April 23, 2010
Website
Three Bad Ones
There’s no way to accurately show it through my scanner, but this is one of Eleanor’s fantastic “comic you can buy in a gumball machiine” minis, kept in its own little plastic bubble. It’s been literally rolling around the floor in my apartment since the last FLUKE I attended and I stumbled across it today. It’s a little fable about three men (pictured above) who decide that they’re tired of doing chores and go out looking for a wife. They have a hard time finding someone they can all agree on (which is a little creepy in its own right, but fits right in with the fable theme), until they finally find the perfect woman. Charming and wonderful as always, if I had a million dollars there would be real gumball machines with these little gems in them all over the country. Anyway, plenty of minis to choose from if you click on that website, and I haven’t seen much from her that I haven’t liked…
Comments Off on Davis, Eleanor – Three Bad Ones | 
Reviews | Tagged: Eleanor Davis, Three Bad Ones | 
Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
Website
The Discovery
Way back when, evolution was still up for debate. Back then a man named Eugene DuBois found the skull cap for Pitheoanthropus Erectus, or the walking ape man. It was thought to be a missing link between the evolution of apes and man, but scientists at the time didn’t treat it seriously, and if I keep going I’m going to spoil every part of the book. It details his life story in regards to this skull cap, at least as much as it can be detailed in a little mini. Good stuff as always from Eleanor, and yes, the cover is supposed to look like that. I’m guessing this is $2, contact info is up there if you’d like to find out for sure. Also, I’m aware of the fact that there are some deranged nutcases out there who still think that an old man in the sky created the world in six days, fossils be damned. If any of you have the brain power to read this, please, PLEASE write to me or post something on the forums so we can have a debate about this. It’s always hilarious to me to see those people try to say with a straight face that THE DEVIL put those fossils there to test our faith…
Comments Off on Davis, Eleanor – The Discovery | Reviews | Tagged: Eleanor Davis, The Discovery | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
Website
I’ve Lost My Spots!
If you can look at the cover and think that you’re going to get an in-depth examination of the situation in the Middle East or something, well, you’d be very wrong. What you have here is an adorable little tale about an, um, monster I guess, that wakes up one day without its spots. It finds another creature with a telescope and they spend the rest of the idea seeing spots on various things and realizing that those aren’t the spots they’re looking for. This is another one of those rare comics that is perfect to leave laying around for a small child (if you have small children of any sort in your life, that is). It’s dedicated to her Grandparents and is obviously a labor of love. Oh, and the spots inside are in color, so it’s a vibrant, cheery book in just about every possible way. I’d say this is $3 or $4 because of the color, but there’s contact info up there so you could find out for sure, if you loved cute little books about monsters looking for spots.
Comments Off on Davis, Eleanor – I’ve Lost My Spots! | Reviews | Tagged: Eleanor Davis, I've Lost My Spots | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
Website
Oh Charlie
It’s so easy for a comic about love and loss to turn into a hokey mess without much of a point, except for the author to bitch about what they’ve lost. Just wanted to point that out before I made it clear that this comic is nothing like that, and three cheers to Eleanor for that. This is the story of her relationship with a boy named Charlie, his death, and her life before and after. If you think I’m giving too much away, well, it’s revealed pretty early on, so you’re wrong. There will be no discussion on the topic! Time flashes all over the place here, with her going back and forth between while they were dating and after he was dead and she was dealing with it, seamlessly. These are all a page or two long, so there’s never a completely in-depth profile of these two. You’d think that would lessen the impact of their lives, but she manages to pull the whole thing off beautifully. Great dialogue, as her sparse backgrounds (for most of the book, anyway) really put the focus on what is said. Contact info is up there, I’d say this is $2, but I’d be guessing…
Comments Off on Davis, Eleanor – Oh Charlie | Reviews | Tagged: Eleanor Davis, Oh Charlie | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
Website
Mr. Bloomburg Finds True Love
What a creepy little comic book! I mean that in the best possible way, of course. This is all about a lonely, quiet man who is forced to rent out a room in his house out of financial necessity. A young woman takes the room, and the man discovers that he has a handy peephole right into her room. The rest of the comic is spent with him spying on her, until eventually he decides to transform himself into her perfect man, which he has been able to determine from long hours of voyeurism. There’s also a few neat parts of the book where you can fold back a flap and have something new revealed to you, as well as on both covers. I feel dirty after reading this, and if that isn’t a recommendation I don’t know what is. Here’s a website, another book with no price, so let’s say $2 and see what happens, OK?
Comments Off on Davis, Eleanor – Mr. Bloomburg Finds True Love | Reviews | Tagged: Eleanor Davis, Mr. Bloomburg Finds True Love | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
Website
Mattie and Dodi
Another day, another gorgeous comic from Eleanor. This one details basically a day in the life of Mattie and Dodi, two sisters who are taking care of their dying grandfather. OK, just Mattie is taking care of him, as Dodi is too young and traumatized to help much. Mattie is also dealing with a loving boyfriend and a job, both of which seem to be unwelcome distractions from her other duties. Eleanor has taken a topic here that could be milked to death as a tear-jerker and was instead content to let the silences between characters tell the story. I don’t think Dodi says a word the whole time, but most of the story is told from her perspective. It’s a quiet and affecting tale about people being forced to deal with an impossible situation. Oh, and it’s her first “big” comic, hence the heftier price tag of $5, but well worth it if you’re already a fan of her stuff…
Comments Off on Davis, Eleanor – Mattie and Dodi | Reviews | Tagged: Eleanor Davis, Mattie and Dodi | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
Website
Fish Out Of Water Now Available! $1.50
Ah, the silent mini comic. This is where I usually ramble a bit, as there’s never a whole lot to say about something that’s this short and this silent (although this particular issue does have a poem following the story). And this time? No exception. This is the story of the last moments of life for a fish, as it’s apparently caught, gutted and thrown back into the water. I did enjoy the poem at the end, which is a rarity for me, and perhaps the whole thing would have been better if Christopher had done stanza by stanza panels instead of leaving it silent and placing the poem at the end, almost as an afterthought. But, and especially when it comes to poetry, what do I know anyway? $1.50
Comments Off on Davis, Christopher – Fish Out Of Water | Reviews | Tagged: Christopher Davis, Fish Out of Water | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
Website
True-Size Eyes Now Available! $2
Rarely have I been more torn in writing a review. Poetry in comics generally doesn’t do a thing for me; sorry, that’s just the way it is. However, mayhem on a massive scale is always a blast. So what’s to be done when a giant female child is terrorizing a town… in verse? My head, it does explode. I’ll stick with the easy stuff first, as Chris’s art has really grown on me over the last couple of years, and he does a great job depicting said mayhem as well as showing off some giant eyeballs. The poetry is amusing enough, it’s just, like I said, not my thing. So I suppose it all comes down to my usual wishy-washiness. It’s worth a look if you already know and like Chris’s stuff (and/or poetry), but if you’re not familiar with the guy and want to check him out there are many better places to start, like for example any one of the comics listed above this one, except maybe Crawling, as that falls into the same “poetry” category. Clear enough for you?
Comments Off on Davis, Christopher – True-Size Eyes | Reviews | Tagged: Christopher Davis, True-Size Eyes | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
Website
Dark Matter Mission For A Cooped-Up Cosmonaut Now Available! $3
How long would it take you to go crazy if you were cooped up on an asteroid with only another cosmonaut for company? This tells the tale of an undetermined time in the future when a couple of cosmonauts are sent to observe dark matter… except for the slight fact that dark matter isn’t all that interesting to observe, and they appear to be trapped with no hope of ever getting home. Tempers flare, and we are treated to that greatest of rarities in the comics world: a zero gravity fight. Well, mostly one of them beating up on the other one while he tries to get to safety, but still an impressive display. I love the fact that Christopher isn’t afraid to wander all over the place when it comes to his comics. A lot of people stick to a topic or two that they know really well, Christopher isn’t afraid to tackle much of anything, and that has to work to his future advantage as an artist. Godd stuff, more than worth it for the slow motion attack. $3
Comments Off on Davis, Christopher – Dark Matter Mission For A Cooped-Up Cosmonaut | Reviews | Tagged: Christopher Davis, Dark Matter Mission for a Cooped-Up Cosmonaut | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
Website
The Snowman, The Bananaman, The Parking Robot and Me Now Available! $4
When there are two title options it’s OK to just pick one and avoid typing out both options, right? Good, glad that’s settled. In a constantly growing pile of minis that are wonderful, this one might just be the best of the bunch. It’s about the four characters mentioned above, with them all slowly starting their day, doing their own menial tasks (Snowman drives an ice cream truck, Parking Robot is a waiter, Bananaman is one of many fancy pants bananas who seem to run the town, and “Me” is an angry cyclist). Things build up slowly, or at least as slowly as they can in a mini comic, with everything coming together at a rally for the Strawberry Resistance. While I’d love to go on about how everything connects after the fact, there’s too much in here to be discovered for me to ruin it all by rambling. Like everything else on this page, check it out, you won’t be disappointed. No price, let’s say… $2?
Comments Off on Davis, Christopher – The Snowman, The Bananaman, The Parking Robot and Me | Reviews | Tagged: Christopher Davis, The Bananaman, The Parking Robot and Me, The Snowman | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
Website
Crawling Now Available! $2
You know why I have such a hard time reviewing comics that are mostly illustrated poems? Because I don’t know what I’m talking about, and my ideas for the meanings behind the poetry are pretty much complete nonsense. How that differentiates from my regular reviews is something I’ll leave to you to figure out, but I wanted to throw that out there before I proceeded to ramble about this one. It’s a poem for a woman named Heidi (wife, girlfriend, former lover, grocery clerk, we don’t know) asking her to take a chance with him, but as it goes on it becomes clear that he’s not so sure he’s not the one getting in over his head. Or so it appeared to me, and as for that, please see above. It has great art and some nice imagery, particularly his desire to explore everything about her in a spiritual way, you perverts. The e-mail address is up there, it’s worth a look if you’re more into the poetry than I am, or quite possibly even if you’re not. $2
Comments Off on Davis, Christopher – Crawling | Reviews | Tagged: Christopher Davis, Crawling | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
Website
“No buses. Chickens.” Now Available! $2
Yep, that’s the title, as written, just in case you thought I was meandering when I typed that. This is a short mini, but wonderfully done. There were no buses, you see, but there were chickens. Mean, fast, man-eating chickens. In this brief story a woman is picked clean at a bus stop, and the man standing around waiting for the bus decides to go through her purse to find out more about her… until the chickens start to take an interest in what he’s doing too. Great stuff, recommended for anybody who doesn’t already have a phobia about chickens, because if you do this might just send you into a padded room. $2
Comments Off on Davis, Christopher – “No buses. Chickens.” | Reviews | Tagged: Christopher Davis, No Buses. Chickens | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
Website
I Walk With My Wife In The Evening Now Available! $4
What a gorgeous, gorgeous book. Oops, I gave away my opinion right off the bat. This is the story of a walk between a man and his wife, with them just walking and talking, with the man (I’m guessing it’s Christopher) meandering off mentally into a daydream after seenig a lone, odd cloud. He drifts back to an old news show he saw where they were talking about what would happen if somebody released a dangerous chemical into the air. How would the people react, would it just be calm acceptance or panic, etc. He also goes into detail about a book he read in high school detailing the remaining survivors of the world after half of it is destroyed in a nuclear holocaust and how they calmly wait for the cloud to come and kill them all. Is that On The Beach maybe? Sure seems familiar to me. Anyway, the story is engrossing, but it’s the art that takes this to another level. The attention to the tiniest details in every page is impressive, and yet it somehow comes across with the same feeling as his casual walk through a neighborhood. Not sure if that makes any sense at all, but trust me on this one. Just an all around great mini; it’s comics like this that make me want to keep doing this website forever. $4
Comments Off on Davis, Christopher – I Walk With My Wife in the Evening | Reviews | Tagged: Christopher Davis, I Walk With My Wife in the Evening | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
Website
Robot Bildungsroman #2
The comic with the catchy title is back! Seriously, I’m sure some people have skipped this if they’ve seen it at the store purely due to that clunky title, which would be a shame, as they’d only be hurting themselves. Well, and Joe, who I’m sure would like to at least make a few dollars on this. In this issue we get a solid recap of the last issue (hoorah!), see a bit more of the men behind the robots, and get a showdown between the cops and the gang from the last issue, which doesn’t seem to end well for anyone involved. Marci was a bit scarce in this issue, but we do see her getting a “routine” check-up and seemingly forgetting about it once she gets to school, although she is left with the sense that something is wrong. There’s also a short story at the end of the book that deals with a bit more of the culture involved in having robots being readily available all the time, as this tells the tale of… well, you can see it for yourself on the sample page. I probably should have used one of his splashier pages (as this issue really looks great), but I couldn’t resist that description. Anyway, the humanoids don’t exactly work as advertised, but one boy decides to keep the defective creature with him anyway. It’s another solid issue and again, I have to point out that this has all the makings of a really great series. Assuming you like smart science fiction, that is… $3
Comments Off on Davidson, Joe – Robot Bildungsroman #2 | Reviews | Tagged: Joe Davidson, Robot Bildungsroman | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
Website
Meatcake #12
I think I’ve finally found a good word to describe Meatcake: hodge-podge. OK, maybe that’s two words, but that’s the word this comic brings to mind for me. Every issue I’ve read has had a mix of all kinds of different stories, yet it’s only the size of a regular comic and I’ve never gotten the feeling that I was missing out on something by the stories being so short. I wouldn’t mind seeing a full-length story from Dame, sure, but I like the short stuff she’s doing now just fine. So what’s this comic about? Vampires, dolls, wolves, Sept. 11, absinthe, haunted houses, sex, witches, eggs, and Rapunzel. Go ahead, try to fit more stuff into another comic. Not recommended for people who like reading long stories, but anybody who doesn’t mind their mind wandering around a bit should love this. Any chance of a collection of some kind, Fantagraphics?
Comments Off on Darcy, Dame – Meatcake #12 | Reviews | Tagged: Dame Darcy, Meatcake | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
Website
Meatcake #9
Have you ever gone through some old comics, come across something you loved back when you got it and are surprised to see that that’s the only issue you bought? Well, join the club. I remember getting this one for the Alan Moore story, but it’s probably the weakest thing in the issue, and it’s a pretty damned good story. I know I didn’t see this one on the shelves ever, but I certainly sought out stuff that was harder to find than this. Whatever, put it right up there towards the top of the list of stuff I’ll get as soon as humanly possible. So, what about the comic? Well, the story written by Alan Moore is all about Wellington, a little orphaned girl, and what happens throughout her life. He fits with Dame better than anybody, except maybe Eddie Campbell. Then there’s a story about two friends who rob a couple of graves for cool party dresses and the consequences of their actions. Throw in a couple of shorties and a ballad from 1600’s England and you have one great comic. I guess I can’t say for sure that all of her stuff is this good, but I’ve always liked her work in anthologies and I could honestly lose myself in her art even if she couldn’t write herself out of a paper bag. Not sure how she’d find herself in a paper bag, exactly, but she doesn’t have to worry about it as she’s much too good of a writer to ever find herself in that predicament. One of the things that amazes me when people write me is that they spend so much time on this site when I link the websites of everybody that I can. Now those are some pages. Here’s the Dame Darcy page, and good luck not getting lost there for a while. Pardon the first scan, but it’s such an incredible page that I figured it was worth the eye strain.
Comments Off on Darcy, Dame – Meatcake #9 | Reviews | Tagged: Dame Darcy, Meatcake | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
Website
The Changers Book Two: Our Obligation to the Future
Frankly, I wouldn’t have expected this level of competence and ingenuity from somebody’s first graphic novel/mini series. This book ties up all the loose end of the first, and asks the questions: do two people have the right to decide which way evolution is going to go for an entire race of people? Is contentment in the face of constant adversity merely giving up? Why is it so impossible to appreciate what we have when we have it? Ezra has asked these and many, many more questions with this book and the previous one, and I think he’s done a great job of giving answers for a lot of them, while at the same time showing that no matter how much time we have under our belts to evolve, basic human frailties are inescapable. In this book the alien from the altered future undergoes some disturbing changes, and the truth about his people and their place in his world are revealed. All those other questions I mentioned are in there too. I think this book is brilliant. About the only bad thing I could say about it would be that I don’t agree with some of his theories about what mankind would do under certain hypothetical future conditions, such as an inevitable asteroid strike. He seemed to think everybody would collectively give up all their vices and put together their best work, I think everybody would come to realize the futility of their existence and give in to ALL their vices. Anyway, personal opinion, but the argument he lays out for it is still fascinating. This is a phenomenal series. Anyone who longs for smart science fiction should check these out. Contact info is up there, you know what to do…
Comments Off on Daniels, Ezra Claytan – The Changers Book Two: Our Obligation to the Future | Reviews | Tagged: Ezra Claytan Daniels, Our Obligation to the Future, The Changers | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
Website
The Changers Book 1: Evolution is Our Right
Quick, what’s the last really good science fiction comic anybody out there has read? Anybody? The list is pretty small, unless I’m just missing out on a whole bunch of stuff. This one, when it’s completed, could certainly be the best of recent years because of the sheer imagination involved in the concept. I explained the concept for the series in my review for #1, which is above, so check that out and come back. This book collects #1-3, as Ezra decided that publishing the next two issues would be too expensive. Great idea as far as I’m concerned, as that gives me the chance to read everything that’s done so far in one sitting. Anybody who’s ever wondered where humanity might be going or has ever bothered to think beyond next month, let alone next year, let alone a thousand years from now or even three millions years… just read it, OK? My one nitpick in the whole thing is that maybe, for future editions, Ezra should consider putting the text pieces all together either at the front or the back of the book. These text pieces are fascinating two page treatises on death, racial classification and culture and are worth the price of admission by themselves. This is $8.95, go to his website and buy them.
Comments Off on Daniels, Ezra Claytan – The Changers Book 1: Evolution is Our Right | Reviews | Tagged: Evolution is Our Right, Ezra Claytan Daniels, The Changers | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
Website
The Changers #1
What a fascinating concept. Humans have gone pretty much as far as they can go, three millions years now, and have decided to go back in time to help evolution along. Two people from the future are doing this and there is a mysterious creature who’s trying to contact them. That’s the short explanation for this, and that’s all you’re getting out of me because you should really check this out for yourselves. It has one of the oddest cliffhanger endings that I’ve ever seen (you’ll only get that if you read it or check the preview on his website), and there’s also a diary-like entry at the end detailing human history that has yet to happen. Ezra has obviously spent a great deal of thought on this, trying to figure out what could happen to humanity through three million years, and I can’t wait to see where it goes from here. If there’s one drawback to getting books like these early with this website it’s that I have to wait longer than most people to see how the story continues. Yeah, I know, boo-hoo for me…
Comments Off on Daniels, Ezra Claytan – The Changers #1 | Reviews | Tagged: Ezra Claytan Daniels, The Changers | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
Website
Disposable Boy #2
This is the kind of autobio that is almost uncomfortable to read. This guy bares his soul with these books and he doesn’t make anything look better than it is. He’s well aware of his own deficiencies and seems to be almost dedicated to making sure that they continue. In this one he gets invited to a party and can’t seem to make a human connection. It’s depressing to read, but the guy is an amazing writer and he tells you about things that most people wouldn’t go anywhere near. These are a couple of bucks each and, while short, are definitely worth a look. He has an e-mail address and a website, get ahold of him and have him send you some stuff, won’t you?
Comments Off on Daniels, Ezra Claytan – Disposable Boy #2 | Reviews | Tagged: Disposable Boy, Ezra Claytan Daniels | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
