July 1, 2011
Website
3-D Pete’s Star Babe Invasion Comics Summer 2011
Maybe it’s all the review copies of adult comics I’ve been getting lately, or maybe it’s just the utter ease with which you can find a naked picture of any starlet who has ever taken off their clothes for even a split second, but I found this comic downright quaint. Sure, it’s meant to be at least mildly salacious, and shame on you if you couldn’t figure that out from the title/cover. Still, outside of some (mostly drawn) cleavage here and there, there’s just not a lot here to threaten the delicate sensibilities of those types who try to censor everything. It’s not like Mike was trying to go that way and failed; he comes across as a light-hearted guy who is just having fun with the idea and using it to get an interview with one of the ladies from a space-themed beer commercial. Sorry, the “back in my day” rant will now end. So how about the comic? There are several full page spreads of various actresses in real or imagined movies and even a full color centerfold. The comic stories include a critical but fair look back at Barbarella (including the tidbit that Raquel Welch turned down the role), determining the “Trek Babe Supreme,” figuring out who gets the last ticket to the “Space Ark,” dealing with stupid aliens, and a theory of how the next mission would go in the new “Star Trek” movie after they put Kirk in charge (just after graduating) of the most powerful ship in the fleet. Yes, that was a remarkably stupid part of the movie, but the “stupid” quotient in movies seems to be going up all the time. There’s also that interview with Rachelle Wood from the beer commercial, which ended up being more interesting than I would have guessed going in. If you’re a fan of the ladies in science fiction you have an excellent chance of liking this book a whole lot. If not there’s significantly less in here to like, but the stories are still fun and hey, maybe if you give it a try you’ll end up liking ladies of science fiction more than you do now. No price for some baffling reason, but due to all that full color stuff I’m going with $5.
Comments Off on Fisher, Mike – 3-D Pete’s Star Babe Invasion Comics Summer 2011 | 
Reviews | Tagged: Mike Fisher, Star Babe Invasion Comics | 
Permalink
Posted by Kevin
June 29, 2011
Website
Website where you can buy the book
Second Chances
Who else is sick of the seemingly endless eight hours a day you have to spend at an office? I’m guessing it’s most of the people who are in that situation. I’m currently not stuck in that hellscape (but am well aware that that’s a temporary reprieve, barring a pile of money falling in my lap from above), but Matt clearly either is or is well aware of that mindset. This comic is a mostly silent tale of Matt going through an average day. There’s Matt stuck at a computer, hunching further down as the day goes on, and getting bounced around on the subway. He picks up a pizza, eventually falls asleep and is woken up by a read oddity. He had been given a flower earlier in the day that can bring life to inanimate objects, so he decides to make a substitute for himself and send it off to work. Meanwhile Matt (I should probably just say “Matt substitute,” as I have no idea if this is really supposed to represent Matt and we all know the dangers of assuming) runs off to the wilderness and survives on his wiles. Things progress, the cardboard Matt ends up doing really well at work and with Matt’s old colleagues, and actual Matt (as represented in the comic, obviously) gets more than a little tired of roughing it. He decides to return to his old life, but by this point cardboard Matt has plans of his own. I’ve seen plenty of comics where the artist bitches endlessly about their sorry lot in life, but kudos to Matt for showing that there are always crappier options to your crappy life, and it can be dangerous to get exactly what you think you want. It doesn’t hurt that the art is gorgeous and that almost every panel tells a story (they kind of have to, what with it being a mostly silent comic and all, but Matt pulls this all off perfectly). Excellent production values for a $3 comic too, which leaves you with exactly zero reasons not to check this out. $3
Comments Off on Sundstrom, Matt – Second Chances | Reviews | Tagged: Matt Sundstrom, Second Chances | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
June 28, 2011
Website (where you can buy the book)
Hereafter Press
664 North Main Street
Bristol, CT 06010
Revelations #1
Oy. It’s bad enough when self-published mini comics don’t have any sort of contact information, but for a comic where they went to the trouble of getting it published? Louise and Barry used “Ka-Blam” digital printing, a name I’m seeing more and more on the backs of the more “professional” (i.e. color cover and excellent production values) comics, so it’s not like this cost $0 to put out there, and they couldn’t even be bothered with an e-mail address. Sorry, but that just seems stupid to me. I put the snail mail address up there, so for the two people in the world who still use that to order their comics while still being internet savvy enough to find such things online, there you go. For everybody else, well, maybe they’ll stick with this series long enough to eventually get a working website up about it. This all came about because I was checking on some of Barry’s old series and I was curious if some of them really stalled out after one issue or if I just hadn’t seen new issues. That can be a problem when my main method of getting small press books is through review comics, as if somebody doesn’t bother to send me one after a few issues I have a tendency to lose track. Have I mentioned that I’m in a rambling mood today? Christ. So how about the actual comic, other bitching aside? This is why I was wondering about Barry’s past work: seems promising, depending on whether or not they stick to the series for a few issues, but it could just as easily fall apart. Our hero is a woman who makes a living defending vicious criminals that she knows are guilty. She’s never lost and has set countless monsters back out onto the streets. Some hero, right? Still, it makes for a mildly interesting premise. We cut to six months later and she’s about to get pummeled by a group of thugs, which she arguably has coming but, as it’s put in the narration, “deserving and accepting are two very different things.” She sprouts some short, thick claws at the ends of her knuckles and takes care of the thugs. From here we get to see our hero trying drugs to stop the changes she’s experiencing and is finally given some facts about her condition by a mysterious figure who has broken into her apartment. So what you have as a whole are some possible cliches that could turn ugly, or enough new ideas for them to make something interesting out of all of this. It’s not a bad intro, I just find as I get older that I believe less and less that there’s going to be a #3 in a series, let alone a #6 that a series like this would probably need to really get going. If you’re less cynical than me, go ahead and order it by clicking on that link, or if maybe you think you’d like this type of story and don’t mind if it dies out after one issue. Me, I’m going to reserve judgment. $3
Comments Off on Cochran-Mason, Louise & Southworth, Barry – Revelations #1 | Reviews | Tagged: Barry Southworth, Louise Cochran-Mason, Revelations, Scott Schriver | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
June 27, 2011
Website
Silent V #4
Could it be? Is this the missing Silent V origin story? Well, sort of. The storytelling in this one is damned near linear, which is shocking in itself after the first three issues. The first half of the comic (roughly) deals with the early years of our hero and his proficiency in killing aliens. I’m still not entirely clear on WHY he hates aliens so much, although it seems to be basically because his scientist father didn’t have time for him as a kid, so he killed aliens in brutal fashion to pass the time. Chances are I’m missing some nuance there. The second half has a human sacrifice gone wrong (actually an intended dingo sacrifice) and the escaped dingo learning about the god he was supposed to be sacrificed to. See, I was able to more or less summarize this issue coherently! This also leads me to an inescapable conclusion: I’m going to have to read all of these again when #5 comes out, theoretically by the end of the summer. I have a sneaking suspicion that some of the things that seemed like nonsense before (delightful nonsense though, no doubt about it) are going to start coming together. If not, well, then Kyle hasn’t been doing his job properly. Still, there’s just enough sense to all of this that I can see bits and pieces of a master plan poking through the surface. You guys should buy some of his comics to motivate him to get #5 out on time. Sure, it helps me out, but this comic should be seen by the comic reading world at large. $2 (?)
Comments Off on Baddeley, Kyle – Silent V #4 | Reviews | Tagged: Kyle Baddeley, Silent V | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
June 23, 2011
Website
Weeknight Casserole
I’ve found over the years of reading these books with funny pictures in them that there are two kinds of “collections of random stuff not collected in a single comic before” type of comics. One is the rushed mess of a comic, often half-filled with sloppy sketches, that was clearly done with the intention of having another (or one) book available at a convention. Then there’s the good kind, the kind that is full of stuff that just happened to be in different anthologies and sure, it probably doesn’t go together in any kind of logical sense, but who cares? Good comics are the goal here, not comics that tie together. This book fits that second description, as Kelly put a bunch of solid stories in here. Doesn’t Kelly know that you’re supposed to half-ass it for anthologies? Stories include a damned sweet piece about her Dad, an old boyfriend’s surprise party and how he was hit on all night by a male friend, cramming in a lunch break, “Accidental Adventures in S & M” (worth the price of admission all by itself), a page of small observances from her day, an early experience with live music (and not knowing a mildly famous guy by sight), and her odd crush on an older professor. There are a couple of pages that are portraits of various people, and not one of them was filler in any way. Once again I have nothing but praise for one of her comics. Sorry to disappoint the people out there who live for savagely negative reviews, but most of those folk left here years ago. $2
Comments Off on Froh, Kelly – Weeknight Casserole | Reviews | Tagged: Kelly Froh, Weeknight Casserole | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
June 22, 2011
Website
Built #1
Here it is! Brian’s 100th ongoing series! OK, maybe I’m being a bit of a glib dick, as that’s not even closely to being literally true, but damn, this man has a lot of ongoing titles to juggle. It doesn’t hurt that they’re all in comics roughly the size of your thumbs placed next to each other, but it’s still an impressive achievement. This one deals with a robot who breaks free of his programming and decides to escape. This robot is on all the time, constantly improving itself, and it knows that its behavior will be noticed sooner or later, so this escape is a matter of self-preservation. Anyway, it manages to escape, is eventually found by a group of angry humans, and discovers just how unlikely humans are to listen to a sentient robot. Things end on a note that quite obviously makes this another continuing series and why not? There are all kinds of possibilities from here. Sure, “robot gains sentience, escapes from captors and wants to join humanity” story has been done before, but at this point I have full confidence in Brian’s ability to get something new out of it. That and Joe Badon’s scratchy, almost panicked art was perfect for the story. So yes, the verdict is that this is another potentially excellent series. Or another potential series that is abandoned early on, and only time will make that clear. For now I’d say it’s worth your support, but what do I know? $1
Comments Off on Mitchell, Brian John & Badon, Joe – Built #1 | Reviews | Tagged: Brian John Mitchell, Built, Joe Badon | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
June 21, 2011
Website
Major Mishap Pushes the Panic Button!
It’s best that I get a few disclaimers out of the way before I get to the review. Jerry sent me a whole pile of comics but, due to the various technical problems my computer, scanner and brain have had over the last few months, I haven’t been able to get to them. Some of them are even still in the original envelope, to pull back the curtain on the goings-on around here a bit. So when I say that I don’t have much context to review this comic, or any idea if it’s part of a larger series (it sure seems like it, but that’s just a hunch at the moment), that’s exactly what I mean. I’m going to break my usual rule here and even talk about the ending, but to make up for it I promise not to spoil any of the other several comics he’s sent me, and it’s necessary for the point I’m trying to make. What is that point? That I don’t get this comic. Oh, the basic story is simple enough, and even a little funny: man trapped in a remote installation for 30 years snorts some “mystery powder,” gets a notice from his superiors that he cant’ handle in his state, and he blows up the world. It’s a very short comic, so that’s all you really need. But then there’s the presence of “Dusk, Ruska Vampire Nurse.” I assume that means that her name is Dusk, but a word of explanation about what a “Ruska Vampire Nurse” is would have been helpful, unless this is part of a bigger string of stories and I’m the one being stupid here. Anyway, it turns out that our hero gets nightly visits from this vampire nurse, so we see her in a few panels handcuffed near his bed, standing by a fan, and smiling a wicked smile after he discovers the mystery powder. Was it because she put it there? Was she a hidden instigator for the destruction of the planet? It seems like that would be a little inconvenient for her too. Anyway, the oddest thing was that there was no interaction between the two characters. She seemed to be there for very little reason. Was she invisible? Subtly influencing him? It’s a little baffling. I’ve already gone on too long about this tiny comic when I probably could have stopped at “I don’t get it.” I’ll have to dig through these piles further to try and find some contact info and a price, and I’ll update this thing once I do that. For now I did link to what is more or less (probably less) his website.
Comments Off on Goebert, Jerry & Durant, Christopher – Major Mishap Pushes the Panic Button! | Reviews | Tagged: Christopher Durant, Jerry Goebert, Major Mishap Pushes the Panic Button, S. Shriver | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
June 20, 2011
Website
The Collyer Brothers
And here I was thinking that this would be a mostly throwaway comic. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Emi’s work up to this point, and I was curious to see what she did with this story. Still, I got the general impression that most of her creative energies (in terms of comics at least) went to her Spaz comic. Turns out that she has plenty of that energy to spare for side projects like this, as it’s one damned fine comic. This is a story taken from Wikipedia (just in case you can’t read that cover and are afraid of the image embiggening process) about two brothers who lived as hermits in Harlem in the early 1900’s. The neighborhood changed around them, they both became hermits and withdrew from the world. When I say “hermit” I don’t mean your average person with little to no social life. No, I’m talking about two guys who would scavenge food from dumpsters and avoid paying bills until they were trying to generate their own electricity. And they were rich! Anyway, life went on, one brother had a stroke that left him blind, and their refusal to sell the house led to rampant speculation about the treasures hidden inside. I can’t say much more without ruining the ending, but Emi’s use of perspective leading up to that last page was a wonderful thing to behold. I still have a new Spaz to get to in the coming weeks, but this deserves the attention of the comic reading masses. I’m thinking maybe this is a concept she should really get behind, as there have to be a huge pile of stories about the internet involving people dying in bizarre ways. It’s a bit macabre, I guess, but Emi lists on her website that she lives with two cats and ghost, so how much weirder could it get? This isn’t listed on her website at the moment, but I’m guessing that if you send her $2 and request this book that she’ll be willing to help you out. Or add a dollar or two if you’re not sure, or contact her first. You know the drill.
Comments Off on Gennis, Emi – The Collyer Brothers | Reviews | Tagged: Emi Gennis, The Collyer Brothers | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
June 14, 2011
Website
Herman the Manatee #3
So much for all those boats hitting Herman on the head. Granted, Jason was able to make that running gag funnier for longer than I would have thought possible, and frankly he probably has it in him to make it funny again, but this issue veers away from that concept. In this one Herman is in jail. In case you were wondering why, it’s because he was hanging posters without a permit. Yes, the laws of the sea can be unduly harsh. Herman meets a couple of new friends in jail, one a self-loathing manatee (which is why he’s in jail) and a narwhal who is in jail because he killed other narwhals. Stories in here include a complicated escape plan, some time back out in the wild, and an even more complicated rescue plan. If I say any more than that this whole thing will get ruined, but I’m loving this change of direction. Sure, he still got hit on the head by a boat, but I think it was only the one time, and the individual strips are forming a cohesive narrative much more smoothly than they were in the first issue. Several strips don’t seem to have anything resembling a punchline, which is a welcome sight to me at least. And Jason’s art, even though he often doesn’t need to do much (what with it all taking place in the vast underwater ocean), is stellar everywhere. I was hesitant to go all in on this one because I was afraid it would get repetitive but you know what? Screw it. This is a damned fine comic book, and people who enjoy damned fine comic books should go out and spend some money on it. $3, or I just saw on his website that he’s selling the collection of #1-4 for $10, which is a steal.
Comments Off on Viola, Jason – Herman the Manatee #3 | Reviews | Tagged: Herman the Manatee, Jason Viola | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
June 13, 2011
Website
Blackguard #3
The crime issue! If you’ve read past issues of this anthology and think that this is a subject that this crew could handle very well, you were absolutely correct. My only complaint is that almost the first half of the book is dedicated to a letters page and comics and zine reviews. Not that I hate such things, but sometimes it gets in the way of the actual comics, and I’m speaking from my own personal and cranky bias about getting zines and comics all jumbled up. As for the comics themselves, it’s hard not to find plenty to love. When things start off with a color strip about Nazi superzombie monkey sleeper agents (by Ryan Vella), you know you’ve reading a book with tons of potential. Well I do anyway, it’s entirely possible that such a thing would turn you off immediately, in which case I’d recommend leaving this review now. It’s OK, there are plenty of other comics to read about on this site and not a single one of them has a Nazi superzombie monkey sleeper agent to bother you. Strips include an actual serial killer and the Hamburglar discussing royalties (by “Glenno,” which may or may not refer to Glenn Smith), Adam Pasion (or his story stand-in) lighting an empty pool on fire as kids, Stratu with a brother killing his sister after a stupid argument, scribbling a penis on a “Walk” sign (by Bize), Chris Mikul with the profoundly strange story of Kenneth Neu, Shaun Craike with his crisis of conscience after his only attempted theft, Neale Blandon with the story of the property theft of Mickey Mouse, Anton Emdin with the angriest man on earth and Dexter Cockburn (with one of the few stories of his without visible sexual organs) with the story of the murder of a young girl and the enigmatic diary entry detailing the deed. There are also two text pieces by Damian McDonald and Henry L. Racicot, both of which are well worth reading. As I already gave away in the intro, this comic is well worth picking up. I only mentioned about half of the stories to leave you with a lot of surprises, and even if you think that comic and zine reviews are wasted space (and, even though I pointed them out, I did notice a few comics I should probably check out, making me a bit of a moron for even mentioning that in a negative light) there are still more than enough comics here to make this worth the $5.
Comments Off on Various International Anthologies – Blackguard #2 | Reviews | Tagged: Adam Pasion, Anton Emdin, Bize, Blackguard, Chris Mikul, Damian McDonald, David Puckeridge, Dexter Cockburn, Doug Iannucci, Gerard Ashworth, Giles, Glenn Smith, Henry L. Racicot, Jason Dean, Julie Doye, Kapreles, Lark, Michael Aushenker, Neale Blandon, Ross Radiation, Ryan Vella, SCAR, Shaun Craike, Stratu | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
June 9, 2011
Website
Crocus
Just a suggestion for young small press comic artists: watch the handwriting. My handwriting it shit, for example, but in the few comics I did WAY back in the day (that will never again be seen in public, thank you very much) I slowed myself down and passed the pages around before putting the book together to make sure that people could read what I was writing. Not much point otherwise, is there? I’m mentioning to try and not single Whit out, as it’s not like she’s alone in this, but there were a few strips here where fairly critical words were crammed into the bubbles or entire bubbles felt like they were written under a time deadline. It was a pretty solid book other than that, but little problems that could have been solved before the book was released will always bug me. Anyway, she mentions in the intro that these were the first comics she did after being unproductive following a move across the country, just to throw that out there. Stories include discussing who would get to go through your embarrassing stuff if you died, trying to plan a party as a fake wedding extravaganza, watching shows about polygamy, a meticulous blowjob, and what your favorite artificial flavoring says about you. There are also short pieces of things she both will and will not do again, and a piece about how Jersey Shore doesn’t feel spontaneous any more because they all clearly see themselves as brands. Any comment I have on that one would be mean so I’ll just leave it alone. Like I said, it’s a pretty solid pile of stories, so you should probably check it out if you liked her previous work. Or hell, even if you didn’t, although if I’m being nitpicky I’d maybe start with Onesies or Attic before moving on to this one. $2
Comments Off on Taylor, Whit – Crocus | Reviews | Tagged: Crocus, Whit Taylor | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
June 9, 2011
Website
Vigilant #1
Brian continues to be a mini comic machine with yet another new series. And when I say mini comic, I mean that the sample image (before you click on it to make it bigger) is larger than the actual comic. If you’re going to keep up with all of his books I’d recommend setting aside a shoebox or something for these tiny things, as my current plan of “let’s just leave these things lying around in piles” is not working all that well. So anyway, this comic deals with a group of vigilantes who are, um, vigilant. They watch out for the little guy, punish the evil guys, and wear short pants with their hooded robes. Maybe that last thing isn’t a listed part of their agenda, but it was still hard not to notice. As with many of Brian’s comics this one was fairly thin on detail and hard to get a handle on in terms of a potential series. His other series mostly became really intriguing after a few issues, so I’m not too worried about it. We didn’t learn much about this group, but the implication was that they were at least mildly normal during daylight hours. At this point I have all the faith in the world that Brian can turn this into a worthwhile series over time, but so far there’s not much here that you haven’t seen before. Shadowy group of crime fighters takes on the criminal element but they work outside the law! Yeah, we’ve all been there. If he focuses his considerable skills on putting out another few issues of this series I have all the faith in the world that he can make it interesting. If he decides to let this one go to focus on a half dozen other series that I’m already invested in, well, so far I wouldn’t miss this one too much. $1
Comments Off on Mitchell, Brian John & Kain, P.B. – Vigilant #1 | Reviews | Tagged: Brian John Mitchell, Vigilant | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
June 7, 2011
Website
Nine Short Works
Would you believe that this comic has nine short stories in it from Jon? Shocking, I know. A good chunk of them are available for free at his website, just in case you wanted to look them over before continuing here. It’s a solid bunch of stories that range all over the place, but one continuing theme throughout is quiet. There’s not a wasted word to be found, and everything that is said is relevant. Stories include a piece about a fight that got of hand between a couple of kids (and the loser of the fight in his later years), a chat between a woman and her mother about the things that get revealed if you watch the person you’re dating for their reactions to a movie, a day alone at a fancy home, the random kindness of a jump and the weird stuff in the guy’s back seat, a stupid death and the entrance requirements to heaven, and a boy with a dead bird. Other pieces that were a little more interpretive (not that those pieces above are exactly cut and dried) include images of a Chinese restaurant, the stars disappearing and a series of escalating images and messages. I’d go into more detail with that one but it lost me, so you’re on your own there. Anyway, it answered any doubts I may have had about the guy, so that’s a good thing, even if all of the stories perfect. A solid majority of them work for me. As for the price, your guess is as good as mine. It baffles me that a book that’s this well put together would make you guess such a thing, and his website isn’t any help. $7? Sure, let’s go with that.
Comments Off on Allen, Jon – Nine Short Works | Reviews | Tagged: Jon Allen, Nine Short Works | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
June 6, 2011
Website
Stranger Two Stranger #1
Somewhere around the mounds of comics in this room I have a copy of “I Saw You…,” the anthology edited by Julia Wertz. I’m mentioning this because R. mentions in his introduction that that book served as an inspiration for this book and to maybe help you understand his title a little bit better. See, that book had various tales of missed connections by some of the luminaries of the small press comics world. This one has ten different stories that range all over the place covering the same subject. Missed connections in here include a dopey ad listing the entire alphabet except for the “U” with the headline “What Am I Missing?,” a fairly hopeless girl who was giving it a shot anyway, a guy either looking for an overweight lady with a moustache to respond to his ad or maybe he was playing a joke, an ad to Prince Harry, one from a couple of prison inmates who wonder where their, um, “buddy” has gone, one about the sex appeal of a big old belly, another cryptic ad, and somebody whose only clue was that the person they were looking for said “bless you” to them when they sneezed in a pet shop. My favorite of the bunch has to be the story of the man who is trying to piece his previous evening together from the bits and pieces of physical evidence left over from the night before. R. also mentioned in his intro that he was very late getting into this small press comics thing, as he’s in his late 30’s at the moment. Kudos to him/her and the more the merrier. Hell, a good chunk of the behemoths of this small press world put out their best work after the passed 40 anyway, so there’s theoretically plenty of time for improvement. It’s a pretty damned solid first issue either way, but here’s hoping the guy keeps going with this.
Comments Off on Hendricks, R. – Stranger Two Stranger #1 | Reviews | Tagged: R. Hendricks, Stranger Two Stranger | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
June 4, 2011
Website
Blammo #7
Noah had a throwaway line in this one that really got me thinking. He called his comic something like the last independent comic standing and I instantly thought that was hyperbole. After all, I get mini comics all the time, and many of them are high quality books. But then I realized that Noah’s book would fit perfectly into the 90’s mold of Eightball, Hate or Yummy Fur and I realized that those comics are all gone now. Well, Peter Bagge still does a yearly issue of Hate (which is a more regular schedule than most of his contemporaries with “regular” books), but Dan Clowes is mostly gone from the field and Chester Brown just put out an (I think) original graphic novel. Noah really is one of the last ones standing, which got me thinking that the industry really is dead, which sent me into a tailspin of sadness until my mind went back to all those mini comics. Sure, the industry is either dead or dying and most people certainly can’t make a living at it. But hey, at least great comics are still being made for the 100+ people who care to read them! Hm, back to the sadness again. Anyway, this isn’t about me or the state of the comics industry, it’s about Noah once again putting out a seriously fantastic comic. First off, just on the off chance that I haven’t mentioned it yet, good for him for including an actual letter’s page, guest strips and comics recommendations. It really is like a 90’s comic! The stories in here include a fake news story about Noah (complete with the stupid “Biff! Bang! Pow” nonsense that all news stories about comics are seemingly legally required to start with), a fake ad about collecting, a couple of single page strips about horror stories, and an update of how Bill the Chicken is doing in hell. The bigger pieces are what makes up the meat of it all, and the Mormon story baffled me a bit before I read his reasoning on the inside back cover. It’s told as a straight-up historical recollection which, if you think about Mormonism and how it was founded, is a bit of a stretch (says the guy who thinks all organized religions are silly, but seriously, Mormonism came from a guy supposedly reading plates from a hat). But hey, if you don’t know the story it’ll be news to you, right? Other than that there’s a longer classic horror story idea (maybe Noah should look into doing a whole book of these things, he clearly has the knack for it), the story of a guy trying to get a job and how he reacts to finding the wallet of an attractive woman with $250 in it on the bus, and the main story about a guy who accidentally wanders into watching over a young kid as she goes trick or treating and her brother abandons her. The impressive thing about this book is that pretty much each one of these stories has multiple layers past what I’m telling you about here, but I’m one of those reviewers who prefers that you find such things for yourselves. I’m going on the assumption that everybody hates spoilers as much as I do, which I think has worked OK for me so far. Overall he may have been nominated for an Ignatz for the last issue (and not won, sadly) but he really should earn one for this issue. Ah, if only I got a vote in such matters. Or maybe I should make up my own comics awards. So what if they’d be utterly pointless? $5
Comments Off on Van Sciver, Noah – Blammo #7 | Reviews | Tagged: Blammo, Noah Van Sciver | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
June 2, 2011
Website
Robots Are People, Too #2
When an anthology is done really well, you often wish that the stories had gone on longer, that you had more time to get into the characters and individual pieces. This issue fits that description perfectly. Damned near every story seemed like it could have gone in a few different directions or even been buffed up into a full length piece. Or maybe I just really like robots, who knows? Breakfast at Hal’s by Dan Boyd deals with a few robots having a nice, um, meal (?) at a diner, talking about robot gossip and how there’s no work for aging robot models with so little work around as it is (the Iron Giant is stuck working as a chrome buffer due to his lack of a sequel, for example). Rodney for President by Jason Franks continues his string of comics that’s exactly what the title suggests, and in this issue it’s Rodney with a media interview. Hardwired by Jason Franks & Greg is a twist on the old “secret boyfriend murders the husband with the complicity of the wife and tries to get away with it” story. Recycled Dreams by Greg and Fran Matera (if that name sounds familiar, it’s because Fran has been around since the Golden Age of comics) deals with a long term revenge plot. Space Patrol of the Space Force by Lou Copeland wins the best title of the comic and has some nice robot trickery. Eyeball Roboto by Jason Franks and Greg is all about blurring the bounds of perception and an immaculate turd that can bring people back to life. Spare Parts, Spare Time by Greg and Mace Markham is damned near a touching love story between a robot stewardess and a human. Finally there’s A Tin Heart by Gary Culler and Jason Maranto, as a robot tries to figure out how to cope with emotions when it’s not programmed to have them. OK, that last one might seem a little cliche, but it was handled extremely well. All told it’s another solid entry in the series, although in my biased opinion Greg could do worse than picking a few of these stories for continuing titles and getting something going. Sure, it’s probably not practical with the economy the way it is, but very few small press comics could be considered practical. $4
Comments Off on Vondruska, Greg (editor) – Robots Are People, Too #2 | Reviews | Tagged: Dan Boyd, Fran Matera, Gary Culler, Greg Vondruska, Jason Franks, Jason Maranto, Lou Copeland, Mace Markham, Robots Are People Too | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
June 2, 2011
Website
Oh My! Comix
I’ve never really come up with a good way on this site to differentiate actual adult comics (you know, with boobs and dicks and stuff) and adult themed comics (pretty much all of the small press world that’s not directly aimed at kids). I’ve also never come up with a good way to review them, as how do you review something that is made to turn people on? Dexter (and I’m just guessing that that isn’t his real name; if it is he really had no choice in terms of his calling) lets me ignore that debate for another day with this issue, as there’s more than enough funny in here to call it objectively good, even with good chunks of it being sexy as hell. There’s also a wide variety of stories. The first one deals with a man who is coming home on the bus after watching a horror movie. He falls asleep to an empty bus and wakes up to a bus full of pale creatures with dark eyes that he assumes are ghouls. To him, there’s only one way to find out if he’s dreaming: start having sex with the lady ghoul. No words are said by anybody (although we do get some hilarious thought bubbles as the action escalates), and the kicker at the end is pure genius. Other stories involve the accidental knocking out of an eyeball (and the unfortunate choice of a plug), a crooning cat and his temporary luck with the lady cats, Lovecraft Jr. (and if you don’t chuckle a little at the “Tentacoo Wape” line then you clearly haven’t seen/heard about enough anime porn), the adult supervision involved in a camping trip with one male adult and a young woman who has seriously blossomed (with all sorts of hijinx for the male kids who get to do their own thing unsupervised for what I hope are obvious reasons), a couple of full page gag strips and a “Can You Spot the Crime” strip on the back cover. There’s also one regular old story involving the murder of a child in the 1800’s, which was actually an informative and entertaining strip, it just felt a little out of place amidst all the fucking. This is definitely for adults only, as kids in this country are only allowed to see horrific acts of violence all day every day, but boobs and/or insertion is clearly too much for the poor dears. For us adults, I’m already a big fan after one issue. Having an adult comic artist who is both funny and capable of drawing some explicitly sexy scenes is a rarity, and I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the comics Dexter sent me (even if I am going to have increasing trouble finding samples or covers without nudity, assuming I continue to care about such things). $4
Comments Off on Cockburn, Dexter – Oh My! Comix | Reviews | Tagged: Dexter Cockburn, Oh My Comix | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
June 1, 2011
Tom’s Website
Dale’s Website
Double Dip #1
Hooray for the double comic! I don’t know why more small press people don’t do these, as you would think that it would expose both creators to the audience of the other guy, which would have to be a good thing. Then again, it’s generally a pain in the ass to collaborate with most creative types, your work might get lost in the ether if something goes wrong with the printing that’s not your call, with the incestuous nature of small press comics it’s probably going to be mostly the same audience anyway, etc. Eh, whatever, I still appreciate them. So anyway, the comic itself. The stories are in the reverse order that you would think from looking at that cover, just in case you wanted to find something to complain about right away. Tom Cherry and his “Those Funky Idiots” are up first with a tale about getting three wishes and the inevitability of screwing them up, but he throws in a bit of a time travel angle that makes it pretty funny. All of his characters also seem to exist in a void, as there’s nothing resembling a background anywhere, but it works for this story. Dale Martin is up next with Watusi The Talking Dog, as Watusi meets an alien creature that can turn into any type of dog. It was intriguing, but it probably would have made more sense if his story was self-contained like the Tom Cherry story. I’m curious to see what happens next, but there’s no indication where that might occur or what number of the series I could read to see it. That was probably a mistake, but the story itself has a few funny moments in its six pages. Overall I’d say it’s worth a look if you’re wondering about these two guys. They also offer a color cover for $.50 more, but there’s something decidedly odd about it. Look at them both and see if I’m crazy at Tom’s website. $1
Comments Off on Cherry, Tom & Martin, Dale – Double Dip #1 | Reviews | Tagged: Dale Martin, Double Dip, Those Funky Idiots, Tom Cherry, Watusi the Talking Dog | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 29, 2011
Website
Herman the Manatee Volume 2
In the cliffhanger of a review for the last issue I was left wondering if the set-up for this strip (Herman hits his head on a boat when he tries to surface in a variety of hilarious ways) would wear thin by the second issue. The verdict: well, it’s not like Jason had to keep that as the story for the whole run, now did he? This starts off with us learning a bit more about Herman’s early days (along with what a disappointment he was from a very young age) before he moves on to write reviews for his head-bumping experiences, goes to a party (or not. You choose!), sings a bit, takes a personality test, votes, bores his dad on his deathbed, fails to save Christmas and then goes all Samuel Beckett on us. That’s about half of the book, and I was already impressed with Jason’s ability to keep this thing fresh and funny. But then things shift suddenly when Herman notices a distinct lack of head bumpings. It turns out that a deal has been struck to keep the boats out of the area in exchange for the manatees being willing to be kissed and ridden by tourists. Herman goes along with this for a bit but soon grows to miss his daily concussions and goes into activist mode, but I’ve probably said too much already. If you thought the first book was funny or just happened to go to Jason’s website and chuckled at a few of the strips, you’ll be happy to know that he does manage to keep up the pace for another issue. He’s pretty much fully won me over too, although I suppose things could still fall apart in the next couple of issues. Nah, he already got past the hard part. $3
Comments Off on Viola, Jason – Herman the Manatee #2 | Reviews | Tagged: Herman the Manatee, Jason Viola | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 28, 2011
Website
Buster Monster and the Roughage of July
Holy crap, it’s THAT Chris Davis! Long time readers may remember Chris and the many comics he sent my way in 2004-2005, plenty of which are still available in the online store here. I don’t think I’ve heard a thing from him since, but it looks like he’s spent that time honing his craft. This is a collection of daily strips from July 2010, as Chris saw a copy of “Ten Thousand Things To Do” by Jesse Reklaw and got inspired to try and do a strip a day. He made it a month and, honestly, he might have hit the perfect amount of time for one of these books. A year can drag in major ways (seriously, nobody’s life is that interesting), but confining it to a month lets the reader see the basic beats of the average month while also getting a pile of great comics. Well, that’s what happens if the comics are great, anyway, and these rise to right up around that level. The panels themselves can be pulled apart aesthetically, as he makes the reader follow the words on a journey through each page (it’ll make more sense when you see it). The stories themselves are a mix between dreams, happenings from his catering job/regular course of the day and oddities he sees while swimming. As it’s a journal comic there are also plenty of ruminations on various subjects, with me particularly enjoying him cutting himself off during a political conversation when he realized that there was no point to it. If you’re read his older comics and wondered what happened to the guy (assuming that you lost track of him too) I think you’ll be pleased with his current work. If you never heard of him, well, if this is the kind of work he’s putting out there days I think maybe you should get on the ball about that, don’t you? No price, but it’s hefty… $6?
Comments Off on Davis, Chris – Buster Monster and the Roughage of July | Reviews | Tagged: Buster Monster and the Roughage of July, Chris Davis | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
