Disposable Boy #1
This is all about Ezra riding the bus every day. That probably sounds dull as hell, but what I failed to mention is that this is autobiography at its finest, at least in comic form. He speculates about everybody on the bus and is very conscious about how he must seem to the world. I’ll get into more details for the next issue, but the guy is talented.
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Posted by Kevin
Lucky Comix #6
Well, I’m probably no closer to finding where this guy currently lives, but at least I was able to post an e-mail address… from 2001. Oh well, you can still buy his stuff at Catastrophe. I wanted very much to like this one (especially after a wonderful editorial to start things off about turning 35 and still doing mostly unnoticed comics), but it left me with the same “bleh” feeling as the last. The Warwold story continues, and I can’t put it any better than he does in the back of the book: “Gratuitous long winded pre-teen sword and sorcery fantasy”. And if that’s a good thing, this book is for you, ast that story takes up the bulk of it, meandering around with the hero and his brain trying to find their way up a mountain, followed by various splash pages of epic battles. It had a few funny moments, in all fairness, but as a whole I could have lived my whole life without reading that. Next up is a story about “real” and “false” people, which is a bit too complicated to go into here, but a pretty good story, if a bit confusing without any sort of recap from previous issues. The last comic here is about Natch being trapped in prison, mostly notable for the giant clown robot/monster/thing that slowly saps his identity. Wrapping the whole thing up is a commentary about the wonder that is Charles Burns, so it’s hard to bitch about that. Overall another so-so issue, with me still hoping that he’s done wonderful things in the years since that I’ve missed. $5
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Posted by Kevin
Lucky Comix #5
Ah yes, comics that are five years old. No contact info that I would trust as being current (so I just linked to the USS Catastrophe site up there, where I bought this here comic), no real idea if this guy is still putting out comics. I’m going to assume that he is and he didn’t quit to become a CPA four years ago. This is a collection of stories, I think all by Mark except for a complete mish mash of a comic by Claudio Parentela in the middle, of which we will speak no more. First up is a mostly wordless story about a prisoner watching the world go by as he’s transported on a train. A nice melancholy little story that falls off the rails a bit at the end. Then you have another installment (I missed the other ones) of Warworld, a continuing story Mark was doing about a brain in a jar involving all sorts of intrigue. My only complaint about this one is one that I seem to have a lot: please, PLEASE learn to spell. I know it’s not that big a deal to some people, but it bugs the hell out of me, as all it would take it a simple spell check on the computer or, I don’t know, a bit of proof reading. Also in here is a mystery involving two people trapped in different parts of a house and a phantom baby, along with a few one page comics about a Charlie Brownish character that are mostly funny. Maybe I’d have gotten more out of this is if I wasn’t picking it up at #5, but the whole thing didin’t do much for me. I’ll try to get a real website or contact info nailed down, until then you know where to go… $4
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Posted by Kevin
I Walked With Robot Monster
Is itpossible for something to be a seamless hodgepodge? This comic has all sorts of unrelated one page stories, yet the ongoing story that weaves through the comic (that of a band trying to get their act together and one member snapping and losing his temper with another member) holds the whole thing together beautifully somehow. His art has grown on me in these two issues too. There’s a smudgy chaos there at times to a casual observer, but a closer look is rewarded with some serious detail. The shorties in here include the Challenger blowing up way back when, Halloween 1985, an overheard conversation about marriage, the Day of the Dead (not the movie) and a completely random fight scene in the end that breaks down in tears. The ending was a bit confusing to me, but everything else, with the exception of the grammatical problems I mentioned in the last issue, held together more than well enough to make up for it.
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Posted by Kevin
Webb
I do love the random mini comics, and this one is from New Mexico. You know, I should probably get one of those big maps of the US ala The Colbert Report to keep track of what parts of the country exactly I’ve covered at least a little bit here. Anyway, this one is about a band on tour, mostly dealing with one stop along the way. At this stop is a woman who was a former girlfriend (?) of Webb, but things ended badly, so he’s more than a little conflicted about seeing her again. The relationship itself is left more of less to our imaginations, other than the fact that at least one of his bandmates thinks she’s a tramp. It’s a slow moody little comic and a damned good first effort (if that’s what it is). A few problems with spelling and “your” instead of “you’re”, things that are all over the place in the comics world but still bug me every time, but very minor things. Worth a look overall, nothing to necessarily set the world on fire but it shows a lot of promise for future work. $2
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Posted by Kevin
Sanity Impaired Cat
For the more literate comics folk out there, this mini is a parody of the old Krazy Kat comics (and by old I mean the turn of last century). These are widely considered some of the best comics ever done and are an inspiration for pretty much every comics person you can think of… and I haven’t read them. I know, every little bit of comics street cred I might have built up over the last 5 years just went flying out the window, but I thought it important to mention the fact that I don’t have enough exposure to Krazy Kat to do an informed review of a parody/tribute to said book. That being said, when has that ever stopped me? The look of this book is eerily similar to the older stuff, and there’s a large cast of characters that I’ll bet parody the original group. There are modern references in here but they still speak in old timey talk and this is just hopeless. Look, I enjoyed it with only a bare knowledge of the source material, I’ll bet you’d get a lot more out of it if you knew the original stuff. If you liked the old strip this is only a buck, so judge for yourself. Then post up a reader review so we can get an informed opinion on this one… $1
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Posted by Kevin
Cornelia Cartoonz #7
Now this one was funny! Who knows what kind of mood I was in for the other review, or maybe it was just so-so. Whatever the case, I liked this one. Funny, which is always a good thing, and if I’m not mistaken his art has gotten better since that other issue. Three stories in this one. The first one is Cornelia dealing with art school and artists in general, the second is a shortie about a fictional movie, and the last one is Cornelia trying to get her job back at Smallmart (seriously, independent cartoonists, just call it Walmart if you’re going to parody it. It’s not like the CEO of Walmart reads something with a print run in the hundreds, and even if they did I REALLY doubt if they would sue you). She sends in a friend to try and convince the manager, she’s an attractive woman, he’s a sleazy man, hilarity ensues! Here’s an e-mail address in case that one up there is outdated, this is only $1, check it out!
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Posted by Kevin
Ed Thud #2
There are a zillion average mini comics in the world, and this is one of them. The high points aren’t too high, the low points aren’t too low, it’s just… there. It is kind of cute at times, and there are some inventive moments. Hey, maybe I’m in a crappy mood and unaware of it, who knows? That’ll teach you to listen to a word I say. Anyway, there are a few stories in here. One deals with Ed trying to get people to stop sucking on bamboo sticks, one is about Dr. Kevorkian and the hi-larious plight of assisted suicide, and the last one is Ed’s no-nonsense approach to picking up a woman in a bar. The suicide machine is kind of clever, and the part with the woman in the bar is kind of funny. Hey, what do you want from me? It’s so-so. E-mail him to see what else he has around (I read a couple of his other books and they were equally so-so) or just mail him a dollar or so per book at: 32 W Goodman Apt. 23 Fairborn, OH 45324.
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Posted by Kevin
Puppethead #2
Here’s something completely different from his last comic (that I saw, anyway). There are two stories in here. The first is about WWII, zombies and the Wild West. It turns out that you can get turned into a zombie just by them touching you. Christ! We’re all doomed! The story didn’t make any logical sense at all, but it was still pretty funny. The second story is about a man trying to give a girl, any girl, a flower. A wordless story about spurned love and crappy girls, how could you go wrong? Not a bad effort at all. It’s probably $2 (I’m basing that on the fancitude of the cover) and worth a look. Contact info is up there…
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Posted by Kevin
Numb Skull #3
I hate doing this. I’m putting this comic up because it’s the most recent thing I’ve seen from him, but I mostly don’t like it. This is a shame because I loved Narcolepsy Dreams and hadn’t really seen anything bad from him, and I don’t want the only impression on this website of Jaime to be negative. If anybody out there knows of any of his more recent work, or a place online to get his older stuff so I can review it too, please e-mail me. As for this comic, there wasn’t too much for me to get excited about. The two strips with the man sitting in front of his television, complaining, were OK up until the silly punchlines. There was a long text story about a man and his wife sticking up to some people who were assholes during a movie that read quite a bit like therapy… but it was macho, silly stuff. I liked a couple of the shorter pieces, like the one where me mused about things that make him wonder about the coming century (this is from 1999 and I guess it’s entirely possible that he’s just not doing comics any more), but overall there isn’t much here. Like I said, I’ve loved everything I’ve seen from him up until this, so don’t take this negative review as anything more than me not liking most of one issue. If you ever see any old issues of Narcolepsy Dreams, pick them up and you won’t be sorry. Send him an e-mail and see what he has available…
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Posted by Kevin
Narcolepsy Dreams #4
See? My recent trips down memory lane don’t always show a comics artist who has vanished from the face of the (comics) earth. Jaime has a functioning website and a couple of new minis that seem to be available. He was somebody I always just missed back in the day, as this is his only mini that I managed to get. I remember his stuff was sold out and was supposed to be reprinted, then I got distracted (as I often was back in my college days, not that I’m much better now), and didn’t think of it again until I found that recentish issue listed below. This is a long-winded way for me to say that while I’m not sure of the quality of the new stuff, I’d have to read both books he has listed and hate them both for me to even kind of say that he’s no longer fantastic, and I have some serious doubts about that being the case. This issue was put out in 1994 and has a selection of short pieces and one hefty story. The shorties include a rent party while riding the rails, a historical piece about a Hispanic bandit from back in the 1800’s (why he fought, who he fought, how he ended up), a story about a stupid thing he said to a bully back in middle school (and the obvious result), and a recurring dream he had about working at Taco Bell (in a full mariachi outfit), a horrific customer and the resulting bloodbath. There’s also the main piece, called Sleepwalk, dealing with a man stuck in a lousy job, living in a lousy apartment, and how an ordinary day turns ugly when a crazy person jumps off their roof after he tries to get him down. One thing I’m struck by looking at this now is how professional the art looks. He’d been at this for awhile when this issue came out, and this mini is miles above most of the stuff but out back in that era. Once again, here’s an excellent choice for a hefty reprint of someones old work, if anybody out there with a pile of money and a publishing company is listening. It’s listed at $1, but good luck finding it…
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Posted by Kevin
Two Tone Cat (written by Jeff T. Kane)
Well, at least Jamie managed to find an author who wants the pages to be as busy as he does. After reading this book it’s clear to me that there are enough ideas in here for three books, which can be a good thing and a bad thing. It’s fast paced, and it’s full of nonsensical things (the turkey who kills other turkeys at Thanksgiving to become the “Thanksgiving Turkey” being my favorite). I’d probably have to read it again before I have a complete idea of everything that’s going on, honestly, but those are the best kind of comics. Some things are worth studying and reading again, and this is definitely one of them. Busy, chaotic artwork and more story than a man with a brain like mine is likely to understand in one sitting, this is well worth a look. E-mail the writer or the author to see what they’re up to or where you can send the $2.95 for the book, as I’m not sure if they both have copies or what…
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Posted by Kevin
Class War Drop Out
This submission from Jamie was a first for me. I’ve gotten plenty of comics in all shapes and sizes, but nobody had ever sent me an unstapled stack of their work on various stories before. As such, I wasn’t sure what to call the one I reviewed, but does anybody even use the “Title Index” page? I doubt it, so all that really matters is the artist and his work. The samples he sent me ranged from goofy to funny to creepy to gross to mediocre, but it was all held together by one thing: his fantastically expressive art. Every page is busy. All kinds of stuff to see in the backgrounds, which is the sign of an artist who really cares about putting the most into his work. He’s also looking to get in on some anthologies, so if anybody is out there reading this who’s putting one together they might want to e-mail him. Anyway, this story is a convoluted tale of popularity, pigs and Napolean. I’ll say no more as I’m sure this’ll be in print soon or you could probably let Jamie know that you’d like a copy of it for a certain amount of dollars (it didn’t say how much but I’m sure he’d respond to an e-mail). Funny, wildly inventive stuff, mostly, and worth checking out. The tiny criticism I have, and I have this with a lot of comics, is to watch the grammar and spelling. A minor thing, granted, but why draw attention away from the story with something that is easily fixed? And it’s not like there was a bunch of it, I’m just picky and feel obligated to say something negative here.
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Posted by Kevin
OK, I just have to ask: what happened to the cat? Seriously, was that part of the story just forgotten about or are we supposed to assume the worst? Oh, sorry, I kind of started in the middle. Anything he does is going to be compared to The Last Lonely Saturday in my book, and this both falls short of that book and improves on it by leaps and bounds. The subtle human interactions, like the bit with the Mom trying to get a job, are incredibly accurate and poignant. The ability of the the child to believe in magic so easily was also brilliant. It’s just… I don’t know, maybe it is just about the cat. See, there’s this sick cat in the book, and it’s a big deal, and it’s just kind of left hanging, unless I missed it. I don’t think so, because I scoured the book when I was done to see if a couple of pages stuck together or something, but no such luck. The bottom line is that it’s a good book, well worth a read for a wide variety of reasons. I just don’t like having important things left over to worry about…
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Posted by Kevin
In a perfect world, it wouldn’t matter how much this book cost. As it is, if I hadn’t ordered it through the mail sight unseen, I probably wouldn’t have gotten it. Why? Because it’s tiny and it’s mostly wordless, and it’s $8. Don’t get me wrong, it looks beautiful. I’m happy that I have it now for the sheer design alone. But this honestly could have been a mini comic, or a less expensive regular sized thing. If we’re going to give up on anybody who isn’t a cartoonist actually buying comics, then fine, continue to put out books that are tiny and cost $8, and we can all sit in our clubhouse for the rest of our lives, secure in the knowledge that we’re right and the rest of the world will never get it. If we want regular folk to start reading these, they have to, somehow, be made more affordable. Paradoxically, the design of this book makes it stand out on a shelf, but the price tag would drive away all but the most diehard of fans.
Climbing down off my soapbox now, this was a moving, vibrant piece of work. The story of a man who goes out to visit the grave of his dead wife, it’s over almost before you know it. But what you see here sticks with you. Anybody out there ever think about getting old and visiting the graves of your loved ones? Think about it, then read this again. We’re none of us that far from it, no matter how young we are. I hope he does more outside of Non (which has to be the best anthology currently going), and I hope he makes a bigger book. Regardless of my qualms about the price, this is a worthwhile read that makes any collection of comics automatically better. If you have $8 laying around, buy this. It might take a few months (trust me, I know), but it’s worth the effort.
You can also visit his web page at: www.reddingk.com
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Posted by Kevin
Engine #5
Do you like comics about robots fighting? Are you tired of comics with too much of a coherent storyline? Then you should check this out. Maybe I just missed it, but it kind of looked like a robot was fighting a bunch of other robots to try and find an arm that would help him out for some reason. It looks good, the fighting is just cool in places, but I’m not going to lie to you and say that I had much of an idea what was going on here. If that’s not that big of a deal to you then, by all means, check this book out. There’s also another story, this one clearly about a couple of guys who find a job testing robots and that, strangely enough, also turns out to be a giant battle involving robots. It’s drawn by Todd Gail and is fun, like the rest of the book, and that’s plenty to recommend it in my book. It makes no apologies for what it is, so there you go. Contact info is up there, it’s $3 and it’s random, fun mayhem.
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Posted by Kevin
Engine! #6: Stone Cold Fish
A comic made on a computer? What’s this world coming to? Seriously, if he didn’t mention how he did the art in the back of the comic I never would have known, so obviously it’s not that big of a deal. This is a story of loneliness and regret, about a man who’s getting prank phone calls and is depressed because he’s afraid that he should talk to that person more just to get some human contact. It’s a sad tale, sure, but it works well and there are a few pages of really great dialogue in the middle of the silent pages. Check out the website, it’s worth a couple of bucks to check out the issue if you’re looking for a synopsis of a wasted relationship. Looks like he’s done cheerier things too, at least judging from the descriptions of his other comics…
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Posted by Kevin
Box 9
Refer to the previous review for my thoughts on these tiny comics, as this one is only 6 pages too. This one is about a few boys who bump into a couple of girls and go down by the river with them. It’s to Bradford’s credit that there is really a lot more to it than that. A nice, simple comic that again, makes me want to see what else he can do. This one is only a quarter too, send the guy some money at the address above.
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Posted by Kevin
The Story of a Modern Boy
This feels like another lazy review, but there just isn’t that much to say about a six page book. This is the story of a young man who doesn’t seem to care about life very much, but he does have an internet girlfriend from Austria. I’ve always been a bigger fan of stuff that’s, well, bigger, but this is good for what it is. Maybe it’s better this way because now I know his name and will be a lot quicker to pick up a bigger book from him if I see one. Send him a dollar (these are only a quarter each) and see what he sends you at: The Octagon c/o Bradford 341 Strawberry Wynde Marietta, GA 30064.
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Posted by Kevin
Skyscrapers of the Midwest #2 (Adhouse edition)
Just to make this perfectly clear, this is all new material, put together in a lovely comic (have you seen a bad looking Adhouse book? I didn’t think so). It’s just a bit confusing on this page because Joshua already went the mini comic route, and now he’s “big time”. As for this comic, granted, it’s been years since I’ve seen the minis, but this is a wonderful thing. Everything ties together, even the characters in the Sunday funnies. It’s all about a boy who’s getting baptized even though he doesn’t much believe in religion, a woman with migraines sent from God (who looks a lot like a Cylon, if you’re dorky enough to watch Battlestar Gallactica like me), white trash love, and a cat and a mouse (and wait’ll you see which part of that turns out to be tragic). Sad and beautiful at the same time, it’s the best self-contained comic I’ve read so far in 2007. Granted, it’s early, and this was put out in 2005, but you get the idea. Well worth the $5, and a great introduction to his work if you’re never heard of Joshua Cotter somehow…
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Posted by Kevin
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