July 16, 2013
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DemonDust #15
Bernie is on a serious roll lately with his comics. Hell, maybe with the rest of his life too, but I have no way of knowing about that. But he’s putting these DemonDust books out just about monthly, still working on his ridiculously impressive “An Army of Lovers Will Be Beaten” series, AND building a universe for another mini comic series that he’s starting up. Most comics creators would be content with keeping just one of those things going, and Bernie is out there making the rest of you look bad. The only way to make up that ground is to get to work on a series or two yourselves, other comics artists! Anyway, this issue deals with the troubles inherent in trying to create a comic by staring at a blank piece of paper and hoping for inspiration. This leads to a piece of paper that is able to breathe and talk, although seemingly only to ape whatever somebody near it is saying. We see the process by which this paper is made, reflect on the mantra of the paper, and finally get a character revolt about the content of the story. Bernie always ends these books with a text piece on the state of his life/projects/month, just in case you insist that a mini comic that looks this good that still manages to come out monthly is not enough for you. It’s another solid issue, but if you insist on a continuing story I’d recommend his other series. I haven’t read his new one, “The Cosmouse,” but his other series should be read by all humans and you know what? I’m going to recommend his new series without even seeing it. Eventually it’s possible to recognize when somebody just does good work, and I think Bernie has more than crossed that bar.
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Posted by Kevin
July 15, 2013
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The Unusual Death of Gregory Biggs
You ever have one of those days where you’re not even sure if you’re the same species as other humans? Well, if you’re having one of those today, I advise you to stop reading about this comic now, because the casual inhumanity here is stunning. I actually remember reading about either this guy or a very similar story years ago, but the gist of it is that a young woman and her friend were out on the town and they drank a bit and did a few drugs. One of the women tried to drive home, a man was walking along the interstate very late and night, and she ended up hitting him. That would be bad enough, but it’s the kind of thing that probably literally happens every day. But hey, that would mean that the “unusual death” title was incorrect, and that is not the case. Gregory ended up stuck in the windshield, as a very unfortunate human dart. The first reaction of the driver was to try and pull him out of the windshield and then drive away, which is horrific enough, but at least then the guy might have lived through it. As it was he was too heavy for her to lift, so she just drove home with him stuck in the windshield, parked the car in her garage and had sex with her boyfriend. As this guy was pleading for help and slowly bleeding to death! She eventually told her boyfriend, they got him out of the windshield (this was the next morning and Gregory was dead) and they dumped his body in a field, as they wanted his family to find him so that they could bury him. I’ve probably said too much already, but this is such a macabre story that I couldn’t help it. The rest of the comic deals with the events after they dumped his body, how they were eventually discovered and what ended up happening to the people involved. I can be an ultra liberal squish on sentencing for crimes, but this lady is as clear of an example of a sociopath as I’ve ever seen and it would be absolutely insane if she was ever allowed to be a free woman again. Emi really seems to have found her niche with these types of stories (and the occasional Spaz, of course), and there are certainly more than enough out there to keep her busy for years, lucky for us. But hey, if you do find yourself walking home along an interstate at 3 in the morning one day, do what I do: if at all possible, walk on the other side of the guard rail. That way they at least have to really want to hit you…
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Posted by Kevin
June 26, 2013
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Tortilla #3
Have I ever mentioned my inevitable first reaction whenever I get a comic with a text story in it? Invariably, it’s “huh, this probably would have made a good/great (depending on the quality of the story) comic.” Which is odd, as I read plenty of novels and books of short stories. But hey, if it’s in the middle of a book of comics, it makes total sense, right? Anyway, Jaime has been on a bit of a roll lately, and he keeps that going here. Things start off with another chapter from his upcoming “Turk Street Serenade” graphic novel, and he’s wisely going to stop putting those chapters in his comic now, as why give away the whole thing for free? Well, not free, but you know what I mean. This chapter deals with him having a shitty day (in more ways than one) at work and his confrontation with a jerk. I can say no more, but it’s always funny to see assholes get their due. Next is the text story I mentioned before dealing with Jaime’s lifelong troubles with math, going back to his early days in middle school and the methods that his teachers used to get him to learn. Well, teaching him wasn’t really their goal, as he lays out in detail, but they seemed to think that cruelty could maybe do it all by itself. Finally there’s a story told from the perspectives of two very different people up until their eventual meeting. It’s another solid mini, and to be fair I do get why Jaime would do a text story instead of a comic about his math troubles: it would have been a lengthy and complex comic and hey, it’s not like him writing this story prevents him from ever making it into a comic. Check it out, and I’m really looking forward to him completing that graphic novel. $3
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Posted by Kevin
June 21, 2013
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Monkey Squad One #12
What a perfect comic to read on a Friday afternoon. Have you been following this thoroughly entertaining series for long? Maybe you find yourself a bit confused by the various plot twists and/or other realities and the constantly increasing cast of characters? Yeah, throw all that out the window. This is the last part of the current three part story, and Doug has a tendency to really bring the action in those situations. He didn’t disappoint this time around, as there’s all kinds of mayhem and explosions in here. And important story elements, don’t get me wrong, as one major character gets killed and the status of another one is in serious doubt, but the star of this issue was the non-stop action. The end of the last issue showed us the squidface Nazis, and three cheers for fictional Nazis for being so readily killable. Seriously, you can get away with just about any type of violence if it’s done to Nazis. Or zombies. Eh, at this point they’re the same thing. Anyway, getting into a lengthy review breaking down every bit of this would spoil the fun, but if you’re looking for a good time in comics, buy this issue already. Technically you should get at least the two issues that came before this to complete the story, but if you’re looking for pure mayhem this issue alone should do it for you. $2.50
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Posted by Kevin
June 20, 2013
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California #3
In this issue: shit goes down! There, I’m experimenting with shorter reviews, what with everybody using Twitter and willingly confining themselves to 140 characters per message. Eh, that’s cheating, as I’m assuming people come here to get a little more detail out of their reviews. What’s that? You say it’s mostly just to kill time at work? Fair enough. It’s impossible to say that this is Rob’s strangest comic, because there’s quite a competition for that title, but it’s steadily gaining on his other entries. In this issue Billy confronts Jake in the basement of the church and gets the barest glimpse of what exactly is happening. But when Billy wakes up the next day he discovers that everybody except for the preacher at the other (otherwise abandoned) church has disappeared, he has to go back to his friend from the first issue for advice. And that is when shit goes down. My policy against spoilers has rarely hurt more, but if you think that cover is a rare abstract Rob Jackson cover, nope. That happens in the book, even though you most likely have no idea what’s happening just by looking at it there. Things are “to be continued” again, although I’m guessing from the pace of the story that he meant to say “to be concluded,” but what do I know? This is another impressive series from a man who has built up his own personal library over the last 8 (or so) years, and you should damned well be reading it.
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Posted by Kevin
June 19, 2013
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Unknown Origins & Untimely Ends
You should have a pretty easy time knowing whether or not you’d be inclined to like this book from the title alone, and I’m happy to tell you that the contents more than live up to it. Emi has been doing mini comics on this theme for a few years now, and she took her chance to edit this anthology and ran with it, doing a really fantastic job of picking out/accepting these stories. I should say up front that I have no patience for those stupid “ghost hunting” shows with the shaky cams and the loud noises and won’t believe that aliens have visited us until I see solid proof (which is not the same thing as declaring that no other life exists in the universe), but overall this isn’t that type of book. These are all, as Emi says in the introduction, unsolved mysteries, so the reader doesn’t get the satisfaction of getting the story neatly tied up in a bow by the end. Instead you’re left wondering what the hell happened for these 32 stories. If you’re a naturally curious person and/or at all interested in the weird and bizarre then you’ve probably already stopped reading this and ordered a copy. For those of who are too polite to quit reading in the middle of the review (and it’s OK if you do, I’ll never know), subjects include a mysterious gelatinous goo that rained down on a town, the monster with 21 faces, an unexplained shower of meat from the sky, an arcade game that quickly came and went in 1981 under mysterious circumstances, a tumor that was bigger than the carrier, Gef (of which I will say no more but this may have been the most intriguing tale in the book), that weird hum in the air that some people can hear all the time, the Nain Rouge and his continuing destruction of Detroit, the money pit of Oak Island (which some bored billionaire should look into), creepy kids with black eyes trying to enter homes, the Leatherman and theories of who he might have been, unsolved murders at a campsite, the former Prime Minister of Australia vanishing while swimming, the missing body of Addie Mae Collins, why 9 campers in Siberia ran from the safety of their tent (sometimes barefoot) and why they never went back to it, two bodies and their lead masks, Rasputin (an oldie but a goodie), Frederick Valentich and the UFO that seemed to by toying with him, D.B. Cooper and his disappearance (it’s an ever funnier story to anybody who watched Justified this season), a bridge where 600 dogs have committed suicide, the Axeman, and a serious skeleton in the closet of Orson Welles (possibly). DC comics used to do a series of “Big Books” on various subjects, and after seeing this I’d suggest that they start it up again and put Emi in charge. Not every story was perfect, granted, but good luck not having several of these stories haunt your dreams. Also good luck on not taking to the internet to learn more about them, as I already know how I’m spending the rest of my afternoon. And look at that pile of talent in the tags section! Why would you possibly need any more convincing to check this out? $12
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Posted by Kevin
June 18, 2013
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Star Pilot #9
I have this vague sense that Frank tuned down the madness just a touch for this issue which, don’t get me wrong, still leaves plenty of madness. And I mean that in the best possible sense, because the man puts out some ridiculously entertaining comics. Probably just my imagination. Anyway, this one will seem topical, as it’s all about a government that monitors everything and oppresses its citizens. For some reason this is in the news now, in the middle of 2013 (o future readers), and not so much when these actual policies were initially implemented, but that’s a whole other conversation. This one is set in 2084 (wisely following the rule of setting your future stories far enough ahead so that you’ll be dead when that date actually occurs) in a world dominated by Brother Goliath. The motivations for Brother Goliath are left vague, but they’re probably the same types of things that always motivate world conquerors. Anyway, one man is still broadcasting his message of dissent, and he is confronted and shot by another man early on in the proceedings. From there we learn a bit about Mantis Unit, a resistance group that is thought to be long since destroyed, and I’m about to start getting into serious spoilers. Battles ensue, some fantastically over the top actions take place (I particularly enjoyed the guy who shot the broadcaster explaining himself to a quizzical cat), and we get to see an eyeball in the palm of a hand used as a weapon. Frank seems to be keeping these issues more of less self-contained, so don’t worry about jumping in on #9 of a series. You could also solve that problem by ordering some of his back issues, but I’m not the boss of you. $1.25
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Posted by Kevin
June 17, 2013
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My Senior Year
Is it me or is a little odd for a comic with this title to just barely touch on school? Granted, there is one brief (and funny) strip about her plans after graduation, but other than that it’s all life stuff. Not that there’s anything wrong with that! Overall it’s a pretty good comic, although I had a few issues that I’ll throw out there because hey, why else am I here? Oh crap, I better pull back in a hurry or I’ll start questioning why anything is here, then you’re in for a lengthy ramble that nobody wants to see. Her strip about her roommate making a comment while they were watching tv flew right over my head (and I am pointing out early that I am older than her and some things are very likely to fly over my head). Without any sort of context of her life and with this as an opening strip it made no sense to me, other than to imply that people can never have enough blogs. The strip where she was woken up by music from a neighbor in the wee hours of the morning could have been creepy as hell, but I couldn’t interpret her expression on that last panel. I’m guessing “backing away slowly,” as that would make the most sense, but that’s a difficult thing to pull off in a single panel. The babysitting strip was cute; no complaints there. I thought her strip about not having time for real weekends could have used a bit more room to breathe, but it was still kind of funny. The cat adoption story was cute as hell and damned near perfect, although it is a little cruel to leave your readers not knowing what happened after that last panel. Her final strip (outside of the strip I mentioned at the start of the review) about sleeping in was a good example of taking a small victory and making a strip out of it. I get the impression that this is her first comic, in which case she should definitely keep it up, as there’s plenty of potential here. No misspellings or grammatical mistakes are, sadly, a rarity, and a good step in the right direction. Maybe she should try a longer piece or two the next time around to see what comes up. So yes, it might not be perfect, but it is worth a look. $5
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Posted by Kevin
June 14, 2013
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Blammo #8
I often end reviews here by pointing out that you should buy the work of whoever it is I’m reviewing that day, because if enough of you do that then that person will eventually be able to make a living purely from their art, enabling them to create exactly what they want to create. Well, after a year without Blammo (he was working on a few other projects that didn’t leave him much time for it) Noah has concluded that he’s better off just working on pages after work when he gets the time. So never mind! Although I get the sneaking suspicion that he’d change his mind if somebody dumped a million dollars in his lap and told him to draw whatever the hell the wanted, but who knows? Maybe he has a fantastic day job. But hey, how about this comic of his? As always, you won’t get more out of your comics dollar than an issue of Blammo. An actual letters page, bunches of stories, there’s even a comic on the back cover for the gentler souls who may have trouble with… well, anything. Stories in here include the origin story for a dog on wheels (a creepy little toy who compels you to tell it your deepest secrets), a young man trying to reconnect with friends after backing away from them during a breakup where both members of the couple had mutual friends, Charles the chicken trying to bring Bill back to life in a series of hilariously hopeless ways, an adaptation of an old Grimm’s fable about the wolf and the fox, a man and his ill-fated attempt to get a woman to date him while he’s wandering around with a tiny grotesque man, a dream of sleeping and waking in an old apartment with serious emotional ties, punks vs. lizards (starring John Porcellino, sort of), and all kinds of strips packed into the final two pages. It’s comics like Blammo that keep me from declaring comics in this form dead entirely. It all seems to be trending towards collections or graphic novels, but this format is much more suited to a comic like this. Hey, there’s room for both. $5
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Posted by Kevin
June 10, 2013
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Scorched Earth #1
Are there any guys out there who need to feel better about their awful dating life? This might be the comic for you! Or it might not be, as at least this guy is going on dates, and maybe that is not true in your situation. Anyway! This is the story of Tom, who is either partially or not at all based on the Tom who made this comic (I’m guessing “not at all”) and a series of his dates based on women who responded to him on OKCupid. Which is the dating site for people who don’t want to pay to be on a dating site, in case you haven’t heard of it. The trouble is that Tom (the character) is an unrepentant asshole in just about every way, which makes dating difficult. His first date is with a vegan hippie lady, so his choice to start it off with a joke about “fags” doesn’t go over too well. Still, booze is a hell of a thing, and drinking enough of it would make just about anybody attractive. Tom has a shallow (but hilarious) moment, things do not end up going well and he ends up drunk at home by himself. The next morning is awful, but Tom is a trooper and already has a date lined up for dinner that night. Unfortunately the lady from his previous awful date is there as well, and the date that he did line up looks nothing like her profile picture, and there’s still all that wonderful booze around to confuse things, which is about where I have to stop getting into this to avoid spoilers. There are also three short strips at the end in the style of the old Peepshow strips (lots of tiny panels on one page, just in case any of you philistines haven’t read the early work of Joe Matt). One deals with one of the worst job interviews I’ve ever seen, one is about a party and Tom’s attempt to win everybody over, and the last one is one more date to round things out. This is funny as hell and you’re going to have a hard time reading this without ending up feeling better about yourself. After all, chances are that you aren’t nearly as big of a dick as this guy, and that’s something, right?
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Posted by Kevin
June 10, 2013
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Uncles #1
Uncles! Rarely is the word said in terror, but Desmond does his level best here to show why that should change. This one starts off with a young man and his girlfriend wandering off into the dark woods to try and find their missing dog. They stumble across a group of Uncles eating stuff out of a dumpster, which seems a bit odd out in the middle of the woods, but ignore that bit. Possibilities race through the mind of the young man, as he’s well aware of what a terror these creatures are, but he finally settles on a solution: running away. Unfortunately this plan leaves out his girlfriend, and the rest of the issue is their eventual reunion and what happens to her after the fact. I’m used to seeing Desmond’s stories crammed into smaller pages after his last book, and this time around her really lets his characters breathe and show some full page reactions. And if you thought that maybe he chose to use a simpler style of artwork on occasion because he was hiding a lack of talent, well, worry no more, as this issue looks fantastic. I have no idea where he’s going with this (who would in a series about the terrors of Uncles?) but I’m thrilled to be along for the ride, as Desmond rarely fails to get at least a few solid chuckles out of me. Check it out, be the first on your block to learn the terrors of this strange group of people. Cartoonists, that is. Or Uncles! That works too.
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Posted by Kevin
June 5, 2013
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Tall Tales for Short Kittens #2
I’m still not entirely sure how he did it, but I feel unclean after reading this. Not that there’s anything overtly gruesome or offensive about this, which is why I’m not sure how this happened. Maybe it’s the horrifying appearance of Chastity and Grace, the two sisters of evil? Chastity is basically a living beanbag with the hair of a pinhead and a gigantic bow while Grace is a… monster? Sure, let’s go with that. Anyway, this issue is another collection of thoroughly bizarre stories, although this time around some of them are going to be continued later on. Assuming that there’s a third issue, and hey, why not? Stories include the one with the three creepy sisters I mentioned before (“to be continued,” although I have no idea where it’s heading), the drunk wolf and the prank, a life lesson for a young bear (?), the nightmarish image of a female Jelli Bunni using the lower half of a human woman to rocket into space, and one page that I can’t help but use as the sample. There’s also another activity page, as Jason’s quest to warp young minds with a seemingly innocent title and promises of “fun pages” continues. This is pretty much the perfect blend of creepy and funny, although I am legally obligated to be annoyed at the (very few) spelling errors because hey, so easy to fix. Check it out! $3.50
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Posted by Kevin
June 5, 2013
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Morbid Dork #2
Who likes awkward party comics? Oh, be honest, you all do. Who hasn’t either been to an awkward party or been an awkward person at a party? Every single one of you. Probably. Eh, play along. This is the story of the three guys who were introduced in the last issue going to a party. They decide that this is the best course of action despite the fact that Alex (the “normal” one of the bunch, not the creator of the comic (unless they’re one and the same)) practically goes into a crying fit at the thought of attending a strange party, much to the consternation of his friends. I’m using far too many big words to describe this comic, as the premise is simple: two out of the three of the guys are there to get laid, while Alex is apparently just hoping to survive it. As the party goes on Coop homes in on an older lady who seems interested, Jamie finds a woman who is attracted to his fro and beard, and even Alex gets shoved into a room with a gorgeous foreign exchange student who is going to be leaving the country the next day and only regrets that she “never got to have American sex.” Who thinks that everything turns out happily ever after for these three gentlemen? That wouldn’t end up being much of a story, now would it? So obviously hijinx ensue, which I’m not going to tell you about because why ruin it. It’s funny, which is all you can ask for out of a comic like this (and by “like this” I mean “meant to be funny”), and Alex (the person) did an excellent job with this story that covered the whole comic instead of a comic of short pieces. There was one copier problem where I couldn’t see what was being said, but other than that I have no complaints. $3
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Posted by Kevin
May 30, 2013
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Madtown High #2
More high school hijinx! Actually it’s more stories from Whit’s time in high school, but if you went to high school anywhere near when she did you’ll probably find a lot to relate to. I have roughly ten years on her and we still seemed to be listening to the same music in high school, which struck me as a little odd, but that music is pretty perfect for that environment. Subjects in this one include her and some friends making a “B” horror movie in a day and the fate of that movie, going to see her first concert and trying to get onto the set of that awful MTV show where everybody stood outside the windows holding up signs (but hey, she was the perfect age to be doing that, so it’s hard to retroactively fault her), falling for boys in bands (or trying to), the panic that came after the Columbine shootings and the awkward ways that her school tried to deal with it, the local ice cream shop and the tactics of a friend who always gave the guy behind the counter shit, and Whit’s habit of picking masculine Halloween costumes until one year when she accidentally did not. I defy anybody reading this not to feel at least a bit of nostalgia for their high school years, most likely followed by the sheer relief that they’re no longer happening, although that might just be me.
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Posted by Kevin
May 29, 2013
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With Only Five Plums Book 1: The Time Before
What a haunting and riveting story this is, even though this is only the first of three books. There were all sorts of horrors going on during World War II, and this is the tale of Anna Nesporova and her life in the small Czech town of Lidice. Jonathon spends an admirable amount of time setting up Anna and her family as people, as it would have been easy to jump right into the more heartbreaking elements of the story. Actually, that’s not completely accurate, as getting to know that Anna still remembers the way her brother’s smile ticked up at one corner of his mouth more than 60 years later is pretty much the definition of heartbreaking. But we briefly see Anna grow up and get a good idea of her life in general before things start falling apart. An assassination attempt was made on an important German officer in charge of keeping the peace in Lidice and it was suspected that Anna’s brother (who had left them two years earlier in the hopes of sparing them this kind of attention) was involved. The Germans decided to make an example out of her family, but Anna managed to survive due to her pregnancy. I know that things are going to get grim but nothing is really known about what happened to her family or baby at this point, although I know enough about the history to know that it wasn’t anything good. Jonathon made the choice to let this breathe as a story told by Anna, so there are very few word balloons and a few times when he briefly pops into the story to try to get more details out of Anna or to ask her if she’d like to take a break. It’s impossible to avoid comparison to Maus when you’re talking about a comic set in World War II, and in the early stages I’d say that this has the potential to be as important as that. Who knows how people will actually receive it, but this is a story that needs to be told, especially as things get worse in Europe again. The recent anti-gay marriage marches have shown that homophobia and racism are right there under the surface, and it needs to be made clear to this generation that something like this could happen again, sadly enough. Humanity never seems to learn. On that cheery note, give this comic a shot. I think this is self-published and it deserves a wider audience. Oh, and I didn’t make it clear in the review, so I should mention that this is all based on conversations with Anna, but that some things are fictional, or events that happened at the time but not necessarily to Anna. $10
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Posted by Kevin
May 28, 2013
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Full Sanction: Threats
OK, technically I added that title to the comic, but there are a bunch of issues of this series out there and I want readers to at least have a chance to tell them apart. This comic defies review (in general but this issue in particular), as it either has a form of humor that you find funny or you don’t have a working sense of humor. Um, I meant to say that your brand of humor may be different. This issue starts off with one of our heroes steaming as our other hero says goodbye to a friend. The angry man, free to vent, spends the rest of the comic coming up with a wide variety of insults to describe just what he would do to this unseen person if given the chance while his other friend tries to talk him down and then instigates him a bit for the sheer fun of it. This thing is packed with funny threats, some of which I defy you not to steal and use in your own lives. Hell, even the list of rejected threats on the inside back cover is full of comedy gold. This is what makes it impossible to review, because if I start going through these threats then I’m taking that joy of discovery away from you. So to make this simple: do you enjoy threatening your friends with horrific, anatomically implausible statements? If so, consider this a textbook of sorts. Or if you just like funny things, this fits the bill for that too.
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Posted by Kevin
May 24, 2013
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Adult Babysitting #2
Bartenders of the world, you should probably have copies of this handy at your jobs as a way of quickly explaining to drunk customers what life is like behind the bar. Then again, most drunk people are not particularly interested in reading, so maybe that’s not a great idea. This issue continues the adventures of MarYanna in her bartending job, this time with crime! Subjects include the reaction of a woman who tasted the drink of the guy she was with after drinking her sugarbomb, two different job-related nightmares and the fact that bad dreams seem to come with the territory, one overly drunk woman who tried to get behind the bar with hilarious results, a Phil Collins jam session, various methods of delivering drinks and picking up the empty glasses, and the time that she went to a bar across the street after closing and got stuck in an armed robbery. The fact that she stopped in the middle of that chaos to pick up her drink is fantastic, as is the fact that the surveillance video clearly showed her doing it. Also included are a few color pages of various types of drunks and one tip on how to avoid citrus destroying your nails if you work with it all day. And drink recipes, including the dreaded (for bartenders) mojito! This is another pile of interesting stories about stuff that’s probably never crossed your mind, but if you go to a lot of bars it wouldn’t hurt to have some idea of what’s going through the bartender’s head. $5
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Posted by Kevin
May 23, 2013
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The Bridge
Want to know a trick that a really mean reviewer could use to bash this book? It could literally be described as a man walking across a bridge. What sounds more boring than that? The truth is that there’s a lot more going on here besides the obvious journey (which, spoiler alert, we do not see the end of, although the cover might illustrate why that is the case). This is the story of a man, or mannish creature, with the ability to manipulate his arms to various lengths, as he walks across a bridge with terrible safety standards. It’s clearly a nerve-wracking journey, and it’s never entirely clear if he has somewhere he needs to be or if he’s just out sightseeing. He goes through some extreme weather changes and eventually runs across a village of hauntingly non-specific creatures. An attempt is made to join them, but it does not go very well (which, come to think of it, also raises the possibility that this dude would very much like to get off this bridge). I don’t want to tell you the whole story, obviously, but I will say that those fish with the human faces are some of the creepiest things I’ve seen. This is a silent comic, which means that it’s open to interpretation, but it’s a fascinating journey no matter how you look at it. Aaron does a nice job of bending the laws of physics to suit his story needs, or perhaps he’s just set his story in a world where that is not a problem. It’s worth checking out for anybody who’s not much of a fan of reality, or somebody who thinks that it would be better with some minor tweaks. $4
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Posted by Kevin
May 21, 2013
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Fruits and Vegetables
Pretty much the only problem I’ve ever had with Desmond’s comics were that some of them seemed too short, which is pretty much the best “problem” you can have with a comic. Well, even that little thing has been solved with this issue, as Desmond put a dozen short stories in here and each one of them is damned funny. The creatures/food items/utensils involved in these stories usually come to bad ends, but at least it happens for the purpose of causing laughter. My only trouble is explaining these strips in a way that won’t ruin anything for the reader, so prepare to be dazzled by my lack of specificity! Stories in here include a conversation between two Tyrannosaurus Rexes (or is “Rex” still the plural?), three worms and the hygiene behind sharing their dirt, utensils with some alone time, a dog and a hamburger trapped on an island, two eggs talking about how things could have been much worse for them (this is the one that got the biggest laugh out of me), an imaginary imaginary friend, showing up too late for the comic, a cloud trying to get out of a conversation, two monsters knowing that they’re in a comic strip and that their life is as finite as the strip, mugs trying to figure out their purpose and geometric shapes and their inability to return a book in a timely fashion. At least a couple of these stories have previously been released as their own comics, but it’s hard to think of a more perfect collection of his work. Buy this immediately if you like laughing, or if you need a reminder that the original purpose of comics was to make people laugh. $5
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Posted by Kevin
May 20, 2013
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Unfortunate Mishaps in Aviation History
Well, you certainly know what to expect with a title like that. Don’t expect any happy endings here, as Emi once again tells a couple of stories about historical events that didn’t go exactly as the participants had planned. If you’ve ever stopped to think about how the parachute was developed, chances are that you can imagine that it wasn’t perfected on the first time out. The first story tells of one version of it and of the man who decided to test his own invention by jumping from the Eiffel Tower, even though he had only tested his parachute using dummies previously. The really tragic thing about this is that another inventor had successfully tested his own parachute two days before in New York. I do wonder if the doomed inventor had word of the successful test or if he thought he still had a chance to be first and that’s why he rushed it. The second story is all about an expedition to the North Pole in 1896. Emi does a fantastic job of showing the various terrible lapses in judgment that the crew committed before and during the trip, but the idea of using a hot air balloon that was able to control its progress by using a series of ropes dragging along the ground was always a little dicey, especially considering the fact that the inventor couldn’t even get it to work consistently in trials. Emi has managed to piece together a pretty detailed account of their trip, although she somehow manages to make it seem a touch less gruesome than it probably was. There’s room in the world for a big old collection of these stories, oh mighty comics publishers, once Emi gets enough of them together. In the meantime, the rest of you should probably buy these comics of hers to show her that it’s a good idea to keep making them. Not that she should give up on Spaz, but I’m always fascinated by historical tragedies that I’ve never heard of. $2
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Posted by Kevin
