventually happened with her brother), sometimes about her life in the city, or going out to clubs and increasingly feeling like the oldest person there, or observations of what she sees around her or stories she’s heard. And the dream stories! Very few people do dream stories better than Jenny. It’s easy for them to feel self-indulgent or pointless, but a few of these are going to haunt my own dreams. That image of her rolling up the side of the wall and how her sister had a similar dream… brrr. There are also a few longer text pieces in the style of Jeff Zenick (another person who could use a complete collection of their work), quiet moments seen and imagined, a few stressful times, and various animal adventures. There’s no ongoing narrative thread, but this still felt like the story of her life, even if she was more private than a lot of the artists of the time. It works remarkably well as a complete book even though it’s made up of disconnected pieces, is what I’m trying to say. If you’ve never heard of Jenny and have any interest in small press comics, you are in for a real treat. If you already know her work, I seriously doubt that you managed to find every issue of this series when it was coming out, and even if you did, there’s no way you also caught all her stories in anthologies. And if you DID manage to do all that, there’s still a brand new interview with her. I get the impression (based on pure speculation) that John and Spit and a Half are looking at this as a test case, to see if there’s interest in publishing other books like this. Meaning that there’s every reason for you to give this a shot and none to pass it up. It really is a remarkable achievement and I hope that everybody reading this tries it for themselves. $20
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Posted by Kevin
October 25, 2017
E-mail address
Trim #5
Yep, just an email address for contact info. You can also click on the link in the title to buy his books, but as far as looking at the goods online goes, you might be able to find other reviews here and there, but other than that it looks like he’s chosen the old school option. Says the guy who doesn’t use any social media, obviously. Before I even get to the comic, there’s a letters page on the inside front cover, and it has some of the true greats of the comics field on it. It starts off with a long letter by Robert Crumb, then there’s Mary Fleener, Kim Deitch, even Noah Van Sciver. That’s quite a list of talent offering their thoughts on his work, even if they aren’t all completely in love with it. This book is also put out by The Comix Company, which primarily published XXX rated comics (that means penetration in sexy ways, usually). Outside of one graphic image of him watching porn, this is damned near all ages. OK, that’s hilariously inaccurate, but if you’re only looking for naked sexy stuff, I’d recommend something else from their catalog. If you’re looking for a thoroughly engaging comic filled with all sorts of stories (mostly taken from real life, apparently), I’d recommend this one pretty highly. Stories in here include two pastors from his church as a kid, throwing out all his porn and getting locked outside in his undies when he does, trying to sell “records,” him reading a letter he sent John Porcellino, an extended story about his family history in Germany, and an awkward conversation with a woman who’s bemoaning the lack of single, fun, drinking guys in her age group. She’s 45, he’s 9 months sober. Oops! There are also a bunch of stories from art school, usually single page strips of memorable events like mistiming the effects of acid hitting him while he’s in class, shaving what he thinks is his entire body, the scarred nude model, and getting some advice about his future after art school. There’s plenty more I’m not mentioning; he really packs a lot into this comic. Normally this is the part where I recommend checking this book out, but come on Robert Crumb is a fan. You’d have to be a terrible person not to be at least curious about this series by now. $4
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Aaron Lange, Trim | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
October 23, 2017
Website
A Witch Named Koko #7
Hey, wait a minute. I thought these comics by Charles were entirely for kids. Are kids able to see “hell” as a curse word now? Have I been confused all along? Or am I overthinking this whole thing? Yeah, I’m guessing it’s the last one. In this issue, Marl gets her glasses broken and has to get a replacement pair. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, you’re reckoning a world without magic, as the gang goes with her to pick up replacement glasses and runs into all sorts of shenanigans. The glasses each have different abilities or let the user see the world in a variety of different ways. Some are funnier than others, but I’m not going to go through all the options and ruin the fun for you here. There are also a couple of “ask a cat” strip at the end, as is required by law. Oh, didn’t you know that I passed a law to make that mandatory in his comics? Yep. Could have solved all sorts of problems in the country, sure, but I focused instead on increasing the number of cat stories in his comics. Eh, I still think I made the right call. All in all it’s another comic full of good clean fun (except for the one mild curse word that scandalized me so), if that’s the sort of thing you like you should check this out! $2
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Posted by Kevin
October 20, 2017
Website for Nicola
Website for MP
Instruction Manual for Lonely Mountains
Oh, of course this was an adaptation for a theater show! Sorry, but I just saw the back of this book, and now it all makes sense. Not that it didn’t make sense before, it’s just that I can definitely see this as a play. Oh hi everybody, this may look like random thoughts popping through my head that made it onto the computer, but it’s really a review! Tricky, I know. This one starts off with a man walking into a group with the title of “Focus Group for the Protest Against the Extinction of the Human Race.” Three other people are present at this meeting, each of them trying to get to casually know the other members of the group at first. The difficulties start at an innocuous moment, when everybody tries to agree on what basic drinks and snacks should be included with each meeting. This moves into a demonstration on how repetition is more effective than violence, then a discussion of how we could be the first generation of humans that could theoretically live forever, provided certain technological advancements come through and are available to everyone. People discuss how they’re likely to be remembered, and a man starts telling the story of how he broke up with his girlfriend over the phone because he had fallen in love while staying in Paris in the springtime. The fractures from this story are substantial, but I’ve said enough about their conversation by now. MP also includes several striking visual images, vibrant splashes of color on an otherwise black and white story, sometimes accentuating the story, often completely separate. This books will provoke plenty of thoughts and feelings, with no easy answers but some obvious conclusions. To me, anyway. I can’t predict your conclusions for you, which is why you should read this for yourself. $20
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Instruction Manual for Lonely Mountains, MP Fikaris, Nicole Gunn | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
October 18, 2017
Website
Alien Lives
So here’s an intriguing concept for a comic: half of these stories are in Korean with English translations at the bottom of the page, and the other half are English with Korean translations at the bottom of the page. Guaranteed to intrigue/alienate everyone! Kidding, of course. You can even learn a little bit of (written) Korean this way if you want. Just take some of the shorter pieces of dialogue so that you’re sure which words conform to which symbols, and voila! You now know what a few Korean symbols mean! The stories are all over the place, and I mean that in the best possible sense. Stories include a queen who sends a bird to get the heart of a prince (and a bird who takes that request a little too literally), robot hijinx while dealing with pigtatoes, a fishing trip with a bear and a puppet that goes horribly wrong when they manage to catch a wishing fish (and the only story that confused me when I was trying to line up the translations to the panels, and ironically it was a wordless bit that threw me), dating in the future while somehow also being dating in the past, and a brief stop for a joke about the real needs of finding a habitable planet. There were also a few strips that were parodies of those snack cakes ads from comics in the 80’s, which may or may not make sense to the youth of today, but I got a kick out of them. It’s a nice mix of stories and, like I said, a chance to learn at least a tiny bit of Korean. $2
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Alien Lives, Ambs Myers, Joseph Hewitt | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
October 16, 2017
Website
The Chronicles of Fortune
Sometimes picking the sample image is the trickiest part of writing a review, especially in a book like this where everything unfolds at a deliberate pace and no single image can really capture its essence. Not that that’s usually an option, but it’s hopeless with this book. Unless you believe that this book is about a woman and her talking mountain, and hey, maybe it is about that! It’s also about so much more, as it’s the rarest of fictional treats: I was reluctant to leave this strange, haunting, depressing, enlivening, fantastical world. This book is a collection of moments in the life of Edith May, who is also a superhero who has the power to fix everything that is wrong with the world, but she suffers from a crippling case of ennui so she never quite gets around to saving the world. She splits from herself to become this hero after her mother dies, leaving a lingering sense of loss throughout the story. From there we learn about her quiet apartment and life, how she opens her home up to neighborhood weirdos, her getting a fish that was supposed to sing to her, her old fashioned stove and the one day when she forgot to light it right away, an impromptu trip to Alcatraz and her running into a ghost, the sentient mountain that just wanted to be a good roommate, what was causing the leaking from the ceiling and how that led to another roommate/sidekick, trying to fit in with people while attending a bachelorette party, doing the same thing while attending an office Christmas party, her job as somebody who listened to people complain about their Christmas lights, and her final struggle against Death. Sort of. Oh, and how could I forget the moths? The moths were crucial to everything else. I could talk about this book for hours, but my instinct is to (digitally) hold it up in front of me, say “take some time to read this amazing book,” and leave it at that. For what it’s worth, I’ve read a lot of comics by a lot of different people about a lot of different subjects over the 20+ years I’ve been enjoying the small press comics world, and I’ve never read anything quite like this. If I was rich I’d offer a money back guarantee, but I’m not, so… take a chance on this book. You won’t be disappointed. $20
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Caroline Picard, Coco Picard, The Chronicles of Fortune | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
October 12, 2017
Website (probably?)
Website (if the other one doesn’t work)
A Carl Short: So Long My Sole Soul So Long
Boy howdy, have I ever reviewed a lot of Marcos’s comics. Go ahead, click on his tag, you’ll see. 6 issues of Tear Stained Makeup (still available in my store if you can get it to work!), several variations of Carl is the Awesome stories, a few other mini comics… it’s safe to say that I’m a fan. I missed him at CXC this year (2017), because of course I did, but I did meet Neil Brideau, who was nice enough to give me the free mini Marcos was giving away at the convention. If you’re not familiar with the lore of Carl, I’m not sure if I could do it justice here. Maybe check out the sample images and come back to this. The short version is that Carl IS the awesome, in just about every way. He’s also some kind of a dinosaur, but that’s irrelevant. In this story Carl decides that he wants to become the president of New Jersey, and he has no interest in facts like “there’s no such thing as the president of New Jersey” getting in his way. He manages to detach his soul by flailing his arms about wildly, which makes him the perfect politician. The rest of the comic involves Carl’s friends trying to find a way to restore his soul while this thoughtless version of Carl wreaks havoc everywhere he goes. The solution to the problem is just so perfectly Carl that I’m a little in awe of it, but I’ll leave that mystery for you. Carl stories are always welcome around here, and this one is no exception. Check in with Marcos, maybe he’ll have a few of these left over after the various conventions are done. And if you don’t have the other Carl stories, you’re not living your best life, so fix that problem ASAP…
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: A Carl Short: So Long My Sole Soul So Long, Carl is the Awesome, Marcos Perez | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
October 10, 2017
Website
You & A Bike & A Road
One of the true joys of this “job” is that I get to watch amazingly talented artists as they develop; search for her name or click on her tag if you don’t believe me. I got a few minis from here in Athens, Georgia in early 2005, got a few more in 2007 and then kind of lost track of her. Which happens way too often and is entirely my fault. Anyway! Since I can’t afford to buy all of the comics in the world, much as I would like to, I’ve been using the local library system a lot lately (if you live near Columbus, Ohio, go nuts with it, you can read damned near anything), which finally brings me to talking about this graphic novel. The idea behind it was simple enough: Eleanor got a new bike from her parents in Tucson, Arizona. She was dreading figuring out some way to get it back to her home in Athens, Georgia, and riding her bike gave her a kind of peace that she couldn’t get anywhere else, so she got the idea to just ride her bike all the way from Tucson to Athens. If you’re curious, that’s right around 1800 miles. This book is the story of that journey, how she handled the mental and physical wear and tear, and some of the people and things she met along the way. There’s also the constant question of whether or not she’s going to make it, as her knees started giving her trouble relatively early in the journey. There’s a lot to love about this book, and it often reminded me of Jeff Zenick (sadly, that’s probably not a familiar name to most of you) and the stories he would tell about his travels. For what it’s worth, that’s as high of a recommendation as I can give for an autobiographical comic. I knew the border patrol was active anywhere near the border, but she saw helicopters and vehicles of their pretty much constantly, along with one particularly memorable episode involving an immigrant (?) who was trying to get away from them and the tactics (lies) they used to bring him down. Despite the seemingly simple premise, there’s a lot going on in this story, from the reactions of all the people she met along the way to everything she learned and experienced to her pushing the boundaries of her own physical limits. At the end of the day it’s just a great story, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this inspired more than a few people to try something like this for themselves. $12
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Eleanor Davis, You & A Bike & A Road | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
October 6, 2017
Website
Busybody
One of the things I really love about this “job” is when I get a new comic from somebody that I haven’t heard from in years. With Eli, I think it had been a decade since I saw his last comic, or at least close to it. The physical size of this one laughs in the face of the name “mini comic,” but nobody ever came up with a better name for these things that I know of, so a mini comic it must be. Eli has a few stories in this one, with a few very short bits coming from his older minis. The bulk of this is new, so don’t worry about that. Things start off with a double story; one story continuing along the top of the page and one along the bottom. The top portion (“Discovery”) deals with that feeling you get when you meet somebody, chat with them for a long time and leave the conversation realizing that you’ve forgotten their name. When you see them again you might have a brief window to ask for their name, but really you shouldn’t do even that, so you’re already stuck. Eli takes that concept to a delightfully extreme conclusion here. The story along the bottom of the page is a silent piece about a therapist and his strategy for bringing couples closer together. This concept is also taken to an extreme, with some terrifying consequences for some of the participants. Next is a story called “The Refresher,” told from a first person perspective with the reader slowly discovering what’s really going on, which doesn’t leave me much to tell you, as why should I ruin the surprise? Finally there’s the first part of “Shift Report” (meaning he’s still working on comics, which is good news), and this one does some genuinely innovative things in splitting up the characters and the story. We see the perspective of various nurses and patients as they go about their routine, sometimes with them bumping into each other, sometimes doing their own thing. And all the while there’s one section of the page that’s in a fog, which is difficult to realize until you start to see vague images in that fog, and once again I shouldn’t say anything else about it. It’s good to see Eli back and making comics, give it a look! $10
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Busybody, Eli Bishop, Hob | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
October 4, 2017
Website
Ronq & Sceban & Shaus In Trouble! – A Plot Story
So I sometimes have terrible memory. Bear with me, I’m going somewhere with this. Having terrible memory isn’t always at a problem, but at a comics convention, when I’m meeting people I see once every few years at best, talking about comics that I reviewed as far back as 2001, trying to place the name to the right comic, let alone what I might have said about that comic… it can get problematic. I knew when I met Neil at Cartoon Comics Crossroads this year (2017, future readers, assuming there is a future) that I knew his name, that I had liked his comic, but the old memory crapped out on me, giving me unconnected images but no title. But I checked when I got home, and Neil is the guy who did Sock Monster, and the collection for that strip had what is still one my favorite titles of all time: In Anticipation of Hugs! It’s still out there to buy, if you’re curious (and assuming my online store is still running when you read this, I’m even selling copies). Anyway, this particular comic is about characters of a longer series of Neil’s called The Plot, and I don’t know a thing about that. He seemed great, his comics that I’ve read are great, so I’m guessing it’s great too, but the only story I’ve read with those characters is this book. It’s apparently a prequel to the series, which helps, and Neil says in his intro that he did this comic “to get to know the three sisters in this story a little better.” As such, it’s mostly these three sisters chatting, causing some trouble, and doing one terrible thing with an urn. No, I am not going to tell you what that one thing is. It’s a funny book, and I went from having serious trouble telling the sisters apart at the start of the book to seeing all their distinct character traits when I was done. Well, I’m sure it’s not all of their traits, but you get what I mean. It’s worth a look, and based on this I’m guessing the whole series is worth a look. No price is listed, but I’m sure Neil will be happy to help you figure that out if you ask him…
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: A Plot Story, Neil Brideau, Ronq & Sceban & Shaus In Trouble | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
October 2, 2017
Website
The Guest House
Hey, it looks like Jon has started using his real name on his comics (he went by Jon Drawdoer before, or maybe he still does sometimes?). I’d know that for sure if I met him at Cartoon Crossroads Columbus this year, but I’m pretty sure I missed a whole room of artists, and it’s certainly not like I’ve been stewing in a quiet rage about that ever since, heavens no! But as Jon makes clear at the start of this comic, it’s best to let everything in, to sit with the good things and the bad, to let them affect you and change you. So I can’t change missing out on him this year, but next year I can keep a better mental guest list in my head and realize BEFORE I leave the building and the con is over that I missed several people that I wanted to see. And hey look, now we’re finally talking about the comic mostly! Jon starts things off by talking about his personal philosophy, how it has gotten him through some tough times, and even if he didn’t come out of those times as exactly the same person as he was before, he could see the value of the changes and make peace with the losses. I’ve talked about this before in my reviews of his other comics, but this is an excellent way to live, and what I try (although not always successfully) to do myself. Even Jon can’t do it all himself, as he goes to a gay support group to help get himself through some issues. It’s there that he hears the story of Trent, a man who fashioned an entire identity for himself and stuck with it far longer than he ever thought he could. Jon also tells his own story at therapy (about being the third in a married couple for three years, how it ended and what he regrets), with all of this eventually leading to Jon asking Trent out. I’m making this sound like a linear, straight ahead story with some messages, but it’s so much more than that. There’s so much more insight on these pages than I know how to convey in a review, nor do I think it’s really my place to do so. Anybody who has doubts about themselves and how they handle the world could do a whole lot worse than to read one of Jon’s comics on the subject. I’m not going to say that Jon has figured everything out, but he’s a lot closer to doing so than most, and I’ve gotten something meaningful out of each of his comics that I’ve read so far. $8
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Jon Drawdoer, Jon Mastantuono, The Guest House | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
September 27, 2017
Website
The Once Great Auk
Want to get depressed about humanity? One easy way to do it is to learn in detail about how an animal was hunted completely to extinction. Granted, these days there are some basic protections and people actively fighting back against that sort of thing from happening, but back in the 1800’s, boy howdy were people stupid about it. The Great Auk would have been fiercely protected today too, that much is obvious. It’s goofy, harmless and adorable, which would get the letter writing/political campaigns really going. They were roughly three feet tall, couldn’t fly and could barely walk (Caitlin doesn’t state this explicitly but I got the impression that it was named for the noise it made as it was stumbling around). These Auks didn’t have any defenses against humanity and never really had a chance against them. I won’t ruin the depressing tale of how the last few Great Auks in the world died, but I will marvel once again that humanity has managed to survive this long, seemingly in spite of our best efforts. This is a grim story, but hey, where else are you going to be able to see Great Auks doing their thing? And who knows, maybe if enough people read stories like this we really will collectively learn from our mistakes and stop doing stupid shit all the time. A guy can dream… $3
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Caitlin Cass, Great Moments in Western Civilization, The Once Great Auk | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
September 25, 2017
Website
Let Some Word That Is Heard Be Yours
Do kids still know about Mr. Rogers? I don’t think that was addressed in Alex’s latest installment of “Teaching Comics,” but I’m curious. He passed away in 2003, and the final episode was in 2001. Meaning that people who are turning 18, unless reruns are still airing somewhere, might have no clue who this guy was. I’m going to assume that somebody somewhere is still showing reruns, mostly because I don’t like to think of a world with no connection to Mr. Rogers and his neighborhood. Anyway, isn’t there a comic here that I should be talking about? This starts off with a new school year and Alex being increasingly beaten down by his students and his job. We also see the perspective of his partner Keri, and to a lesser extent a teacher friend in Italy. Keri is having an even rougher time with students and seems to be constantly on the verge of giving up entirely. Both of them have nightmares about class, and the only place that Alex gets refuge when he can’t sleep is by watching old episodes of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. If it is completely unfamiliar to you, there really was nothing else like it: his kindness and decency shone through, and it seems universally agreed upon even today when people tell their stories of working with him. I didn’t know most of his history so it was fascinating to watch it unfold here, from his earliest days trying to get a show together to stories from other people who worked for him. He wasn’t perfect, at least not in modern terms; he had a cast member who came out to him as gay in the 70’s and Mr. Rogers asked him to keep it to himself, as he didn’t think audiences were ready for such a thing yet. That sounds bad today, and it’s possible that if he had taken a step to support it back then that things could have turned out differently. It’s easy to say that in 2017! A far more likely possibility is that he would have gotten banned from television. Nobody knows for sure, and nobody ever will. This book is worth checking out for the history lesson alone, but wait, there’s more! Alex getting through to the kids in his class is a constant struggle, and it’s frankly baffling and impressive to me that he has the strength to keep trying. It’s not all losses, as things end on a pretty great note (finally getting through to a pretty big troublemaker), but I can see why he takes refuge in the calming glow of Mr. Rogers. I’m thoroughly enjoying this series and hope that Alex has the strength to continue for years to come. That being said, if the final volume of this series is titled “That’s All I Can Stand And I Can’t Stand No More!”, I’ll completely understand. No price listed yet, but contact Alex through his website, he’ll be able to get you a copy…
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Alex Nall, Let Some Word That Is Heard Be Yours, Mr. Rogers, Teaching Comics | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
September 21, 2017
Website
The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil
If there is any justice left in the world (and that’s debatable, based on recent historical events (it’s 2017 right now, future readers)), The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil will still be read and remembered decades from now as one of the best children’s books of all time. It’s also not necessarily for children, or at least it’s certainly not exclusively for children. It’s been ages since a book charmed me this completely, and I say that as somebody who has read some damned good graphic novels recently. But every part of this, from Stephen’s innovative use of panels and dialogue, to his willingness to let giant inky blackness speak for itself, to the reactions of civilians as things spiral out of control, is just about perfect. This is the story of a man who is in Here. This book also has a fantastic map: there’s Here, The Sea, The Edge of the Sea, and There. Our hero lives in Here, and it’s the only place he’s ever known. Everything is ordered, everything is neat, and everybody knows exactly what’s expected of them. Oh, and everybody is terrified of There. Our hero is hairless except for his eyebrows and one stray hair on his face that can’t be shaved down or plucked without immediately growing back. He works, along with lots of other people in Here, at a giant corporation, doing something with charts that he’s not completely sure means anything at all. But he likes his life, his time spent sketching people while listening to one Bangles song over and over again. Until one day, the charts at his job all look different, and he’s forced to give a presentation on why that’s the case. On that day, something snaps in our hero, and his beard starts to grow. Quickly, violently, and completely out of control. I want to leave as much as possible of what’s left for the reader to discover, because this was a joy throughout, but the cascading effects on the rest of the citizens of Here was expertly done. Buy this book, share it with friends, have them do the same. This deserves to be seen as widely as possible. $20
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Stephen Collins, The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
September 19, 2017
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Goliath
Goliath! That’s bound to conjure a mental image in your mind, probably complete with the idea of him being a raving, unstoppable beast. I mean, you don’t have to be religious at all to know the story of Goliath and how David took him down with a simple sling. But when you get right down to it, the Bible doesn’t have much to say about the temperament of Goliath, or how he spent his days. That gives Tom a lot of room to play with, and he takes full advantage of it here. The Goliath of this story is in the Philistine army, sure, but he prefers admin work to anything to do with war. He’s just trying to live as simple a life as he can under the circumstances, which is that the two armies are at an impasse. So somebody in the Philistine hierarchy comes up with the idea of a champion vs. champion battle to settle the war, and Goliath sure looks like anybody’s idea of a champion. It takes some arm twisting, but they eventually talk him into it, mostly because he agrees that anybody from the opposing army who sees him will be so terrified that they’ll surrender without a fight. The bulk of the back half of the book is Goliath (and his shield bearer) issuing his challenge and waiting to see if anybody will take him up on it that day. Everybody knows what’s coming, but Tom manages to make that ending funny and sad all at once. And then very quickly gross, but I’ll leave that bit a surprise for anybody who doesn’t remember the gory details of the end of the battle. Check it out, gain a new perspective on one of the oldest battles of the world! That’s almost certainly fake, but still… $16.95
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Goliath, Tom Gauld | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
September 8, 2017
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Night Door
Have you ever read a comic that oozes? I seriously don’t know a better way to describe this one. From the start it feels like shapes are barely staying solid, that they’re constantly on the verge of blowing apart. Not a violent blowing apart like an explosion, more like a strong gust of wind that blows through a smoke cloud. Oh hi, I’m supposed to give an informed opinion about this book now, right? Well, it’s the story of a… dog man? Who is looking for a night door (OK, that I just know because of the title). This dog man finds what seems to be the entrance, or at least an entrance. But inside it’s all dark, and it drags the dog man down, although he doesn’t seem to mind that much. And just when it seems like he’s on the verge of finding something out, a new character is introduced. Is he friend or foe? Benevolent, malevolent or indifferent? Read the comic to find out, because I’m not going to tell you. $4
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Mini Kus, Night Door, Patrick Kyle | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
September 6, 2017
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Ivy Lee: Founder of Public Relations
Quick, who out there knows that the Rockefeller name used to be dogshit, in terms or general public opinion? That probably comes as a shock to most of you, as these days “Rockefeller” is mostly synonymous with “ridiculously rich.” Well, that’s mostly because one man was hired to improve his image back in the early 1900’s, and that man was very good at his job. The world would be a better place if he had never existed, or if people with his “skill set” had never come into contact with modern society, but here we are, stuck living in this world. Caitlin takes us through a (brief but dense) history of his work, how he used the son to help convince striking miners that the Rockefellers had their best interests at heart. Well, “striking” is maybe too tame a word, as the workers were in a full blown guerilla war after most of their wives and children died in a fire. Anyway, the younger Rockefeller got them to stand down, which led to a lot of them getting killed through poor safety regulations. Yep, American history is rough. Ivy’s history after this incident is complex, as he managed to introduce the Red Cross to the public, but he was also accused of making propaganda for the Nazi’s. Caitlin has a knack for making minor historical characters fascinating, and she continues that trend here. $3
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Caitlin Cass, Great Moments in Western Civilization, Ivy Lee: Founder of Public Relations | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
September 4, 2017
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Wag Rag #1
For you comics whippersnappers out there, Poopsheet has been an ongoing online comics library for over a decade now, and if you ever want to buy a pile of mini comics, that should be the first place you stop. Rick Bradford (the head honcho over there) has started up a monthly comics service, meaning every month he publishes another comic (or two, like this month) and they’re delivered to your door. There’s a $5 monthly fee, and he’s using the proceeds to continue working on a mammoth online mini comic and fanzine database, which is a damned worthy cause. So now that all the specifics are out of the way, how about the comic itself? It’s a short anthology and the stories deal with misunderstanding Shakespeare (Roger Langridge), taking us all on a psychodelic journey (Caesar Meadows), and a brief saga about assault and card playing. Sort of, anyway. It’s an eclectic mix, and a solid start for this project. For what it’s worth, I’m all for this idea. Paying a monthly fee to help support a giant comics database like that is itself a ridiculously worthy cause, and you get monthly comics out of it to boot! What’s not to like? $5 (monthly, I assume you can buy these individually as well)
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Billy McKay, Brian Horst, Caesar Meadows, Jim Siergey, Poopsheet, Rick Bradford, Roger Langridge, Wag Rag | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
