New review for a new theme day: Top Shelf Tuesdays! Hey, sue me, I love me some alliteration. Undeleted Scenes from Jeffrey Brown is the book today, and I should have enough stuff from them to keep this going for a few months at least. To those of you Aulisioholics out there hoping for a new Pat Aulisio book, I can’t find anything else in the review pile, but I will obviously post anything I find/get up here in a timely manner.
Update for 11/2/10
November 2, 2010
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Posted by Kevin
Brown, Jeffrey – Undeleted Scenes
November 2, 2010
I wasn’t expecting much of a “theme” out of this. After all, it is “undeleted scenes,” meaning mostly odds and ends from anthologies, notebooks, and whatnot. Still, by the end of it I had more of an impression of his overall life than I’ve gotten from any one of this graphic novels, and that’s saying something. The material ranges from his early days to his having a baby (well, not him, but you get the idea), to the actual raising of the child. Granted, it often came in more of a “drive-by” format, as there wasn’t space to delve into everything in minute detail, but it painted an impressively revealing whole. For all you fans of his work out there (and why else would you be reading this?) , if you own the following comics you already possess the bulk of this collection: “Be a Man,” “Feeble Attempts,” and” Minisulk.” If you just buy the graphic novels and don’t get the individual comics there will be plenty of new material in here for you, although I guess “MiniSulk” was more of a “graphic novel lite,” what with the size and all. Even if you have all of that, you’re still looking at roughly 100 pages of material that’s new to you, and there is some fantastic stuff in here. “Be A Man,” for those of you who don’t know, was Jeffrey’s answer to criticism that he was too wimpy in “Clumsy.” It is a thing of sheer beauty to see him turn all faux-macho for 30+ pages, so that’s worth the price of admission right there. His story about being unable to eat ramen noodles should resonate with anybody who was ever a poor college student, or possibly is still poor now (hey, I bought some just last month!) Then you have his grandma’s reaction to the nudity in his comics (always wondered about that), a lengthy story about bum avoidance and conversations, another weird pseudo-relationship, him almost getting into a drunken brawl (well, the other guy was drunk anyway), fun with medical insurance, and listening too literally to the word of god. And that’s just the stuff that is pretty much guaranteed to be new to you! “Feeble Attempts” was just a regular old comic, so maybe you missed it, but there’s plenty of good stuff in there that now has a home here. Really, at the end of the day your only questions should be “Is this good enough for me to buy” and “Is there enough new material to make it worth my while”? The answer to both of those is an emphatic “yes.” If you’ve never heard of Jeffrey Brown, welcome to the land of the living and maybe check out “Clumsy,” “Funny Misshapen Body” or “Bighead.” You’ll come back to this soon enough, although I guess it may be just a little confusing for new readers (the “Be A Man” stuff in particular would make people think Jeffrey is an a-hole if they weren’t in on the joke), but for everybody else, yeah, I’d say this is required reading. And it is over 350 pages for $15, so it’s a bargain too…
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 11/1/10
November 1, 2010New review for Chickenbot’s Odd Jobs #2 by Eric H., and there were reviews over the weekend if you only kill time here during the week and have not yet mastered the concept of scrolling up and down a page for yourself.
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Posted by Kevin
H., Eric – Chickenbot’s Odd Jobs #2
November 1, 2010
Chickenbot’s Odd Jobs #2
Eric made the decision to keep his comics self-contained after putting out the first half of the first “Odd Jobs,” and can I just reiterate that it was an excellent idea. This issue features out hero going back out to find another job and, as always, his options are rather limited. He goes with “paranormal investigator” over “gnome wrangler”and “dragon slayer” and ends up trying to figure out the truth about a UFO sighting. He heads out to the farm (and alien sightings are always on or near a farm), pokes around a bit and finds prairie dogs with hats firmly attached to their heads and the head farmer spontaneously combusts. Chickenbot seemingly has no fear, as he finds out the truth about the aliens and hitches a ride up to their ship. I won’t ruin any more of it, but I will say that he could have picked “dragon slayer” right off the bat and saved himself a few steps. Sure, putting these comics out as self-contained stories means there’s going to be more time between issues, but every one of these so far has been a treat. “Funny and smart” is a big part of what I look for in comics, and this one has both qualities in large lumps. The only trouble is with Eric’s website as, even though it has the entire comic available for free, there’s no link to any place to actually buy a copy. Wait, did I just say that getting to read his comic for free was a bad thing? I’ve been doing this too long. Clearly it’s a good thing for us comic readers, but if Eric is going to be nice enough to post the entire thing he maybe should have a link for people who like to own physical copies of comics. And some indication of the price. It’s a hefty thing, so I’m going to say $5 randomly, but I couldn’t tell you where to get a copy.
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 10/31/10
October 31, 2010New review for Silent V #2 by Kyle Baddeley, happy Halloween and don’t forget to watch The Walking Dead tonight on AMC. Hey, they already have a good track record for shows, and this is a zombie show. What could go wrong?
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Posted by Kevin
Baddeley, Kyle – Silent V #2
October 31, 2010
Silent V #2
There’s a fine line between playing fast and loose with your storyline to enhance it and make it wonderful and just throwing a bunch of shit against the wall and hoping something sticks. I wish I could tell you exactly where that line was, as it would save a lot of creative types some trouble, but I have no idea. Wherever that line is, Kyle has found it and is currently dancing a happy jig all over it. I have very little idea what’s going on in the grand scheme of things in “Silent V,” and I really couldn’t care less. This is a whole pile of inspired brilliance, so much so that I had to sample two images from the book. Well, nobody made me sample two pages, but I would have sampled the whole thing if I thought that was fair. OK, let me try to sum up the story just a bit (this ought to be good.) A baby is dropped off to be a new recruit of some kind (but the “dropping off” was maybe a bit too literal), Doug fights off some goblins in the clock tower, we travel 700 years back in time for no discernible reason, Burrd Flappy gets what’s coming to him, and that “to be continued” page was a thing of sheer awesomeness. Generally with this type of book I hold a hope of eventually going back and re-reading the series to make some sense out of it, but this time around I’m frankly rooting for chaos to win out. Read it, love it, scratch your head out of sheer delighted confusion. $2 (?)
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 10/28/10
October 28, 2010New review for Symphony in Ink edited by the man of Thursday (for the next few weeks at least), Dan W. Taylor.
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Posted by Kevin
Taylor, Dan W. (editor) – Symphony in Ink #4
October 28, 2010
Symphony in Ink #4
Dan has finally put his comics fancy pants on, as that there is a full color cover. Kudos! As is the case with a good chunk of Dan’s books, this one is an anthology, all loaded up with talent and goodness. Dan has a funny if mildly disturbing strip about a guy in a pool; Andy Nukes has a series of images that I’ll let speak for themselves (because they’re better experienced than described, and I realize that that accounts for a lot of what I do here, but if I think too hard about it I’ll vanish in a puff of smoke and logic); Kelsey Donald has a piece about a determined fish, a artistic baby genius and an assholish ice cream shop customer; Steve Steiner (if it’s based on a true story) has a girlfriend with some questionable sanitation habits; Josh Blair shows the true meaning of a hybrid car and Jarod Rosello has an epic about trying to find adventure but not being entirely sure how to spot it. Whew! Having a little bit of space has done wonders for this comic, as people were able to tell a lengthier story when they needed to while other could still stick to the shorties. Here’s hoping Dan has this full-size mini comics (just typing that almost caused my brain to short out) thing in his blood now, because I’m very much liking the new format. Oh sure, it’s a little pricier at $3, but you guys are still going to buy it, right?
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 10/27/10
October 27, 2010New review on the last Steve Seck Wednesday for Life is Good #4. Back to random reviews for the foreseeable future except for Tuesdays and Thursdays, except in the unlikely event that Dan Taylor stops making comics…
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Posted by Kevin
Seck, Steve – Life is Good #4
October 27, 2010
Life is Good #4
Steve apparently decided to skip all that character development stuff this time around and went with an issue that was all about drinking and hanging out with an asshole. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, this still being a free country for at least another week and all, but it was a little jarring. Brownie is on top of the world and heads off to a bar that is celebrating happy hour all day. Apparently he found a job? That should warrant at least a mention. Anyway, he meets Charles at the bar, but Sewer Gator is with him, and the two of them start a drinking contest. Brownie finally convinces Charles to ditch the loser, but he is drunk so his definition of “ditching” involves telling the guy where they are going to escape his company. A literal pissing contest ensues and, without giving too much more away, I do very much approve of the depiction of cops as literal fuzz. It ends up being a pretty funny comic, but I was just starting to get a wee bit invested in the characters and only fleeting references to their lives are included in this issue. Ah well, can’t have everything, and a good comic is still a good comic even if it’s not exactly what I was looking for. It’s smaller than the other ones, so it’s a measly $2 this time around if you’re just looking to give the series a try.
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 10/26/10
October 26, 2010New review today for Dirty #1, edited by the man of the day, as it is “Pat Aulisio Tuesday.” At least for another week, assuming that I can find that last comic he sent me…
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Posted by Kevin
Aulisio, Pat (editor) – Dirty #1
October 26, 2010
Dirty #1
At least I’m pretty sure Pat is the editor for this issue, with all that artistic expression going on around that guy it’s hard to tell sometimes. This is another anthology by what appear to be locals around Philadelphia, as they include a class schedule for people interested in signing up… back in September. Just a note to anybody who sends me time sensitive comics: send me an e-mail mentioning this fact, as if it comes on a note with the comic those two things often get separated. I try to do new releases first and then go back to the older stuff, but what with the whole “Pat Aulisio Tuesdays” theme I’ve just been grabbing whichever book of his is handy. Wasn’t there a comic here somewhere? Ah yes. This is short but tall and vibrantly colorful. There’s Ian Harker with a piece about… yeah, not going to touch that one. Beth Heinly has the sampled piece, as I have an elderly grandmother’s resistance to cat-related strips. Box Brown, Pat Aulisio and James T. Arnold share a page of strips about fantasy, the distant future and animal funnies respectively. Bradford Haubrich then has the bulk of the comic with different pieces using layered techniques to make a better whole. Or something, I’m not so good with the technical descriptions of art, in case that wasn’t blindingly obvious by now. Steven Streisguth brings up the rear with a couple of gorgeous black and white pieces. Pterodactyl is the group putting this together, and their motto is in part: “To revive the enjoyment and practice of creating art for personal fulfillment, to create exhibitions and experiences that resonate with diverse audiences, and to bring people together through the arts.” Sounds good to me and, especially if you know and love the people involved, this is definitely worth checking out. How you get a copy is another question, but I’ll pass it along here if I find anything out…
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 10/25/10
October 25, 2010New review today for Rooster Jack vs. The Mermaids by Adam Hansen, Ben Zmith and Laura Ault. All kinds of new reviews over the weekend too, so scroll down if you only come around to kill time during the work week.
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Posted by Kevin
Hansen, Adam; Zmith, Ben & Ault, Laura – Rooster Jack vs. The Mermaids
October 25, 2010
Rooster Jack vs. The Mermaids
A constant danger of this reviewing business is that I’ll occasionally fall into the “what should have happened” trap. You know, where I think a story could have been better if it had gone a different direction or had a few different parts, leaving aside the issue of reviewing the actual comics. Well, with that in mind: you guys are doing it wrong. It starts off with a really nice intro and a character synopsis; both useful things considering the collection of adventurers involved. The first page of the comic is also excellent, as we see the rooster claw followed by Jack making his way out of hiding, declaring things to be safe even though he’s last to arrive. From there the comic seems like somebody set a timer up and told them they had X hours to finish the whole thing. It has the feel of one of those books that was rushed out for a con which, while it’s always nice to have new stuff for a con, the comic will live past the con and it’ll be seen as rushed after the fact. The break between page two and three was confusing, as they were looking for a boat one minute and then facing a giant crystal wall holding the ocean the next. Maybe they walked there, although you’d think you could see a thing like that coming. Actually, on close examination of the page I see what might be a path, but it’s leaving too much to the imagination. Anyway, the mermaids get angry when one of the crew steps on a skull that’s outside the crystal wall, they somehow chase the group to an opening (even though they don’t seem to be able to break through the wall, so what’s the rush?) , and the crew battles a giant octopus. That scene is pure chaos, and not in a good way. I’m generally against spoilers, but as I’m making a point here you can look away if such a thing will offend you. They fight, get smacked around, and run away. I have no idea what the point of this was or why the mermaids were basically evil cheerleaders the whole time. Did they win before they ran away? Look, these guys have built a solid, interesting cast of characters. Let them breathe a bit! Put this story in a 20 page comic instead of cramming it into eight pages and it would have been a whole lot better. The frustrating thing is that I like Adam’s sense of humor as well as Ben and Laura’s artwork; it’s a good team with a potentially great story. It’s just not a story that’s meant to be crammed into this small of a space. If, on the other hand, you wanted to make an 8 page story for each of the adventurers to flesh out their history and personalities, that would be something I could get behind… $1.50
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 10/24/10
October 24, 2010New reviews today for Florride by Amy Martin and Kozmohstraduh #4 by Dave McKenna. Not sure how I managed to get these you amidst all the internet stoppages I’m getting, so huzzah for sporadic coverage!
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Posted by Kevin
Martin, Amy – Florride #3
October 24, 2010
Florride #3
This is apparently the comic from the Amy Martin pile that I was waiting for, as I loved it with no reservations. No, i couldn’t tell you exactly why that is, which is why they pay me the big bucks. Probably something to do with the fact that as a single guy in his 30’s, I don’t necessarily identify with single women on the prowl or complaining about the menfolk. Granted, there’s some of that this time around too, but also more genuinely moving stories. One highlight of the book is an imaginary conversation Amy has in heaven, in which she gets her baby disallowed due to the dissolution of a relationship and tries to cut through all the bureaucracy to find out if she’s ever going to get pregnant again. It was a hilarious portrayal of red tape on the one hand and the nonsense that is “heaven” on the other. The other highlight was Amy remembering some awful events from her past in a beautiful landscape, wishing for a way through it but not knowing how it’ll end up. Then you have the shorter pieces, dealing with the guilt of corn chips, a serious conversation behind a rabbit, and a few shorties about boys or being a happy woman after seeing boys. It’s a complete comic, full of heart, sincerity and humor, and kills whatever lingering doubts I may have had about Amy. Hey, I’m a critic, like it or not (never thought I’d be one, but that is at least a part of what I do here), so I’m allowed some healthy skepticism. My favorite part of the “job” was when somebody wins me over completely, so here’s to Amy making my day! Yeah, it’s a little steep at $6, but there’s plenty of content and it’s all good.
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Posted by Kevin
McKenna, Dave – Kozmowstraduh #4
October 24, 2010
Kozmowstraduh #4
Looks like Dave has abandoned any kind of spelling consistency on his title, and as long as he keeps making comics as thoroughly entertaining as this one I couldn’t care less. There are times when I just want to say a comic was frickin’ awesome and leave it at that, and this is one of those times. This is a wordless mini involving a half-naked young woman living in a savage land. She is attacked by a terrifying creature, escapes briefly before being attacked by a Jim Woodring fever dream.  Yes, I know that Jim Woodring doesn’t own the trademark to all odd characters, but it’s hard not to think about him when things get really out there, and I hope it’s obvious that I mean that as the highest form of compliment possible. A mysterious stranger helps her out, they are attacked by an even stranger cast of characters, and the chase is on. I’d love to ruin the rest of the comic, but my “no spoilers” policy is holding me back. If I had some kind of “star” ratings system for these reviews this one would have 80, which is why I don’t have a rating system of any kind; I’m too prone to hyperbole. Still, this is one ridiculously entertaining comic, and if you’ve heard about this Dave McKenna fella in the past and don’t know where to start checking out his stuff, start with this one. If you don’t like this there’s no point in going on to the rest of his comics, or any other comics, or life in general. See what I mean about being prone to hyperbole? And all this for a measly $1!
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 10/23/10
October 23, 2010Busy day yesterday, two reviews today to make up for it: Perfect Agent #1 by Greg Carter & Stephanie O’Donnell and Monkey Squad One #6 by Doug Michel. If all goes well I should have a couple of these up tomorrow too…
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Posted by Kevin
Carter, Greg & O’Donnell, Stephanie – Perfect Agent #1
October 23, 2010
Perfect Agent #1
Finally, a secret agent for the government that has no moral compass. It’s always a bit baffling how the James Bonds’ and Jason Bournes” of the world will happily kill dozens if not hundreds of people but still fall squarely on the side of goodness and right. It has never made a bit of sense and this issue, if we’re lucky, will start changing that direction. OK, granted, one mini comic series is not going to change the culture, but at least a few people will read it and call “bullshit” on the altruistic ideal, and that’s a good thing. This one hits the ground running, as Tara (the agent) tries is breaking into a Russian embassy and gets involved in a gun and knife fight. The government needs a scapegoat so she gets fired, although I think the usual punishment in a situation like this involves killing the agent, but maybe I watch too many movies and I’m willing to let it slide regardless. She ends up as a freelance agent, and gets her first assignment to take out a fundamentalist Senator. I won’t spoil any more, but the ludicrous outfits of the sampled page are explained and Tara’s thwarting of another prospective assassin has to be seen to be believed. It’s fun, looks great (although a few backgrounds next time around wouldn’t hurt anything) and has me wondering what happens next, so I’d call that a success. $2.99
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Posted by Kevin
Michel, Doug – Monkey Squad One #6
October 23, 2010
Monkey Squad One #6
Well, if the last issue at least mildly dealt with the characters, this issue is all about mayhem. I’m also torn on the recap, as it’s funny as hell, but functionally useless. Ah screw it, I’ll let “funny” win out. Anyway, Monkey Squad One is getting their behinds kicked by the giant monster from the last issue, Monkey Squad Two is happy to come to the rescue (after they finish eating dinner), and the cast of villains is still watching the spectacle from a nearby rooftop. The monster gets increasingly out of control until one of the MSO members shoots a giant laser beam out of his eyeballs, which seemed a bit odd to me, but I don’t know the full history here. The giant battle continues, Monkey Squad Two shows up (and they sure seem a lot more competent than Monkey Squad One), then we get to the point where I can’t say much else without giving stuff away. It’s a reasonably fun ride, although it may not be for me, as I’m mostly over giant anime robots, sadly enough. Still, that’s not to say that you wouldn’t like it if you enjoy mayhem, giant robots and interpersonal drama with a team of teenagers (?) and their constant efforts to save the world, so don’t let my general fuddy-duddiness get you down. I did approve of Doug’s obvious fixed to misspelled words, even if did stick out a bit, because it’s better than the alternative of leaving the wrong spelling in out of laziness or stupidity. And the art was impressive for what the genre needed to show, so I don’t have a clear explanation of my generally “meh” reaction other than, like I said, my own personal inability to feel joy. If you still have that power, get this comic and enjoy! $2.50
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Posted by Kevin
