October 10, 2013
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Monster on the Hill
As a general rule, when a graphic novel has glowing quotes from Jeff Smith and Neil Gaiman on the back, chances are that I’m going to love it. If that’s true for you, save yourself some time and just go out and by this book, because it’s delightful. Things start off with a horrific monster attack, as a large green beast terrorizes a town and chases some citizens into a cellar. They wait it out, the smoke clears… and the people cheer for the excellent job that the monster has done in terrorizing them. They admire the quality of the destruction, sell souvenirs, and generally bask in the attack that they just went through. Meanwhile, in another town, the people there are dejected because it’s been well over a year since they’ve had a monster attack (from Rayburn, the town monster), and even then it wasn’t a particularly good attack. They hatch a plan to have the resident scientist “fix” the monster, but the local newspaper boy smuggles himself along, and together they all set out to seek advice from another monster in how to get back to properly terrifying people. What Rayburn doesn’t realize is that leaving a town without a monster is something that the worst monster of them all will sense, and that monster (called The Murk) doesn’t mess around. He doesn’t just terrorize a town, he tears it down and eats the citizens. The rest of the graphic novel is a race against time and some big monstery battles. This is one of those rarest of graphic novels: an all-ages story that’s just as much fun for the adults as it is for the kids. I laughed out loud more than a few times, and having it set in 1867 brings up a simpler time when there actually were towns that were organized and had town pride, even if the pride was about the quality of the monster attacks. This is fantastic book that should be read by all humans with a sense of wonder and/or humor. If you’re looking for grim and gritty, you have plenty of other options, but this book is a delight through and through. $20
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Posted by Kevin
October 8, 2013
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Politics of a Twig
No insects were harmed in the course of this comic. Are there insect rights groups? It wouldn’t surprise me, but if there are, even they won’t be offended by this story. This one starts off with a bug trying to kick some leaves off of his branch by using his super powers. How does this bug have super powers? They were given to him by a preying mantis, as bugs taste better when they’re drunk with power. Other bugs stop by to attempt to reason with the bug that’s mad with power, interesting conversations are had by all, then this tiny comic ends. Maybe my saying that no insects were harmed is a bit of a spoiler. Well, harm is certainly implied, so you have that to look forward to. It’s a funny little story, and it makes me wonder why there aren’t more stories about insects out there, as most of them have to be easier to draw than humans. That comment right there probably explains why I write about comics instead of making them. Anyway, this is tiny, so I’m guessing a buck or two will get you a copy.
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Posted by Kevin
October 7, 2013
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Magic Forest #1
Ansis mentions on the inside front cover that this may be considered Zombre #2.5, but I refuse to go along with that. No Zombre in the comic, no Zombre in the title! I am cruel but fair. Anyway, don’t be too alarmed about Zombre, as #3 is almost done, and this is a little something to get us through until that comes out. This one has three stories, all dealing with something fantastical. Up first is a story about a park ranger who meets a singing mermaid. He tells her the rules about public nudity in the park, then they exchange names, which is when it gets weird. The second story deals with a forest gnome (or some other sort of woodland creature) who goes out hunting to prove his worth and ends up in an unfortunate encounter with a bear. Finally there’s the last surviving elf telling the story of the final battle with the spider army to the guardian of the forest. Of course there’s more to it than that, but I’m not going to ruin it for you. And then there’s that back cover that you’re just going to have to see for yourself, as there’s no way I’m going to try to describe it. It’s a damned funny comic, and you should be reading it. Simple enough, right?
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Posted by Kevin
October 3, 2013
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Minimal Comics
What an absolutely charming comic, and that’s not something I say about comics often. The title really nails the theme, as these are all silent three panel strips. I was a little nervous at first that it would get repetitive, as one early strip is called “Clouds” and it features clouds slowly rolling across the sky, then another early strip is called “Sunset” and it shows a sunset in three panels. You can see why I was getting a little worried, but it turns out that I was way off, and Graeme takes this simple concept to some genuinely innovative places. This will be difficult to talk about without ruining its quiet charm, but a few strips really stand out. There’s “Government,” which shows three different types of politicians (indicated by the colors of the flag they carry) and three consistently angry crowds (indicated by the fact that they always use flags of different colors than the speaker). “Kiss” is just cute as hell and I’m not even going to get into why. “Shy” is beautiful and perfectly done. And there’s lots more, but again, me describing all of these simple strips would ruin the fun of YOU discovering them. Graeme is also nice enough to include a blank page with three panels on it so you can get into the spirit of the comic and make your own strip. Which, honestly, you probably will be by the time you finish reading this. I went from being mildly entertained to hoping that it would go on forever pretty quickly, and I can’t imagine a better endorsement for a comic than that. Not sure about the price, but the guy does live in Japan so it’ll most likely be a few bucks more than most comics. Why don’t you get in touch with the man and find out?
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Posted by Kevin
October 1, 2013
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Colossal #3
Hey look, a few questions were answered this time around! And lots more were asked, and even more questions were left to be answered in later issues. Of course, none of this makes any sense if you haven’t read earlier issues of this series, but that’s on you. Things start off with a brief musical interlude, sheet music and all, showing the trajectory of a bullet as it enters that truck with all the bullet holes from the last issue. As I can’t read music I’m very curious to hear what it sounds like, but I’ll have to check that later. From there we get the birds chatting with the giant robot as the robot tries to explain why he knows about the truck without having what they would think of as a memory of it. He had me convinced, but one of the birds freaks out right away, thinking that the robot is looking to kill them. Which, hey, not the craziest idea in the world, as they still have very little idea of what went on and what role the robot played in it. The other bird (the one on the cover) decides to stick it out, and the rest of the issue is spent introducing the robot to the concept of night, exploring a bag found at the scene, and going off following after what’s in the bag. I loved the playback of the events coming purely from the robot’s perspective, and Jason did a fantastic job of showing how genuinely odd that perspective would be. Things are looking to get interesting in the next issue too, if the road sign is any indication (and no, I’m not going to spoil what it says). This has been interesting as hell so far, and has the makings of being a great series, so check it out why don’t you? $5
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Posted by Kevin
September 27, 2013
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The Steaming Pool
Have you ever read any Edward Gorey books? No? OK, feel shame for a moment, then go read a few of his books to become a more complete human. For the rest of us, this comic is Pam’s tribute to Gorey, and it’s a beauty. It’s also damned near impossible to review without giving the whole thing away, so it’s a good thing I’m not paid by the word. Or at all, really. Hey, I’ve been doing this for free for 12 years! So hey, this comic. The page I sampled should tell you all you need to know about this style, but this thing is ridiculously perfect as a tribute. The dialogue, the fur coat, the one piece old-timey bathing suit, everything was as it should be. Send her a buck to check it out, then slip it into one of your Gorey books. I’m curious to see how much it confuses the next person to read that book, or if they think it might just be an add-on from Gorey himself. $1
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Posted by Kevin
September 26, 2013
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With Only Five Plums Book 3: Life in the East is Worthless
I’m just going to go ahead and assume that you’re already read the first two volumes of this series, as it would be silly for you to read a review of the final volume otherwise. This third volume begins with Anna finally getting back to her home village, where she discovers that it has been completely removed from the map. The Germans didn’t just destroy the buildings and kill the people, they also rerouted rivers, smoothed down hills and generally did everything they could to remove any trace of her old village. Terry and Jonathon do a heartbreaking job of showing how this process was completed based on accounts after the fact, but the Germans also taped everything (this information was used at the Nuremburg trials). This would have been the most heartbreaking thing in any other story, but at this point we still aren’t clear on what has happened to all of the people from this town, especially Anna’s family. This is all revealed, with the men being separated from their families and killed and the children being separated and sent away (and told cruel lies about being reunited with their families). Some of the children were sent to German families and adopted, and in one of the only uplifting parts of this story we learn that most of these children were eventually recovered and returned to their surviving family members. But the ones that didn’t survive, the ones that weren’t adopted… that’s a brutal tale. It’s only human nature to want a happy ending out of an unimaginable atrocity like this, for at least something good to happen to Anna after everything she’s been through, but her story of what happened to her family took any hope for that away. Still, this series should be required reading, and I’m hoping it ends up being taught in classrooms. If you think that humanity as a species couldn’t possibly do something like this again and we should stop remembering this horrible time, look at the state of world affairs. It’s easier than ever to think of different people as “other,” as not really people at all but just numbers, and this will only increase as global warming really kicks in and resources get scarcer. Without some preparation for this likelihood I’m afraid that we’ll be back at a similar juncture in human history sooner than anybody thinks. Sorry to get all grim on you, and I’m hoping that I’m just being unduly cynical, but either way you should give this series of graphic novels a chance. It’s vitally important that we’re not allowed to forget what happened. $9
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Posted by Kevin
September 26, 2013
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Jakey the Jerk #1
I do so love comics that mess with my expectations. As you can probably guess from that title, the lead character is a bit of an asshole, and the first few strips set up a funny (if repetitive) formula. Jakey tries to ask out a bank worker, hits on a lady at a traffic light and gets annoyed when his conversation with a lady in a bar is interrupted. It might have gotten old over the course of a whole comic, but they had me chuckling. The next strip was split in two, with Jakey in one half and the other half featuring an owl who hears from the woman he’s with those words that every “nice guy” hears at some point in their lives. Next up is a slightly longer strip with an argument about whether or not a certain celebrity is dead (with a nice punch line), but then the comic completely changes speeds. The rest of it is taken up with a long story about Jakey being basically hired on as a bodyguard for a woman that he didn’t know was famous. She’s a hippie chick, he’s a gym rat, they don’t seem to have much of anything in common, but Chris takes on a long hike with the two of them and we get to see a gradual warming by the both of them. I wasn’t expecting to see much in the way of genuine emotion here, so kudos to him for successfully straddling that line while also keeping it funny. There’s also potential for the story to keep going, but either way I’m curious to see more of this world. Chris is on a website with a bunch of other artists, so I’m thinking that might be my afternoon right there if they’re all as good as this one. Check it out, get some laughs, enjoy a small goat creature butting some people into oblivion. $3
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Posted by Kevin
September 25, 2013
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The Daily Compulsion #5
How many daily diary strips do you think have existed in comics since James Kochalka started his? Granted, he wasn’t the first person to do it ever, but that’s what seemed to make it a “thing,” so go with me on this one. Out of all of those diary strips, what do you think was the average strip number when the cartoonist did a strip about how they were sick of doing a daily strip? Nathan makes it #10 in this one, but he only did 11 strips, so at least he didn’t drag it out like some people do. Has there ever been a daily diary strip where at least one of the strips wasn’t about the creator being sick of making it? Hey internet, somebody out there must have far too much free time on their hands, get on this please! While we’re waiting for the numbers to come in, how about I talk about this comic for a bit? This is Nathan’s first book in 7 years, meaning that at least two of the strips show opinions that he no longer has (he mentions this in the intro). To me this raises the obvious question of why he bothered to include them at all, but if he’s trying to show an accurate timeline of his life they do come in handy. The first disavowed strip deals with cocaine and how it has messed up different people in his life (which makes me wonder why he no longer stands by it, unless it’s because of that silly conspiracy theory about the Clintons and coke on the last panel) and the second strip deals with why people really commit suicide and how the best way to avoid it is to think a few steps ahead and realize that things will get better. These would have been totally unremarkable if it wasn’t for that intro, but now they stand out a bit. Other strips in here include his regrets about never becoming friends with a guy because they both liked the same girl, the 11 diary strips he made it through when he briefly quit drinking (most of these were pretty good strips, but he didn’t have years to get sick of doing them either), a few different recovery jokes/strips from AA, and a pretty funny bit about Alcoholic Anarchists Anonymous. The best part of the comic is the last story, a continuing piece about how he ignored all kinds of signs about how his drinking was out of control, how he quit for a bit and then fell back into it. Here’s hoping it’s not another seven years until his next comic, as I’m curious to see how that all turned out. Overall it’s a good comic with all kinds of different stories for that old fashioned price of $1, so give it a look.
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Posted by Kevin
September 20, 2013
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I’m a Horse, Bitch
Now here’s the perfect comic for a Friday afternoon. Are you a horse? Do you know exactly how awesome you are? If that’s the case, this comic might seem a little unnecessary to you, but it’s probably best to put your greatness out into the world in as many ways as possible. If you’re not a horse, but think that they are pretty awesome, you’re going to love this one. That title is not a swerve; this is a comic that does exactly what the title says it’s going to do. A horse tells you the various ways that it is better than you, its true feelings about ponies, and the power that it barely manages to keep contained on a daily basis. And… that’s it, really. What, you wanted the meaning of life in here too? Not necessary. This comic is perfect exactly as it is and you should be able to see that. If for some reason you hate horses, I still think you should read this, if only to give yourself one more chance to love them before it’s too late. $2
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Posted by Kevin
September 19, 2013
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Second Banana
How much trust should you place in an older sibling while growing up, especially if that sibling really seems to have their shit together? This is the story of Finn (Tessa’s older brother) taking her under his wing after their older brother left the house. He also left his comics, books and Dungeons and Dragons stuff, which enabled Finn to introduce her to all of it. I’m more than a little jealous of somebody who was able to grow up knowing about H.P. Lovecraft and all of the various monsters from D & D (crikey, the dreams she must have had as a kid), but let’s leave that aside. Tessa’s main problem was that she put total trust into Finn, who mostly didn’t abuse it, but it left her unable to tell when he was wrong (or possibly just messing with her). For example, he told her that putting a light bulb in your mouth would create a vacuum, causing it to explode, sending shards of glass careening down your throat. She believed this right up until college, but it sounds like the other things he taught her came together to make a decent trade-off. Her only regret was that Finn became more skeptical of supernatural things while he grew up and he passed that on to her, and it’s disheartening to see the world only as it is and not as it could be. Eh, she says it a lot better than I ever could, and I’m already getting a bit too far into spoiler territory. I’d just like to add that you’ll get a hell of a lot out of this book if you either had an older sibling who tried to teach you about the finer things in life or if you were that sibling. After all, they didn’t know everything, but they were extremely unlikely to let you in on that fact. There’s also a short piece on the end about the “Dyatlov Pass Incident,” which Emi Gennis actually covered in one of her recent comics. But hey, genuine mysteries like that are always rare and interesting, so it was good to see a different perspective on it. $3
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Posted by Kevin
September 17, 2013
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A Matter of Life
I’ll confess, I was a little worried about this one. “An autobiographical meditation on fatherhood and faith”? Blech. Most of the comics I’ve seen about fatherhood seem to come from the perspective that these people have recently discovered parenting and small children, so the slightest details about each will be fascinating to the reader. Or you may recognize it from its real world equivalent: friends who have recently had children thinking that you want to hear every single “cute” thing that their child has said and done, no matter how mundane. Why yes, I am remarkably cynical about such things, why do you ask? But hey, this is still Jeffrey Brown, so there’s plenty of entertaining stuff in here. This is mostly about Jeffrey growing up, his early days dealing with faith (his father was a minister), and how he gradually just stopped buying into it. This always seems to happen after comparative religions classes, which makes me wonder why those obnoxious fundie groups haven’t tried to stamp them out yet. After all, it doesn’t help their case when kids can learn that whole sections of the bible were copied from various creation myths and stories from older religions. Anyway, this book wanders all over the place, as it also deals with Jeffrey’s relationship to his parents and brothers growing up, how he dealt with being stuck in church on a weekly basis, and his own confusion in how to raise his old kid. After all, he might not want to deal with religion any more, but there’s still the rest of the world to think about. I was a little hazy on his final conclusion on the religion angle, as he did call himself a Christian later in the story, but it seemed like that was only to be friendly to a lady he was chatting with on the street. Who hasn’t been stuck in one of those conversations, where your only options are to lie about your religious affiliation or be doomed to a lecture by a stranger about your choices in life? While this one did seem a bit more scattered than some of his past work, there are still plenty of laughs to be had and truths to be pondered. Not necessarily agreed with, depending on what you believe, but pondered. And if your heart isn’t as hardened to such things as mine is, all kinds of cute moments with his son. This is also in full color, which is such a lovely change of pace that I can pretty much recommend it on that alone. Check it out, think deep thoughts about your own religious choices and parenting decisions! $14.95
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Posted by Kevin
September 16, 2013
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California #4
Anybody who starts with the fourth issue of a series is kind of stupid anyway, but I can’t help but think of at least one poor soul out there who picked this one up without seeing the rest of this series. Maybe they just liked California? Anyway, this poor person would have opened up the comic and seen (on the very first page!) a giant tentacled monster with one eye hovering over a house, a disembodied head bouncing around trying to stay away from the monster, a surprisingly calm family sitting down at a table while the monster smashed the table around them, and the disembodied head bashing into one of people at the table. If this poor soul didn’t spontaneously combust and they made it to the next few panels they would see the head bashing into a few more people at the table and those people vanishing after being struck. At this point I would only hope that they’d stop and go back to read the rest of the series, but hypothetical people can be stubborn. Oh hi, those were spoilers, kind of, for the rest of this series. But they were mostly from the first page of this issue so it’s OK to talk about them. This issues concludes the California saga, and after this one I’d say it’s safe to call it a “saga.” Once again I wish we lived in a world where something like this could be collected and released to wide acclaim, making Rob a wealthy man. But we’re stuck with this world for now, so you should maybe go back and get past issues for this series if you haven’t already. The rest of this issue deals with the horrible monster getting loose in the real world, the missing 200 townspeople, the key to defeating this monster, and the strategies of fighting an invisible monster. It’s a pretty damned great conclusion, all things considered. I loved the creepy teeth in that creature and how they seemed to go on forever, and life continuing to go on as usual so quickly after things wrapped up was nicely done as well. It seems like I’d already declared an older series of Rob’s as my all-time favorite of his (which makes me feel especially stupid for not remembering the name of that series, but it dealt with amusement parts (or my brain has just completely shut down on this topic)), but this one would have to be a close second or third. If you just read the first issue you’d have no idea that things would end this strangely, and that’s exactly how such comics should be done. Check it out and enjoy, and if we all wish hard enough maybe this could magically become a big summer blockbuster movie.
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Posted by Kevin
September 13, 2013
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Tablegeddon #1
Comic conventions! Maybe you’re one of the people who only go to conventions to buy comics and don’t create them yourself, but have you ever wondered about life on the other side of the table? Not really? Well, you really should try putting yourself in their shoes for a few minutes. This anthology has all kinds of stories from conventions, good and bad, from some of the champions of small press comics (if the industry had formal champions, which they should maybe think about doing). Stories in here include Max Clotfelter’s first time working a table when he was a kid, Cara Bean and Sara Carson’s long road to a triumphant show, Kelly Froh’s two worst shows (I hope), Carrie McNinch’s problem with shyness, Rob Kirby’s mostly bad day (but with plenty of good things in it, like the progressive redneck parents), Mark Campos’ ingenious trick to selling original art, Aron Nels Steinke dealing with a friend getting a tv deal while having a slow day himself (along with dealing with an annoying kid), Gabrielle Gamboa’s hilariously illustrated conversations among cartoonists, Justin Hall’s description of finally getting the sale after talking a guy into it for 20 minutes, Tony Breed dealing with putting a book together and the reality of the show, Matt Moses and Jeff Worby narrowly avoiding a beating/murder, Zine Crush trying to get a copy of their zine to the object of their crush without being obvious about it, Rick Worley learning the truth about Dash Shaw, Jason Martin showing the good and the bad and John Porcellino showing us the weather paradox at cons. Oh, and a bonus piece by Kelly Froh (I’m almost positive) showing us the moment at a con when her spirit leaves her body. I’ve seen plenty of comics about convention horror stories in my years of reviewing these things, so I was a little nervous about a whole anthology on the subject, but that was silly of me. This whole thing is full of goodness, and should probably be handed out to obvious first-timers as they walk into cons as a public service. $4
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Posted by Kevin
September 12, 2013
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Sueno Loco
God damn, this is how you do a dream comic. Not that I’ve run across any particularly terrible examples of them recently, but if you keep a dream journal and have been thinking about turning some of them into comics, you should pick up this comic first. There’s plenty to love in that cover, and once you thoroughly absorb that image the comic opens up with Jaime in a mariachi suit working at a Taco Bell. One of those shrill blond older ladies with the awful orange tans comes in and tries to order an “enchrito.” Dream Jaime doesn’t hear her correctly the first time, which causes her to blow up at him. From there it’s a quick spiral down into madness, as an enchirito chant fills up his dream, the blond lady expands into an enormous angry head and Jaime is left scrambling for his dream life. It’s a quick read but it’s beautifully done, so on top of his other comics that I’m thoroughly enjoying now I’m hoping he keeps going on the dream comics too. Granted, there are only so many hours in the day, but here’s hoping Jaime uses as many of them as is humanly possible to keep making comics like this. Well, and Tortilla. And that he finishes up Turk Street Serenade. One of you publishers, give the man a pile of money to make this easier on him! You’d have a ton of great older material to work with just to start… $2
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Posted by Kevin
September 11, 2013
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The Casebook of Elijah Snugs #1
Would you trust a detective who didn’t wear pants who also had a pig for a sidekick? I guess it’s not a fair question to ask, seeing as how this is set in a world where every creature is some form of talking animal, but then why is the guy bothering to wear a trenchcoat and hat? I’m reading too much into this already. This is a fairly basic mystery story involving our hero and a mysterious missing egg. The security system had recently been updated and the only person with access to it other than the owner was the butler, but the owner insists that he couldn’t possibly have taken it. This is very much an all ages comic, but the dialogue isn’t so dumb that you feel silly reading it as an adult. So far it’s also taking itself very seriously for such a fundamentally silly concept, but that’s just my personal preferences in such things shining through. We got a good introduction for the main character (although the pig could still use a little fleshing out), a clear idea of what’s to come and a blessed absence of typos (always a welcome sign in first issues). This could go either way for me, as it may end up too cutesy for me to enjoy, but there were also a few funny bits that seemed to suggest that that might not be the case. My gut says I might not care for this after a few issues, but my gut is pretty damned stupid on a lot of things. And don’t go feeling all high and mighty because your gut is always right, because that’s nonsense. Remember that one person you dated right out of college? Remember how you were so sure about that person? Yeah, that was your gut being a moron. Ahem, I seem to have gotten off track. Sal also throws in a brief two page strip with a decent punchline, so there’s at least a little bit of variety. To sum up I mostly liked the art (that creeped out pig on the last page was fantastic), the writing was maybe too earnest for my taste (but that may be because I’m a jerk), and there seem to be intriguing places this story could go. Luckily Sal sent along the next issue too, so I won’t be left in suspense about it for much longer. And hey, neither will you! Unless this is only review you’ll ever read here, which would be odd, but I’m not the boss of you. $5
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Posted by Kevin
September 10, 2013
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We Can Fix It
Are you one of those people who can’t let go of inconsistencies in time travel stories no matter how many times you’re told to relax about it and just enjoy the ride? Then you should probably skip this one and spend some quiet time thinking about how joyless your life has become. For the rest of us, this is a ridiculously funny/sexy/poignant story. About time travel. Jess has decided (I have no idea of the differences between fictional Jess and real life Jess so I’m going to assume that they’re exactly the same) that she should use her time travel machine to go back and give her younger self advice to avoid some of her more humiliating moments. It starts off with her warning her younger self not to make advances towards the manager at the movie theater, which leads to the two versions of Jess making out with each other. No, this is not even remotely portrayed as an odd thing. Anyway, Jess keeps going back to different versions of herself and offering advice, but her younger selves are getting increasingly fed up about being told what to do (or avoid doing) all the time and future Jess often ends up doing as much harm as good. So, seeking advice, she goes to… even more future Jess. Yes, this book is all over the place, but it’s a delight all the way through, and there’s a pretty great message of what you should actually be looking for if you do decide to use your time travel machine to go back and spy on your past selves. And when I say that it’s all over the place, I should make it perfectly clear that this is plotted as tightly as humanly possible, it’s just that there’s a finite amount of time travel that you can deal with in one story before your head starts to spin. This is one of those books that makes me want to go back and read everything else she’s ever done, as Jess clearly has this whole comics thing figured out and I’m the asshole for not hearing about her sooner. Good luck reading this without getting seriously nostalgic for both the good times in your past and the bad. Yes, the bad too, as there was plenty to learn from those moments, and some of them weren’t as bad as you remember. Read it, love it, and hope that she’s as prolific as she is talented because I can’t wait to see more from her. $14.95
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Posted by Kevin
September 9, 2013
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Has the internet and social media ruined auto-bio comics, or have they just made it impossible for anybody to be completely honest in them? Please present your argument in the form of a 300 word essay… oh right, I was just asking a rhetorical question to start this review. This is Neil’s post-breakup therapy, done in the form of a comic. And no, I am not a dick for pointing that out, as he makes it pretty clear in the intro/outro. But what got me wondering about that opening question was the fact that everything he said in here was incredibly vague or general. Sure, he knows what he’s talking about, and his ex knows what he’s talking about, and some friends of both of them do too. The rest of us get to see that he got dumped by somebody who completely broke his heart, for reasons that he doesn’t think are fair, and that if he did tell everybody what she really did then her reputation would probably be ruined. Which is most likely the answer to my question right there, as he doesn’t want to ruin her life. Maybe I’m just spoiled because I read the original Peepshow strips by Joe Matt again recently, and his honesty is so relentless that it’s shocking when compared to more modern comics. Of course, that was back in the late 80’s, where the only people reading his strip were the ones who actively went out and bought Drawn & Quarterly (back when that was the name of a bimonthly (?) anthology series), and it’s not like that particular relationship of his ended well, in large part because he said too much about their relationship. I seem to have looped back around into understanding exactly why Neil did these strips without giving away any of the really sordid details. Oh, and those giant black eyeballs of his? MUCH creepier when placed on a recognizably human face. Anyway, if you’ve been involved in a breakup where you felt like you were the wronged party, you’re going to relate to plenty of these strips, and you’re going to fill in some of the details with bits of your own life where appropriate. If you’re the type of person who has only ever broken up with other people, maybe you should read this to see some of the damage you’ve done in your life, you monster you. $4
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Posted by Kevin
September 5, 2013
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Stranger Two Stranger #5
You guys are already reading this series, right? This is where my hatred of/general annoyance at social media really slows me down, because all I can do is assume that you’re already reading this. If not, this is a series by Robert Hendricks where he illustrates those creepy/hopeful/soul-crushing “missed connections” messages on Craigslist, and it’s consistently a thing of beauty. Unless you stop to think about these people as actual human beings for too long, because if that happens it might make you despair for the human race a bit. Or not! Some of these tales are purely by people who had their faith in humanity restored because of an offhand comment by a stranger. Of course, other stories involve the graphic fantasies of a guy who just wants to massage the bunions on the feet of a lady before massaging her humped back in bed, but it takes all kinds. Other stories in here include the guy who bought panties for himself (but said they were for his wife), head-banging preventing a possible connection, the race that was not a race, the riddle of the egg and a half, an offer of an umbrella saving the day, the eternal question of dancing or heart attack, giving bad directions (and then hoping to get a date out of it, perfectly illustrating why these ads are such beautiful things), a phone leading to somebody thinking that their butt was grabbed, trying to get in touch with the lady who was taking pictures of dead birds, and the long cigarette. Robert also included a small book he apparently passes out at cons called Depictions, and in this case it was a list of images of children who had been convicted of crimes and their sentences in the late 1800’s. Completely unrelated, but ask him for one of these if you see him. As for Stranger Two Stranger, of course you should still be reading it. Duh! And if you aren’t already reading it, you should be. $2
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Posted by Kevin
September 3, 2013
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I Am My Own Stereotype: The My Small Diary Collection
Believe it or not, there are still people out there who think that I must know everything about small press comics due to the sheer number of artists listed here and/or the 12 years I’ve put into this site. Granted, that was the idea at first (having one website where you could find samples of the work of any small press comics person), but as comics like this make completely clear, it was always a hopeless effort. This is a collection of strips by Delaine, who started her comic back in 1993 (when she was 23). This roughly coincides with when I started reading small press comics, she seems to have been in the same peer group as my favorites, and, somehow, I missed her entirely. The name does seem vaguely familiar, so I probably saw it on the back page of a King Cat or Naughty Bits, but I never made to next step of ordering her comics. After reading this, I clearly missed out on a lot of great stuff. This is all arranged more or less chronologically, up until 2002. Meaning that there’s a second volume coming, or that this was the extent of her regular work? There are also a dozen or so comics from various anthologies to round things out. Anyway, after all this rambling, what’s the book all about? This is a series of diary strips, mostly six panels, detailing events of Delaine’s life. Her friends, parties, concerts, boyfriends, jobs, all that stuff is thrown in here, but somehow with far less angst than most mini comics. Every time something bad happens it seems to be fixed by the next strip (although this could be mostly because she writes a comment for each strip and we already know that she ended up happy). Subjects include her very early days and the imagination she had even then (we’re talking grade school here), various sights seen at concerts and bars, boyfriends and ex-boyfriends (and what they were up to with their current girlfriends), her obsessions with Pez dispensers and Emo Phillips, drinking, employment, unemployment, and everything that goes into 10+ years of a life. If this all sounds like stuff you’ve read before in other auto-bio comics, well, there’s only so much new ground to be covered there, but that doesn’t stop this from seeming completely fresh and original. It could have something to do with her general attitude of wonder (that, happily, seems to have lasted into her 40’s), or the fact that she never lets anything really get her down. For me a big part of it was that nothing here really felt mean-spirited, even when it seemed like the subjects had it coming. This was constantly smart and funny, and good luck reading this and not coming away feeling like you missed out by not somehow being Delaine’s friend (even if that meant you would have lived in Alabama). Check this out and enjoy. $5
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Posted by Kevin
