September 23, 2011
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The Lost Works of Georges Melies – Film 1: The Twins
Hooray, another comic where I don’t understand the context. Georges Melies is, according to the always reliable Wikipedia, one of the earliest French filmmakers who innovated in all sorts of revolutionary directing techniques. You probably need more of an understanding of the guy than I have to fully enjoy this comic, or maybe it’s just me. This is the story of two women who are both trying to become queens. The women are related (hence “The Twins”) and the younger one seems to have her father (who seems to be the king) on her side. The other woman seems to be locked away, and she escapes through a trick between the panels. Either that or I just missed it completely, and frankly I’d bet on that second option if I was you. Oh, and the one who was trying to become queen also made a deal with the devil of some kind, although it sure seemed to be an especially lopsided deal, as she didn’t get a damned thing out of it. I enjoyed the way that Charles played around with the panels, leading to some interesting movie-like effects. As for the rest of it, I clearly haven’t watched enough old French films to really know what the hell I just read. So if you fit in that microscopic sub-group that enjoys mini comics AND the films of Georges Melies, you’re in luck! For the rest of us philistines, it’s possible to enjoy the technical aspects of this and some of the imagery, but as a whole I just didn’t get it. Are reviewers supposed to admit that? Oh crap. I mean that of course I did get it, but that I chose to keep an ironic distance so that I could berate the comic. Sure, that must be it. But hey, at least it’s only $1, right?
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Posted by Kevin
September 22, 2011
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Some Stories #1
Is it just me or are some people not even trying with their comic titles? In the past Desmond has come up with some clever, sparse titles that usually got even funnier after you’ve read the story. This one? Pfft. That being said, I did enjoy the content a whole lot, which is the point of these funny books. “Some Stories” in this case refers to two stories. Why not just call it that? OK, I’ll shut up on that subject now. The first one is called “4 O’Clock” and deals with the untimely death of a guinea pig just as it’s about to get a nice, juicy carrot. He chats with god (well, the god of the guinea pigs) and finally learns of a deal he can make with the devil to be brought back to life and finish up any lingering tasks. He wants that carrot so he makes the deal, but this is the devil we’re talking about here and yes, that title does come back in a pretty damned funny way. The second story is either a masterpiece of an homage to Memento or a direct rip-off of Memento, depending on your perspective. Like Memento we start at the end, but in this case it’s a heartwarming scene of two fish falling in love. The idea is that fish have such tiny brains that they’re constantly forgetting what’s happening to them, so as we go back in time we watch the awkward courting process, keep seeing signs referring to a “Todd,” a singing crab, and if I say another word I’ll start to spoil too much. Once again the ending is a thing of beauty, but in this case it also makes the entire comic that much better. If you were afraid to try his previous comics because they were too tiny, this one is perfect for you. Two whole stories, one lazy title, $3.50!
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Posted by Kevin
September 21, 2011
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Gaylord Phoenix #4
Full disclosure time: I haven’t read the previous three issues of this series and it looks like Secret Acres is putting together a collection of this series in the near future. That implies to me that this is most likely meant to be read consecutively, which is something that I haven’t done, so a good chunk of my comments on this comic could safely be considered bullshit. Not that that means that I’m going to get all complainy up in here, but I did want to make that fact clear. In this hefty, disquieting, mesmerizing, gorgeous and relentlessly compelling book (that, again, I didn’t fully understand) we have the birth of the Gaylord Phoenix. Or at least his birth in his present form, or at least his birth in this particular area. Gaylord is looking for his other self, which resides within him, but getting that self out proves to be tricky. From there we get a rebirth, some mutilations (but all for a good cause) and some generally drastic actions in the other half and the attempts to purify Gaylord. This issue makes me all kinds of curious about past issues and how this whole thing holds together. Visually this issue is stunning, but I needed more of a connection to what was going on here to completely love the story all out here by itself. No price or a place to buy his comics online that I can see (why, comics artists, why?), but you can send him an e-mail from his website.
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Posted by Kevin
September 19, 2011
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The Black Project #1
I never know what to expect with Gareth, and that is a wonderful thing. Between the Man Man books and some other assorted comics it was already made clear that he has a real knack for genuinely funny stuff. This one, on the other hand, takes another turn entirely. This is the story of a young boy and his obsessive quest to “create” a girl. I don’t think it’s ever spelled out how young the boy is. I’d guess somewhere around 12, as he’s still in school and rarely gets much time away from his parents. Anyway, he manages to assemble a monstrosity called Laura, but a friend notices an arm, a fight ensues, and the boy has to dismantle it in a hurry. That’s enough creepiness for one comic, but Gareth is just getting started. Our hero decides to make another girl, and this time he’s going to do it right. Naturally it isn’t going to be as easy as all that, and the boy is eventually found out, but I’m in danger of spilling too many beans here. I’ll just say that (according to the message at the end) this story is going to be continued, and I’m a big fan of the new direction. Well, maybe not if this is going to be 100% of his focus, as the world needs a new Man Man comic every year or so, but this book succeeded on just about every level. It’s set up with large chunks of text with illustrations filling in some gaps, but it’s not like a lot of text-heavy comics that seem to rely almost completely on the words. Those pictures are crucial and add to the horror of this “girl” that he’s constructing. Once or twice the words got a little too small (I’m guessing he had to shrink things down for the comic size), but that’s the only negative thing I have to say about this. If you have a hollow spot where your funny bone used to be, buy this for your first introduction to Gareth’s work. Or if you just like a good, unnerving as fuck comic. No price as always, but I’ll guess $5.
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Posted by Kevin
September 16, 2011
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Poit! #1
This all wrapped up so nicely that I almost didn’t include the “#1” (it might be meaningless anyway, as even some comics that are meant to stand alone sometimes come with a “#1” marking). Still, that’s not my call to make. Dave Sim again! Despite the fact that just saying/typing his name is bound get somebody annoyed, I do miss having a monthly comic of his to look forward to. Few comics have ever given you as much bang for your buck as Cerebus. For $2.25 (and he kept it at that price for years even though he had long since stopped making money on the individual issues) you’d have a chunk of the ongoing story, an introduction, letters from some of the smartest people around, and for the last 100 issues or so either an ongoing conversation (his multi-issue conversation with Alan Moore was a thing of brilliance; I wonder if that was ever reprinted?) or a lengthy screed on different subjects. I remember having a two hour gap between classes at the time and once a month I would spend the whole time reading a single issue of Cerebus. OK, nostalgia corner is now closed. How about this comic? Well, for one thing Dave’s art couldn’t be simpler. It’s all stick figures and sound effects (and I know “poit” probably didn’t start with Cerebus, but that’s what immediately popped into my mind). The story deals with a man who is popping in and out of time in a variety of situations. There’s an angry moment, trying to figure out the year, peaceful time in bed with a woman, and the constant presence of a pier. OK, sure, it’s entirely possible that this could be a compelling series if it continues, but it really does feel like it wrapped up nicely here if this is all there is. It’s the usual $1, and somehow that scan is bigger than the actual size of the comic.
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Posted by Kevin
September 15, 2011
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Slither #7
Hey, Slither! It’s been ages. For people who don’t follow the website or Kelly’s work, that’s not to say that she’s been slacking for years, that after starting Slither 8-10 years ago (at a pure guess) she’s just been coasting. She’s done plenty of other mini comics, and at least a few of them that referred to this period in her life. Anyway, this one is all about her last year of art school in Vancouver and her falling in love with her current boyfriend (it always feels stupid to call somebody that when they’re over 30, but I’ve never been able to come up with a good alternative either. “Significant other” is just odd). The introduction mentions that she intended to finish this in 2006, so I guess you could call it late, but it fits right in with the other issues of Slither. Stories include her little section of Vancouver (and how her friends and everything that mattered was within walking distance), her awful experiences with her printmaking teacher, her boyfriend coming to visit and that developing into a situation where he was soon moving in, various activities around town, spending time in Georgia, her bad movie club (wasn’t Larry Drake, the “mentally challenged” character from L.A Law, in The Dentist too?), mice in her apartment, and finally graduation. It’s another solid mix of short pieces that leads up to her life during that years and, as always, I think you should buy it. What can I say, I remain biased towards the good stuff. Oh, and one more thing as a general reminder to people who send review comics: if I don’t review your comic within a few months of you sending it (depends entirely on how much of a backlog I have to get through), then that means either it got lost in the mail or it got lost here. Mounds of mini comics are not a good organizing system, but maybe the second decade of this site is when I’ll finally get that shit organized. For everybody who doesn’t send me review comics, please disregard that entirely and just buy her comic already. $2
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Posted by Kevin
September 15, 2011
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Mongoloid Revenge
I keep trying to get past my confusion on the title, but it’s a sticking point so it’s best to mention it. What the mongoloid goes through in this issue is the exact opposite of revenge, or at least it is from his perspective. Josh starts off with a brief recap of the previous issue (every lazy comics person in the world who doesn’t bother doing this, take note), and it turns out that a walking, talking moose blames the mongoloid for several troubles. It’s never made clear if he has a good reason to blame him for his troubles, but that’s irrelevant to the story. Things start off with the Moose putting himself in serious danger in his efforts to get revenge. Things seem to turn out OK for him, judging by the epilogue, but it’s left at a dicey moment. About halfway through the book we get our first glimpse of the mongoloid, as he wanders around the apartment innocently. The revenge bit kicks up shortly after that, as a crew of monsters seems to be living in his house after having seduced his wife. Things get even uglier from there, and that epilogue really shows him at his lowest. All in all it’s a bit bleak, but it’s a fun ride getting there and Josh has an excellent eye for the bizarre. Worth a look, and it’s most likely required reading for anybody who read a copy of the previous issue, Mongoloid Diner. $2 (?)
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Posted by Kevin
September 13, 2011
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My Life in Records
It’s always a little tricky to pull off music in comics, but I think Grant nailed it here. This one is split into three stories, and the first one is entirely about music. There’s his first record, how certain songs trigger a nostalgic reaction or bring up distinct mental images, the air guitarist gradually moving up to the actual guitarist, all ending in a cacophony of sounds and images. Next up is a story of Grant growing up (Grant must be his middle name, as he’s called Tom in this one). It starts off with explaining the items that meant the most to each of the three brothers, then moves on to drawing in the early Saturday hours and how his only knowledge of Sesame Street was through a record with Bert and Ernie. There are also bits about growing up in a small room with two brothers (then the shock of moving to a house where they all got their own room) and trying to get a few glimpses of television when they visited their grandparents. This is the bulk of the book and it looks like the start of something bigger, and he’s gotten off to a fantastic start. Finally there’s a story about seeing Pinocchio in the theater when he was a kid, how he tried to make a Halloween costume of Pinocchio as he was changing into a donkey, and how he learned the difference between the “good” and “bad” record players. All of this is full, gorgeous color, so for $5 I’d call this a damned good deal.
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Posted by Kevin
September 12, 2011
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Monkey Squad One #7
OK, I’m officially converted. I was on the fence after the first couple of issues of this (that I saw, anyway, as I missed the first four issues), but then loved the recent annual. This particular comic is a thing of beauty, and I’m going back and forth on either explaining every bit of this comic or leaving it all to your imaginations. A happy medium would be best, don’t you think? It was mentioned in the last issue that the squad would be escorting a rapper to an awards show. But, thanks to the fact that this comic comes out on a regular basis and Doug has time to spend on such things, we get a few pages of backstory for this rapper before things get going. Then we jump to the gang sitting around listening to the rapper tell his story, and a fantastic ongoing gag begins: this group of kids trying to understand the language of an old white rapper. There’s plenty of comedy gold to be mined from that subject. Then we get to the digestive issues (that I could have done without, but hey, it is a group of kids we’re talking about), a roadblock, and then: zombie apocalypse. Regular readers of the site can stop right now, as that’s generally enough to get my seal of approval, but wait, there’s more! This is where it gets tricky in terms of saying too much, but the conversation about the believability of zombies in movies being turned into zombies while they were in full gear (cheerleader, clown, that sort of thing) never striking them as all that believable was fantastic. Anyway, the whole comic was a good old fashioned blast, and that full page of images of puzzles that they had to solve (all video game staples and cleverly done) now holds a special place in my heart. See, this is why I always tell people whose work I’m on the fence about to please keep sending me their stuff and to try and work out the problems that I point out. Not that I’m a guru at making a successful comic, but I like to think I at least have a few useful pointers on how to make it look more professional. Doug has improved by leaps and bounds in a few issues (not that he was terrible to begin with by any stretch) and now I have one more comic that I love seeing on a regular basis. $2.50
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Posted by Kevin
September 7, 2011
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Window #11
Dave changes things up a bit in this issue by making the entire thing about one story. That cover page sums it up pretty well, as one of the bigger girls at Dave’s school tries to get a Tamagotchi from a smaller girl and her friend. The smaller girls make it clear that the device isn’t with them at school, things escalate for the poor girl on the cover (things get even worse than that for her), and somebody in authority is finally called in. I was a little annoyed at the lack of resolution until I realized that bullies and beatings like this rarely got satisfying resolutions when I was in school either. Teachers would get both sides of the story, one of those sides would be completely fabricated, and the frazzled teacher would have too much going on to make an accurate call, so they would usually split the difference. Dave wasn’t physically present in this issue, so I’m left wondering how he pieced this together. Did he get the accounts of the girls involved? Bits and pieces from various teachers who observed certain parts of this exchange? Either way it does an excellent job of summing up the chances these kids have of getting things decided fairly. It’s probably best to get them used to such disappointments at an early age, he says pessimistically. These books remain hard to find, but if you can’t they’re generally only a buck of two, so be on the lookout.
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Posted by Kevin
September 6, 2011
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Indestructible Universe #6
Would you like to know exactly how far my annoyance at people who can’t spell extends? Well, not so much people who can’t spell, as they can always ask friends who can spell to proofread their work, or use a spellchecker, or even plug a word into Google to get the correct spelling. When the comic with the terrible spelling is crappy anyway, the whole enterprise is easy enough to dismiss. For a comic like this, it gets a little more complicated. Morgan is a graduate of the Center for Cartoon Studies and studied under Jason Lutes, Steve Bissette, Eddie Campbell and James Sturm. That’s an impressive group of teachers right there, and this book is gorgeous in many ways, from the basic images to the inventive use of panel layouts. But is there no class at that school where they stress learning how to spell? For me that simple act of laziness at best or willful ignorance at worst makes me question the whole comic. Yes, I am aware that I’m getting all worked up over a “little thing” like proper spelling, but it takes a book that could easily pass as a professional comic from Fantagraphics or Drawn & Quarterly and makes it instantly amateurish. Feel free to chuckle if the culture has passed me by on this and nobody gives a shit about such things, but I’ll stick my curmudgeonly ways on this one, thanks all the same. So after that rant, what about the actual comic? Like I said, this book is gorgeous. I’m always up for a smart science fiction story, and this one either has potential to be that or is already there (this is the first issue I’ve read, so I have no idea what happened in the previous issues). The first story deals with some holy men and their task of keeping people from turning into werewolves with lanterns that they carry around, while other citizens get addicted to moonlight and have to be “healed.” There were more ideas in this eight page story than there are in many comics and I’d love to see them expanded upon, if they haven’t been already. The next story deals with the evolution of man and their constant efforts to control or curtail death. Next is a fantastic little fable about a group of animals combining their resources to reach the moon and steal back the piece of everybody that was left there to hold us all back. Finally there’s the ongoing story called Driftwood and, while I loved that “the story so far” page, it didn’t do a whole lot to explain what happened in previous issues. Still, it had another great fable (this time about a bird that outsmarted a hunter) until all of the characters get trapped in a traffic jam, which is apparently a bad thing. Logs are also involved, but I’m clearly not caught up on the story to make a coherent judgment on it. All in all I loved most of this comic, and if there were only a few spelling errors I could get past it, but there were several. If Morgan can do better in that department I think he’ll be an important voice to watch. Well, he’ll be that either way, but I’m not the only person in the world who tunes out when the spelling flies off the rails. At least I hope I’m not, although with the way the world is going it’s entirely possible. No price listed, but this beautiful and hefty book is at least $5.
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Posted by Kevin
August 26, 2011
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Mortal Tedium
If my website somehow exploded in a giant orange action movie ball of flame tomorrow, at least I would have comics from people like John Robbins that I never would have heard of otherwise to comfort me. Assuming that I survived the explosion of my website, as I have no idea of the blast radius of such a hypothetical thing. This is a collection of seven short stories, although they were all released first in different anthologies. Believe you me, John is living in Dublin and there’s no way in the world that you’ve already read all seven stories. I’d read the ones from Gin Palace #2 and the Side B anthology, but that was it, and I keep up with this sort of thing for a “living.” Dog-Eared is the story from Gin Palace #2, and it deals with an aging writer coming across a copy of one of his old books in a used bookstore. Upon closer inspection he sees that this was the copy that he gave a past girlfriend, which brings a flood of memories and regrets. Caro Mio Ben was from Side B and it details the desperate attempts to remember someone through the music that they enjoyed. Other than that (in order of personal preference) there’s The Receiver(computer support gone horribly wrong), Dad’s Head (in which John explains the various ways in which something is not quite right with his dad’s head, right up until the delightful mindfuck of an ending), Dental (the random sentences of a very small child), Troubled (idealism meets reality) and Zero (the heftiest one page story you’ll ever see dealing with a man who can’t forget childhood torments). If you think that that means that I hate the last story just because I listed it last, please be aware of the fact that every one of these stories is fantastic in its own way and you should all be so lucky as to be forced to read a “bad” John Robbins story. No price listed, but I’d guess that $5 or maybe even a little less could get you a copy.
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Posted by Kevin
August 25, 2011
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Monthly
With the pace that Brian has established in making comics, it might be tempting to take that title literally. You’d be wrong, as it’s actually about a suicidal werewolf, but it would be an easy mistake to make. Anyway, yeah: suicidal werewolf. The only way this werewolf can be killed is by being shot through the heart three times by someone who loves him, so he has to spend the time between changes getting somebody to fall in love with them while still keeping them willing to kill him when he changes into a werewolf. Naturally this is a difficult trick to accomplish, as all the “I’m a werewolf” talk in the world wouldn’t keep you from being any less terrified when the actual change occurred. This first issue is mostly setting all that up, but it also managed to include a few intriguing questions. He still seems to chat with his mother, for example, and he can only be killed by somebody he loves, so… Well, it was intriguing to me anyway, but come to think of it I still haven’t seen a finished series by the man. It’s another fine addition to his comics pile, and if you liked his previous stuff I sure don’t see a reason for you to avoid this. I poked around on his website a bit today and saw that he has a number of past issues available for free download (including this one), so why not check out a few for free and see what you think? Then at least buy a few of them, as it’s a little sleazy to just read all his stuff for free. Yes, I am in fact one of the few people left who cares about such things. $1
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Posted by Kevin
August 23, 2011
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Last Slice
It’s going to be a long time before we all figure out just how devastating the loss of Harvey Pekar was to the small press comics community. Sure, there was his own incredible work, and the world is poorer for the fact that there will be no new stuff (unless there are unfinished bits and pieces out there, but it’s still a damned finite resource). But the greatest thing about Harvey in my mind was the fact that he was a relentless champion of the medium and did all he could to help out artists that he liked. I’m bringing all this up here because Jaime mentions in one of his strips that he had actually stopped drawing entirely for five years before Harvey tracked him down and talked him back into it. I’ve been a fan of Jaime’s work for years and to think that all that talent was hanging on that thread is disturbing. Here’s hoping that other respected comics elders take up the slack, as I frankly don’t think people like reviewers have the standing to pull it off. So how about the actual comic? Yes, I do remember that that is the point of a review. These are the best of the “Slice O’ Life” strips (as chosen by Jaime, obviously), but he mentions that he had to cut some of them down from six to four panels, which immediately makes me wonder what that changed. He also mentions that these strips lack the detail that he uses on his other comics, as the strip was being printed in color and all that detail didn’t come out anyway, but there’s still more detail in each strip than I see in plenty of entire mini comics. Anyway, these are all four panel strips about a variety of different topics, with 40 of them in all. Topics include a dangerous stretch of river current, creepy religion, a crappy day, entertainment on the bus, the circuitous logic of a running man, assholes telling their most intimate details while talking on their cell phones, a dedicated drunk/druggie from high school, the meaning behind empty vanilla extract bottles that you might see lying around, the best surfer in the world, how risky activities have changed from when he was a kid to now, Santa in the hood, how the “razors in the apples” Halloween rumor ruined the free local caramel apples, the things that a dog brings home, and George Hamilton. That’s just the first half, you can discover the second half of strips for yourself. In case that wasn’t perfectly clear, you should buy this comic, and anything else he does (although I will mention it if he does a terrible comic, it’s just that I haven’t seen one yet). Don’t let this man drift away from comics again… $4 (?)
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Posted by Kevin
August 22, 2011
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Bad Breath Comics #3
“Too” and “to” are two completely different words. Just saying, as that was the only glaringly obnoxious thing that stood out to me from this comic. Not that Josh is the only person who makes that mistake (far from it, sadly) but it still bugs the hell out of me every time I see it. So how about the content? It was strange and uneven at times, with hints of possible greatness to come. Or not, but I see potential. Stories in here that I enjoyed include an old man and his seagulls, the one about car auctions (until it devolved into utter nonsense in the last few panels, which sure looked to me like another one of those “I have no idea how to end this so I’ll just stop” stories), a long but oddly rewarding setup for a dragon pun, the CEO asking for more money on a street corner, a wordless protest against bras and fights (I think that’s what it was about anyway, but in any case it was a good excuse to have a naked woman running around for a few pages), and the dumb fuck trying to find a box of cereal. The long piece about a fake cola company trying to win over the public while doing some horrible stuff behind the scenes didn’t always hold together very well and it had another awkward ending, but I’m all for somebody at least trying to be political in their comics. Things have been falling to shit for ages now and people who speak up even a little bit should be encouraged. That cover is delightfully awkward, with nothing to do with the contents, and the back cover is pretty great too. That seems to be pretty much all of the stories that I enjoyed at least a little bit, and when I say that this was uneven I mean that most of the individual stories felt that way, but this also looks like early days for Josh in the comics business. With that considered he’s off to a fine start on his way to putting out 6-12 more comics of increasing quality until he takes a proper job and leaves all this behind. Not that I’m feeling overly cynical today or anything. But hey, $2 for this much content is a steal any way you look at it.
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Posted by Kevin
August 19, 2011
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Team Girl Comic #3
It’s finally happened: my brain is falling out. I can’t think of any other reason why a good chunk of these stories left me utterly flummoxed. Well, other than the fact that maybe they weren’t particularly good stories. Just to get this out of the way early, I know that some contributors to this comic are young (13ish) girls, and if I happen to overly criticize one of their stories, it’s meant to maybe give them constructive criticism that will help them over the long run (you’d be hard-pressed to find ANYBODY who was a brilliant comic artist/writer at 13). It’s a fine line to do that without also looking like a jerk, so my apologies in advance if I wander over that line. I have only the best of intentions! Anyway, it’s best to start with the stuff that I liked. Hoo boy, a functioning table of contents would have been nice too. OK, positive stuff, like I said: Karena Moore with the dog and the magic talking boots, Colleen Campbell with a funny one panel strip, Gil Hatchers’ strip on the problems of huddling for warmth with a mechanical bear, Penny Sharp and her series of fake full page phone ads, Emma McLuckie commanding a robot, Gil Hatcher lamenting her terrible skills as an older sister (before getting a nice physical reminder of why she’s too hard on herself), Laura Armstrong and her tale of robot rights, the smudgingly creepy ending to the story by Heather Middleton, Karena Moore’s midge story and Gil Hatcher’s story about trying to hide a candy purchase. The other stories either made no sense to me or left me cold. The story about the bear hugs was OK, but it was clearly resized for the comic (not the fault of the artist, obviously) and that really screwed up the look of it. The wordless “welcome home” story made no sense at all to me, “the interns” could maybe get better but it’s “to be continued” after two pages, the wordless story with a security camera flew right over my head and the “kids” story had a punchline that wasn’t remotely funny to me, but maybe it would make more sense if I had kids. Yes, I purposefully avoided using artist’s names for the bad bits, but that’s also because I wasn’t sure who did at least a few of those stories. If you’re looking for a good/not so good percentage (always useful in an anthology), I’d put it at roughly 80/20 good to bad, which is still a great ratio for one of these things. That and the fact that this group of women mostly from Glasgow is doing this at all is something that should be strongly supported by anybody who complains about all the middle-aged white guys in comics. Oh, and have I mentioned how much I love that cover? No price listed, but $5 seems like a reasonable guess.
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Posted by Kevin
August 18, 2011
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The Escapologist #1
For those of you who were dying to solve the mystery of “Simon M.,” , I give you Simon Moreton! For everybody else who has no idea what I’m talking about, Simon is the guy who did all of those delightful Smoo comics that I’m sure you all dutifully purchased after I told you how much I enjoyed them. Simon is starting a new series with this comic, and a quick check of his website shows that #2 is already done (he’s just working on the publishing end of things at the moment) and that he’s also working on #3. Well, so much for my theory that this comic was one of those one-shot comics that small press writers invariably put a “#1” on. It’s easy to think that, as this is a comic about everything. I mean that: everything. It’s a lot to convey in eight pages, so it ends up being confined more to Simon’s general area, but it’s there. Things start off with Simon on the street, staring at birds, before he leaves his body and takes a journey of the city. then pulls it all back together with mentioning the fact that we also all hold together the very ink on the pages. It’s all very self-contained, which makes me a little surprised that #2 is already done, and more than a little curious to see what it’s about. This is mostly a wordless tale with one fantastic quote at the end. To me this comic was both a chance to escape for a minute or two (as the title implies) while also contemplating the manner in which the entire world fits together. That’s damned tricky to accomplish, and it may or may not have been what he was shooting for, but that’s what I saw. No price, but I think it’s around $4.
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Posted by Kevin
August 16, 2011
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Foie Gras and the Joy of Cooking #1
I think I picked the wrong book that Edie sent me to review first. The other book is apparently a lengthy collection of previous works, while this is a tiny mini. Oh well, it’s not like I could possibly stop this one and review that one right now. Why not? Um… look over there! So anyway, this one is a series of images (that look like they were taken from cooking instructions, or maybe they were just used as a reference/inspiration) with what appears to be a scattered poem. I’m lousy at defining such things, so I won’t even try. I do know that the combined effect of the words with the mostly innocuous images caused a few visceral reactions, so he’s clearly doing something right. The chopping of the prosthesis, the hand up the turkey’s ass with the words “about my boyhood” and the “fuck me like this” page being the prime examples. Dammit, I really should have read his other book first so I’d have more to talk about. Soon enough, and in the meantime this is almost certainly cheaper than that collected book if you just want a less expensive representation of his work. I have no idea how much is actually costs, as his website doesn’t say much about it, but let’s say $3 for the hell of it. His website also has a lot of sample images, if my word salad of a review was worthless to you today.
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Posted by Kevin
August 15, 2011
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Too Blue Comix #3
Would somebody please send me a handbook on how to review porn comics? Even parodies of porn comics are tricky, but I have no idea what to say about stuff like this. Do you like drawn representations of sex and various sexual situations by different artists, with funny punch lines galore? Then you’ll love Too Blue Comix! There, does that work? Artists in this one include Dexter Cockburn (it is his company putting this out, after all, and who draws better comic sex than Dexter?), Aung Min Min, Simon Mackie, Roy Cutting and somebody called JTW. Hey, it’s a comic with naked bits, I can see why you’d go with a pseudonym. Stories include the unintended consequences of getting a coin that hypnotizes people and asking a woman to “fuck my brains out,” double giant booties, and a real life action figure in the sack. There are also a few full page spreads, including Dexter’s back cover of a giant fuck sandwich. This is a short and tiny mini, and that first Dexter strip is already in another one of his comics, but hey, $1 for some serious nudity and sex can’t be that bad.
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Posted by Kevin
August 12, 2011
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Tall Tales for Short Kittens #1
Hey, wait a minute! There’s nothing resembling a kitten in this comic! Which is probably for the best, because if Jason took his title literally then this comic would probably be insufferably adorable instead of breathtakingly strange. In the best possible way, of course. The first story is the longest (clocking in at six pages), and it definitely sets the tone for things to come. See, there’s this blob thing (who is wearing a very fetching fez hat) who crashes his boat ashore. The blob really doesn’t seem to mind, but a young girl watched the crash and finds this lack of concern worrying in its own right, so she goes off to tell her father. Meanwhile, the blob has found a rat to be his companion at a local tavern, and everybody comes crashing together at the pier of the original crash. My general policy against spoilers prevents me from telling you exactly how the ending perfectly tied this tale together, so too bad for you. Other stories include heartbreak, Dyna and her diamond ring, an odd bird/blob creature staredown, jazz players and their stereotypical lifestyles, and Lil’ Red Hoodie turning the tables on the wolf. There’s also an activity page with a 3D maze, some jokes and instructions to color the entire book if you’re bored. This comic is a bit uneven at times, but taken as a whole it’s a compelling collection of work. Is it bad if I get serious enjoyment out of the fact that that cover, somewhere in the world, led a confused parent to buy this for their kid? Probably so, but I can’t help it. Anything that helps indoctrinate kids into enjoying smart, quality comics is OK by me. $3
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Posted by Kevin
