December 19, 2013
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The Hic & Hoc Illustrated Journal of Humour Volume 2: The United Kingdom
Hey look, anthology reviews on back to back days! Readers in the future, never mind about that comment, but for today I can compare the two, and I’m happy to say that this one got every single little thing right that made me cranky about the last one. Clear and legible table of contents, the pages are numbered, and most of the strips had the name of the artist on the bottom of the page. Yep, my only complaint here is that they managed to put together an anthology of U.K. cartoonists and left Rob Jackson out of it, but maybe he lives somewhere else and I’m just confused. OK fine, so they got the basics right. What about the quality? Pretty much top-notch all around, which is always at least slightly rare for an anthology with this many people in it. Highlights include a chopsticks dilemma by Luke Pearson, putting all of the eggs in one basket by Lizz Lunney, the wisdom of using egg whites instead of cream by Philippa Rice, the fantastically destructive Skull Force by Jack Teagle, one seriously destructive romance by Luke Pearson, a great example of a comic about nothing that ends up being pretty damned great by James Downing, a horror show called Dream Leader by Joe List, an excellent way to turn the tables on door to door salesmen by Joe Decie, deciding who you would like to survive the apocalypse along with you by Stephen Collins, video game monster advice by Dan Berry, judging someone from their shoes by Lizz Lunney, “I Was Attacked by some Naked Children” by Isaac Lenkiewicz, being stuck as a conscious fossil by Kristyna Baczynski, terrible story ideas that Gareth Brookes has been given over the years, and the Death Train by Lizz Lunney. Huh, I seemed to like Lizz Lunney’s work quite a bit, but there’s a pile of great stuff in here. Check it out, support both Hic & Hoc and the idea of getting more international anthologies going over here in the U.S. $12
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Reviews | Tagged: Abe Christie, Becky Barnicoat, Clark Burscough, Dan Berry, Dan Locke, Donya Todd, Fred Blunt, Gareth Brookes, Gary Northfield, Hic & Hoc, Hic & Hoc Illustrated Journal of Humour, Isaac Lenkiewicz, Jack Teagle, James Downing, Joe Decie, Joe List, Jonathan Edwards, Kristyna Baczynski, Liz Greenfield, Lizz Lunney, Luke Pearson, Phiuppa Rice, Rick Eades, Stephen Collins, Timothy Winchester | 
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Posted by Kevin
December 18, 2013
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On Your Marks #1
Oh, what a crank I am. I get a pretty damned great anthology filled with small press people living in Seattle who could use a little more exposure and I can’t help thinking that I would have liked it better with a clear indication of which artists did which pages. They’re even all listed on the inside front cover, but they’re inside of a drawing, which makes some of them tough to make out. Does this take away from the quality of the content? Not one bit, no, as it’s not like it’s impossible to figure out who did certain pages with a little bit of work. Eh, I blame it on the general tone of the holiday season. All this Christmas music everywhere just bugs me. And if you ever needed more proof that I am in fact a total curmudgeon, there you have it. Anyway! This is a collection of mostly one page strips, done by all kinds of people that you either already know about or should be ashamed of yourself because you’ve never heard of them. Stories include Ben Horak having the comic he made when he was 6 read by adults (with a perfect final panel), Tom Van Deusen’s creepy piece about a head growing out of a roof and what happens when it’s removed, Bobby Madness and the sacrifice he made for the environment, Kelly Froh’s traumatic moment on an aimless afternoon, Pat Keck and his dungeon Gremlins, Aarow Mew and the result of his “spider” bite, Julia Gfrorer’s tale of a creepy ouija board experience, Rick Altergott and Pat Moriarty’s story of what cats think is going on with their litter boxes, Marc Palm’s Flannelwolf and Frankcan, Robyn Jordan’s worries about what she’ll be like in 10 years after she has kids, David Lasky’s questions about what you would do if you were a superhero, and Max Clotfelter’s mistaken assumption involving getting his older brother involved in protecting him. Like I said, it’s a damned solid anthology, full of ridiculously talented people. Maybe next time they’ll put page numbers on the pages to lessen my crankiness, or maybe it’s something I need to work on on my own and I’m sharing too much here… $4
Comments Off on Various Artists – On Your Marks #1 | Reviews | Tagged: Aaron Mew, Aiden Fitzgerald, Andrice Arp, Asher Craw, Ben Horak, Bobby Madness, Chris Cilla, Darin Schuler, David Lasky, Elaine Lin, Eroyn Franklin, Ian Sundahl, Jack Hayden, James Stanton, Jason Miles, Jennifer Parks, Julia Gfrorer, Kaz Straepek, Kelly Froh, Kinoko, Marc Palm, Max Clotfelter, Michael Litven, Moseley Smith, On Your Marks, Pat Keck, Pat Moriarty, Reuben Storey, Rick Altergott, Robyn Jordan, Sean Christensen, Short Run, Tim Goodyear, Tim Root, Tom Van Deusen | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
December 13, 2013
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It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time #2
Can I be cantankerous for a minute? Well, sure, it’s my website. This comic is a collection of single pages, bundled together with a piece of paper naming the comic. This is fine, as I’m certainly not the boss of how Trevor makes his comics. The only problem is that I’ve seen other comics like these, and they do not hold up well. Inevitably the binder gets lost, or a page or two slips out somewhere along the line, never to be seen again. In his defense, he put quite a large sticky glob on the binder, so maybe that won’t be as big of a problem here, but it still seems like a bad idea. But what difference does that make, my “job” is to review the contents, not the presentation. Well, like I said, these are all one page stories, and they can be read in any order. Some work better than others (the one with the two people silently driving just baffled me, and not only because I have no idea where those feet came from in the second to last panel), and the stories include an odd cat conversation, the joys of living near water in a dry area in the summer, being the weirdo who draws outside in the rain, getting talked into getting an even worse movie than the one that you were trying to watch (knowing full well that it was supposed to be terrible), an average awkward drink order at a restaurant, an odd conversation about art, a hilarious description of the redneck mating call, calling the bluff of somebody working in customer service who says they can help you pick out a printer, and the dangers of talking politics at work. It’s a pretty funny pile of stories, so never mind my general crankiness on the presentation. I’m still thinking that people want their books/stuff to last for the long haul, which is probably a pretty antiquated notion all by itself.
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Posted by Kevin
December 11, 2013
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The Casebook of Elijah Snugs #2
I’m just going to offer a little tip to Sal, and everybody else who makes comics while I’m at it: it’s not a good idea to use (basically) your final page as the cover to your comic. Generally speaking I’m awfully careful about spoilers, but when the big reveal is on the cover, what exactly would I be spoiling? Anyway, this comic is much improved over the last issue, with more time for the characters to breathe, more dialogue to get a better sense of these characters and more suspects being thrown into the mix (a requirement for a good mystery). The lights going out at the end of the last issue is dealt with quickly here (turns out that big old houses sometimes have rolling blackouts, so not so nefarious after all), then we get a lengthy conversation over muffins dealing with Firenza’s missing egg, her mistrust of her servants and the introduction of a shady detective. This detective has something of a feud going with Snugs, and it’s good to see a little bit of the history between them. The next issue promises to wrap up this story, and I’m a lot more intrigued now than I was after the first one. It’s worth a look if you like all-ages mysteries, unless you have some kind of aversion to talking animal stories, which would be weird.
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Posted by Kevin
December 10, 2013
Website where you can buy her comics
Strange Growths #16
Is there a good list of small press comics people out there who never got the acclaim/attention they deserved that anybody knows of? Granted, you could say “all of them” and be correct (as I went a lot of years wearing my King Cat shirt before anybody outside of a comics convention knew what it was), but I’m talking about inside of this little insular community. If there is a list and if Jenny Zervakis isn’t on it, then it’s a terrible list. I started reading these types of comics in 1993, and Jenny was making them back then. I think she got caught up in that “real life” stuff that seems to happen to damned near everybody, had a couple of kids and maybe found other priorities (as it’s certainly not like making comics is a way to make a living for far too many people), and I didn’t hear much about her for years. But she’s making comics again, and you whippersnappers who may have never heard of her should think about catching up. This is a collection of short pieces, as are most of her comics that I’ve seen. Stories in here include Jenny and her daughter going through the presidents while her daughter tries to find a female one, what happened to the moon people when the moon was dislodged from the earth, playing in the snow and the differences in how everybody reacts to it, a dream where Jenny saves a few castaways from drowning, images from a visit to the aquarium, a family at the end of its rope, some excellent questions about cats and dogs and how they perceive us, and a heartbreaker about their family losing their dog after she got spooked by a storm. It’s bad enough to lose any pet when they run off, but their dog was on seizure medication and there was very much a race against the clock to get to her before anything really bad happened to her. It’s a solid collection of stories and you should really think about picking it up. Where are we at on retrospectives of this stuff anyway? If I’ve been reading these things for 20 years now then there have to be some anniversaries coming up. Top Shelf or Fantagraphics, get on that…
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Posted by Kevin
December 9, 2013
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DemonDust #18/19
Uh-oh, it can’t be a good sign if Bernie is combining issues, and that turns out to be true after reading this one. See, Bernie has been living his life and working on his other series (An Army of Lovers Will Be Beaten, and shame on you if you don’t know about it), which leads to this comic having what he calls “an incredible lack of focus.” Still, you clearly haven’t been reading his stuff if you think that this means that the comic is worthless. Things start off strong with Gank, a man who exists for “snapping people out of their complacency.” I should mention that these quotes are all from his afterward, which is always worth the price of admission in these minis all by itself. He gets in the face of an obnoxious guy on his cell phone (do I still have to say “cell phone”? Can’t that just be the default assumption for “phone” at this point?), finds a joint in the mop bucket in a store bathroom, and then the strip falls apart. We start to see Bernie’s notes at the tops of the pages and the story disintegrates, complete with blotchy ink spots on the final page. The #19 part of this is even more discombobulated, as it’s only two pages of wondering where his summer went, complete with the same notes along the top margin. It’s still an interesting book, for the peek into his creative process and the afterward where he goes into detail, but probably not the best book to start with if you’re a new reader. Then again, if you’re a new reader of anything and you’re starting with #18, that’s kind of on you. $1
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Posted by Kevin
December 4, 2013
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Lucy the Octopus: Better in Small Doses
That right there is a damned clever title, and it must have flummoxed at least one reviewer. This is a collection of his weekly webcomic, which is based on Lucy the Octopus from his Tempo Lush set of ten tiny comics, which you maybe own if you’re awesome. Anyway, Lucy is a teenage girl octopus who is ridiculously unpopular with everybody around her. This collection of 40 strips shows her trying to exist (not really even fit in, as she seems to have already given up on that concept), bonding with her new poisonous pet, trying to stay friends with the new kid who doesn’t yet know how uncool Lucy is, taking beauty advice from her sister (who tells her friends that she isn’t even related to Lucy), and becoming a science experiment from her brother. These stories can get a little grim at times, but Richy manages to keep a light tone through most of them. And the coloring is gorgeous, so even though he mentions that it would be easier to go black and white with the strips I’m really hoping he doesn’t do it. This seems to be an all-ages strip, although I think kids in their early teens would probably get the most out of it. Come to think of it, all-ages is kind of a stupid qualifier, as I’m pretty sure that reading this to a baby would have no effect. I’m wandering a bit, but this is very much worth a look. He also sent along the next issue, so I’ll have more to say about this after I read it. You know, for a complete picture and all that. Or you could just go to his website and see his newer stuff for yourself, it’s a free country. Well, this one is. I don’t know where you are…
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Posted by Kevin
December 3, 2013
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Brain Food #18
The NSA is coming for you! There, that should get me on any government watch lists that I’ve managed to avoid up until this point. Unless you think the threat/intrusion from the NSA has been ridiculously overblown, which would probably mean that you don’t follow the news too closely, but hey, willful ignorance is your right as an American. I’m veering towards preaching already, which is just how I get on those rare occasions when a comic deals with current events. Anyway! This is the story of a creepy clown (is there any other kind?) that comes to a cheap hotel to stay for a local clown convention. This clown balks at giving his address out to the hotel after they inform him that they only ask for that information in case the police call to ask who is staying at that hotel. The clown wisely points out that he already gave up his name, phone number and credit card number to get into the hotel, so he’s not going to give them his address too. Things escalate from there, as the NSA is called in to check on this disruptive citizen, a protest group is called in to take the side of the clown (although there seemed to be a crossed wire about the sexuality of the clown somewhere along the line), and various branches of the government fight with each other to get credit for this arrest. I loved the bit where the protest group posted a picture of the clown being arrested to Facebook, and the clown is rightly annoyed that his picture is now on Facebook without his consent. His comment that being on Facebook is the same as just giving your information right to the government is dead on, which is one of many reasons why I have a dusty, unused Facebook page, but that fight has already been lost, culturally speaking. Anyway, lots of interesting tidbits about intrusive government overreach, along with probably a few exaggerations on his part, but he’s nice enough to list a bunch of links on the back of the comic so you can check all this for yourself. Worth checking out, unless your preferred reaction to news of the NSA is to stick your fingers in your ears and chant “la la la la” until it’s over. $1
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Posted by Kevin
December 2, 2013
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Big Brute
You know, I’ve had my problems with poems in comics in the past, because I have a cold heartless core that doesn’t appreciate lyricism. Or maybe it’s more to do with the quality of the poetry involved. Who knows? All I can say for sure is that Brian has found a way around that: make the poem about a giant monster on a rampage through a city. This is a very short mini with that very simple story, and the poem is from the perspective of the monster. The poem itself isn’t the greatest thing in the world, but it’s not terrible either, and while you’re reading it you get to see this giant beast destroy a town and fight an army. So really, it’s your call as to whether or not that would be of interest to you. Hate poetry but love mayhem? Then you have a real decision on your hands here. $1
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Posted by Kevin
November 21, 2013
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An Afternoon in Ueno
It’s hard for a story to get much more charming than this. It starts off simply enough, with a young boy eating a meal with his family and his father pestering him about various duties that the boy should have performed. All of these questions are answered in the affirmative, but the boy tries telling his father that he has a stomach ache to avoid getting out of band practice. The father doesn’t even dignify this with a response, and he drops his child off at band practice. Once the kid gets inside, however, he learns that band practice is actually next week, and his family is not answering the phone at his house, leaving the boy with an afternoon to kill. He starts off looking a little concerned about this eventuality, but soon realizes what this means for his afternoon and is overjoyed. I’m in danger of telling the whole story again, so I’ll just leave the description there, but again, this whole thing is damned near too charming for words. Graeme has already shown an uncanny knack for the quiet moments with his last book, but this one just cements that reputation in my mind. This isn’t a silent comic, but large chunks of it go without words, as they’re simply not necessary at times. Picking out my favorite moment would be difficult. The hat store? The birds? The jam session on the street? I’ll just go with “all of it” and leave it at that. Check this out, everybody. You won’t be disappointed. But hurry, will you? This only has a print run of 200, and this is one of those cases where I don’t think number will end up being high enough.
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Posted by Kevin
November 20, 2013
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Wuzzgutt
You know how sometimes a silent comic ends up, um (how do I put this politely), not making a lot of sense? I’m usually not clear in those situations whether I’m too dense to follow the story or if the author just wasn’t clear in what they were trying to convey. In this case I’m pretty sure that the reader isn’t given enough information to begin with. This comic isn’t entirely silent, so it gets a little clearer in the second and third stories (out of three). But that first story… woo boy. I should point out that this book is stunning visually, with plenty of genuinely weird and alien imagery. Anyway, the first story is entitled “Cosmic Pilgrimage.” The Wuzzgutt is that creature on the cover, just so you’re clear. I have very little idea of what happens in this story. Wuzzgutt meets a baby bird creature, who spews out some noise of some kind towards Wuzzgutt? Or maybe he/it is directing this noise towards the bird? Then Wuzzgutt sees a vision of a naked lady with a bird mask of some kind (and hey, if you’re just looking for boobs in your comic, this one has plenty of them), then Wuzzgutt either is transported to or sees a female singer (fully clothed this time), then it’s back to pure madness, and Wuzzgutt finally ends up seeing a female (?) Wuzzgutt near another lady. Or a Wuzzgutt statue? I feel confident in about 25% of that summary. The second story starts off fairly incomprehensively too, but once the talking starts we learn that some lady wants the Wuzzgutt captured, and the Wuzzgutt starts a ritual of some kind. Finally the third story deals with the ritual and the guy who tries to capture it, along with any ancillary damage that this guy does in the capture attempt. Maybe future issues would help this make some sense, but it sure feels like this is meant to tell the whole story, and if that’s the case the story it tells is a bit of a mess. I really like his art, and he sent along another comic so I’ll see how that one goes, but as a story I have to say that this made very little sense to me. $4
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Posted by Kevin
November 19, 2013
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Open Bar
Ah, good old 24 hour comic failures. Which is an odd way to refer to a comic that ended up being a pretty great story, but hey, it wasn’t completed in 24 hours. I do sometimes wonder what the honest number of comics actually produced in 24 hours would be, as it seems like damned near everybody can’t resist the urge to at least go back and “touch up” the book a little. But I’m wandering all over the place here instead of talking about this comic. The story is about as simple as possible, which is something of a requirement for 24 hour books: a night bartending at an open bar. Our hero doesn’t get to say a whole lot for large chunks of the comic, as he’s mostly there to listen to other people tell their stories and observe some of their behaviors, but at least he gets something in the end. Anyway, stories in here include a smarty pants and the lady he’s with (briefly, as she seems to be the drunken life of the party) talking about religion, another guy telling the bartender all of his theories about that ladies after she wanders off, an absolute weirdo with a cell phone fixation, a union organizer and a lady on the prowl. The union organizer has one of the oddest noses I’ve seen in comics, as the profile for it sometimes comes right up over his skull, but this has absolutely no bearing on the story and probably isn’t worth mentioning. But I did it anyway, and you can’t stop me! Overall this is a solid comic, and it’s always a win for 24 hour comics when they get me wondering what the creator is capable of when they’re not operating under time constraints (not that he technically was, as he finished this in about six months, but that was the original idea behind the story). Luckily Trevor sent along a few other books, so I’ll have the answer to that mystery in a week or so when I review another one of his books. And so will you!
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Posted by Kevin
October 30, 2013
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Jason Part 2
Hey, I did some good in this world! Well, that’s assuming a lot, but I complained plenty about the spelling in the first part of this “Jason” story, and it was all almost completely fixed in this one. Coincidence? Yeah, probably, but I’ll still take it. I mentioned in that first review that I didn’t have a single problem with the story, and that remains the case here. If you missed it, this is the story of Jason from the Friday the 13th movies, going about his days as an employee of a group that lets these killers have casual conversations with each other and provides them with state-of-the-art weaponry. This time around we get to see Jason trying to learn the basics of how to care for his new dog, trying to figure out why he wants to be a mentor to a kid (an actual mentor, but to somebody who will have full knowledge of what Jason does), the guy from the “Scream” movies talking shit to Freddy Krueger and challenging him to a kill-off, and a product demonstration of the various killing tools that Jason has available to him. It’s still chock full of funny bits, and once again you can just barely know about these characters and still get a lot out of it. Granted, it helps if you have some familiarity with them, but it’s still a thoroughly engaging story either way. And isn’t that always a sign that the creator has done their job? Yes! That’s the answer I was going for.
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Posted by Kevin
October 25, 2013
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Nervenkrank #1
I don’t think Katherine has a single wasted panel here, and she has an uncanny knack for capturing a mood or moment in one quick image. Oh, and you should probably read the preview for this series, even though I don’t see it listed at her website, and what the hell is that about… eh, maybe it’s already at her Tumblr page, and technically it’s not required reading. Still, it really helps set up this world. This is the story of John Heartfield (born Helmut Herzfeld). During WWI he told his commanding officer that he was mentally ill and spent the next few weeks in a mental institution. As this was from 1915, the conditions were grim, to put it mildly. This issue starts off with a few brief images of the asylum before John’s relief. The looks on his face as he tries to say goodbye to a few of his friends (who are mostly too far gone to notice him), his halting, terrified manner of speaking, the way he flinches when a guard suddenly reaches out and straightens his hat, every one of those images tells volumes about the conditions he’s been enduring. From there he takes a slow walk back to where he’d been staying and is immediately confronted by the very nice wife of a guy who seems to be a bit of an asshole. She wants to feed him, her husband has nothing but contempt for John (who has a bit of a stutter), and John retreats up into his room. From there we see him slowly pick up the pieces of his old life and decide what he wants to keep. There’s not much dialogue here, but there’s no need for it, as the look on John’s face as he takes down the German flag says it all. Katherine has the confidence of somebody who has been doing this for years, and it’s well-deserved, as she gets damned near everything right. The only place where I could have used a bit of an explanation was an early scene where a guard drops off what appears to be a dead cat in John’s cell before taking him away, but it’s possible that was something from the preview that I’m just not remembering now. Either way this is pretty much flawless, and if your biggest complaint about a comic is that you’d rather not wait another year for the next issue, then you really don’t have a legitimate complaint at all. $5
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Posted by Kevin
October 24, 2013
Website for Mark Russell
Website for Shannon Wheeler
God Is Disappointed In You
Be warned: this is pretty much a book review. What the hell is a book review doing on a comics review website? Well, this does come from Top Shelf Comix, and Shannon Wheeler does have some damned funny single panel comics mixed in with the writing. But mostly I’m just doing this to try and push this just a little bit further into the popular consciousness. Not that I have any grand illusions on my influence, but some people read this website, and those that do should read this book. All of them? Yep. Or to put it another way: how many of you have read the Bible, front to back, like it was an actual book? I’ve done it and it’s awful. Not much of a narrative thread, lots of stretches where nothing happens, repetitive passages, hilariously dated misogyny and homophobia, and parts of it are downright insane. Oh, and it’ll also take you months to get through it. But you kind of have to have a working knowledge of it, as the world is still full of nutbags who believe that the entirety of this book is literally true. Which is also a good indicator of a charlatan, as certain parts of it contradict other parts of it, making it impossible that it could all be literally true, but I’m getting off track (which will be a serious danger as I go on, so be warned). What Mark wanted to do with this book (as he mentions in the epilogue) is to boil the various books of the Bible down into understandable and damned funny bits, and he does that beautifully. That title is perfect (and he’s right, there isn’t a better one line summary of the Bible out there), the little red flap that’s included as a bookmark put a smile on my face, and the silver trim along the edges of the pages really makes this book look like a Bible from a distance. So your next question is probably whether or not this book will offend you if you are a believer and/or a regular church-goer (believe me, all kinds of people go to church out of simple inertia or out of a desire not to offend the rest of their family). As someone who is neither of those things (but was both many years ago), I’d have to say that this isn’t terribly offensive. Irreverent, sure, but the Bible is screaming out for that treatment, as so much of it is so very ridiculous. And really, I’d have to say that Mark went easy on it at times. No mention of the pricing scale the Bible used to make sure you were getting a fair price for selling your daughter into slavery (yes, that is really in the Bible, and it’s really something that the Confederates used as an argument for slavery back in Civil War times), no real mention of the many times that one book would contradict another one, including how many discrepancies were in the four books that told the story of the life of Jesus. But right from the start (“God created the human race to be his pets. As a first-time pet owner, God wisely chose to start small, creating just two people: Adam and Eve.”), you get a sense of the tone of this book, so if that’s too much for you, feel free to bail. I’ll think you’re being a baby, but chances are pretty good that we’re never going to have a conversation about this book, so don’t worry about it. From there you might expect this book to get bogged down in the same repetition that the Bible does, but that’s not a problem. Mark’s idea to treat the various letters from prophets as memos to the flocks was inspired, and Shannon never failed to add a comic here and there that summed up Mark’s summary perfectly. There are a few too many typos for my taste in the early going (I’m snobby about such things, so once it gets to half a dozen I get cranky), but they clear up about halfway through. This book is invaluable and I expect to read it at least a few more times in my lifetime, and to loan it out to a few people who could use the knowledge. Unless you’re an impartial biblical scholar, this also includes you. $20
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Posted by Kevin
October 21, 2013
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Lackluster World #7
Wow. Decent tv shows that have crapped out in their finales in recent years, take note: this is how you wrap up a series. This is yet another case where I’m a bit flummoxed on how much I should give away in a review. Everybody reading this is all caught up in this series, right? If not you might be better off waiting for the collected version, and there damned well better be a collected edition coming, so maybe go ahead and give up on this review and wait patiently by your computers for word that it’s coming soon. For the rest of us, Eric has done an excellent job of summing up past issues here, so even if you’re a little hazy you’ll be caught up to date pretty quickly. At the end of the last issue Kelvin confronted Fahrenheit, and it was looking like things were coming to an ugly end. This issue starts off with a fight… well, I’m not sure if that’s even the right word, as it was a pretty one-sided affair, and probably not from the one side that you may have thought going into this. Sides were chosen, with some interesting results all around, and everybody got the chance to think back and reflect on their actions. No sudden “fade to black” here after the battle, is what I’m trying to say. Everything is wrapped up as neatly as was humanly possible, but nothing comes easy in this world, and everything that does happen is completely earned. See what I mean about being intentionally vague? This review is a little late to the game, as this series wrapped up (judging from the inside front cover) about two years ago. Still, even if there is no collected edition coming (having some internet problems so I can’t check on that for sure right now), you could do a lot worse than to just buy all the issues and enjoy. Unless you’re one of those cranky religious types, that is. There’s plenty here for you to be offended by if that’s the case, you delicate flower you. $6
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Posted by Kevin
October 17, 2013
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Sockford #1
Wow, is this ever going to terrorize some teenage boys. This starts off as a fairly straightforward story about a high school boy and his crush on a girl at school who he hasn’t had the courage to ask out. He also has a platonic (and odd) female friend, so the pieces were all there for them to eventually fall in love when he realized that the other girl wasn’t right for him. However! Dale (the boy) used a sock to clean up after himself after, um, thinking about his crush for awhile. This crusty sock ended up in the washer, a freak lightning strike hit their house, and somehow the sock gained sentience. Hey, it could happen! And now you see what I mean about this terrorizing teenage boys, because if they ever get the idea that they can’t even masturbate safely, I shudder to think of how quickly this country would be destroyed. Anyway, people seem to take Sockford surprisingly in stride, and this issue is all about him learning all that he can about the world. My only complaint is that his interactions with Dale felt a little thin, as I think having a suddenly sentient sock growing up in his room would have changed him a bit more than it did, and it certainly would have brought the two of them closer than it seemed to. Still, this is a solidly entertaining comic, with a nice little cliffhanger that raises the stakes on the next issue. Check it out, then think back in horror to all of the lives of the young potential Sockford’s that have been snuffed out over the years by the lack of electrical storms at the right moments. $7
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Posted by Kevin
October 16, 2013
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Cat-Stronauts in Space!
There are times when you really can judge a book by its cover, or at least you can judge whether or not that book would be for you. What’s your general opinion on cats? Unless you’re a monster your options are “mildly adorable” or “completely, utterly adorable.” If that’s the case, what’s not to love about the idea of sending cats into space? Oh, you’re still curious about a plot? OK. The most important satellite ever needs repairs, and the cat-stronauts are the only creatures capable of doing it. That first page alone is a thing of beauty, as you have one cat mixing chemicals of some kind, another cat reading a book, another one pawing a star chart, and a final cat doing sit-ups, and all of this after a panel of scientist cats going about their day. From there it almost becomes a standard space adventure story for a bit (if you replaced the cats with actual astronauts in your head), with some funny bits thrown in, until the actual repairs come into play. Would you be amazed if I told you that a giant ball of yarn is involved? This comic is as cute as it can be, and I can’t think of a good reason why you wouldn’t want to experience it for yourself. If you insist on my throwing something negative in here I’ll add that I don’t see how this concept could go on for very long, but who cares? You already got a great comic out of it, and it’s not like I’ve always been right in thinking that a concept that looks a little thin couldn’t sustain a solid series. Check it out! Unless you’re a dog person, you weirdo… $4
Comments Off on Brockington, Drew – Cat-Stronauts in Space! | Reviews | Tagged: Cat-Stronatus in Space!, Drew Brockington | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
October 15, 2013
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Heck
That may have been the best adventure graphic novel I’ve read all year. Hell, that may be the best adventure comic I’ve read in many years, and I’m not putting “ever” there purely to avoid hyperbole. It’s yet another case where I mostly don’t want to talk about it at all and instead just want to implore everybody to read it, but I’ll try to thread that needle of making you want to read it without telling you too much. Things start off simply enough, with the lead character (with the nickname of “Heck”) coming back to his hometown for the funeral of his father. Heck was a football star in high school, so pretty much his entire surviving graduating class is there, and we learn quickly that Heck never wanted to be like his father. We also learn that his dad has a “creepy” old house up on a hill, and it’s up to Heck to go through it to see what should be salvaged. The former water boy from his high school team, Elliot, sneaks into the house to help Heck out and, after explaining how lousy his life is at the moment, Heck allows Elliot to help him. While going through the place they find a gate to hell, and that’s when things get weird. Oh, and this is the first chapter in the book out of 17. In the next chapter we have moved forward five years and Heck has a business set up in his father’s old house where he finds out buried secrets of lost loved ones. Amy, Heck’s old high school crush, hires Heck after her husband is killed suddenly in a car wreck. Heck tells her that he finds this buried information by literally talking to the deceased loved ones, and he does that by finding them in hell. And if it’s all the same to you I’ll stop the descriptions there, as watching this fantastic story unfold was a genuine joy and I don’t want to deprive you of even a little bit more of it. Yes, that mummy on the cover is explained, and explained beautifully. The rings of hell are similar to the rings in Dante’s Inferno (it’s been too long since I’ve read it to say if they’re the exact same rings), and Heck’s interactions with the various guardians are among the many highlights of the book. This touches on having meaning in life, the reasons why we do things, friendship, punishment and love. I almost gave away something right there but hah! You’re not going to trip me up that easily. I was expecting some version of a big dumb adventure story from that cover, and I could not have been more wrong. There’s not a dumb thing about this. This was apparently released online as an adventure serial, so maybe you’re one of the lucky people who already read this, but even if you did, this version is gorgeous. Buy it and enjoy, and know that if I did any kind of “best of” yearly list (I don’t, mostly due to faulty memory and a general annoyance at the subjectivity of such things), this would be right at the top of it. $20
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Posted by Kevin
October 14, 2013
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Alamo Value Plus #1
Nazis! You can never go wrong if you start off with Nazis as your bad guys. OK, they’re never technically called Nazis, but the main character’s story of a harrowing escape from a prison with some guards that sound suspiciously German combined with the fact that he’s an elderly dude only leads to one conclusion. But I’m getting ahead of myself! The title itself is almost unreadable, but it’s printed on the inside front cover, so don’t fret. Things start off in an obvious Wal-Mart substitute store, which again leads me to point out that the chances of Wal-mart ever finding out about them getting mocked in a mini comic is pretty slim, so maybe artists shouldn’t worry about using the actual name (but what do I know, maybe they have that many lawyers with that much free time. They certainly have the money for it). Anyway, Baldemar (our hero) and two kids take a break out back, where the smoking of tobacco and pot (although not by our hero) occur. Baldemar says it’s because he doesn’t want to become more paranoid, which leads the kids to ask why he’s so paranoid without it, which leads to Baldemar telling a story about his youth. His mother took him around the countryside, trying to keep them safe from the patrols, until eventually their luck ran out and they were captured. Obviously he got away or he wouldn’t have a job as a greeter 60 odd years later, but there were some loose ends from his adventure that never did get tied up, and it’s looking like at least one of those loose ends may be coming back to bite him. That’s right, this is a “#1” that seems to have a clear vision of the second issue, which is always nice to see. Rusty’s art has never looked better, and this story has all kinds of potential. Their method of disabling the guards was genuinely original, even though it’s easy to assume that every variation of the “escape from Nazi guards” thing has already been played out. Check it out, because it’s going to be annoying as hell if nobody reads this and Rusty doesn’t bother to finish the story. $4
Comments Off on Jordan, Rusty – Alamo Value Plus #1 | Reviews | Tagged: Alamo Value Plus, Revival House Press, Rusty Jordan | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
