April 23, 2010
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Good-Bye
When is a comic simply not reviewable? It’s not like that has ever stopped me from rambling before, but this one is seven pages long with one panel per page. Oh, and it’s silent. Don’t get me wrong, it’s gorgeous, as it’s all in color and that feller sure does know how to draw, but I’ve never been the best person to interpret these things. In this comic there’s a man who’s walking along until he sees a break in the wall. Through this break he notices a woman in a pink mass, getting further and further away. Gorgeous, like I said, and I think it has something to do with loss (although I might just be cheating and getting that from the title), but I’d start with some of his other work (I Love You in particular) and then head back for this once you already like his work.
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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I Love You!
Ah, it’s too bad that Valentine’s Day has come and gone for 2006, as this is the perfect mini for that special someone. After all, where else can you profess your love by scooping up the puke of the person you love and forming it into a crust on your body? Or eating your own skin so the puke and your outside join into a better whole? Or… well, it’s short, you should see it for yourself. It’s absolutely heartwarming though, that’s for sure. The best part of it is the fact that the female has no interest at all in the situation until her suitor, um, leaves the land of the living. After that she couldn’t possibly love him more. Let’s say that this one is a buck too, and like his other books is worth checking out if you, you know, like funny stuff. And/or undying love…
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Cay… The Night Huntress #3
I think I’m finally starting to get a feel for these comics. I was a little bothered by them at first because they’re so short that they offended my delicate, pre-conceived notions for what a comic should be. Now I see them as somebody sending me a couple of jokes in a little pamphlet with a short story holding it together. This marks (what looks like) the end of the Cay series, as Cay confronts the living piece of collage art and the two zombie vampires. This smudgy art has really grown on me as I’ve seen more of Brian’s work. The smudgy lettering, however, has not, although I do appreciate the occasional filled-in word. It’s $.50, like most of his comics, and you should probably get the lot of them, as it’s an ongoing, complete series. You’ve been here often enough now to find the contact info, I expect…
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Scat! … the Scaredy Cat #2
This man puts out the tiniest books ever! Not in terms of actual comic size, as Caesar Meadows holds that record I think, just in terms of the number of pages. I feel bad putting two pages up for sample here, as that’s about half of his book (you probably think I’m joking), so go ahead and send him a couple of bucks for some comics to alleviate my guilt. This is a tiny comic about a cat who’s too afraid to fall asleep and gets help from a rat in a very odd way, which you can see from the sample. It’s only $.50, meaning that you can get 6 comics like this for $3. What a deal! A funny book, mostly because that’s one of the better cats I’ve seen in comics. Oh, and Brian was kind enough to inform me that he uses prismacolor pencils for his comics, as inspired by Bill Plympton. Not a bad man to be inspired by, and I have to admit it looks damned good in this issue, it’s just that sometimes (what with the small pages and all) it gets downright messy.
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Earth Minds Are Weak #8 Now Available! $3
First, a translation: Kaiju are the giant monsters in Japanese movies, and a Jugoruma is a giant bullfrog monster. That being said, this particular issue doesn’t have much to do with either of those things, but hey, it’ll probably be useful information down the line. Why? Justin has decided to do another continuing story, and he threw the first four chapters together in here. He’s never been afraid to take his mini comics (although this “mini” is 43 pages) in wildly different directions, and this issue is no exception. Some influences, listed from his afterward and in no particular order: Moebius, 2000AD reprints, Veronica Mars, old Warner Bros. cartoons, ABC Warriors, The Cosby Show, and Blue Velvet. If you’re not curious after that listing, there’s no hope for you. This is set in a futuristic world and we’re still, to this point, only seeing glimpses. The bulk of the story follows a man (in his flying car) trying to run errands, but his plans are thrown off by a moustached man, following a mid-air gunfight, landing on his hood and putting a gun to his head. We get to see the huge differences in lifestyles for people from different sectors of town and the obvious resentment that would come from the people who weren’t able to get a flying car. I have no idea if this is turning into a giant, sprawling epic or if this is going to fizz out in a few issues, but for now it’s great to see Justin taking some serious chances and trying something completely different. Futuristic sprawling epics are fine by me, so here’s hoping he keeps this up for a while… provided he still brings the funny in various other mini comics, of course. I’ll leave you with my favorite quote from the book, as he always has at least one quote that sticks in my head: “I’m gonna whittle his textbooks into spikes and stab learning into his skull.” $3
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Earth Minds Are Weak #7
In case you’re wondering about all the samples, there’s a simple explanation: Earth Minds Are Weak #7 comes in an envelope, inside of which are three distinct comics. So you get the sample of all three covers and the usual one sample from the inside, because if I sampled all of them things would get crazy around here, and this site is already hard enough to see for the people without the greatest internet connection. It’s my favorite of the series so far by a long shot, and that’s saying a lot when I already mostly liked the other issues. There are three themes here, although they all seem to rely a bit on reminiscing. First up is the story of a woman who gave up everything in her life because everything reminded her of her ex. Next is a yearly conversation at a bar between a group of old classmates, where they take turns drinking and telling personal stories. Finally there’s the bit about God, in which he is portrayed as a lonely and frightened old man, with an all-too-human reaction to the death of his son. It’s hard to pick a highlight here. There’s the dull hopelessness of the woman from the first part, or all the wonderful stories based on remembered smells from the second issue. While he could have milked this and put it out as a few separate minis, these work well combined. My biggest confusion here (as opposed to some of the older issues where I was lost at sea) is simple: how on earth is this only $2? Three distinct comics, two of which are in color, and it’s $2? Maybe the man owns a printing press. Either way, this is the perfect comic for anybody who has ever felt nostalgic or anybody who has ever had an old memory kick them square in the face due to an anonymous smell. Which, I imagine, is just about everybody… $2
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Earth Minds Are Weak #6
Huzzah for full color! Sure, it costs a bundle, but it sure does make a book look pretty. Especially when the story is something like this one, involving a man shrinking down into a (temporarily) shattered head in an attempt to heal a damaged mind. Justin’s mind, to be specific. All sorts of visual doodads and gewgaws in here, and you can never go wrong with a twirly moustache. Another great issue from Justin, and it’s probably the most easily accessible of the Earth Minds series so far, so maybe you can get one for your Grandma for Christmas or something… $2.50
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Elm City Jams #3
These two (Mike and Isaac) are the mad scientists of the mini comics world. The great thing about that though is that they focus a lot more on the “scientist” part and a lot less on the “mad”. What they’re doing might seem insane, but they know exactly what they’re shooting for seemingly at all times. They might not get there every time, but they’re sure going to give it a shot. That being said, I’m supposed to be talking about this comic, right? Well, it’s a jam book, so other people are involved. Specifically Tom O’Donnell, Jeff Seymour, and people named Shana and Harry. The story behind this issue is that there is one central idea for each comic, which only takes up a single page. Individual panels can be passed along to different people, and they were kind enough (on almost every page) to tell the reader who did which panel and under what constraints they were operating. Examples include having a duck or a monkey in every panel (but not both), having one inbred character, getting hot liquid thrown in somebody’s face, ethnic stereotypes, not being allowed to have robot, human or animal characters, stealing the layout from a page of Fantastic Four #1, and having a comic within a comic within a comic. Look, every single panel of every single page isn’t a masterpiece, but the vast majority of the stories here are a blast. And the best thing about these two is that while you have no idea what you’re getting from issue to issue, you at least know that they’ve put a whole lot of thought and effort into the concept. Well worth a look if you love comics and what they’re capable of being.
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Earth Minds Are Weak #5: Lincoln Isn’t The Awesome
Ok, first things first: go here and check out Carl is the Awesome, because if you’re not familiar with that book you’re not going to get the point of this one even a little bit. Of course, if you’re a fan of comics at all you already know all about Carl is the Awesome and anything I say about it here will just insult your intelligence. But this isn’t about Carl! This one is all about Lincoln, a pathetic porcupine (?) who, sadly, has none of Carl’s natural charisma or charm. He lives in a pathetic place, he was born in prison, and ladies make him pay for cab rides with Carl. Honestly, if you haven’t read Carl is the Awesome, this isn’t going to make much sense to you. It’ll still be funny, but you won’t get the larger context here. Check it out either way, if you want my two cents on it…
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Earth Minds Are Weak #4 Now Available! $1.50
Well, here it is, the dramatic conclusion. I should mention that this series is subtitled “The Story of Suave Prospects”, because once you know that and you read the whole thing it all makes perfect sense, but if you’ve come here expecting me to spoil it all for you you’ve come to the wrong place. There’s a backup story in here with words, which killed my theory that only the wordless stuff was incomprehensible. As for the story itself, the last character to come out has a chat with a creature who reveals the great secret to him and things get a little crazy from there. I will say that it’s a satisfying conclusion, but I won’t say any more because most of you probably haven’t read the previous three issues and whatever I say specifically about the deeper meanings of this series will just prove how little I get it. I think it’s worth a look, but I also think I should have had a lot more alcohol when I read it, or possibly picked up a psychodelic drug habit of some kind.
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Earth Minds Are Weak #3 Now Available! $1.50
What is it with my relentless quest for meaning in these wordless minis anyway? What if it’s all completely meaningless, maybe the author just liked a particular sequence of events and put them together in comic form? Well, who knows, but I’m having a blast reading this series regardless, so who cares? This one deals with the last person out of the giant vagina (hey, that’s what happened) exploring the candle above the happy casket instead of the casket itself. Then another man comes out, and he seems to be a bit more playful with his surroundings than the other people, which invariably gets him into some trouble. Oh, and Jesus comes back and saves us all from the monsters. Or maybe I just made that last part up and threw it in there randomly, but I guess there’s just no way for you to know for sure, now is there?
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Earth Minds Are Weak #2 Now Available! $1.50
Issue #2! This is usually the point in series where all that hard work setting up characters and events in the first issue starts to form into a coherent whole, or at least it is when you’re doing these sorts of things “by the book”. Here, eh, maybe not so much. In here you have a man trying desperately to get a hatch open (which appears to have an upside-down woman in it), a bar inside of a whale, and the birth of another of the children. Oh, and he revealed some of the great mysteries of the universe but I was too dense to catch them. An interesting series so far and I’m looking forward to seeing where it’s headed, if anywhere…
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Earth Minds Are Weak #1 Now available! $1.50
Oh, I do love the wordless comics. Why? Because they give me a chance to try and analyze them in a review, of course, which must be hilarious to you guys, as I usually have no idea at all where the story is going. This is (from the looks of it, I haven’t read the whole thing yet) a four issue silent series, and I’m going to try and review an issue a week so I can keep the whole thing fresh in my brain. These are also all available in the online store, so you know what to do if these images tickle your fancy. As for the first issue, well, you can’t beat that title, so at least it has that going for it. This is the story of a giant pregnant woman who decides to have her babies outside of a temple where some worshipping is going on. We get to briefly meet a man who is trapped in her belly and sees four fetuses (one for each issue?). One of them pops out, fully clothed and regular size, and he discovers a woman in the happiest coffin I’ve ever seen, and if I say any more I’ll ruin the story, or at least the story as I see it right now, which is admittedly pretty damned murky. So… stay tuned, I guess. Damned if I know if this is going to be a good series, or if my opinion on whether or not it’s “good” should have anything to do with you checking it out. It’s unique, I can tell that much already…
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Only Skin #4
Here we have a fine example of the perils of a continuing small press series. This is the first issue in about two years (well, the first update of this page in two years anyway, I don’t know exactly when this came out) and it is an “in between” issue. That means that in the course of a longer series, this sort of an issue is absolutely necessary. When it’s the only issue in two years, it’s at least mildly maddening. Things are certainly getting closer to a resolution this time around with Paul still out searching for Albert, Clay learning that the ghost he’s seeing wants to die (without either of them having a clue how to make such a thing happen), Cassie taking the survivor out to search for her brother, and the survivor telling the tale of how she got away. We also see (and this can’t possibly be a spoiler if you can see it on the cover) the a large chunk of the forest is dead, but we still don’t know why. The pacing is pitch perfect, as everybody in their own little adventure is coming to a place of realization, but damn it if I’m not a little bit impatient. Human nature, I suppose, and I’m sure it’ll all fit together perfectly eventually. For now, and I’m probably starting to sound like a broken record on this page, this comic should be required reading for everybody who reads these things. $4
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Only Skin #3
Looking at this page, it just now occurred to me that I’m only using samples involving Clay and the ghost. Not sure why that is, as they only take up a little sliver of the storyline. It could be because I don’t want to give away a hint of the complex, sprawling story in these reviews and so pick only the images that’ll have the fewest “spoilers”. Or it could simply be because I love that little ghost. Either way, another issue of my new favorite comic is here and yes, if there was any doubt, Sean knows exactly what he’s doing here. The young woman in the hospital gown (and how she fits into the picture), just what that ghost is after, Paul trying to find Albert, everything takes a hefty leap forward. I’ll well aware of the fact that I praise books a little too easily around here, and so maybe don’t get taken seriously when I say a series is tremendous, one of the best I’ve seen, but… I have been reading comics for 20+ years and, in every measurable aspect of these things, this is one of the best series that I’ve ever seen. Anybody who stops by the site to check out quality comics and hasn’t looked at this yet is missing out, plain and simple. $4
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Only Skin #2
Well, this might be a new record in the comics world. This is the second issue of the series and I already unreservedly love it. The timing of the slow revelations, the art, the genuine sense of slow, constant terror that hangs over the whole town, everything is absolutely pitch perfect. Any sense of “well, I’ll give this a chance for a few more issues” is gone, replaced by a sudden and rabid devotion. It would take the literary equivalent of a Paris Hilton guest appearance to drive me away, and even then I might find a way to rationalize it. So what’s this particular issue about? Without giving anything away, because everybody deserves to unravel this for themselves, this one deals with the mysterious girl from the last issue, a news conference in the town, Albert having a really bad idea, Clay (Cassie’s brother) getting a few more answers out of the floating ghost, and another missing person. I’m gushing more than a little bit here so I’ll wrap it up, but anybody who loves comics that is passing this up for some reason is only hurting themselves. $4
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Only Skin #1
Every time I even start to think I’m getting sick of doing this website, a comic like this comes along that reminds me how lucky I am. I mean, I get random comics in the mail all the time, from all over the world (OK, mostly from the U.S., but still). Bitching about any of it makes no sense at all when I look at it that way. What’s so great about this comic? It’s obviously the start of something much bigger, which always piques my interest because it means the author has big plans. And when those plans are laid out as expertly as they are here, well, he automatically has a grace period of a few more issues even if those suddenly somehow drop off in quality after this one. This is the story of a small town in the middle of nowhere that just so happens to have people disappearing at a pretty steady rate. Cassie and her young brother come to town to help run the family gas station after their father disappears. Things get off to an awkward start when they show up at the gas station and find the police, trying to figure out why there are fingers lying on the ground. Everything is a slow build from there, with the little boy running into a ghostly figure that may or may not be his father (or may have escaped from a Pacman game), Cassie trying to get settled in and the townspeople slowly coming to a boil over all the disappearances. There’s much still to be discovered here, and I can’t wait to see it. The art is fantastic, the pacing is perfect for a mystery like this and it looks (from his website anyway) that this may be his first comic. Great stuff, and a bargain at $4 for something this big.
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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You Can’t Tuna Fish
I think I mentioned in my other review how the trio of Cricket, Frankenstein and Bill (the talking duck) bugged me. Well, that was for that other story, and that was for reasons that didn’t repeat themselves here. OK? This time around it was a delightful romp, as they say. Cricket and Bill go out and catch a giant tuna fish, but what’s Bill to do when they leave to get wasabi and he’s stuck alone with a giant tuna fish and giant tub of mayonnaise? Hilarity, obviously, ensues. The rest of the book is random stuff, like memories of his art school days (which apparently weren’t too long ago), life at his job at an art supply store, and remembering old girlfriends. This was all apparently on his website, but I always prefer a comic collection of things like that, because I’m too old-fashioned to ever have a website, but here I am! Deal with the inherent conflict! This is a measly $1 and has plenty of stuff to make you laugh/think, so send the man an e-mail! Sorry for all the yelling…
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Don’t Eat the Electric Sheep #2
There are more than a few things to like about this one, as well as a few things to dislike. Let’s talk about the good stuff first. The main part of this story (#1 and this issue) is about a robot who is partially cloned that has an itchy shirt. Vague enough for you? Honestly, two issues in, I’m not entirely sure what every plot point is, but I’m interested. This robot/clone is in what appears to be an asylum and his dreams are flooded with images of a past life and his apparent attempt to kill himself and his girlfriend. Medication and mechanical doodads in puke add to the confusion/intrigue and make me wonder where this is going next. I wasn’t a big fan of the main back-up of the book, involving a team of folks (Frankenstein, a talking duck and a girl named Cricket) fighting alligators. It was fun at times, don’t get me wrong, it’s just that comics that constantly refer back to the creator of the strip, the number of the panels left in the story or how silly the plot is bugs me. It doesn’t happen too much in here, just enough for me to notice and be annoyed. Check out the website for some samples and new comics. Overall there’s enough good here for me to recommend this, in case anybody was curious…
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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The Comic of Brotherly Love
Now THIS one is funny. No reservations about it. By the way, if you’re ever lost at the start of these reviews, chances are I’m just continuing a point I made in another review on the page, often from months ago. Make sense? Oh well, it doesn’t make that much of a difference. Anyway, there are two stories in this one, both involving two brothers sitting around. One brother is bored, and seems to be a lot dumber than the other brother. The smarter brother is reading a book in both of these stories. The dumber brother is bored, and in both cases decides that he would like to play whatever the other brother is reading. In this case, it’s either a book about Harry Houdini or Mummies. So they decide to play Mummies in one story and Houdini in another story and… I’m about to give the whole thing away. It’s more or less the same gag, sure, but it’s a funny gag, and what more do you want out of a funny comic than that? $2
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Posted by Kevin
