Optical Sloth

New review today for Goblin Hall by Rob Jackson, as I’m kicking  “people that don’t live in the U.S. but still make comics” week  off with an old favorite of mine.  And that title is clunky as hell, but they’re not all from the U.K. this time, and “foreigners week” just sounds mean and stupid.  I’ll happily take suggestion…

New review for Sounds Of Your Name by Nate Powell.  How’s your weekend going?

New review for The Living Cain by Lydia Conklin, and I’ve been getting so many packages with that little “Royal Mail” sticker on it lately that I’m having a “comics from outside the U.S.” week starting on Monday.  So if you think you’ve seen all the worthwhile comics from around here, chances are even you will be able to find something worthwhile you’ve never heard of.

New review for The Former Roommates of Gary Jones by Kelly Froh.  I wanted to mention the death of Harvey Pekar a few days ago, even if I don’t have much to add past past the fact that it was a shitty thing.  I never met Harvey, but outside of everything else he achieved, how he changed the face of autobiographical comics (some would say he invented them), the wonders of comic literature that he wrote, the thing I liked most about the guy was his willingness to talk to anybody who was trying to get started in comics.  Seriously, I never heard of a single disgruntled comic artist who said that Harvey treated him/her badly, and it says a lot for the character of the man that he had the patience to do what he could to help people out who were just starting in comics, up to and including having them in his home.  Matt Herzfeld & Nick Mercer did a few comics of their series Flame-Broiled years ago when they were just starting out (and they may have stopped in the meantime; I haven’t seen anything new from them in ages), met Harvey at an event and he really inspired them.  It’s a shame that he’s gone, and the world is poorer for it.

New review for Moral Geometry #1 by Sean Andress, and I think the online store has been fixed.  For real this time!  The prices show up and everything has been updated with Paypal.  First person to test it out with an order gets a free comic!

New review for Inhabitants by Pat Aulisio.  Hey, wasn’t he one of the guys associated with that fundraiser for the second issue of Secret Prison?  Why yes, he was.  How’s that going anyway?  $310 dollars left to raise in 12 days, with donors still being able to get the William Cardini pack of comics or Box Brown’s Everything Dies #1 for a measly $5.  That certainly seems doable, if only good people who love comics decide that they want their comic purchases to go to a new anthology.

New review for Window #3 by Dave Lapp, and I’ve mentioned this a few times but I mean it: any troubles with ordering comics from my store, contact me and I’ll bypass the stupid thing entirely and send you the comics you want.  All you have to do is pay for them!  And the rental project that I keep talking about is still progressing, to the point where it may be ready by… you know, I won’t post any dates just yet, as I’ve assumed incorrectly on that subject a few times.  “Before the end of the summer” seems a reasonable assumption, barring a massive calamity…

New review for Mimi’s Doughnuts #19 by Marek Bennett, and the site may be going over to a new place other than WordPress soon to combat the store troubles and the prospective troubles with the rental service.  This means the site may be getting a different look again, as it has quite often lately, but don’t fret if you hate change, as the content will be the same as ever.

New review for The Fifty Flip Experiment #13 by Dan Hill.  Hey, I reviewed #1 last time, figured I might as well go all the way to the end (?) of the series.  Oh, and that fundraiser I mentioned to support the second issue of Secret Prison?  They still need $465 with 16 days to go.  Lucky for you they still have copies of Box Brown’s Everything Dies #1 (which I absolutely loved) for a $5 pledge or three comics from William Cardini for the same $5, which is a steal.  If you’ve been holding off on getting either of those things I’d say now is the perfect time, as you get the comics and the sense of self-satisfaction that comes with helping a worthy cause.

New review for The Honduran Coup: A Graphic History by Dan Archer.  I should also mention that I screwed up a few days ago in my review for Noah Van Sciver’s Blammo #6 in saying that it was self-published.  It was not.  Kilgore Books in Denver published it, and I think this is either their first published comic or one of the first, so you can already tell they have great taste.  If you’re in the area go buy some of their books, comical or otherwise!

New review for Secret Prison #1 edited by Ian Harker and containing all sorts of folks.  They’re also holding a fundraiser to put the next issue out and, as of right now, are $530 away from their goal with 18 days to go.  Even if you’re not one to give money away on even a worthwhile project like this, you should know that donations = goods from them.  I recommend the $5 option where you get three issues of comics from William Cardini; that’s a freaking steal right there.  I’m not familiar with a lot of the other comics, but the point is that you get comics back for your money and you’re doing a good deed for the comic’s world by helping but another issue out.  If I had $50 free bucks to my name I’d love to get the Pat Aulisio original custom drawing, that’s for sure…

New review for Blammo #6 by Noah Van Sciver, and I have the store back up and running.  Prices show and everything!  Granted, it looks ugly as hell at the moment, but it does work if you want some comics for your oily beach experience this summer.

New review for Radio Free Gahanna #1 by James Moore & Joel Jackson, and please bear with us while we try to fix a few broken things on the site.  Needless to say, if you try to order comics and don’t hear back from me in 24 hours, feel free to check in to make sure something didn’t get screwed up along the way…

New review for Piecemeal by Nate Beaty, and I may or may not be around for the rest of the holiday weekend, but don’t be shocked to see me vanish for a day or two.  Shouldn’t you be out blowing things up instead of sitting in front of a computer anyway?

New review today for Lackluster World #6 by Eric Adams.  One holdover I have from my days of buying piles of Marvel comics as a kid is that I still occasionally put the comics I most look forward to reading at the bottom of a (usually metaphorical) pile.  I do so love it when that added anticipation is rewarded with a really excellent comic.

New review for Worms #6 by Brian John Mitchell & Kimberlee Traub, and all this website crap is getting on my nerves.  Has anybody else had problems ordering stuff this last month?  I can only hope that you would have contacted me if that was the case, but the one case I’ve heard about so far is troubling…

New reviews for Same Old Story “Vintage Shorts” by Nathan Wiedemer & Steven Mangold and Billy the Demon Slayer #2 by Hayden Fryer.  See, I told you I’d get some extra reviews up this week, and there are possibly still more to come.  Oh, and I also figured out that you can see the prices for the comics in the store if you highlight the area near “price”, which isn’t an ideal way to shop, but at least you can see the prices that way.  And hey, I am offering original artwork from all sorts of people this week, with you being able to have a say as to which one I send you.  I’ve also been told that it’s an easy fix to get the prices to show up again, so maybe it’ll be fixed soon.  What I’m trying to say here is that the rewards for ordering comics this week are still greater than the hassle, so why not order some stuff?

New review for Uh, Love Story by Jed Collins, and I noticed a slight problem with my plan to offer oddities with any comic orders this week: there doesn’t appear to be any prices on items in the store at the moment.  They’re still there, and if you click on the “add to cart” button you can see how much things cost, but that’s a pretty stupid way to place a comic order. So once again I’m putting out the call: any website designers out there who love comics and would be willing to consult/help out/fix stupid issues like this in exchange for comics?  I clearly need more than one of these computer people around, and I could certainly make helping worth your while.  Even if you’ve just used a WordPress blog for ages and have more insight into how these things work, as I am still shamefully stupid when it comes to the technical side of things.  Any takers, please e-mail me!

New review for Veggie Dog Saturn #4 by Jason Young, and I will be taking the time at some point during the week to make up for the lost reviews over the weekend.  Not sure exactly which day it will be yet, because I am currently buffing up the comics store in preparation for the comics rentals.  Yes, they are coming, and yes, I’m sure you’re getting sick of me talking about it.  As for the store, I increased the size of the sample images (although I’m still toying with finding the perfect size) and am adding at least one sample image per comic, like it was back in the old days.  The trouble is that with all the tinkering I’m not entirely sure that everything is working properly, so all this week anybody who orders comics from me gets a prize.  Original art from small press people (which I often get on the envelopes they send or with their pile of comics), maybe an mini comic oddity or two, the point is that EVERYBODY who orders from now until next Monday gets extra goodies with their comics.  Yes, this is a rather shameless ploy for comic orders, but I’m also testing out the new system.  Needless to say, if you order something and don’t hear back from me, let me know and I’ll fix the “broken” system.  At the moment I think it’s running fine though, hence the need for the test.  So order some comics, help me out and get random obscure stuff.  Who couldn’t love such a deal?

New review for Blaster Al Ackerman’s Tales of the Ling Master #1 by E.J. Barnes, and I may or may not be around this weekend, so… happy weekend everybody!