April 24, 2010
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Doc Smith #1
This one is a whole lot better than the book of gag strips. It’s mostly about a clueless dork, which maybe isn’t the most original thing in the world, but it’s done really well. It’s an incredibly wordy book, as it took me about 20 minutes to read it (it’s 37 pages), so it’s up to you if you like that sort of thing. His art is solid and Dean’s a pretty funny guy at times. The story here is basically a wandering mess, but that’s OK. It starts with Doc being abducted by aliens, who release him because he has too many keys. Then he gets home to find that cockroaches have taped Howard Stern over his Battlestar Gallactica tape, then he spends the rest of the issue going on about his trouble with women. Who would have guessed that a stereotypical dork would have trouble with women, eh? Anyway, this is a dense tome, worth the effort if you’re you like books that are mostly funny with some groaners thrown in. Contact info is up there, and if you’re going to check this guy I’d recommend this one. $2 maybe? No price listed…
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
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Tacklebear and Barko the Stickdog #1
Here’s a book of mostly one page gag strips with a few longer stories thrown in. It often follows the standard gag strip formula of setting something up for the sake of a mostly lame punchline, but it does veer into more entertaining territory here and there. It’s the story of a bear and his guard dog (and yes, he does deal with why a bear would want a guard dog) as they deal with rain, ghost stories, a malfunctioning magician’s hat, “Footbig”, and the “stop hitting yourself” game (come on, you all played it when you were kids). The book suffers from a lack of timing, as a lot of longer stories go on too long and some of the shorter ones could have used a bit more. Still, there are some funny moments here and there and, despite the simplicity of the characters and the general lack of backgrounds, you can tell that Dean has some artistic talent when he uses it. He sent another book along with this that I’ll get to probably in a month or so. I’ll have a more complete idea of his work then. Until then, this has a few moments wrapped around a bunch of so-so stuff. Send him an e-mail or send him $3 if you want to check it out at: Dean LeCrone C/o Sourdirt Comics P.O. Box 502074 San Diego, CA 92150-2074.
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
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Strip Joint
To be totally honest, I pretty much only read political strips. I don’t know why I have the prejudice, as I read pretty much everything under the sun when it comes to regular comics, but with weekly strips I stick to stuff that has a current political message. That’s why this book comes as such a great surprise. There’s all kind of relevance here, it’s just not the kind that comes from yelling a viewpoint from a soapbox. The premise here is simple, and obvious to everybody who’s been reading this for years, but bear with me: Carol sets up a premise every week, makes a story out of it and brings that story to a conclusion, usually in 12 panels. The stories are about all sorts of things, but the one thing that brings them all together is that things are always brought out to their logical conclusion, even when that conclusion isn’t very nice. Overpopulation, good, evil and love are some of the more consistent themes. The best part about this strip is that she avoids ever being preachy, which is a difficult thing with her wide range of topics. Looks like I have another strip to read every week on Salon, which brings my total up to three out of five. Maybe I should give the other two a chance, as they seem to have pretty good taste. Check out her website, all kinds of strips to convince you with there…
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
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The Big Skinny
That’s right, I’m reviewing what is essentially a diet book. I’ve come to terms with that, you should too. Actually, Ms. Lay would probably have a problem with this being referred to as a “diet book”, as what it actually sets out to do is show how easy it to to lose weight and keep it off for years. The intro to the book is excellent: Carol, at a dinner party, is asked by the hostess what her secret is for looking so good (Carol, by her own description, has been at least 30 pounds overweight for most of her life). She replies honestly “I count calories and exercise every day”. And, well, that’s really all there is to it. The rest of the book is her proving that counting calories isn’t as difficult as most people think, how exercising can be incorporated into the schedule of even the busiest person, how you can do those exercises at home (more or less for free once you get a few basic things), and how the only way for this to work in the long term is a sincere desire to change. She describes how people have to have a moment when they decide they’ve had enough: a certain photo mercilessly shows how you really look, a small child asks you why you’re so fat, some sort of trigger makes you want to change. Roughly equivalent to an alcoholic hitting rock bottom, I suppose. She also makes it clear that it is still possible to go nuts on rare occasions and eat things that aren’t justifiable under your new standards, as long as you take care to make up for it in the coming days. I don’t want to give away all her secrets here, as anybody interested in this sort of thing (which, judging from the sales numbers of diet books, is just about everybody) should buy the book. Speaking as somebody who is trying to eat healthier (I really mean it this time), this is a damned near perfect way to approach things, chock full of common sense, and it even has a series of recipes in the back along with links to calorie counting websites. It really isn’t as hard as everybody makes it out to be, and there’s a very simple reason why people want to gum up the works as much as possible here: how else could they convince people to buy every book about the latest miracle diet plan to come along? This is one of those rare books that actually could change your life, even if you only take some of the suggestions out of it. Take all of them (and no, you don’t have to completely give up cheese), and you’d have a hard time not being a healthier, fitter person. $18
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
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Infandum #2 Now Available! $1
Humiliation! Now there’s a fun theme for a comic. First up is the delightful strip I sampled below, about how to deal with getting dumped by a guy. Not sure if it would work if the genders were reversed but ladies, this is perfect advice if you want to torment the dumper. Next up are a couple of stories about baseball players who are remembered, even after long, mostly successful careers, for one big play they botched. These stories are from 1908 and 1912 respectively, as Molly seems to have a fascination with this era. Fine by me, it’s something I’ve been curious about for years but never bothered to go back and research. The best of the bunch is next, a story about humiliation at grade school. Molly was something of a teacher’s pet back then, but decided to spice things up a bit by following the lead of a fictional idol of hers and puts on a pair of homemade rabbit ears for a few days. This, oddly, goes mostly unnoticed by the class… until her mom decides to come in wearing the same ears. I believe “scarred for life” fits here. Finally there’s the story of a Molly deciding to train for a marathon with a friend, who lives miles away. They were supposed to both be training at the same time, except for the minor fact that, months later, the long distance friend still hadn’t begun running, while Molly was hobbling herself on a constant basis trying to get in shape for a marathon. Great stuff all around here, it’s hard to get more quality material for a buck than you’ll find here. $1
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
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Infandum #1 Now Available! $1
Intoxication! Now there’s something we can all get behind. Or something that we’ve all worked towards at one time or another, in one form or another, and yes, I’m talking to you super religious types who “get high on Jesus” too, assuming you people would read a site like this. This is a very short comic, but it does have one essential story about a young man walking home with his laundry at night when he happens upon the town Jesus Van. Chances are you’ve seen something like this in your town, and he thinks it would be the best idea in the world to smoke a bowl in said van, and, well, there’s a lesson to be had somewhere in that. Also in here is a strip about the basics of Catholicism as told by a talking bird, the story of the death of a drunk baseball player over a hundred years ago, and a tale about the virtues of drinking heavily after an intense workout. Great stuff again, and don’t be too fooled by the size, as Molly has a tendency to draw tiny panels, so she still has space to pack in a good story…
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
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Great Moments In Baseball #1 Now Available! $1
Molly does the impossible here: she makes me care about baseball players from around the turn of the century who are, in most cases, long dead. Who knew that Ty Cobb was a nutcase who quite possibly killed a guy? Some of the other stories have been scattered around her other comics, but they’re all in one volume here for people who are interested. There’s the story of the last day of the Washington Senators (in 1971), Big Ed Delahanty’s mysterious death, how the “best” double play combo in history got into the Hall of Fame, and how a respected manager was ruined after catching a grapefruit dropped from a plane. If you’re curious about that last one, well, lucky you, as that’s the sampled page. It leaves out the fact that this manager was trying to beat a player who had caught a ball that was dropped out of the Washington Monument, as apparently balls falling a long distance was a big thing back then. I think this is fascinating stuff even for people who don’t care about baseball, although I have my doubts that anybody who hates the sport is going to pick up something called “Great Moments in Baseball”. Then again, what do I know? $1
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
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Raven’s Children #10
Did I say last issue that the conflict between Jained and Jemer was resolved? OK, that was completely wrong. This issue deals with the consequences of Jained “killing” his sister in #9 and a bit more of the politics at play in the whole general scheme of things. I still think it’s pretty close to impossible to review what it essentially a chapter of a long book, but here I am, trying anyway. This story is really shaping up and I’ll bet there’s a second graphic novel out by now, or if there isn’t there will be soon, so you can be totally caught up. It’s $2, try and find the contact info, I dare you…
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
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Raven’s Children #9
Anybody out there who’s been reading this series on a regular basis knows of the ongoing conflict between Jained and Jemer. If you haven’t been reading this series regularly, then why are reading a review for #9 anyway? In any case, this issue looks to resolve that conflict, and it does it in a pretty interesting way. Not much more I can say about that without giving a bunch away, but take my word for it. As for the series as a whole, I’ll get caught up with where it is one of these days. It has to be on at least #13 by now, as I got this and #10 at SPX ’03, and it’s the kind of thing that is definitely best read in chunks. The art’s looking better than ever and the story is completely engaging. Check it out. Seriously now, there’s a graphic novel and everything, you’ve run out of excuses. $2! Oh, and for once it’s not my scanner screwing up the sample, it’s just that the panels for the page I wanted to use drift over to the next page. It’s a nice effect, it just doesn’t translate well for a sample. Maybe I shouldn’t have used it then? Logic has no place here!
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
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Raven’s Children #8
This is kind of like a review for the last three issues (6-8), so bear with me. This universe of hers is really starting to come together. The only real problem I had before was that some of the characters kind of ran together in my head, probably because I read the issues as they came out and there wasn’t enough space to properly give them each their own identity yet. These three solve that problem nicely, as chunks of time are given to a lot of the characters and I’m finally starting to get a real feel (I think) for what’s going on. A complaint, or suggestion maybe, would be to not put different storylines on the same page. #7 had a chunk where the top part would be dialogue between two characters, establishing motivation for both, while the bottom part would be two completely different characters and what they were up to. It was a bit disconcerting and I just read one bit and then the other after a while, but maybe my short attention span is the problem here and nothing else. This story takes patience, there’s no doubt about that, but the rewards for that patience are already starting to come. It’s not like I read a lot of fantasy comics regularly, but this is the best one I know of currently going. Check out her website to see what her schedule is like and get the first book to see if this is for you.
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
Website
Raven’s Children: Shadow of the Snow Fox Part One
I already reviewed most of these issues separately (though in my usual rambling, barely-even-mention-what-the-plot-is kind of way), so I’m not going to get into too many specifics here. You already know that I like this series and, as this was the first time that I’ve sat down and read a chunk of them in a row, I have to say that I was impressed. It was obvious from the beginning that she had things planned well in advance, so it wasn’t that shocking to see how well little things fit together, or how throw-away lines were actually completely thought out and planned (the appendix to this book is a tremendous help, but not essential if you’re just looking for the surface story). What really surprised me is that while the art, and especially the lettering, got substantially better as the book went along, the actual writing was never less than stellar. It’s 1/21/04 as I’m writing this, meaning that the second book is probably either out or about to come out, so that means you can get a huge chunk all at once. This is something I’m going to have to pay closer attention to, as I’ve just discovered that the rewards are greater if you read it all in a row. It’s $14.95 and you can get it on her website.� Seriously, it’s worth a look.
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
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Raven’s Children #4
Well, this one eased my worries about keeping a consistent schedule a little. She has the writing and the art down (I think), her main problem is sticking with this and letting people discover it. The trade is available too on her website, and that collects #1-5 even though, as far as I know, #5 isn’t available. Here’s hoping that I’m wrong about that. This issue is more of the same, meaning essentially that it’s more of the story that left me wanting to just keep reading. I’m a sucker for well-written fantasy comics, what can I say? If you want my advice, get the trade. That way there’s a big enough chunk available so you can really tell what you think about it, for better or worse. Uh-oh. I just checked her website and it said that #5 was supposed to come out in May and #6 should come out this month. Now, I work at the local comic store (we’re both in Champaign, IL) and I would think that they would get it if a new one was out, but I could be wrong about that. I’ll post more here when I know it…
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
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Raven’s Children #3
OK, let me get a few things out of the way first. Consistency is what’s essential for a series like this. Your comic can be the best thing in the world and it’s not going to matter much if people forget what happened in the last issue because there hasn’t been a new one in a year. I’m happy to say that it looks like she’s keeping a regular schedule, so no worries there. I wasn’t sure what to expect out of this and am happy to say that I liked it quite a bit. The fact that I couldn’t wait to get to the next issue (hell, the next page in some cases) is about as great of a compliment as you can give to a series. The art gets better all the time and it wasn’t bad to begin with. It’s obvious too that she has this whole world already set up in her head, as the tiniest things are explained in the back of each book. It was also a good idea to explain things like that without disrupting the flow of the story. Don’t worry, she didn’t go all Dave Sim and explain the hell out of things that people don’t care about. She kept it all pretty short and pertinent. If these samples aren’t enough, go to her website. All kinds of stuff there. Hm, maybe I shouldn’t have picked the last issue to review, because now it’s going to be tough to explain what the series is about. I’ll make it vague: it’s about repercussions, ancient history, dogs, a “peace” conference, and relationships. Which barely scratches the surface, but there you go. Buy the first issues, sit back and enjoy the ride. That’s what I’m doing…
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
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Tardcore Comics #2
Please read the review for Tardcore #1 before coming back to this one, as it’ll clear up my basic opinions of this sort of thing. Done? OK, good. Now that you know where I’m coming from, how about this issue? Well, it’s one big story, not the few stories pieced together like the last issue, so it’s much easier to either love it or hate it. The story is simple enough, and even slightly heartwarming, at least for a few panels. In the world of the aliens from the first book (you know, the one that wanted the bum to touch his mar-mar), retardation is not acceptable, so every time a retarded baby is born, it is killed and eaten immediately. However, in a large, fancy ceremony, the queen of these aliens has a retarded baby. She loves the little creature instantly and decides to hide its retardation from the world at large… but that can only last so long. Eventually the�child gets out and, as babies are made on this planet simply by touching the mar-mar, soon the child learns the pleasure involved with getting his mar-mar touched and this alien world is visited by a plague of retarded babies. Oddly enough, I enjoyed this one quite a bit more than the first one. Maybe just the mood I was in at the time, but the art in this one is even better than the first issue (and that’s not one of things I had a problem with the first time around anyway), and this is a story that was really helped by being the focus of the comic instead of one of many stories. Granted, it would be nice if some of the spelling mistakes were fixed (“thrown” for “throne”, the eternal wrongness of “your” instead of “you’re”), but in a story this ridiculous, it’s not going to be the straw that broke that old camel’s back. Either you’re going to enjoy the sheer absurdity and offensiveness of the story already or you’ll hate it, in which case a few spelling errors aren’t going to be what drives you away. Worth a look if you like this sort of thing, and the sampled page isn’t like most of the rest of the issue, but I couldn’t resist posting the part in the story where the author loses all hope and questions everything. $2.99
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
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Tardcore Comics
Well, it’s finally happened. I’ve gotten to the point where I’m really starting to wonder if I’m getting too old for this sort of thing. I think this is a book I would have thought was hilarious 5 years ago, but now… not so much. It’s all about the gross-out humor, which has made me chuckle in the past, but didn’t get a thing out of me here. There are two big stories and the one page that I sampled, in case any of you didn’t know what “mung” was. First is the story of an alien trying to convince a bum to touch his “mar-mar”, and second is the story of Billy blowing out his asshole while trying to win a weight lifting competition in high school. Both of these are told in gruesome detail, and I can’t argue with Lee’s talents when it comes to drawing the nasty stuff. The writing is fine too; there are some genuinely funny reactions from people when Billy is trying to hold himself together. It’s a cop-out, granted, but maybe it’s just me, getting older and significantly less interested in this sort of thing. If you haven’t reached an advanced stage of fuddy-duddytude yet, check it out, it’ll give you a good laugh or two. If you have, please feel free to join me over here, holding my pinky in the air while I read only the finest of the fancypants comics… $2.99
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
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Tripe #1
Wow, after the previous two issues on this page, this one ends up looking downright wholesome. It’s a collection of short pieces, not a coherent single story like his previous books. First up is a fairly dopey but good-natured piece about a traveling sno cone salesman, complete with a little dance number in the middle and an abrupt ending. Next up is the highlight of the piece, in which Frankenstein and his girlfriend are having an argument about her past history with the Wolfman. Well, she’s having an argument, Frankenstein is mostly groaning. Then there’s an absolutely adorable silent love story, involving a Ziggy-ish creature falling for a woman he sees while walking around, although it does get a little less adorable in a hurry. Finally there’s a piece about a man with an unhealthy competitive streak who’s unable to beat a mentally handicapped kid at bowling. There are moments of hilarity all over the place in the final three stories, only the first one here didn’t do much for me. Not a bad ratio for a $2 mini…
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
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Rashy Rabbit #4
You know, I’m starting to get the impression that things are never going to end well for Rashy. In this issue we get to see the hilarious fate of Morie after his quest for the lesbian, Rashy dealing with his stoner cousin (who seems to have effortless luck with the ladies, unlike Rashy), Rashy dealing with his mother, and Rashy being the nice friend who doesn’t take advantage of the drunk, seemingly interested female friend. Josh has this sad little world thoroughly nailed, and this could easily turn into something vast and rewarding over the next five years, with all sorts of subplots and twists and turns. …or he could drop it completely to focus on other things or because of a lack of free time from his “real” job, as seems to happen to most people. Either way, enjoy the funny while it’s around. $3
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
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Rashy Rabbit #3
I do believe, for all you obsessive compulsive collector type geeks out there, that the previous issue was actually Rashy Rabbit #1. Or this issue is really Anxiety, Sleep Problems & Depression #3. I have no idea which of these is right, which must be driving you compulsive types crazy, but you’ll have to live with it. Or go to his website and research it, if it makes you so crazy. Anyway, the comic. Rashy seems to be in a pretty crappy place in the world, as the comic starts with even a seedy massage parlor turning him away. Things seem to be looking up as he happens across a possible job (at a coffee shop) and an attractive pot dealer, who promises to “hook him up” later in the evening. Things fall apart in a hurry from there, of course, but half the fun is watching it all happen. There’s also a subplot with Rashy’s friend Morie who is trying desperately to get into the pants of a lesbian at work. The art is phenomenal again, with all sorts of little things happening in the backgrounds of panels (my favorite was the mama bird bringing back a used condom to feed her baby birds), making this one of those comics that rewards you for repeated readings. It’s a great read overall; you can just feel Rashy sinking deeper and deeper into the shit as the issue goes on. $3, stay away kiddies, here there be boobies…
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
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Boom Boom #4
Hey look, a flip book! Are you allowed to do that if you’re the only person involved? Well, Dave sure thought so back in 1994. There are plenty of interesting stories in this one, mostly largish biography pieces. The first side of the flip (the sampled cover) deals with the story of John Lee Hooker, a legendary blues man if you didn’t know, and how he slowly rose up and made money singing the blues, even with his unique style. Following this is a story of Dave as a young artist learning his craft, trying to anticipate where he should go with his answers and picking up a lot through it. Once you flip the book over there’s a dense, thickly black (just a mildly different artistic style) tale of Pablo Picasso in a quiet time, telling the story of his early years to a woman he’s just met. Finally there’s an utterly random piece detailing the adventures of the Iron Duke fighting his way free against a giant eyeball. It manages to be short enough to stay funny and still packed enough to tell a very quick story. Sure it’s a parody, but he manages to keep the story logically consistent, and that’s no small feat. Again, this is almost certainly out of print for those of you without time machines, but it is worth seeking out if you have resources, or one of those rare comic book stores in your area that has old mini comics available. Or do those places only exist in my head?
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
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Boom Boom #2
Here it is, another in what’s turning out to be a long line of “what do you mean this guy or girl doesn’t already have a page here?” posts. It may have taken me until 2010 to put the guy up on my website, but he was one of the precious few comic artists that got me hooked on this mini comic business. His adaption of Ulysses into mini comic form was a thing of brilliance, and that probably should have been the comic I posted first, but hey, that just leaves something good for later, right? This particular issue is, essentially, a birthday card to his dad. He wanted to do something different for his dad’s 55th birthday, so he asked a bunch of relatives and friends to tell their favorite stories of the man and illustrated them. He kept things interesting by illustrating these tales in a lot of different styles, including old school Popeye, Matt Groening overbite, and Peanuts, including a few more that I probably just didn’t recognize. Stories in here include his dad growing up, running away from home and picking cotton at the age of 13, volunteering to discipline some neighbor kids, telling the kids that they’re going to the zoo and having the day fall completely apart, never paying his parking tickets (and eventually getting his car booted), accidentally joining a spa for the elderly, and how he had an endless supply of stories to tell his sons at bedtime. It’s sweet, it’s funny, and even if you’re too cold-hearted to care about am over-sized birthday card to the guys dad, the variety of artistic styles alone should be enough to keep you interested. I didn’t see any way to buy these on his website but, as is often the case with these mini comics folk, somebody really should put all this older stuff into a collection of some kind. It’s a shame to have so much of it be impossible to find trivia at this point. $2
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Posted by Kevin
