New review for Monty #1 by Kayla Escobedo. See how much easier this regular reviewing thing is with a working scanner?
Update for 4/14/11
April 14, 2011
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Posted by Kevin
Escobedo, Kayla A. – Monty #1
April 14, 2011
Monty #1
That was one profoundly strange and rewarding comic. Regular readers of the site probably already know that “profoundly strange” comics are always welcome around here, but this one came in the guise of a coherent, linear story. That’s tricky to pull off and Kayla did it beautifully. This is the story of a girl or boy (ah, the website references a “Whalegirl,” so there you go) with the head and arms of a whale who is trying to take the train to school. Some youths harass her and shove the creature out at the next stop. It’s here that our heroine sees a young girl getting an even worse treatment, but because of her terror nothing is done to help this girl. More is going on behind the surface here, as these two events match up too neatly to be a coincidence. When the lead character gets back on the train our hero gets stuck sitting next to a very loud and greasy man (the type you so often see on trains), and that’s as far as I go in the descriptions. Kayla was nice enough to send the next couple of issues along as well, and I’m looking forward to reading them after this one. Generally speaking first issues of a series are where the experimenting takes place, where the artist gets the stupid mistakes out of the way. Granted, there was a printing error that mixed up the middle pages, but she made that point very clear in a note on the inside cover and the actual content was fantastic. She’s also only 22, so I recommend against going to her website and reading her accomplishments if you’re the type of person who is easily threatened by such things. You should still check out the various paintings, drawings and samples regardless, as she does have a sizable chunk of this issue up for free. I’ll hold off until I read the next too issues to get too silly with the praise, but I sense some serious potential in this one. $4
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 4/13/11
April 13, 2011New review for Monsters of MMA by Bryan G. Brown. It might technically not be out quite yet, but it will be soon, so don’t you want to read all about it?
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Posted by Kevin
Brown, Bryan G. – Monsters of MMA
April 13, 2011
Monsters of MMA
Who out there remembers Bryan’s first comic? It was called “First Fight” and it featured the real life account of Bryan’s first mixed martial arts fight. It had drama, tension and a perspective that us small press comics folks don’t see very often. This comic has little or nothing to do with all of that. It’s set at an undetermined point in the future and, as you can see from that cover, the fighters aren’t all that human. Whether or not you’ll enjoy this comic hinges on a simple question: are you looking for something resembling a sequel to “First Fight,” or are you just looking for some violent mayhem? If it’s mayhem you’re after, this one has it in spades. The guy on the left of that cover is a zombie that can regenerate after eating some brains. The guy on the right is covered in spikes and can apparently produce even more spikes at will. Who do you pick to win that one? Whichever one it is, again, if you’re looking for carnage you’ve come to the right place. The art is fantastic, as the violence is depicted as real and brutal stuff (if mildly cartoonish because of the nature of the fighters). The writing is good too, but this does mostly cover a fight, so there’s nothing all that fancy about it. I liked it, although I am genuinely curious to see how the rest of his actual time in MMA went and wouldn’t mind a follow-up to “First Fight.” It’s not for the squeamish, but it’s worth a look if you’re a fan of the MMA stuff and want to see how it would theoretically look in the distant future. $4
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 4/12/11
April 12, 2011New review for Window #8 by Dave Lapp. My project for tomorrow is to get this mound of review comics into more a pile shape and yeah, it is that bad. Just a little peek into the magical goings-on at the Optical Sloth office…
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Posted by Kevin
Lapp, Dave – Window #8
April 12, 2011
Window #8
I’m not sure if Dave ever bothers with any sort of a theme on an issue by issue basis, but if so this would have to be the “unfortunate touching/yelling” issue. No, nothing is remotely inappropriate, but it does rise to the level of icky on occasion. The main piece deals with a group of kids who go to Dave’s art class in a, well, shithole. Possible literally, as he has to plug up some drains to deal with some of the more offensive odors. He teaches them a few tricks, has his heart broken by a kid that only says “hot dog” and draws in repetitive scribbles (although he probably gets his heart broken on a semi-regular basis, what with all the teaching he did for low income students), and meets up with a remarkably clingy kid who has no clue about where she should be grabbing on the guy to get his attention. This story sums up why I’ve been enjoying these issues so much, as we see some of the only happy moments of these kids’ lives, but it’s very clear that a lot of them are just horribly damaged. Not that Dave hits us in the face with this information, but bags under the eyes of a kid and some dirty clothes go a long way to making that point. Other stories include a conversation with a guy whose two front teeth are worth $1,000, the shape of his Mom’s teeth and what that means for his own future, an incident from Dave’s childhood and a story simply called “penis.” This one is hysterically funny and I’m not going to say another thing about it, other than to reiterate that it was a harmlessly funny story and that Dave is a saint among men for many, many reasons. Well, at least in regards to his treatment of children, and that’s supposed to tell a lot about a guy, right? $1 or 2, check with the man for details.
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 4/11/11
April 11, 2011New review for A Working City by Nick Soucek and let’s see if I can put together five reviews this week. It’s been a while with all the scanner drama…
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Posted by Kevin
Soucek, Nick – A Working City
April 11, 2011
A Working City
It’s possible that Nick has cornered the market on bleak yet oddly adorable characters. Look at that sample and feel free to say that I’m crazy, but the deceptive simplicity of the appearance of his characters is a big reason why these stories work so well. This comic is set in a either the near future, an alternate universe or this has already started happening in Bristol and we just haven’t heard about it yet. Things start off with our hero giving a presentation at his job and getting a long ovation from the other people in the meeting. He’s a little shocked, as he had his original plans for the subject of the meeting stolen and he lost months worth of work. He scrambled to put something together… and nobody could tell the difference. This has a profound effect on our hero (his name is Arthur and I’ll just start using that, OK?), as it calls into question his entire existence. What’s the point of putting in months of work for something that can apparently be done just as well in a few days? In that case, why bother to show up at work at all? What about the whole nature of life, of being in a relationship, of being bombarded with advertisements every waking hour? Can you see why I’m not clear if this is a fantasy or something that’s already happening? Anyway, the interactions with his wife (?) are pricelessly depressing, and there are no happy endings to be found. If there are any art snobs who would turn their nose up at something like this because they don’t like how the characters look, you’re missing the big picture and a damned fine story. No price, naturally, but go to that website of his and ask him for a price. I’m guessing around $4.
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 4/8/11
April 8, 2011New review for Brain Dead Phylum #1 by Kyle Nolan. The scanner isn’t new, but it’s an older one that a friend didn’t want and it appears to work OK. Keep an eye on those samples and let me know if they look like crap, OK? Assuming this thing doesn’t explode too I’ll be back to a full week of reviews next week, with one up over the weekend too if all goes well.
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Posted by Kevin
Nolan, Kyle – Brain Dead Phylum #1
April 8, 2011
Brain Dead Phylum #1
This is one dirty, dirty comic. No, not like that, you perverts you. The story takes place mostly in a sludge pit, and Kyle went to the trouble of making the place look as dirty and grimy as possible. The story, such as it is, deals with two very stupid robots essentially having an extended conversation. They get into a ship, press random buttons for a bit and end up crash landing. I’m not sure if it’s possible for me to reveal spoilers with this ending, but paradoxically I can’t say more about it without revealing spoilers. Let’s just say that the characters are very aware of their situation and the next issue could be downright hilarious. Or terrible, as it’s only one issue and it’s impossible to say. I did like this one, as the bits that were intended as funny mostly were actually funny, which is a rarer occurrence than it should be. I’m also detecting some strong Pat Aulisio influence at work here, and as someone who has been reviewing Pat’s work since the very early days of the website, that does make me the internet equivalent of a proud… uncle, maybe? I’m not sure what analogy would make sense there. My basic point is that I’m happy that at least one artist is taking some tips from Pat’s style and running with it. Unless Kyle has never heard of the guy and this is all in my head, that is. The rambling point of all this is that this book is worth a look and it’s damned good for his first full length mini comic. Encourage the lad with your dollar! $1
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 4/6/11
April 6, 2011New review for Late One Night by Brad W. Foster, another comic that’s also available in the store and a clear indication that I still don’t have a new scanner. Still, I’m as sick of writing about it as you are of reading it, so it ends this week one way or another. Apparently a scanner is not going to fall out of the sky all by itself and solve my problem…
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Posted by Kevin
Foster, Brad W. – Late One Night
April 6, 2011
Late One Night Now Available! $.50
This may be a rare comics find (although I didn’t find it so much as Brad mailed it to me), as it appears to be the first 24 hour comic ever. Hell, it’s even less than five hours! When did Scott McCloud start all that anyway? This is from 1986, so probably right around the same time. Of course, this is eight very tiny pages, so I don’t know if that would fit the criteria for a true 24 hour comic. Eh, it amuses me to think about it anyway. The story for this one is that Brad had a page that was going to run through the printing press anyway for another comic, so why not split it up into eight parts and make another comic out of it? The back cover also indicates that this is #1,847 of his products, if you count all the posters and cards as one each, and he put this out a very long time ago. I don’t care how you slice it, that’s serious productivity right there. Anyway, the strips are mostly a series of images like the one sampled below, and that sort of thing gets all the joy sucked out if it from critical reviewing. I did enjoy the one four panel strip dealing with logic, so keep an eye out for that one if you have a spare $.50. Not that the rest of it was bad, just by its nature it was something of a “blink and you’ll miss it” comic. So… yeah. Make up your own damn minds! $.50
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 4/5/11
April 5, 2011New review for Herman the Manatee Gets Hit By A Boat Volume 1 by Jason Viola. If you were wondering, no, the scanner is not working, I just took a couple of images off Jason’s site. I hate doing that, so you should buy his comic to assuage my guilt. The bottom line is that tomorrow is going to be a day of looking around for a decent scanner. What fun!
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Posted by Kevin
Viola, Jason – Herman the Manatee Gets Hit By A Boat Volume 1
April 5, 2011
Herman the Manatee Gets Hit By A Boat Volume 1
You’d think that a strip that almost always ended with the main character getting hit by a boat would get boring in a hurry. It threatens to get boring but Jason does an admirable job of turning it around before it goes off the rails. The art is fantastic, which is almost a shame as there really isn’t a lot to show most of the time other than a manatee, some fish or possibly a surface view. It’s comics like this that make me think that I shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss web comics. Well, it’s not I dismiss them out of hand, it’s just that I get so many physical mini comics that it would be impossible to get into reviewing web comics too. If you were wondering, yes, this is the exact same reason why I don’t review zines. Anyway, I should probably mention a few of the comics, even if I have already given away the ending for most of them. Herman is lured up to the surface by a song, bubbles, different asshole fish and a fortune cookie. He tries a few different methods to get around this problem, each with varying degrees of a lack of success. We also see a bit of Herman’s early days, and from those it’s a wonder that he ever gets out of whatever he uses as a bed in the morning. There’s also a smartly done parody of the work of both George Herriman and Edward Gorey to liven things up when it starts dragging a bit. Jason sent along three more volumes of this series, and it may or may not get terribly boring over the long term. Either way, this first issue is worth a look, and if you don’t believe me then his website should have more than enough samples to convince you. $3
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 4/3/11
April 3, 2011New review today for Cheetahs Never Win! #3 by Steve Reeder, and I think this is it for the new batch of scanned images. Tomorrow I’ll try to get the stupid thing working again and will either A. be successful B. not be successful and buy a new scanner or C. not be successful and give up the comic reviewing business for a life in a cabin somewhere. Check tomorrow to see what happened!
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Posted by Kevin
Reeder, Steve – Cheetahs Never Win! #3
April 3, 2011
Cheetahs Never Win! #3
In case you were wondering exactly when my scanner died AGAIN, it was right after I managed to scan this cover. No sample image, in other words, and no website to look at sample images. Why? No idea. If there was ever a comic that was perfect for a website with plenty of free samples, it’s this one. This comic is mostly a series of single panel gag strips, with stories never running longer than a few pages. There are some groaners in here, but overall I thought this was a funny pile of strips, and I do occasionally have issues with the single panel format. To describe these strips very simply (but to not give them quite enough credit), these are essentially funny messages involving animals or inanimate objects that you might hang up in your office cubicle if you didn’t mind the shock of your co-workers over all that profanity. A few of these strips (and I’m going to leave most of these a mystery, as nothing kills comedy faster than critical analysis) involve a message in a bottle saying “Fuck You,” the mental process of a fish as he escapes death by hook, or the secret life of pencils in various states of use. It’s significantly more funny than not and this is a hefty pile of strips for $5.
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 3/31/11
March 31, 2011New review for Monkey Squad One Annual #1 by Doug Michel. There was no update yesterday because of connection problems, as I’m not allowed to have just one thing go wrong with my computer at any given time. Those should all be fixed now, he says nervously…
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Posted by Kevin
Michel, Doug – Monkey Squad One Annual #1
March 31, 2011
Monkey Squad One Annual #1
It can be difficult for people to know when to jump in during an ongoing series, especially in the world of mini comics where early issues can go out of print in a hurry. Well, if you have any interest at all in this series, and it is a lot of fun from what I’ve seen so far, start with this issue. There is a detailed issue by issue recap on the front inside cover, there are character bios for everybody you could think of, and there’s even a schematic of their headquarters. If I can find the past issues of this series (the organizing system here in my apartment is in a bit of a shambles) I think they would make much more sense now that I know what came before. This issue is more about story snippets and catching up with the characters than anything else, so don’t go looking for one coherent storyline. Still, this is the sort of issue that ends up being invaluable in a long run, and it sure sounds like Doug is gearing up for a long run. The story bits we do see include the Squad sitting around and chatting about getting to go to the Kid’s Choice Awards, the training of a young Connor (beginning at age 7, but then again nobody on the team is even a teenager yet), some new members of Monkey Squad Two followed quickly by their disbanding (that would be a spoiler if it wasn’t listed clearly on the cover), another piece from the alternate future timeline story (and I love that it refers to the exact pages of the issue in question and where this new story would fit, that’s some excellent attention to detail right there), and a nice flashback story to the Monkey Squad from 1996 including who was on the team, who they were fighting and what happened to some of them. Really, all my complaints about past issues go right out the window with this one. Now I know what’s going on and who all these people are, and that really goes a long way. I have no idea how Doug could pack this much information into a recap for a regular issue, which is one more reason why this series is screaming out for a website. The man needs a central location to keep all this information straight, not to mention a place to show off his artwork. One last thing I have to mention is that Doug sent a letter along with this saying that he’s dedicated to making me a fan, which is exactly the right attitude for anybody to have who has received a less than glowing review. Try harder, put out better work and if you still don’t win me over, who cares? I’m some chatty guy with a website. Improving your comic should be the goal all by itself, and that should be a constant goal if you’re taking all of this seriously. And Doug, yes, you have officially won me over. Unless the next issue sucks… $2.50
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 3/29/11
March 29, 2011New review for The Gods Must Be Bastards by Rob Jackson. Ah, it’s nice not having to fight with this miserable scanner for a few days…
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Posted by Kevin
Jackson, Rob – The Gods Must Be Bastards
March 29, 2011
The Gods Must Be Bastards
Rob Jackson has been on a serious role as of late, and I’m thrilled to see that he’s keeping that trend going with this issue. As you might have guessed from that fantastic cover, people are beginning to wonder just what exactly the gods are trying to do. In this world scientists are routinely killed when they approach any sort of scientific breakthrough, as the gods prefer to leave all that stuff as mysteries to maintain their power. That’s the common wisdom anyway, and a group of scientists set out to reach the home of the gods and see for themselves. Along the way they get into a sea battle (after stealing a ship), land on a place called “The Island of Lost Souls” (where, shockingly, things don’t go all that well), encounter the sea beast sampled below, and eventually make it all the way to the home of the gods. You’ll have to read it for yourself to see what happens there, but I thought it was just about the perfect conclusion. It’s damned tempting to mention some of the happenings after they made it to the island, but I’m committed to no spoilers, even when I really want to. So what you have here is a lengthy comic with multiple factions wanting different things, an impressive array of fanciful creatures and beings, more character development than you would think and a whole pile of asides that I’m either forgetting or not giving enough credit to here. He’s done it again, that’s what I’m trying to say with all this rambling, and if you’ve enjoyed past Rob Jackson comics (and why wouldn’t you?) then you’re really going to love this one too. I think this is roughly $7 in American money, but it’s huge and you should probably check with Rob to be absolutely sure on that price.
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Posted by Kevin
