January 9, 2012
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The Offering
I was wondering what had been going on with the folks from the Good Minnesotan anthologies. I first noticed Anna’s work in the pile of other comics that comprised Good Minnesotan #4 (hey, whatever happened with that Kickstarter fundraiser? Is there a collected edition in the works?) and have been curious to see further work from pretty much everybody involved. This comic tells the story of two young sisters who go off into the woods to meet some witches. The older sister is going because she wants to help the witches, while the younger sister is reluctantly being dragged along for the ride. The older sister decides that she wants to be an active participant in the witchcraft that’s going on and ends up being sacrificed to bring a monster baby either to life or back to life. This freaks the younger sister out more than a little bit, obviously, so she runs away from the witches and comes across another, unrelated witch in the woods. From here she learns a possible method for bringing her older sister back to life before confronting the original witches again. It’s a thoroughly engaging story and that ending is pretty much guaranteed to creep you out. Solid art, enthralling story, there’s not much more to ask for from a comic. My only problem was a technical one, as she didn’t list any contact information inside the actual comic. Luckily she doesn’t have the most common of names and her information is easily found with a Google search (and she included a business card with the comic), but it’s always a good idea to put at least an e-mail address inside your comics, as you never know who’s going to end up reading it. But the actual comic part of it? Yeah, I liked that a lot. No price listed (which is impossible to get annoyed about, as very few people bother with a printed price), so I’m guessing $4 for no good reason.
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Posted by Kevin
January 5, 2012
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Fight
Sometimes my rule about never listing any spoilers really hinders some of the points I should be making. This comic was damned near a masterpiece before it reached that ending, which kicked it up a few notches. Mega-masterpiece? Masterpieceapocalypse? Make up your own awesome word, it won’t be as great as this ending. Still, I’m getting ahead of myself. Fight is the story of a professional wrestler/monster named Fight. He’s having a good run as champion until a female version of himself called Super Fight comes onto the scene. He falls instantly in love and she takes advantage of his distraction to beat him and win his title. It turns out that Fight managed to get Super Fight pregnant during their kiss (hey, they’re monsters, who’s to say how they reproduce?) and she has a baby called Fight 64. This thing seems to exist purely to cause mayhem in various situations (I would direct your attention in particular to the chapter dealing with the pathetic creature known as the Boobstadon). Meanwhile Fight is down on his luck after losing his title, attempting to get a series of humiliating jobs, and Super Fight seems to be trying to drink herself to death. All three of these characters stay away from each other until right near the end and, as I’ve mentioned, what an ending it is. The book is a damned epic, and this in a book that I assumed would be merely funny with a bit of a punch-’em-up thrown in, which is what I get for assuming. This book won a Xeric award, and this world would be a poorer place if the money didn’t exist to put this book out, which maintains their damned near perfect grant record. I guess you might hate this if you’re looking for a heartfelt tale of introspection and loss, but if that was the case you probably wouldn’t be picking up a book called “Fight” anyway. Read it, love it, and recommend it to your friends. Yes, even the ones who don’t like comics. If they like funny things done well then you just might manage to convert them to comics. $5
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Posted by Kevin
January 4, 2012
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Brown Vs. Brown
My sozzled brain is still recovering from all the cold medicine and nasty side effects of this cold, so I’m sticking with small comics like this for the time being that have simple concepts. This one, for example, deals with Bryan’s rage at being confused with Box Brown (who makes the delightful Everything Dies series, among other comics). The rage builds for a bit before Bryan snaps and has to attack Box, but Box has a secret weapon up his sleeve (that I couldn’t help but spoil in the sample, for which I apologize, but how could I pass up that image?). It’s funny and you might end up being surprised by the winner of the fight, so what more could you ask for? It’s also a short 8 pages, so you might want to go for one of Bryan’s other comics if you really want to see him flex his artistic muscles. Or you could apparently just buy some of Box Brown’s comics instead just to piss him off…
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Posted by Kevin
January 3, 2012
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Lobotomy
There are times when a silent comic needs a few words of explanation, and this is one of those times. Or it’s possible that all the cold medicine that is still coursing through my system (along with the actual cold itself) is making me stupid and I’m just not getting parts of this. Actually, I’d bet on the latter explanation. This is the story of a smaller chunk of a larger brain that has taken over the whole brain and, well, lobotomized it. Sort of, anyway, as the larger part is still capable of independent thought. Why don’t I just flip through this again in the hopes of making this review at least slightly coherent? Small brain chunk wakes up and goes about its daily business. Then it wanders over to the larger brain and hooks it up to something that is clearly hurting it. The small chunk then rides the large chunk throughout the day like a steed, while the large chunk is clearly miserable the whole time. Once the small chunk goes to sleep the larger chunk takes off for its own adventures, and I’ll just tell you the whole comic if I’m not careful. Maybe my confusion is due to the fact that a lobotomy is permanent and I’m taking the title too literally. It’s a fun little story regardless, although the ending was a little confusing to me, but again, that’s probably the cold medicine talking. $2
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Posted by Kevin
December 30, 2011
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Nibble #6
A bit of an explanation will be required for this one. I’ve been sick as the proverbial dog since getting back from the holidays, with my head feeling like it’s been wrapped in gauze and thrown down a mountain. What this means in a practical sense is that I’ve been looking at a few comics that have been coming in and, while some of them look quite good, they’re also far too complex for me to talk about with any kind of coherence while I’m in this kind of state (even if this review ends up seeming coherent, it’s taking forever to write, mostly because my body just isn’t in working order at the moment). Anyway, along comes a few Tom Cherry comics, which are always short and to the point, so I picked one of them for the last review of 2011. Too much information? Quite possibly, but what are you going to do? This comic is about the boasting of a small rock. Seriously, you can see it starting on that cover image, then the sample image is of the next page so you can see that it keeps up. And that is the illustration for a good chunk of this book, so without a couple of pages there at the end this could have been done in a few minutes. As for the story, this boasting does not go unnoticed (either by someone actually hearing it or just the cruel universe in general), things change and there’s a genuinely funny final line. The end. Like I said, this is as much complexity as my brain is capable of handling at the moment, so your opinion may vary if you’re not hopped up on cold medicine, but I thought it was funny. $.25
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Posted by Kevin
December 22, 2011
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Vortex
You know, generally speaking pseudonyms make more sense when your real name is a secret, not when you list both names in every publication. Hey, whatever works for him is fine with me. Mark’s work has occasionally baffled me in the past (and long time readers know that I usually mean that in a good way), but this one made perfect sense to me. Whether that should be worrying or a good sign I’ll leave up to you. Things start off with a big old cosmic figure who is searching for a “tranz force” and notices a signal coming from an uninhabited planet. He/she/it goes down to the surface and meets a life form. This life form slowly (over the course of pages) reveals that this was a trap set for the original life form, as they knew that it would come to investigate the tranz force sooner or later. A brief battle ensues, the original entity is cut in half, and that’s when things start to get interesting. Mark has a nice intro in this comic that explains this universe a bit, but it’s best to read such a thing for yourself instead of having me summarize it. The battle of these two creatures was suitably majestic , which also gave the reader the sense that we were seeing a fraction of everything that was happening. I also liked his choice to take as many pages as he did showing this battle, as something between two cosmic beings like this should be big and dramatic. I always hated how some Marvel comics would have some big cosmic entity like Galactus getting punched out, as if that was the extent of something that could happen in a battle with a guy who ate planets. Ah, I’m wandering now, but if you liked any of Mark’s previous comics then you’re sure to love this, and if you never gave them a chance then this is as coherent a starting point as you’re likely to find. $5
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Posted by Kevin
December 20, 2011
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La Petite Mort
Just when you think that there is no possible way to find anything original to say in the zombie genre, somebody always comes along and proves me wrong. I’m not even sure if it’s accurate to call these undead people zombies in the usual sense of the word, but I’m getting ahead of myself. This mini is told from the perspective of various people who saw a strange phenomenon start off first-hand. Um, and that may be an unfortunate choice of phrase. Anyway, it all started with an EMT who came across a drunk driver. He died on the way to the hospital, but after he died he looked at her and started masturbating. After he died. Then we get stories from other people with the same experience, in both male and female dead people, with the scientific world being flummoxed. I say that these aren’t the usual zombies because they had no interest in eating people, they were only interested in masturbation. Well, science started studying the problem and they eventually stumbled into a solution, and what a fantastic solution it was. I’ll say no more, as it’s up to all you good folks who aren’t afraid of a picture of a penis to buy this comic in support, but I’ll be damned if Russell didn’t handle it perfectly. I haven’t seen his name before (that I know of, it all tends to be a bit of blur around here), but this comic is professional as can be. If he’s just getting started everybody should give him a burst of encouragement, and if he’s done a few comics that I just haven’t seen then he also deserves further encouragement. Give him your $2 either way is what I’m saying. Also, if you really hurry this would make a fantastic stocking stuffer for any overly religious relatives that are bugging you excessively around the holidays…
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Posted by Kevin
December 19, 2011
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Optik Noize #2
Ah, one of the genuine perks of this website: I get to see talented comic folks mature throughout the years. Well, that wasn’t the plan originally, but as I’m still doing this 10+ years after I started it is now one of the perks. Matthew did a series of minis a few years back that were mostly fun, all-ages science stuff. The cover has improved and the art is noticeably better and in full color, but it remains full of fun, all-ages science stuff. This time around our hero has developed a mind enhancement machine and has used it on his dog and a rat to prove that it worked. It’s still too untested to use on a human, so naturally his nemesis overhears it (with a complicated spy device, it’s not like his nemesis was in the room with him or anything) and schemes to use it on himself. Shenanigans occur, hostages are taken and an over-sized brain gets thrown into the mix. Matthew has also been much more creative with his panel layouts this time around, as I remember them being pretty standard for most of his minis and they’re all over the place (in a good way) for this one. His stuff wasn’t bad to begin with, but he’s made a leap forward with this one. If you’re a fan of grim and gritty realism then you should probably pass, but this is perfect for the kids or people who like a little scientific mayhem in their comics. $3.50 and that website is still pretty bare, but I’m sure that he’ll get it updated in no time. Right?
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Posted by Kevin
December 15, 2011
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Fear of Failure #1
I don’t know what other comics Thom has done, but he displays some serious mastery of the craft here. The action starts with a scene from the end of the book, which has been done before, sure. But the rest of the book reads like a story that you’re fast-forwarding through on your DVD player, with the action becoming larger and more prominent when the reader needs to slow down and everything being depicted through a series of tiny descriptive panels when you’re fine just skipping ahead a bit. It adds up to the impression that you’re being guided through a story by a guy who knows exactly what he wants you to see, and that sort of thing is always a good sign to me. Anyway, this is all about Dr. Lois Pritchard, a psychiatrist (?), and her daily happenings. Things start off with her confronting a mystery person (who is revealed at the end), then we get a detailed description of this section of the town. Next we get to know Dr. Pritchard a bit and the rest of the book is her dealing with her co-workers (one who is trying and failing to get rid of a large cluster of cats that howl outside his window, and the other a religious nutbag), her family, her patients and her own life. Along the way we get these panel clusters that I mentioned before that show bits of her life flashing by until we get to the meatier stuff. As a little bonus we also get a story on the history of fainting in Thom’s family (at least I think it’s autobiographical) and how it has affected him since. I pretty much loved it, and you can read it for free at his website at the moment (along with some of #2) if you’re curious. You should probably buy it if you do love it, as the guy has to make a living and buying books from people is always an excellent motivator for them to keep going. The price is roughly $6, but this is a hefty thing.
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Posted by Kevin
December 14, 2011
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Everything Unseen Parts 4 & 5
There are two reasons for me to reread a book after reading it the first time. There’s the obvious reason of needing to get a better handle on the book, as maybe later bits helped clarify earlier bits. Then there’s a general sense of “what the fuck.” This book manages to take the best elements of both of those choices and it made the reread a significantly improved experience. I haven’t read the first issue of this series (which collects the first three parts of this series), and it’s always tricky to pick up any story in the middle, not to mention one that does so much to fuck with your head. I was able to figure out that our hero is trapped in a desert and was only able to leave through “cosmic intervention.” He fights a local god and wins, so he gets to basically steer that god for the rest of the issue (while also being influenced by that god). The sample page I used is the process of the two of them joining together, which admittedly isn’t the best representation of the series (there’s usually more talking), but it’s such a fantastic page that I couldn’t help myself. They get acquainted with one another, our hero eventually wants out (and deals this god a pretty much mortal blow in the process), and is able to escape with the help of the girl that got him free in the first place. Along the way there are several conversations that I couldn’t hope to encapsulate here, but I will say that this is set in a far future time and there are a few tantalizing references to current events and technology. This is all in part 4, by the way. The only trouble I had with this part is that he used pencils for the lettering, but that’s purely an aesthetic problem, as it’s not like he left unerased pencil lines over the place. It was as neat a use of a pencil for lettering as it could possibly be. And the writing carries you effortlessly along this world that should be a complete mess to the reader, so the minor quibbles about aesthetics end up going nowhere. So how about part 5? Our hero is on the run, with the chapter starting with a long bit of text about the history of running, why humans ever bothered with it (when they often just found themselves back where they started a run) and how our hero would have handled it if he was alive when it was popular. From there the chase is on with some “people” who want our hero back/want to punish him for his role in hurting that god from the last part. It also gets way crazier than the previous part, which is really saying something, but it’s best for you to find that out for yourself. And if you’re annoyed by the cliffhanger, there’s also a brief interlude that shows us what happens next after part 5. This one got off to a rocky start for me on my first read through, but after sticking with it for a bit the whole thing opened up for me and everything made perfect sense. Which, come to think of it, probably should have been more alarming than it was. So to sum up, as I rambled even more than usual this time (which, for new readers, is a good sign for the book itself): panel layouts that tweak any “rules” for such things whenever he feels it necessary, chunks of text and dialogues that scream out for multiple readings in the hopes of getting all the nuggets out of them, and an oddly compelling if sometimes mind-boggling story. Sounds like plenty to me. The website for Revival House Press (the publishers of this book, which is hefty in case I haven’t mentioned that yet) appears to be down, but check with Drew directly for a copy. $11
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Posted by Kevin
December 13, 2011
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The Gag Rag
Even if you’re one of those humorless types that doesn’t care for laughter, I think everybody would have to agree that Jeff puts together some impressive covers. My scanner really doesn’t do this one justice, as those colors fly right off the page and smack you in the mouth. In the best possible way, of course. A cover can only take you so far, so how about the comic? Well, I just finished reading it and I’m not completely sure that I didn’t dream some of it, despite the fact that I never fell asleep while reading it. That sounds like a recommendation to me, but to each their own. Things start off with a table of contents that only a dork like me could love: each page is listed with its spelled out representation. Yes, I really do appreciate such things. When we get to the actual comics there are a few pages of “ads” for a strange product called Neocream, a couple of short and mostly amusing one panel gag strips, and finally we get to meet a couple that has just been stranded at sea. Get used to these two, as you’ll be seeing a lot of them as the comic goes on. First it’s for the humorous maximum person requirements for the inflatable island, then it’s their reaction when they open a box of sharks, and finally how they deal with having a baby and having one of the inhabitants end up being allergic to coconuts (the only food available). We see them later in an extended gag sequence involving a series of possible rescues, but I’ve said too much. Other stories include God mixing together the universe (with outtakes!), God meeting dogs and cats, God going for a joyride (and answering questions from the audience), and God ending up at a Wal-Mart. Finally there’s a piece about Walt Disney and his crew, which you will especially enjoy if you know some of the mistreated artists from that time period. There’s also the opening and ending strips, but I’ll leave those as a total surprise so that you didn’t have some idea of everything that was coming. It’s a pile of funny, and people who enjoy such things should seek it out and give Jeff some cash. No price listed, as that would make things too easy, but I’m guessing at least $5 for this hefty thing.
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Posted by Kevin
December 12, 2011
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The Christmas Dream
Please note: this will be the extent of any Christmas celebration for this website. To me it just gets more and more obnoxious every year, which probably has something to do with me getting further and further away from an age where I knew that I’d be getting some really great stuff. These days it means seeing some family that I rarely see, sure, but it also means that going to any stores or the post office is a miserable ordeal. So with that bit of holiday cheer in mind, how about this comic? It’s a tiny mini, but I was immediately intrigued by the image of a heart that has clearly been beaten severely on the cover. Or so I thought. This comic is actually the story of a sentient heart that is trying to figure out the inner workings of the human mind. After discovering that it doesn’t know much about the subject, it goes into space (?), where it eventually was covered in ice and snow before finding a great truth of the universe, which I’m not going to give away for free here. Sure, it doesn’t make a ton of sense, but I liked the writing anyway, and that last panel was wonderful. Chris seems to be attempting to build an empire of cute heart thingies with giant eyeballs, and more power to him if he can get it to work. His other comics might be too sweet for some of you to bear, but not this particular comic. No price listed on his website, I’d have to guess a buck or two.
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Posted by Kevin
December 8, 2011
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Life is Good #7
Is this the end for our heroes? I can’t explain that any more without giving away way too much, but this issue ended with a few big things wrapped up and no clear direction moving forward. Which would be fine; this comic has been fun but I wouldn’t mind seeing Steve branch out a bit. Then again, he invested so much time in these characters that I am a little curious to see what he’d do next. Mr. Decisive, that’s me. So how about the specifics of this one? Things start with a very thorough recap (I have just enough of an ego to think that maybe my incessant pestering on this issue is getting through to a few people which, if true, will have made it all worthwhile), then Brownie has a chat with the Sewer Gator about the direction of his comic (which the Sewer Gator stole and published without Brownie knowing about it). Meanwhile, Charles is eating himself to death in his effort to stop littering and Dr. Peace Rock has a plan to pin everything on Charles (and get back in the good graces of Unity). This wouldn’t sound all that strange if it wasn’t for the cast of characters, but there are no actual humans in this comic and even the background characters are odd enough to make you sit up and take note. Anyway, things come to the confrontation that has been coming for issues now, but I can’t really talk about that, so you’ll just have to read it to see what happens. Or if you haven’t read the rest of the series then I guess you don’t have to read it to see what happens, but I think the whole thing is worth a look. Hey, come to think of it, now it’s about the perfect size for a collected edition, and it’s a finite story to boot. I’ve stumbled across his master plan! In case I didn’t talk about the specifics enough this time around (I do have a tendency to ramble about ancillary things), his art has only gotten better and has moved up to “pretty damned good,” and I’d even say that the plotting has gotten tighter. The writing was never bad, but it’s remained entertaining all the way through, and who can ask for more? $4
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Posted by Kevin
December 7, 2011
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Beast Begat Beast
Have you ever wondered what a sea serpent zoning commission would look like? No? That’s odd, neither have I. Well, lucky for us James has thought of this and then put it into a comic. The story here is that this commission regulates where sea monsters get to live in the sea and assigns them territory. Things go smoothly for 800 years or so, but finally two monsters get together and have a baby, so its territory must be established. The sheer variety of the monsters keeps things interesting, but even so it probably goes on for a few pages too long. There are also four very strange pages dealing with the Barnacle Brothers and their conversations. If you love barnacles, that story is for you. So as a package this is OK, and moves up to pretty good depending on your love for different types of monsters. I loved the fact that he has a table of contents with page numbers for the two stories, but then mentions that there are no page numbers on the actual pages anyway. Yes, I am exactly enough of a dork to get a good laugh out of something like that. It’s been a few years since I’ve seen a book from James and it looks like he has a good selection of new comics available, and he was nice enough to send a few of them along so I can get a better handle on his new stuff. Oh, and in case it wasn’t clear, there are several funny bits in here, it’s just that I thought the main story dragged a bit. Just one man’s opinion, as always. $5
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Posted by Kevin
December 5, 2011
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Guino Danino
The best guess I’ve been able to come up with (based on internet translation doodads) for that title is “depraved blink.” Believe it or not, that’s actually a pretty great title for this comic. This is another shorty from Luis, as I continue my quest to review all of the tiny comics that he sent me a few months back. This starts off with a man (Ricardo) waiting for a doctor of some kind, and when he walks into his office the phone of the receptionist breaks in her hand. He apologizes, she (and the reader) react in confusion, and Ricardo meets his doctor. This doctor is more of a voodoo doctor than anything else, as he hypnotizes Ricardo to try and get to the root of his problem. Some memories are uncovered, a possible solution is proposed, end of comic. That’s what I love about Luis’s work so far: even though it’s short stuff, each of them has been utterly unique in their own way. Sure, there are comics with people with telekinesis, but they’re usually wearing spandex, and it’s rarely depicted as the out of control menace that it would be if it existed at all in real life. Another great mini, another one where I have to guess on the price, so… $3?
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Posted by Kevin
December 2, 2011
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Ike the Cat in Wall Street Cat: Money Takes Naps
Hey cat haters, you soulless monsters you: get an early start to your weekend, you’ll find nothing to enjoy here. For the rest of us people with actual human feelings, you’re in luck. This is the fictional story of a real cat who seems to have a job on Wall Street, although it appears from the story that his job is really just to listen to people complain. Anyway, Ike starts his day with some canned food, rides the subway to work (making friends along the way), listens to several people tell him their problems and calls it a day. It’s pretty much all sweetness and light; even the conversation with the H.R. lady went swimmingly. This probably won’t win any awards, but it has a cute story and it was the perfect heft and tone for a Friday afternoon. My only real complaint has nothing to do with the story and more to do with the cat. Ike in the comics is depicted with an “M” on his forehead, and his picture at the back of the book seems to confirm that. Why in the world would you start the name of such a cat with an “I”? Crikey, at least call him “Mighty Ike” or something to take advantage of that natural branding on his head. Use your imagination, cat owners, but he’s just crying out for at least a nickname. Sara sent along some other books too, so I’ll have a few chances to look at comics that aren’t all “look at the cute kitty” (not that I have much of a problem with that), but I like the art here and had no problems with the story. Worth a look, at least unless you hate cats, and I thought I told you people to leave at the start of the review? No price listed on her website, so I’ll go with… $5!
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Posted by Kevin
December 1, 2011
Website for Giulie
Website for Cecilia
By the Slice
Job hunting! I’ve been doing that myself lately and it is some demoralizing shit. This starts off with a young woman (Gwen) looking for work online and sending out her resume. She gets a call back the next day and gets hired on as a cashier at a pizza place. There wouldn’t be much of a comic if that was the whole story, so she also lucks out and gets a racist asshole of a boss. Not the hood wearing kind of racist, just the kind that has assumptions about entire ethnic backgrounds based on a few bad experiences. So Gwen puts up with it for awhile, as she doesn’t have much choice in the matter and most jobs are shitty anyway, before things finally come to a head. It’s a nice little story, with her friends trying to get her through some of the nonsense and all kinds of examples of the casual racism that always makes Fox News viewers get an odd look on their face when they’re called on it, like it’s impossible for it to be true. I do have one small bone to pick, and it’s a bit of a spoiler, so watch out if you don’t care for such things. In fact, just stop reading now, as the art for this is fantastic and it’s a fun little story, so you should give it a shot, in case that’s what you were wondering about. OK, so the book ends with Gwen having a nice chat with her boss, as she feels bad about quitting the way that she did. He’d been built up as a (rightly) bad guy up until that point, and I didn’t feel the need for the burst of sympathy there, but maybe that’s just my cold, cold heart talking. No price, so $3 maybe?
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Posted by Kevin
November 30, 2011
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Blink: So Far
I’m never entirely sure what to talk about in collected editions of comics that I’ve already reviewed individually. It’s a good chance to update Max’s contact information anyway, so there’s that. This collection seems to cover Blink #1-4 (but maybe not every bit of them), and some of the newer stuff isn’t included, like his “FYI: IDK” mini, which is sorely missed. But some newer stuff IS included, so this is essentially an entirely new book and I’ll go with that. Either way, a collection like this is a good chance to revisit older stuff and see both how it holds up and how it holds together as a cohesive whole. Well, Blink defies the latter kind of analysis because it’s a series of moments and conversations, not the entirety of a depicted life. I’ve always loved the fact that this is a comic about three people in Columbus (two girls and a guy, although mostly about the two girls for this collection) and we’re not bombarded with relationship nonsense or much in the way of serious drama. These are mostly the moments between those bigger moments, and I’m glad that Max has spent a good chunk of his last 7 years pointing those moments out. As for how it holds up, it holds up pretty damned well. The earliest pages show that he’s improved in the years since, but it’s not like he was terrible even back then. And if you haven’t read any of his individual issues of Blink, you’ve finally waited long enough to have most of it in one collection (although I’d still recommend finding the uncollected minis). Stories in here include stopping to enjoy a moment on a playground during a nice day, Sam bouncing crossword clues off Blink (even though Blink is terrible at it, their back and forth seems to lead Sam to the right answers), Sam talking Blink through some writing anxiety, Blink playing in the snow to avoid dealing with said writing problems, the two of them going to a poetry reading (although all we see is them talking about with a punchline from an observed conversation, which again perfectly sums up the charm of the book), the two of them staring at the stars and talking, a conversation around a campfire with the three of them, and Hank and Blink talking about Hank’s fear of lightning. The biggest story here is also probably my favorite, as Sam meets Hank for the first time and takes him to task for not understanding the blues. The back of the book says that this is a book about the three of them, but really it’s about the two ladies and their friendship. No big space battles, no mutants of any kinds (although those squirrels were making some very strange noises, so no guarantees), just regular old solid conversations. And images of Columbus spread out throughout the pieces, which tied it all together. I liked the minis, so of course I like the collection too, but people who haven’t read it yet should definitely give it a try. Or hell, even if you have read them and just want a nicer edition for your bookshelf. $10
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Posted by Kevin
November 29, 2011
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King Cat #72
I know I’ve said this before in these reviews, but why in the world isn’t John Porcellino rich and famous? Granted, you could say that very few people from this business end up rich and famous, and even those people are only famous in an underground kind of way (there’s Robert Crumb, Dan Clowes, and…), but it’s a fucking shame. I mention this because John talks about his recent divorce, his moving to Florida for another relationship and then having that fall apart too, ending up with him in a small town on the Illinois/Wisconsin border. At every step of the way there are money concerns, ending up with him living with his mother for a while, and it’s just maddening to me. I know that nobody is owed anything in this world, but quality like this should get some tangible rewards. So what did I think of the comic? You’re kidding, right? This is #72 of the series, my love for this thing is well established by now. This issue starts off with John with a shattered heart, follows him along a walk with a conclusion that makes you ache for the guy, before eventually ending up with him in his new home. He does a few pages of three panel journal strips (which may or may not be the first time he’s done this, my memory is too lousy to be sure) that show his life slowly getting better, then a big ending story about a bat that wandered into his house, how his cats reacted and how the situation was ended. There’s also a story about a very young John on LSD and how he asks a sister of a friend to marry him. That goes about as well as you’d expect. Every time I think he must have already mined all of the great stories from his youth, I realize that he still has plenty more to go. Another solid issue, and seriously, if there is even one rich person reading this with money to burn on the holidays: just give him a pile of money, OK? For the rest of you, buy his comics. He just finished illustrating a book called The Next Day (which involves interviews with four suicide survivors) and has another book coming out from Drawn & Quarterly next year, one of which would make an excellent holiday gift, and the other (when it comes out) will make an excellent Easter gift. If it’s out by then, of course, if not it’ll make a good whatever day it comes out gift.
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Posted by Kevin
November 28, 2011
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Stranger Two Stranger #2
I’m so happy that Robert decided to keep going with this. Sure, it’s a simple concept: illustrating the best/oddest Craigslist personal ads, which he started doing after being inspired by the “I Saw You…” anthology edited by Julia Wertz (which I’ve been meaning to review for ages now). Still, the guy has the judgement needed to pick out some of the best ads, which goes a long way in a book like this. Ads that he adapted include the one I sampled below (and it’s always a bit dicey to start the book with the best ad, as that gives you a lot to live up to in later pages), a tube of scabies medicine left over after a hookup (and the desire to see the person again anyway), a regretful ad about a guy who died before the poster got to say good-bye, trying to get in contact with the guy with the webbed feet from the gym shower, a helpful letter to the ladies about the power of their boobs, missed connections from being a faithful husband, a tiny bearded man, a lady in a freezer, and a flasher showing up at the wrong house. There are also a couple poems, one a little heartbreaking and one a bit of a mess. His illustrations really bring out the emotions of these ads, and three cheers to the man for keeping this up. $2
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Posted by Kevin
