Optical Sloth

New review today for Stay by Jesse Rimler, another from the pile I got (mostly) from the recent fundraiser.

New review for Die Horny by Rebecca Mock, as I once again bank a couple of reviews before my real life terrible work week begins. And hey, if you’re curious about how elections are going in Champaign County Illinois, I’d google a few news stories. To put it mildly, it’s a stressful time!

New review today for Double Take by Kat Foyle. Next week, if I can get the free time, I’ll start to get into some of the graphic novels that I got from my fundraiser. Teaser!

New review today for The Most High Girl in the World by Emily Zullo, as this is the week that I finally get to dig into the “comics from publishers who were at SPX this year, if not necessarily artists who were there” piles.

New review today for Teen Art Adventures: 90’s Edition by Ellen Lindner! And if you’re thinking “oh, at least he gets the holiday off to review comics,” nope. I’m working today, this is just past me banking some reviews during my free time on the weekend. Those weekends could also stop being free at any time, so I’m doing what I can now. Another peek behind the curtain, once again based on no questions!

New review today for 7 or 8 by Lara Antal! I’m going to try to get at least one more review up this week, but these 12ish hour days are not making it easy.

This time of year (meaning a month before an election) is a notoriously terrible time for me to try to sneak in reviews, which is especially annoying this time around because I have so many comics to review! Anyway, I’m banking a couple of these suckers before I have to go in to work for a bit (on a Sunday!), so new review today for Big Punk by Janelle Hessig/Janelle Blarg.

New review today for On Fire by Marnie Galloway! In case you were wondering, my order from Radiator comics arrived first, followed today by the Fieldmouse Press order. Both arrived within a week, so if you’re needing quality comics in a hurry, you can’t go wrong with either of them.

It took the better part of a day, but I went through the exhibitor list that was at SPX this year, wrote down a few dozen names of people I’d like to check out… and then went to a couple of distributor websites and went a little nuts. Fieldmouse Press and Radiator Comics, in case you’re curious, and I had no trouble dropping a hundred bucks at each of them. But I only raised one hundred in the fundraiser, not two? Yeah, what can I say. Also, and this is probably common knowledge to most folks, but I don’t think it’s ever been easier to check out full comics online from people you’re curious about for free. On the other hand, I don’t think it’s ever been harder to find physical copies of those same comics from those same people. Maybe they don’t even exist in physical form in some cases? Anyway, maybe no new reviews this week (unless I get something in the mail), but once those orders get here I’ll have plenty to talk about.

New review today for Midville High #12 by Matt Blair. Yes, I usually try to wait until somebody scrolls off the front page here before reviewing another one of their comics, but the pickings are slim here and Matt is prolific.

New review today for Love and Other Crack-ups Part 1 by Jenny Zervakis! No more links to the fundraiser from me, and thanks again to everybody who donated. One thing that I didn’t factor in regarding buying that dollar amount worth of comics by people who were at the con? My usual “strategy” for cons is to walk down the first aisle, make eye contact too many times, and end up spending 3/4 of the money I had planned before I knew what hit me. Now I have time to research, go to websites, try to determine the most well-received book of somebody who catches my eye, etc. This might take me a few days! Oh, and if you did go to the con, have been reviewed here before and wonder if you should send me your new book? Yes please! I’m hoping to buy from people who are entirely new to me. Gotta start the next 25 years of the website with some new names, y’know?

New review today for Heaven by Katie Skelly, because I absolutely had to close this 25th anniversary period with somebody whose comics I’ve been reviewing for the bulk of that time. Sadly, the fundraiser didn’t reach the level to get me physically to SPX this year, which means that I’ll be buying comics from people who had tables there after the fact and reviewing them later. Thanks to everybody who contributed, thanks to everybody who reads this website regularly, and thanks to the people who forget this website exists for years at a time but always seem happy to see that it’s still around. I’m keeping the fundraiser going through the weekend in the hopes of being able to buy more comics, happy weekend everybody!

I was hoping to have more comics from people who I’ve been reviewing since the beginning of this website, 25 good lord years ago, and lucky for me David Robertson was nice enough to send his new comic This Year. He definitely sent me comics in the early days, and while getting random comics from other countries isn’t THE reason I’ve kept the site going this long, it’s definitely A reason. Fundraiser below, there’s still a chance to help me get to SPX this year! Or, if not, to help me buy a few more comics from people who are going to be there online. The choice is your! Well, if you’re rich enough to fund the whole thing, I guess. Otherwise, the choice is fractionally yours!

New review today for Lauren Ipsum #41 by Charles Brubaker. That’s right, #41! My apologies for making everybody suddenly feel unproductive. And oh hey, the 25th anniversary of the website/attempt to get me to SPX is entering its final week. Right now it’s sure looking like I’m going to be buying new SPX comics from a half dozen or so people online and not making the physical trip, but there’s still a bit of time left. If you appreciate this site being around for this long and for remaining just a basic little old website (and if you have the money to spare, don’t go crazy with this if you can’t afford it) then toss in a few bucks!

New review today for Plastic People #22 and 23 by Brian Canini! Also the 25th anniversary fundraiser/attempt to get me to SPX this year is still ongoing, but after a nice start there have been a couple of weeks of a tumbleweed blowing across my screen. Are the stats of the number of unique daily visitors site incorrect? Are people just broke and/or only supporting fundraisers that are actively keeping people alive? Kind of difficult to be mad about that one, if true. But to the shy billionaire that enjoys my ramblings, stop being so miserly! Don’t you want me to do a whole lot of driving over a weekend to come back with a pile of comics? Anyway, give me a few bucks if you can, it’ll get transformed directly into comics. Work is starting to get crazy again so I’m not sure about reviews for the rest of the week, but if I can’t manage anything, take a wander through the archives! 25 years is a whole lot of reviews to scroll through.

New review today for Santos Sisters Fun Special #1 by Greg & Fake Petre along with Bob Burden. Yes, that Bob Burden! Also their second hardcover volume of Santos Sisters will be out soon from Fantagraphics, so stay on the lookout for that. Also yes, I’m still doing the fundraiser for the website’s 25th anniversary/attempt to get me to SPX this year, so just scroll down a bit to find it. I’d put it here, but it’s too full of Santos Sisters plugs!

Hey look everybody, it’s a new issue of Womp Womp (#4) by Brandon Lehmann! Yes, of course I reviewed it. Also I’m still doing the fundraiser to maybe get me to SPX this year for the 25th anniversary of Optical Sloth, and after a promising start things seem to have stalled. I get that everybody is broke, so no hard feelings (I can always buy a clump of mini comics online instead), but if you appreciate my rambling about comics every week for that long and have any money to spare, go for it!

New review today for Dog Love by Lily Herring, one from the CXC pile last year that drifted out of the review pile. Hey, speaking of conventions and buying comics, I’m running a fundraiser for the 25th anniversary of this website and so that I can buy a hefty pile of comics to review at SPX this year. Look, here’s a link to throw a few dollars my way if you want to and/or can afford it!

New review today for Midville High #10 by Matt Blair. And hey, scroll down a bit if you’d like to contribute to the 25th anniversary fundraiser I’m running. No, not for something practical like the costs of keeping the website running, it’s just so I can buy more comics at SPX this year.

New review today for Cruisin Along Route 66 by Turtle House Comics (or possibly Danny Ferbert). Also thanks to the people who donated to the GoFundMe I’m throwing for the 25th anniversary of this website and/or getting me to SPX this year with as much money to buy comics as possible. If you have a few bucks to spare (seriously, even $5 gets me a mini comic or two), here’s the link again: