October 29, 2015
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The Monkey’s Paw
Sure, there are days when I feel like there’s no point in going on with this rinky dink comics review website, where I have to (out of necessity due to work or real life) vanish for days or even weeks at a time. Sometimes 14+ years of doing this seems like plenty. But then there are days like today, when I get a comic from Ryan, who even mentions in the note that he hasn’t sent me a book in 10 years. And, as long time readers know, there’s nothing like better than checking in with somebody whose work I loved back in the day but haven’t heard from in years. What can I say, it just makes the whole thing worthwhile to know that people are still doing mini comics who were around when (or before) I started. Anyway! I’m assuming that everybody reading this knows the story of the Monkey’s Paw? Maybe not the original short story, but at least the basic concept? If not, here it is: the main character discovers, usually through a mysterious store that disappears as soon as they exit, a monkey’s paw. It usually has three extended fingers, and they give the person three wishes. These wishes almost always go very, very wrong, and the fun in the story at this point is guessing how (or whether) the main character is going to get out of it. Our hero this time has a very simple wish: a new gaming system. I should also point out that the wishes were made by the robot friend of our hero, who may or may not have a soul, to let our hero avoid the consequences of his wishes. Well, that little trick doesn’t work at all, as he gets the gaming system… as a result of a genuinely awful event that I shouldn’t spoil here. I also liked how Ryan skipped the usual bit about the third wish either fixing everything or leaving it irrevocably broken, and left that up to the second wish (and the robot) this time around. It’s a fun comic, and it’s great to see that that cat is still the hero all these years later. Check it out, or you could even check out some of his older comics from my store, which I amazingly still have in stock. What can I say, that store is basically a time capsule at this point…
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Posted by Kevin
October 26, 2015
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In The Crapper
Oh, the life of a bathroom attendant. If you’ve ever seen one in real life (or even in a movie), chances are you’ve thought about what life must be like for them, how they ever ended up in such a job. Well, this one doesn’t get into any kind of an origin story, but it does paint a grim picture of what life is like for one fictional bathroom attendant. If you’ve never even heard of such a thing, the cover does a good job of showing the basics. It’s one gentleman, impeccably dressed, who’s on hand to offer towels, mints, and cologne after you finish doing your business. Ladies, is this a thing for you too, or does this only happen in upscale men’s rooms? Just curious. Anyway, the list of rules for our hero is simple, and mostly involve keeping everything stocked and clean. There’s also the frankly inhuman rule preventing him from using that bathroom, instead forcing him to use the employee bathroom. While also never leaving his bathroom unattended. Yeah, it does seem specifically designed to break the guy. Anyway, he puts up with all sorts of indignities throughout the day, only getting through it via his rich (if disturbing) fantasy life. It’s a darkly hilarious book, and if nothing else reading this should guarantee that you leave a tip for the poor guy if you ever see one of these attendants in real life. Their life is hard enough already, the least you could do is throw a few coins onto their tip plate/jar. $5
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Chris Carlier, In The Crapper | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
October 22, 2015
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Blink: And Now, This…
Everybody out there who has HBO (or who has access to an HBO Go password) is watching John Oliver’s weekly show, right? In case you’re not, shame on you, but the title is in reference to that. And for all my complaints about the lack of political comics these days, here’s one right up my alley. It even makes explicit on the cover how blood-soaked the Confederate flag is, although I guess Max could always correct me and say that somebody spilled wine on it. But I doubt it! Anyway, this one opens up with the gang watching Oliver’s show and laughing about Starbucks and their ham-handed attempt to start a conversation through race via coffee cups. They all enjoy the big, go on with their lives, and the scene shifts to a few months later, after that asshole shot up a historically black church in Alabama. If you’re reading this in the future, check around June 2015 to narrow it down, as it’s clear the gun massacres are going to keep right on happening. Anyway, they chat a bit about what’s going on, with Sam being the most cynical of the bunch, and we even get a peek into the history of the two friends. It’s a short comic so I don’t want to spoil any more than that, but this was a really engaging comic, and I think it could educate a few people who have a superficial (at best) sense of the history of race. He even gets into the assassination of Martin Luther King and includes the remarks Robert Kennedy made the day after he died. It was a great speech, but it only made the whole thing more depressing, knowing as we do that Kennedy was assassinated himself short after that. I don’t have any answers, although I will say that 100% of Republicans are against even common sense gun control reforms, so if you’re happy with all these massacres, vote Republican! I can’t say that voting Democratic will end them, but it seems to be the only chance we have right now. Max made this a “pay what you want” comic, so maybe send him a few bucks? Or one buck. It’s up to you, really.
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Posted by Kevin
October 22, 2015
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Stuck in the Nose
It’s cheating to just cut and paste the synopsis from the back of comics, right? It must be cheating. But the back of this comic is so fantastic, I have to include at least a taste: “Some would call this humour, but that’s a bit doubtful.” Much funnier in context, granted, but I’m trying not to paste the whole thing here, remember? Anyway, this is the story of an asshole. Usually stories have more ambiguity than that, and yeah, this guy does maybe take a step or two towards becoming slightly less awful, but it’s still the story of an asshole. Things start off with a lady (who, granted, looks maybe a bit snooty) enjoying a cocktail by the pool. We see a slow dripping of yellow liquid drop onto her hat, which then becomes a downpour. We then look see the source of the “rain,” in a full page spread of the dick of this guy. Who gleefully yells down at her that she’s lucky that he “didn’t feel like pooping.” From there we see this asshole living his life in his apartment, get sick of all his stuff, dream of various ways he could die, yelling more things at the people below him, and finally have an extensive dream sequence. If you’re into nothing but the highbrowingist of highbrow humor, this one probably isn’t for you. But if you can laugh at an asshole and want a deeper peek into what motivates one of those people, this book is damned near essential.
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Mini Kus, Snake in the Nose, Tommi Musturi | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
October 20, 2015
Website (where you can order the comic)
The Two Primas
One day, I would love to learn the origin story for the “action lines” that are in manga comics/anime. You know the ones, always in a scene with something dramatic happening, where suddenly everybody in the panel/on the screen look shocked, but they’re completely static while the lines behind them show… tension? Motion? I know in some of the older cartoons they were used to help portray action while not needing to animate it because of their tiny budgets. I’ve never fully understood it, but by now they’re a completely accepted part of the genre, so I should probably just shut up about it. Anyway, how about this comic? It’s the story of an accepted ballet star taking in an old friend who has had trouble fitting in at other ballet troupes in the past. This seems to be because this other lady got into ballet not because of any love of it, but because she has a rare form of athlete’s foot that is only alleviated while in ballet shoes with her toes pointed downwards. It turns out that this group is in danger of losing their funding, and it’s also revealed that there’s a nefarious plot underway to kill it entirely, which I probably shouldn’t get into here. Chieko admits in the afterward that she made up a lot of ballet stuff, but it all seemed accurate to me. Granted, I also don’t know that much about ballet, so don’t get mad at either one of us if you’re an expert and find this comic to be filled with factual errors. I wish there was a bit more time to flesh out these characters, but other than that it’s a solid enough story, with not a single image of athlete’s foot if that sort of thing grosses you out. $5
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Posted by Kevin
October 20, 2015
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Smallbug Comics #9
Aw come on Charles, don’t sell yourself short! Your comics are delightful. Yep, that’s right, I’m starting off the review by talking back to the comic cover. That can’t be a good sign. This time around is another collection of short pieces (almost exclusively focused on cats, meaning I’m on board) and one longer piece. The longer piece started off slow but won me over with the page that I’m using as the sample, even though it may just slightly spoil a bit of the proceedings. Basically the gang is flying low, one of them says maybe they shouldn’t fly so close to chimneys in case the broom catches on fire, which naturally means that the broom catches on fire. This shouldn’t a huge problem, as they can just use magic on any old broom to fly home, but they have unfortunately managed to land in a town of hobos. These are stereotypical old-timey hobos who are basically like Pigpen from the Peanuts comics, not actual real humans who don’t have homes. An important distinction in a funny comic! Anyway, these hobos don’t even understand the concept of cleanliness, so it’s not possible for them to get a broom, but they do hatch a plan to get the inhabitants of the town more naturally interested in cleaning themselves. It goes nowhere, a second (and more morally ambiguous) plan is formed, and that’s about as far as I can dig into it here. It’s a fun story, I will say that. As for the shorter pieces, they deal with cat questions such as what’s in their dreams, what’s their problem with water, where did the nine lives thing come from, why no love for Benjamin Franklin, what’s in that box, and why do you ask for belly rubs even though you clearly don’t want them. All solid questions, and all of interest to cat people such as myself. If you hate cats you’d probably still find them funny, but if you hate cats I can’t really put myself in your shoes, so I don’t know what goes on in that head of yours. It’s another solid comic all around, and still a deal at $2.
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Charles Brubaker, Smallbug Comics | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
October 16, 2015
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Mindfulness Comics
Is the world too much with you? Do you know that you need to step back and appreciate your life but lack the means to do so? Well, short of ordering every self-help book on the market and hoping for the best, this comic is not a bad place to start. Not that I’m saying that Jon has solved all of the mysteries of the universe and/or the best way to quit craving nicotine, but what he’s doing sure seems to be working for him. To sum up briefly and not at all exactly, Jon has been trying to live the current moment to its fullest at every available opportunity, and this comic is a selection of stories about that process. This time around he was nice enough to put a little symbol (indicated in the intro) at the bottom right corner of the pages once a story is over and, since he is living so much in the moment, it was crucial to understanding exactly when one revelation ended and another was beginning. Stories in here include the simplest way to bring yourself back to your self (and probably the hardest for some people), the insights he gets into himself and others when he’s out running and happens across people who are faster than him, his journey through the “hole” in his sternum and his conversation with his dead father in that hole, and his dedication to always going with the healthy option when possible and his master plan to cut all cravings of nicotine from his life. I can be dismissive of plenty of elements of self-discovery and spirituality, but the methods that Jon is using are what I consider to be doing it right. Make of that what you will, but simple is always better than spending piles of cash that you don’t have on charlatans that are after your money more than your well-being. Give this comic a shot and see for yourself, but it could end up doing you some real good. $5
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Jon Drawdoer, Mindfulness Comics | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
October 15, 2015
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Pages to Pages
Oh silent comics, never stop making me look stupid by trying to describe you. This one is the story of… let me just say right off the bat that it’s wildly open to interpretation, especially if I’m wrong in my own interpretation. That being said! This comic starts off with two people hanging out and reading comics. One of them stops to point out something funny to the other person, they make some jokes with it (and with the malleable nature of their own faces), and then they go on with their day. But one of them (let’s just call him Blue and his friend Pink to avoid at least a little bit of confusion) sees a Kindle or whatever is the current digital method to read comics. He takes this home to pink and shows him some of the features, expecting Pink to be impressed and to recognize this a revolutionary, but Pink isn’t having any of it. He clearly prefers regular old comics and doesn’t see a reason to change. He goes back to his old comics and find that they have been altered, while Blue goes on a rampage after his discovery goes unappreciated. He transforms into what I could only call a giant two-handed monster, which sounds odd, as what’s the big deal about having two hands, but you’ll see if you read it. There’s a confrontation, the obvious one out of the two prevails, and we’re even given a brief moment of hope when one member of the public who’s watching this battle goes back to basics to describe the fight. It’s a thoroughly engaging and entertaining book, and I’ll freely admit to being one of those people who is stubbornly sticking with only reading comics when they’re physical comics, so I have a clear side in this one. Your side, especially if you’re younger, is probably the other side! And there’s room for the both of us, even if your side is slowly but surely pushing my side right into the trash. But we’re only dealing with the here and now, and in regards to that, this is a great comic that you should read.
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Lai Tat Tat Wing, Mini Kus, Pages to Pages | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
October 13, 2015
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Mile High: Adventures in Colorado Medical Marijuana Book One
Hey look, it’s one of those rare occasions where the subject of the book I’m reviewing is topical! Well, for me, anyway. Ohio is voting in a few weeks on whether or not to legalize marijuana, and this book is entirely the story of a young man as he takes his first steps to getting medical marijuana after Colorado legalized it in 2000. Still, the legalization process was a mess, as it was still illegal in the rest of the country and the federal government was still eager to jump in and close down dispensaries whenever possible. Anyway, Matt (the hero of the book; possibly Mister V, possibly not) catches his niece smoking in his garage late one night. She’s smoking an e-cig or whatever it is that lets people smoke THC oil and not the plant itself, but as he’s letting her have it for smoking underage she catches a whiff of something and ferrets out his own pot stash. They take turns smoking using each others preferred method, which leads Matt to go into the story of how he got started. His basic problem was simple: Irritable Bowel Syndrome. This would cause him all sorts of digestive problems, and he takes some time going through the methods that he’s tried over the years to get it under control. He eventually discovers that smoking weed is the only thing that settles his stomach and gets him hungry enough to really want to eat, so he starts looking into the process of getting legal weed. The rest of the book is a descent into various levels of shady dispensaries, countless legal forms, waiting in lines, not being sure at every turn whether or not he was being scammed (spoiler alert: he was a few times). This is the first book out of three, so there’s clearly more to come in this story, but this volume tells a solid and complete story all by itself. If you’re against the concept of medical marijuana and think the “medical” aspect of it is a joke, you really need to read this to see one of the many ways in which it can legitimately be used to help a sick person. If you’re already on board with the concept (medical, recreational or both) then there’s plenty to love here, including his early stories of trying out the edibles in the absence of any indication on how much he should eat or how strong the food was. Everybody who’s ever had an edible has been there, and Matt came out of it better than most. Anyway, I almost said this was highly recommended, then I realized that there was a pun in there, so never mind. It’s just plain old recommended. $9
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Posted by Kevin
October 12, 2015
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What’s Your Sign, Girl?
Full disclosure time: I think astrology is nonsense. Relatively harmless nonsense, but nonsense nonetheless. It’s fortune telling but made for everybody who was born within the listed month, as if every human in every 12 month period shares the same characteristics, but told in such a way that it could apply to just about anybody regardless. I have occasionally given a sign other than my own to somebody who asked me (at a party or bar, usually) and have delighted in their going on and on about my various characteristics that fit me perfectly while belonging to a completely different astrological sign. I just wanted to make that perfectly clear before I started discussing this book, which is edited by a person who does get a lot of enjoyment out of astrology. 12 cartoonists also offer their takes on their signs, with only a few of them being even slightly skeptical. I could have used more of that, but it’s already pretty clear that I’m biased, so I’ll move on. Rob starts in the introduction with his own history with astrology and what it’s meant to him over the years, but he’s also clear that he doesn’t expect everybody to buy into it and encourages opposing viewpoints. He also provides a detailed description of the various signs and some of the other qualities associated with them, in case you were curious and/or needed context. So now that that’s out of the way, how about the stories? The highlights for me included Whit Taylor’s tale of the struggles of being a Gemini, Tyler Cohen eventually coming around on being a Cancer, Cara Bean (with my favorite piece) of Aslan coming down from the heavens to explain being a Leo to her, Rob Kirby going into specifics about being a Virgo and his experiences both with it and discussing astrology with other people, Rick Worley as one of the few skeptics in regards to being a Libra, Aron Nels Steinke on leaving a movie early (and also how his being an Aquarrius mixed with his wife being an Aires) and Marnie Galloway on being a Pisces (and the most righteously skeptical of the bunch). If you are interested in astrology, even a little bit, there’s a lot to love about this book. If you’re not even a little interested in it, like me, there’s still some great artwork, a few skeptics and an insightful peek into the minds of people who take all this seriously. And if you’re short on money, at least you get an awful lot of comic for $10.95.
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Annie Murphy, Aron Nels Steinke, Cara Bean, Dan Mazur, Delaine Derry Green, Eric Kostiuk Williams, Kevin Budnik, Marnie Galloway, Ricky Worley, Robert Kirby, What's Your Sign Girl, Whit Taylor | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
October 9, 2015
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Sky In Stereo Book 1
There are times when I regret that running this website for the last 14 years has changed the ways that I find and read comics. In the old days, back when I was reading comics just to read them, I would have probably heard of this series as it came out and followed it that way. Since I constantly have a stack of review comics to get to I rarely have the time to go searching for new series, so this ended up being completely new to me. Which isn’t a bad thing, as it works incredibly well as one half (ish) of a whole story, but it would also have been fun to see it evolve and change over time. Eh, if that’s my biggest problem right now that must mean that I’m leading a pretty trouble-free life. Anyway, hi comic! This is the first volume (of two) of Mardou’s series about a young girl growing up in northern England. It’s mesmerizing, as that period of life for most people is chock full of stories and events, and Mardou navigates them all brilliantly. I’m assuming that this is fiction until I hear otherwise, but things start out with Iris’s (the main character) stepfather inviting some Jehovah’s Witnesses inside, basically to mess with them. They come back when he’s not home and end up legitimately converting her mother, who then does her level best to convert Iris, who, at 16, is content to go along with it for a little while so as not to make waves. But it’s also around this time that she discovers Sartre, which gets her questioning the point of everything, which gives her the courage to tell her mother that she’s no longer interested in this religion. That particular blow-up is raw and sadly much too realistic, as everybody knows that recent religious converts are often the most fanatical. From there Mardou gradually comes to a kind of peace with her family (her stepdad thinks the whole thing is funny, mostly, although it clearly gets on his nerves at times) and Mardou is growing up and moving on to college, although still living at home, which is always problematic. This is a case of the journey being the whole point, so I’m not sure how much more I should dig into here. She gets into drugs a bit, but is indifferent to it until one specific case of it working as well as she could have hoped. She gets her heart broken, but sets her sights on another boy, kind of, and that goes about as smoothly as your average teenage relationship. And the last chapter is insidious in the way it convinces you that everything is fine with her, that she has come to some serious realizations about the world, before… ah, see? Shouldn’t really get into it. I’ll just say that I can’t wait to see what happens in the next volume, although I guess I could always seek out the comics instead of waiting for a review copy. Either way, I recommend this first volume unreservedly. If the biggest problem with a book is the fact that I didn’t like that it ended, I’d call that a success. $17.95
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Mardou, Sky In Stereo | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
October 5, 2015
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Birthday
This is the highest compliment I can give: Theo Ellsworth is gradually becoming the Jim Woodring for this generation. Not that the current Jim Woodring is out of steam, and Theo (or any other human) still has some work to do before fully capturing that mantle, but he’s well on his way. If you’ve read Theo’s work in the past, you can agree or disagree, but at the very least you should be able to see where I’m coming from. This is also the first time (that I know of) where Theo’s comic is in full color, and it’s as glorious and disturbing as you would imagine. This is the part where I try to describe the comic, and on that count I am going to fail miserably, with the parts I get right mostly coming from the description on the back of the book. This is the story of a very nervous young man right before his “Inner-Space Birth Ritual.” See, I took that right from the description, as I had very little idea of what was happening before reading that. Anyway, keep an eye on the backgrounds throughout your reading of this comic, as there are little touches and/or creatures all over the place. Anyway, our hero finally gets a globe placed onto his head and the ritual begins. culminating in a final page that makes total sense in context, but try showing that to anybody as a single image. Anyway, it’s about rebirth, resistance to change, peer pressure, and I’m just making stuff up now. It’s a visual adventure through the mind of this young man as he undergoes an intense metamorphosis, how about that? It’s a fantastic book, with none of those pesky words cluttering things up, and it’s well worth your time to hunt it down.
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Birthday, Mini Kus, Theo Ellsworth | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
September 28, 2015
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Jerry’s Journal #3
I can already tell that this review is going to be confusing, which is probably because I’m of two minds on this comic. See, a few years back Neil and his girlfriend had an exceedingly unpleasant breakup. I know this because a couple of his comics dealt with it in the modern comic tradition of being vague about everything because EVERYTHING that is said about anybody anywhere gets back to them through some form of social media. But it was clear that he was profoundly hurt, and working through it at least partly through his comics, which is also a traditional form of therapy among cartoonists. Well, about half of the strips in this one are also about that breakup, and at some point such strips stop being therapy and start being self-indulgent and more about wallowing in misery than working through it. This is not the case if he’s had another breakup since then, or if this comic (that came out in 2014) was from the early part of that year. But (and speaking as a champion person who wallows in bad breakups) you just have to move on eventually. I said I’m of two minds about this comic, which is because the other half of this book was hilarious, insightful, depressing, or some magical combination of all three. In other words, the exact type of stuff that has made Neil one of the greats in the mini comics world for more than a decade now. Subjects in those strips include God taking an honest look at his creation, Jerry’s constant hijinx (which have moved more to mental pain than physical pain), and ruminations on life and what about it is worth living. Maybe your tolerance for wallowing in every aspect of a failed relationship is higher than mine, or maybe you’re going through one yourself right now, in which case I’d recommend this unreservedly. If not I’d still recommend this for the other half of the strips and because those solid black eyes will never be anything but mesmerizing. As for Neil and relationships, sometimes the cliches work: getting back on the horse (so to speak) is key, as is the realization that anybody capable of causing you that much harm is not worth dwelling on, as that’s exactly what they want, assuming that they’re as terrible as you’ve come to believe. $5
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Jerry's Journal, Neil Fitzpatrick | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
September 28, 2015
Website
Jerry’s Journal #3
I can already tell that this review is going to be confusing, which is probably because I’m of two minds on this comic. See, a few years back Neil and his girlfriend had an exceedingly unpleasant breakup. I know this because a couple of his comics dealt with it in the modern comic tradition of being vague about everything because EVERYTHING that is said about anybody anywhere gets back to them through some form of social media. But it was clear that he was profoundly hurt, and working through it at least partly through his comics, which is also a traditional form of therapy among cartoonists. Well, about half of the strips in this one are also about that breakup, and at some point such strips stop being therapy and start being self-indulgent and more about wallowing in misery than working through it. This is not the case if he’s had another breakup since then, or if this comic (that came out in 2014) was from the early part of that year. But (and speaking as a champion person who wallows in bad breakups) you just have to move on eventually. I said I’m of two minds about this comic, which is because the other half of this book was hilarious, insightful, depressing, or some magical combination of all three. In other words, the exact type of stuff that has made Neil one of the greats in the mini comics world for more than a decade now. Subjects in those strips include God taking an honest look at his creation, Jerry’s constant hijinx (which have moved more to mental pain than physical pain), and ruminations on life and what about it is worth living. Maybe your tolerance for wallowing in every aspect of a failed relationship is higher than mine, or maybe you’re going through one yourself right now, in which case I’d recommend this unreservedly. If not I’d still recommend this for the other half of the strips and because those solid black eyes will never be anything but mesmerizing. As for Neil and relationships, sometimes the cliches work: getting back on the horse (so to speak) is key, as is the realization that anybody capable of causing you that much harm is not worth dwelling on, as that’s exactly what they want, assuming that they’re as terrible as you’ve come to believe. $5
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Jerry's Journal, Neil Fitzpatrick | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
September 24, 2015
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Facility Integrity
I read plenty of comics for this website that I enjoy, as it would be silly to keep going as long as I have if I hated comics. But perfect comics are rare, and this one is damned near perfect, outside of possibly that title, but even that is perfect once you know what it means. This comics starts simply enough, with a manager of some sort starting a meeting by saying “pooping.” It’s hard not to be instantly intrigued, and it turns out that this guy has just completed a study that shows that productivity in his office is being wasted by 4% because of all the time spent in the crapper. This leads him to conclude that the only way to address this problem is to ban pooping during office hours, magnanimously leaving them the lunch hour for their daily poop. Naturally, the question of enforcing this comes up, which leads to the hiring of a few security guards: one for each of the restrooms, and one outside the office to make sure nobody tries to sneak out to use other facilities during business hours. When I describe this book as perfect, I mean specifically in his use of corporate speak and the ideas that are considered logical only in the office world, as he has that nailed. There are the office drones who dream of hitting the lottery (and put up with almost any indignity because of that false hope), the varying opinions of the temps who are hired as security guards (the one outside the office was clearly living for the moment that he eventually gets to “save the day”), and the cold way in which this whole idea is described as a good and necessary thing (down to the manager berating lesser employees for not coming up with this themselves). Even while writing this I’m thinking of several little moments that’s probably best for you to discover, but trust me when I say that this book is packed full of them. Honestly, the corporate world will probably find a way to make this idea work eventually, so when they do we can all look back at this book as the prophetic masterpiece that it is. Meanwhile, it’s a hilarious work of fiction showing how badly things can go wrong when “productivity” is the only concern. $10
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Facility Integrity, Nick Maandag | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
September 23, 2015
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Extra Good Stuff
You can file this review under “you kids today,” if you like to know that type of thing right away. What I mean by that is that there are two people out there that everybody else attempting autobiographical stories should be compared to: Harvey Pekar and Dennis Eichhorn. Sure, Harvey had a movie made about him, meaning that even casual comics folk may know the name, but Dennis, for reasons that baffle me, has never gotten that kind of attention. They also wrote completely different types of stories, as Harvey was all about daily life, the mundane bits mixed in with insights about the human condition. But Dennis, man, Dennis has lived a hell of a life, and he’s chock full of fascinating and/or hilarious stories to tell. Dating back to his Real Stuff series in the 90’s he’s had nothing but the top comics artists in the field helping him out. Back then it was both of the Hernandez Bros, Chester Brown, Dan Clowes, Peter Bagge, I think even Robert Crumb… basically anybody you can think of from that era. So, since this is a collection of (mostly but not entirely) new stories, he brought in some of the best artists working today. The stories in here are all over the place and from various portions of his life; if I had any complaint it’s that I sometimes wished for context as to what age he was or when exactly the story happened (although he did usually give a ballpark estimate). Stories include his very first writing gig interviewing a terrible local band (with Ivan Brunetti), his first night as a taxi driver and how he learned to trust prostitutes (with Max Clotfelter), a fantastic prank on Mormons/a shitty neighbor (with Dame Darcy), a very surreal medical experience with Fox News blaring in the background that also involved him finding out that Harvey Pekar had died (with RL Crabb), finding out that the Coast Guard is not legally bound in any way in regards to searching boats (with Colin Upton), and sifting for gold with a (literally) crazy friend. There are other solid stories in this collection too, but it’s best to leave some things a surprise, right? I checked a bit online and somehow there doesn’t seem to be a definitive collection of his earlier series, so maybe Fantagraphics or Top Shelf should get on that, legal mumbo-jumbo permitting? That’s a pile of really great stories with some of the best artists in the world that are somehow still out of print. Regardless, this is plenty worth checking out all on its own, and if you stumble across any old issues or Real Stuff (or, if you’re old enough, Real Smut), pick that sucker up too. $10
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Aaron Lange, Colin Upton, Dame Darcy, David Collier, David Lasky, Dennis Eichhorn, Extra Good Stuff, Gerald Jablonski, Ivan Brunetti, J.R. Williams, Jim Blanchard, Kelly Moriarity, Max Clotfelter, Michael Arnold, Noah Van Sciver, Pat Moriarity, R.L. Crabb, Sean Hurley, Stan W. Shaw, Tom Van Deusen | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
September 22, 2015
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Falling, A Dandelion, Upside Down
I have a slight dilemma in reviewing this comic: there are a few scenes featuring kanji, which I can’t read. But they’re only background noise; in one case the main character of a story is literally surrounded by a kanji bubble throughout his story. I’m going to assume that it’s more incidental than crucial, and if I’m wrong about that, well, oops. This comic has three stories in it, and they all deal with floating in one way or another. First up is a young main (the one who is surrounded by kanji) who jumps from the top of a building. He gets almost down to the ground when time stops, and that’s when the interesting bits start to happen. Next up is the story of the spores of a dandelion, as a little girl blows on them and sends them on a journey. Finally we have a story about a man who wakes on his ceiling and soon discovers that his world is literally upside down. It’s a really solid grouping of stories and I appreciated the running theme, as it combined to leave me feeling completely unmoored by the end of it. I thought the final story was the best of the bunch because it’s one of those weird fears that everybody has probably felt at some point in their life: what if gravity just stopped working for you? It’s utterly irrational, of course, but it’s still a terrifying ordeal to contemplate. That look on the face of our hero as he contemplated stepping outside said it all. So yeah, it’s definitely worth checking out. And if you get this and can read kanji, get in touch with me to let me know what I missed. $5
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: A Dandelion, Falling, Upside Down, Victor Edison | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
September 21, 2015
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My Hot Date
There are a few things you can assume right away when reading a comic/book/story. Chances are that it’s about something memorable to the author (if based on true events), and chances are that thing was not a good thing that happened to them. Sure, there are stories of the greatest day in the life of the author, but those are (anecdotally) more rare than the “worst thing that ever happened” stories. Which is my roundabout way of saying that there will be spoilers in here, but before I get to that, I’ll sum up my conclusions: if you’ve enjoyed Noah’s past comics (and why wouldn’t you?), then you’ll love this. It tells the story of his first date and digs deep into the life he was living at the time. So even if you haven’t read any of his comics, you’ll still relate to the story, and in some cases you’ll relate too much, for which I apologize. Anyway! Noah is nice enough to sum up the state of his life on the first page, but it boils down to his father leaving his family, Noah’s mom being forced to take a series of crappy jobs to pay for the six kids that still lived at home and rarely being around because of it, and Noah’s family taking over the lease of an apartment that his older brother bailed on, leaving the six kids and the mom in a tiny apartment. Oh, and Noah at this point is 14, which is an especially awkward year for anybody. The bulk of the comic is just Noah going about his life, chatting with a girl on AOL, with his friends teasing him about the fact that she probably wasn’t even a girl. Noah doesn’t shy away from depicting his “street” talk from the time; it’s mortifying but lots of white kids tried way too hard to project at least a slight aura of menace. Which leads to a fantastic moment where Noah is called on this while getting weed (for the first time) with a friend, and he doesn’t have much of a defense. But with that title you’re probably most curious about the date, and it’s as brutal as you may have expected. He finally gets Colleen to agree to meet with him, and I don’t know what specifics they got into online, but she’s clearly older than him, late teens maybe? And she came with a friend. Which, in the early days of internet dating, makes sense, but it sure didn’t help the awkwardness. I won’t get into details so you can enjoy those bits for yourselves, but for any young ladies who are somehow reading this, know that you have serious power in dating situations in the teenage years. Noah didn’t even try dating again after this for another 6 years, as crushed self-confidence can take some serious time and effort to get back. Overall this is a hilarious, insightful look into life in 1998 and the awfulness that is dating as a teenager. $7
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: My Hot Date, Noah Van Sciver | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
September 17, 2015
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Belligerent Kitties #1
Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover, or at least you can if you’re thinking what I’m thinking, but I’m not in your head so never mind. See that image on the cover of a cat insulting you or the mythical generic reader? Well, there are 25 more pages of that in here by a variety of artists, some funny, some not so much. Which makes it a good thing that humor is subjective, as you might think that anywhere from 0-100% of this comic is funny and you would also be correct. Anyway, the comic itself was mostly funny, but the real winner for me came at the end. Ken, bemoaning the lack of support for the comics that he makes that he genuinely loves and is proud of, has decided to sell out. So it’s time for cat memes! If he really did stick it he can always use the Hollywood formula for actors who don’t like to constantly star in garbage: make a garbage comic to rake in the bucks, then use said bucks to finance the comic that you do want to make. Simple! I’ve just solved the financial feasibility of all mini comics, assuming that nobody out there minds completely selling out from time to time. No price listed here, but $2 sounds reasonable as a guess.
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Alan Reeve, Amanda Propaganda, Angela Oster, Ashley Ribblett, Belligerent Kitties, Bernie Crowsheet, Bob Corby, Bob Ray Starker, Brad Maurer, Brian Kraft, Christian Hoffer, Darren Merinuk, Eric Blair, James Moore, Joel Jackson, Kate Isaacs, Katie Valeska, Ken Eppstein, Kent Grosweiler, Matt Wyatt, Nix Comics, Rodney Fyke, Stephanie Owen, Tim Anstine | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
September 16, 2015
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Limonchik
If the world is going to end, this comic has my new preferred method for it to happen. It’s something that had never occurred to me before, but now that it has I can’t think of any other way. This comic is almost entirely silent (except for one fateful phrase), and it’s the story of the Sputnik 2 satellite finally coming back to the planet after being in orbit for 50 years. And, just in case you know your history about such things, you may also recall that there was a dog in that satellite. Well, in this comic the dog comes home. It’s tough to say all that much more about it without giving anything away, which is a constant danger from these mini kus comics. You’d be hard pressed to find a more cheerful yet somehow terrifying image than that dog traveling through Russia, but specifics are going to have to stay vague. I’ve yet to see a really solid argument for not trying as many mini kus comics as you can get your hands on, and this one definitely continues that trend.
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Limonchik, Mikkel Sommer, Mini Kus | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
