Optical Sloth

New review for Veggie Dog Saturn #3: Jason’s Quest by Jason Young.  That reminds me: people of SPACE, I’m getting to your comics.  This call for rental comics has sent a pile of them coming in the mail, so I’m trying to sort through all that first.  Ooh, I know: next week is SPACE week.  There, problem solved!

New review for Onesies by Whit Taylor, and work continues on making that comic rental thing a reality.  I’m done predicting when this will be ready to go, as I was hoping for the start of May and keep running into more things that need to be taken care of.  If anybody out there is a website designer, has heard about this rental project and has thoughts on how such a thing might work, I’d love to get a second or third opinion.  I think I have it all figured out (more or less), but have had some enlightening discussions with comics creators about their end of things and would like to do the same with the programmer crowd.  Bonus points if you design websites and make your own comics!

New review for Yo! Burbalino by Greg Farrell, happy Mother’s Day Mom!

New review for The Fifty Flip Experiment #10 by Dan Hill, and he was nice enough to send plenty of these comics along, so expect to see more of his stuff in the near future.  Oh, and as I’m lacking a formal way to keep you guys updated on the rental thing other than these site news updates, I finished cataloging all the comics that I’m going to be offering for rental that aren’t under the umbrella of one of the comic companies who also gave me their OK.  Believe me, once I get the comics from those two companies listed that total will more than double, but for now, if you’re thinking about giving this a shot, it’ll start off with at least 550 comics of over 100 small press folks available for rental.  Old stuff, new stuff, no matter who you are there will be comics in here you’ve never seen before.  Just throwing that out there, I had to do something to make it clear that work is still progressing on this thing…

New review for a new webcomic: The Adventures of Ace Hoyle by Phill Provance & Tomas Batha.  Full disclosure here: I don’t normally review webcomics, but they offered to pay me for my honest opinion of the series.  As I was still able to say whatever I wanted and was not reduced to shilling for the strip for cash, I figured that was ethically acceptable.  As for the site in general, I’m doing a review a day again until I can start to get this mound of comics under control, which means weekend updates too.  The call for this rental service has led to all sorts of new stuff being sent here, and I still haven’t even cracked open my pile of books from SPACE.

New review for Disco Slaughterhouse #1.  I’m still not sure what the tag phrase on it “The World’s Most Obscure Phenomenon” means, but it is catchy.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  Don’t forget to hug your racist relative today!  New review for Folkomix #1 by Brad W. Foster.  Brad also has a few new things up in the store: Late One Night, First There Was The Scribble, The Eternal Conflict, Cat in a Box, Welcome to Camp Skiffy and, of course, Folkomix #1.  Brad sent along many more comics than that for the store, but as he packed them so neatly into tiny bundles I figured it would be better to dribble a bundle at a time into the store.  Oh, and these are all from the 80’s and early 90’s, so if you happened to catch that new Fantagraphics retrospective of small press comics in the 80’s, this would be an excellent way to keep peeking into that era.

New review for Trigger #1 by Mike Bertino, and it’s a brand new series of Trigger, not that older one you may be thinking of.  Unless you haven’t read any of them, in which case please ignore this disclaimer.

New review today for The Natural World #1 by Damien Jay.  OK, most of the cleanup of the site is done, with me just deleting most of the old pages with all the reviews of one person in one place and breaking them down into single pages for each issue.  If anybody has a problem with this and would prefer that I kept the big pages with all the comics in one place too, please speak now or they’ll be gone forever.  As for the comics rental thing, if all goes well it’ll get off the ground in the next week or so.  I’ll be limiting subscribers to only 10 for that first month (to make sure that everything is going to work as planned), so if you’d like to be part of the original ten for this just send me an e-mail now and I’ll make a note of it.  You will, at the very least, be able to say that you were there at the beginning of a grand comics experiment.

New review for Yasha Lizard #2 by Kristina Stipetic.  Tomorrow is another cavalcade of old reviews, but if you think looking at them is a complete waste of time you’re probably wrong, as I spent some time updating the contact info of everybody involved.  You’d be surprised how many of those people had broken website links.  Or maybe you wouldn’t, if you noticed they were broken years ago, in which case you should have just told me about it instead of silently fuming.  That didn’t help anybody.  Anyway, after that I’ll plop everything back on the main page in the order it was supposed to be, so you won’t miss any new reviews if you come back here on Monday.

New review for Everything Dies #1 by Box Brown.  No, it’s not as depressing as it sounds.

New review for a book that’s long overdue: the collected edition of Curio Cabinet by John Brodowski.  The world needed this book, and the good folks at Secret Acres were nice enough to make it happen.

I hope that trip down memory lane was at least mildly amusing/informative for everybody.  I also didn’t quite finish it, so Sunday there’s going to be a much smaller version of all that going on with the few hundred entries I didn’t get to, then I’ll set up the main page to reflect the last dozen or so new reviews in case anybody missed anything.  New reviews in the meantime, starting with Bad Energy by Aaron Norhanian today.  What does everybody think of the new look?  The fact that reviews have been broken down into individual comics instead of giant pages for each artist?  How about the fact that I now have permission from over 100 small press comics folks for me to use my copies of their comics in this rental idea?  I’m curious to hear it.

All of the reviews on the website are going to be cycling by in the next few days.  Don’t be alarmed, this is supposed to happen.  It should help you make the idle time at work fly by, and it’ll help me organize the site better for the rental service I’m starting up soon.  I’m also still running a fundraiser until the end of the month, if you have some extra cash laying around and would like some comics, or just if you’d like to support the site in this particular time of need.  Thanks everybody!

New review for Life in the Slow Lane by Mary Golding.  I’m reorganizing things starting tomorrow at 6am and continuing with a new comic every three minutes until it’s done.  So at 6 you’ll see one comic, 6:03 a different comic, 6:06 another comic, and so on, probably until Tuesday but possibly even longer than that.  So there will be no new reviews for the next few days, technically, but everybody you see will have recently checked contact info, which means new and working websites for dozens of these folks that you’ve probably never seen.  That and unless you’ve come here every single day for the last 9 years, a good chunk of these people will be new to you.  Oh, and I’m still trying for the fundraiser, but have shortened my pitch: I need money for the convention this weekend or, barring that, to help me out with rent at the end of the month from spending too much money on comics.  Won’t you please help out by buying comics?

New review for Do-It-Yourself Screenprinting by John Isaacson.  I promised some names of people who are willing to let me use their books for the comics rental service (coming soon!) and, as I’m asking alphabetically, thought I’d start with the A-C crowd and then go from there: Nick Abadzis, Lonnie Allen, Chris Anderson, Dan Archer, Pat Aulisio, Liz Baillie, Lauren Barnett, Nate Beaty, Marek Bennett, David Beyer Jr., Josh Blair, Gareth Brookes, Mark Burrier, Angel Busque, William Cardini/Mark Hensel, Edgar Castro, Isaac Cates, Brian Cattapan, Robyn Chapman, Joe Chiapetta and Ryan Claytor.  If you’re in that part of the alphabet, make comics and haven’t heard from me, it’s either because I couldn’t find your contact info, haven’t gotten to you yet or I simply don’t have any of your comics.  Get in touch with me if you’d like to be a part of this!  And now, because I still have bills to pay, here’s my fundraiser pitch.  I did mention that I’m starting up a special project here in a couple of days to streamline things a bit, didn’t I?  More details tomorrow.  And seriously, order your comics today or tomorrow and I’ll actually have that money to spend at SPACE this weekend.

FUNDRAISER!  When I quit my job I cashed in my retirement monies on the ludicrous idea that I could eventually make a living off the comics rental idea.  Well, that combined with selling comics combined with an odd job or two.  Anyway, I don’t get that check until the end of this month at the very earliest and SPACE is happening in Columbus April 24th and 25th.  I’d love to go and stock up on the minis (as well as talk to a bunch of you people in person about the concept of a comics rental service) but, as I don’t live there any more, it’s going to take cash for gas, cash for a place to stay (although I’m thinking a couch somewhere is possible), and cash for comics, as only about half of you cheapskates give me free review copies.  So how does this fundraiser work?  I’ll be doing a new review every day until the end of the month.  The best way to send me money is also the way that’s best for you: order comics.  I get the cash until I pay back the comics creators (which will happen when I get my big check), you get the comics and everybody wins.  If you already own every comic in the store or don’t think you want any more but still appreciate what I’ve been doing here for almost nine (!) years, you could just give me a few bucks.  I have a paypal account connected to my main e-mail address (and will put a “donate” button up later today or tomorrow) and seriously, every little bit helps.  I’m shooting for $500, which is probably wildly optimistic.  Or if you’d prefer to have your money go for something tangible and are intrigued by the idea of being able to rent comics, how about a down payment?  I’m hoping to get that officially started by May 1st and am still contacting people for permission to use their books, but even if the rest of them say no I have enough of a selection already to make it worth your while to try out for at least a month.  Monthly fees are going to be $22 (that number could still move up or down once I get things started and see how much it’s going to cost) and, depending on how quickly you read the comics you’re renting, it should be possible to get 3-4 shipments to you in a month pretty easily.  Well, it will if you live in the U.S., I have no idea how to make this worthwhile for people in other countries.  So if you donate $22 now just make a note in the subject line that you’d like it to be a down payment on the rentals and I can send you a list of comics that are already available.  As this is going to be first come first serve, the sooner you sign up for this the more likely you are to get the exact books you want.  I’m only going to have one copy of most of these comics to start (I’ll order more copies if this is at all successful), so it’ll help a lot to be one of the first people to sign up.  Of course, it’s also possible that you’ll sign up later and be the first to choose certain other books, as I’m going to have more than a few oldies available too.  The bottom line is that I need your help from now until the end of the month, although this is one of those rare fundraisers where you get good stuff for your money: comics.

Happy gun nuts/crazy militia day!  Have you hugged your racist/homophobic birther relative today?  New review for Shaman Thunder by William Cardini (aka Mark Hensel) & Josh Burggraf.  I’m posting the fundraiser thing again, and I would put up the “donate now” button but I don’t know how.  OK?  I can’t seem to figure it out.  So now that that’s out as an option for the moment, I guess the only way to support the site is to buy a pile of comics, preferably in the next couple of days so I can be sure of my ability to make SPACE this weekend.  Won’t you please help me out and give yourself the gift of comics?

FUNDRAISER!  When I quit my job I cashed in my retirement monies on the ludicrous idea that I could eventually make a living off the comics rental idea.  Well, that combined with selling comics combined with an odd job or two.  Anyway, I don’t get that check until the end of this month at the very earliest and SPACE is happening in Columbus April 24th and 25th.  I’d love to go and stock up on the minis (as well as talk to a bunch of you people in person about the concept of a comics rental service) but, as I don’t live there any more, it’s going to take cash for gas, cash for a place to stay (although I’m thinking a couch somewhere is possible), and cash for comics, as only about half of you cheapskates give me free review copies.  So how does this fundraiser work?  I’ll be doing a new review every day until the end of the month.  The best way to send me money is also the way that’s best for you: order comics.  I get the cash until I pay back the comics creators (which will happen when I get my big check), you get the comics and everybody wins.  If you already own every comic in the store or don’t think you want any more but still appreciate what I’ve been doing here for almost nine (!) years, you could just give me a few bucks.  I have a paypal account connected to my main e-mail address (and will put a “donate” button up later today or tomorrow) and seriously, every little bit helps.  I’m shooting for $500, which is probably wildly optimistic.  Or if you’d prefer to have your money go for something tangible and are intrigued by the idea of being able to rent comics, how about a down payment?  I’m hoping to get that officially started by May 1st and am still contacting people for permission to use their books, but even if the rest of them say no I have enough of a selection already to make it worth your while to try out for at least a month.  Monthly fees are going to be $22 (that number could still move up or down once I get things started and see how much it’s going to cost) and, depending on how quickly you read the comics you’re renting, it should be possible to get 3-4 shipments to you in a month pretty easily.  Well, it will if you live in the U.S., I have no idea how to make this worthwhile for people in other countries.  So if you donate $22 now just make a note in the subject line that you’d like it to be a down payment on the rentals and I can send you a list of comics that are already available.  As this is going to be first come first serve, the sooner you sign up for this the more likely you are to get the exact books you want.  I’m only going to have one copy of most of these comics to start (I’ll order more copies if this is at all successful), so it’ll help a lot to be one of the first people to sign up.  Of course, it’s also possible that you’ll sign up later and be the first to choose certain other books, as I’m going to have more than a few oldies available too.  The bottom line is that I need your help from now until the end of the month, although this is one of those rare fundraisers where you get good stuff for your money: comics.

New review for My Brain Hurts Volume 2 by Liz Baillie, and I’m going to post that fundraiser ramble again.  If you’d like to be a part of this comics rental idea of mine and haven’t been contacted yet (currently working my way through the H’s, but it’s tough finding working e-mail addresses for some of you people), send me an e-mail!  Everyone is welcome.

FUNDRAISER!  When I quit my job I cashed in my retirement monies on the ludicrous idea that I could eventually make a living off the comics rental idea.  Well, that combined with selling comics combined with an odd job or two.  Anyway, I don’t get that check until the end of this month at the very earliest and SPACE is happening in Columbus April 24th and 25th.  I’d love to go and stock up on the minis (as well as talk to a bunch of you people in person about the concept of a comics rental service) but, as I don’t live there any more, it’s going to take cash for gas, cash for a place to stay (although I’m thinking a couch somewhere is possible), and cash for comics, as only about half of you cheapskates give me free review copies.  So how does this fundraiser work?  I’ll be doing a new review every day until the end of the month.  The best way to send me money is also the way that’s best for you: order comics.  I get the cash until I pay back the comics creators (which will happen when I get my big check), you get the comics and everybody wins.  If you already own every comic in the store or don’t think you want any more but still appreciate what I’ve been doing here for almost nine (!) years, you could just give me a few bucks.  I have a paypal account connected to my main e-mail address (and will put a “donate” button up later today or tomorrow) and seriously, every little bit helps.  I’m shooting for $500, which is probably wildly optimistic.  Or if you’d prefer to have your money go for something tangible and are intrigued by the idea of being able to rent comics, how about a down payment?  I’m hoping to get that officially started by May 1st and am still contacting people for permission to use their books, but even if the rest of them say no I have enough of a selection already to make it worth your while to try out for at least a month.  Monthly fees are going to be $22 (that number could still move up or down once I get things started and see how much it’s going to cost) and, depending on how quickly you read the comics you’re renting, it should be possible to get 3-4 shipments to you in a month pretty easily.  Well, it will if you live in the U.S., I have no idea how to make this worthwhile for people in other countries.  So if you donate $22 now just make a note in the subject line that you’d like it to be a down payment on the rentals and I can send you a list of comics that are already available.  As this is going to be first come first serve, the sooner you sign up for this the more likely you are to get the exact books you want.  I’m only going to have one copy of most of these comics to start (I’ll order more copies if this is at all successful), so it’ll help a lot to be one of the first people to sign up.  Of course, it’s also possible that you’ll sign up later and be the first to choose certain other books, as I’m going to have more than a few oldies available too.  The bottom line is that I need your help from now until the end of the month, although this is one of those rare fundraisers where you get good stuff for your money: comics.

New review for Rashy Rabbit #6: A Rabbit in King Arthur’s Food Court by Josh Latta.  I spoke too soon on that fundraiser, as a couple of decent orders yesterday have me thinking this might be possible after all.  One of the guys ordered an entire run of a few different series on sale here, which I think is an excellent idea.  What’s better than reading a quality small press series all in a row like that?  So: fundraiser is still on, I keep getting more and more names for this rental idea of mine (I’ll start listing names on Monday) and yeah, with a little help from you guys I may be able to get to SPACE next weekend yet.

FUNDRAISER!  When I quit my job I cashed in my retirement monies on the ludicrous idea that I could eventually make a living off the comics rental idea.  Well, that combined with selling comics combined with an odd job or two.  Anyway, I don’t get that check until the end of this month at the very earliest and SPACE is happening in Columbus April 24th and 25th.  I’d love to go and stock up on the minis (as well as talk to a bunch of you people in person about the concept of a comics rental service) but, as I don’t live there any more, it’s going to take cash for gas, cash for a place to stay (although I’m thinking a couch somewhere is possible), and cash for comics, as only about half of you cheapskates give me free review copies.  So how does this fundraiser work?  I’ll be doing a new review every day until the end of the month.  The best way to send me money is also the way that’s best for you: order comics.  I get the cash until I pay back the comics creators (which will happen when I get my big check), you get the comics and everybody wins.  If you already own every comic in the store or don’t think you want any more but still appreciate what I’ve been doing here for almost nine (!) years, you could just give me a few bucks.  I have a paypal account connected to my main e-mail address (and will put a “donate” button up later today or tomorrow) and seriously, every little bit helps.  I’m shooting for $500, which is probably wildly optimistic.  Or if you’d prefer to have your money go for something tangible and are intrigued by the idea of being able to rent comics, how about a down payment?  I’m hoping to get that officially started by May 1st and am still contacting people for permission to use their books, but even if the rest of them say no I have enough of a selection already to make it worth your while to try out for at least a month.  Monthly fees are going to be $22 (that number could still move up or down once I get things started and see how much it’s going to cost) and, depending on how quickly you read the comics you’re renting, it should be possible to get 3-4 shipments to you in a month pretty easily.  Well, it will if you live in the U.S., I have no idea how to make this worthwhile for people in other countries.  So if you donate $22 now just make a note in the subject line that you’d like it to be a down payment on the rentals and I can send you a list of comics that are already available.  As this is going to be first come first serve, the sooner you sign up for this the more likely you are to get the exact books you want.  I’m only going to have one copy of most of these comics to start (I’ll order more copies if this is at all successful), so it’ll help a lot to be one of the first people to sign up.  Of course, it’s also possible that you’ll sign up later and be the first to choose certain other books, as I’m going to have more than a few oldies available too.  The bottom line is that I need your help from now until the end of the month, although this is one of those rare fundraisers where you get good stuff for your money: comics.

New review for Nart… Again by Jim Siergey.  That fundraiser of mine is off to a bleak start, but on the plus side I got 14 more people to agree to participate in the comics rental service, and I only made it through the B’s in my e-mails yesterday.  No doubt about it, it looks promising.  If all goes well over the weekend I’ll be able to start listing the people involved, so maybe you can make a more informed decision about whether or not you’d like to give it a shot.  I’m even contemplating a cheaper option to rent (you’ll get less comics but also have to pay less in monthly fees), but am not sure so far if I want to add more variables before it even gets off the ground.  As always, I’m open to opinions and suggestions, so send me an e-mail if you have some, won’t you?
And it’s that time again: FUNDRAISER!  When I quit my job I cashed in my retirement monies on the ludicrous idea that I could eventually make a living off the comics rental idea.  Well, that combined with selling comics combined with an odd job or two.  Anyway, I don’t get that check until the end of this month at the very earliest and SPACE is happening in Columbus April 24th and 25th.  I’d love to go and stock up on the minis (as well as talk to a bunch of you people in person about the concept of a comics rental service) but, as I don’t live there any more, it’s going to take cash for gas, cash for a place to stay (although I’m thinking a couch somewhere is possible), and cash for comics, as only about half of you cheapskates give me free review copies.  So how does this fundraiser work?  I’ll be doing a new review every day until the end of the month.  The best way to send me money is also the way that’s best for you: order comics.  I get the cash until I pay back the comics creators (which will happen when I get my big check), you get the comics and everybody wins.  If you already own every comic in the store or don’t think you want any more but still appreciate what I’ve been doing here for almost nine (!) years, you could just give me a few bucks.  I have a paypal account connected to my main e-mail address (and will put a “donate” button up later today or tomorrow) and seriously, every little bit helps.  I’m shooting for $500, which is probably wildly optimistic.  Or if you’d prefer to have your money go for something tangible and are intrigued by the idea of being able to rent comics, how about a down payment?  I’m hoping to get that officially started by May 1st and am still contacting people for permission to use their books, but even if the rest of them say no I have enough of a selection already to make it worth your while to try out for at least a month.  Monthly fees are going to be $22 (that number could still move up or down once I get things started and see how much it’s going to cost) and, depending on how quickly you read the comics you’re renting, it should be possible to get 3-4 shipments to you in a month pretty easily.  Well, it will if you live in the U.S., I have no idea how to make this worthwhile for people in other countries.  So if you donate $22 now just make a note in the subject line that you’d like it to be a down payment on the rentals and I can send you a list of comics that are already available.  As this is going to be first come first serve, the sooner you sign up for this the more likely you are to get the exact books you want.  I’m only going to have one copy of most of these comics to start (I’ll order more copies if this is at all successful), so it’ll help a lot to be one of the first people to sign up.  Of course, it’s also possible that you’ll sign up later and be the first to choose certain other books, as I’m going to have more than a few oldies available too.  The bottom line is that I need your help from now until the end of the month, although this is one of those rare fundraisers where you get good stuff for your money: comics.