April 22, 2010
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Tempo Lush #2: Dr. Geary’s Notes on Subject 14D
Richy goes with something completely different for the second issue of this series, as this one deals with a mysterious new life form. Note to the readers: when you get this comic open it up completely and then read it like a regular page. Sometimes these fold-outs get a little tricky, this time it was as simple as could be and thus had me fooled. Anyway, an egg is found on an island (it doesn’t really need much more setup than that) and hatches to reveal a lumpish creature with serious intelligence and the ability to depict whatever it wants to on its belly. It also carries a bit of a grudge, as it remembers the scientist that it attacked (after said scientist drew blood) and seems to want to do the man some serious damage. It is ordered that the creature be destroyed, and any more given away would completely spoil this tiny thing. Let’s just say that the creature may know more than it seems, and would this comic really just up and kill that adorable little blob? This comes on graph paper (if I remember my schoolin’ correctly), which is a nice touch with the format of being told as a series of scientific notes. Another solid entry in this batch of ten which, as mentioned above, goes for about $16.50 in US dollars at the moment.
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Tempo Lush #1: Lucy the Octopus
Three cheers for the mini comic box set! I don’t see nearly enough of these things. Mostly because people don’t create enough mini comics to put one of these things together, I suppose. This is the first of 10 comics included in this collection, which comes in a tiny and adorable teddy bear/comic holder. Sadly it defies scanning, but a look at his website should give you a clue. So how about the comic? This is a series of short pieces about octopi (a word you don’t get to use nearly enough) that generally manage to be funny. There’s incomprehensible childhood taunting that makes just as much sense for octopi (tee-hee) as it does for anything else, giving the gift of pets to the little children, accessorizing, wishing for popularity, Lucy’s misguided attempt to stand up to bullying, and a slightly longer piece about how baby octopi are born (and what happens to the parents). Like I said, it’s generally funny stuff, and I loved how it’s a fold-out comic, meaning that it takes a little bit of puzzling to figure out how it all fits together. Not too much, as the stories make the order abundantly clear, but I do love the fold-outs for whatever reason. And did I mention the fact that this whole issue is in vibrant, necessary (for underwater stories) color? Like I said, this is only the first of 10, so there are plenty more to come. No price for individual issue, but this thing is roughly $16.50 if you convert it to US dollars. UPDATE: screw you spellcheck, octopi is too the plural for octopus! Also, according to Wikipedia, octopuses and octopodes. You can have those last two, I’m sticking with octopi.
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Zeek The Martian Geek Full Color Special Now Available! $5
It’s about time he put out a full color book! Don’t get me wrong, usually I bitch about the cost of doing a mini in full color (to the artist and to the people who have to buy the books), but if there’s anything that screams for full color, it’s Zeek and his wanderings. In this one we finally get to see Mars (and why Zeek never seems to go there), Zeek tries to meet some earth women (then settles for videos of Winona Ryder), and Brian fills in the rest with assorted one page strips. I didn’t notice that the sampled page was one I used for an earlier issue, and I’m also not sure how much of this was already in older issues. It mostly seemed new to me, but I read many hundreds of these things every year and my memory for specifics is lousy. Either way, if you like his stuff, it’s never looked better than this. You can even compare color kitty strip down here to the black and white version above if you don’t believe me. Of course, if you’re new to the Cattapan universe and just want to check him out, chances are you’re better off working your way through some of the cheaper minis before buying something for $5, but I’m not the boss of you. $5
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Exiled Here On Earth #2
More illustrations from Brian (see the above review and all sorts of other places around this website for my general views on sketchbooks), but with a twist this time: some actual comics are thrown in. The illustrations (it’s really not far to call them sketches) cover characters we’ve already seen in various Cattapan minis doing various things: Nurdy doing yoga, Zeek with a lightsaber, Nurdy as an actual girl, the two of them bowling, a vampire/zombie conversation, a zombie bride, and a sad zombie, among other things. The comics deal with food regret, absorbing knowledge, bowling, the sad love life of a vampire, and a crazy bat. I’ll say one thing for it, it’s a hefty pile of comics. I still, in my old fashioned way, prefer regular comics to this sort of thing, but if you’re a fan of Brian’s work there’s plenty to like here. If you’re just trying to check out Brian’s work, you might want to check out some of the other minis on this site and work your way up. $3
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Exiled Here on Earth Now Available! $2
Regular readers of this site know that I don’t much care for sketchbooks in most cases, as I’d rather have an actual story than a collection of drawings, and that general rule holds here. This is a collection of drawings from Zeek the Martian Geek and characters from Vampires Need Love Too, different in the fact that this isn’t a sketchbook, it’s a pretty nice collection of drawings. Too many of the vampire collections look like the main character has been caught by surprise, but other than that these drawings are fine aesthetically, I’m just biased against this sort of thing. It’s a good companion piece if you know you already like Brian’s work and just like to see his art, but if you’re just trying him out for the first time I’d put this far down on the list of things to check out.
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Vampires Need Love Too #3 Now Available! $3
Do you people still scroll all the way down this page when I mention the updates? Brian is going to change the way these pages are set up all by himself if he keeps this up. And, seeing as how he’s been sending me these comics for most of the life of the site at this point, I don’t see him slowing down any time soon. This comic, like the last two, is comprised of daily strips, so the story kind of comes and goes. At times he seems to be focusing on a larger piece, then it stops abruptly and veers off in a different direction. There are still a few funny bits and a few groaners (nature of the beast with the pun-oriented strips), but the funny does outweigh the groaners and I like the new zombie roommate. Subjects in here include having the Grim Reaper as a friend, moaning about a lack of love life, a stoner/drunk turned into a zombie and his friends being unable to tell the difference (that one was a bit heavy-handed), being in a blues band, what’s really in your coffee, the difficulty of giving death gifts, stalking vs. courting, and being stuck with a vampire stereotype. I should also mention (in case I never have on this vast page) that Brian has been getting other artists to do representation of his characters for a while now, and this time around gets Graham Annable and Matt Metzler to do some damned impressive work. Check out the pile of free samples on his website if you need convincing, and it’s linked way up at the top of the page. $3
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Vampires Need Love Too! #2 Now Available! $3
I seemed to be mildly confused in the review for the last issue as to why so many of the pages seemed to end in bad puns, and in retrospect it’s simple enough: these were done as daily online strips, one page each. Naturally that means there has to be some sort of payoff on each page, and this is where my traditional dislike for the four panel strip comes in. Luckily this issue tells a decent enough story on its own. It’s still all about this sad vampire wandering around, trying to find love, and this issue also has said vampire running into a variety of zombies, the bat and lizard from the previous issue, a brief girlfriend resulting from a blind date (more about this momentarily), a new pet, and Death. This brief girlfriend had a few moments where it seemed like pages were missing, I guess because this book doesn’t print all of the online strips, maybe because some of them didn’t make the cut, or maybe they just refer to things that happen off-panel. Comics can be tricky that way. OK, thanks to the wonders of the internets I was able to just go over to Brian’s website and it looks like plenty of the pages in this book aren’t even posted there, so the missing pages will remain a mystery. By now you’ve seen enough of Brian’s work on this page alone to know if you like the guy, if so, you’re sure to love this one too. If you’re undecided, maybe start with a little Zeek or check out the website first, you know the drill. $3
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Vampires Need Love Too! #1 Now Available! $2.50
It looks like Brian has graduated from the world of tiny, tiny comics into the world of “regular” sized mini comics. I’m not sure what he’s planning on doing with all those other series, but I think there are at least characters from some of them that’ll pop up here and there in his work. This one is about a lonely, sad vampire, as you can probably tell from the cover, and his quest to find a woman. He runs into a blind, obnoxious bat, a Mexican lizard, and a tiny fairy who offers to help him find a woman, at least until she discovers that he can’t dance. This has a lot less mayhem than the average Cattapan comic, and I’m all for mayhem. Of course, it’s a more quiet, introspective book by nature, so less mayhem might be expected, for now. And I don’t get why so many pages end in a bad pun. Pace yourself, man! You have more than 8 pages to work with now, you can throw as many bad puns in as you like! All in all not his best work, but it’s OK. Future issues will tell the story. Contact info is all over the place, or you could check out an issue through me, if you like…
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Certain Confusion #4 Now Available! $2.50
Looks like another one of his books has made the jump to being a full sized mini comic. Wait, does that make any sense? Oh well, I think people know what I mean. The strips are getting a bit smarter, to be perfectly honest. I still don’t like the format for most people, but he manages to make it funny on occasion. Strips in here are about dating, drinking, drunken sex, and art. Oh, and in case I haven’t mentioned this before, Brian hand colors all of the covers. The price has jumped a bit to $2.50, but this is also the best issue of this series yet, so it’s up to you whether you’d like to sample a couple of issues for that price or just pick up the best one. There’s a new website in this one too, although the old one still seems to work…
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Certain Confusion #3 Now Available! $1
Just how many series does this guy have going at any given time anyway? Not that I’m bitching, it’s a good thing to show some range. This one is a short collection of the dreaded four panel gag strip. The first one was basically just an ad for a band and there was one on the back inside cover, so that leaves 8 gag strips. Out of those I thought 5 of them were some degree of funny, so I guess that makes this a winner! Topics include working, death, coffee, hate, and comics. If you’ve looked at the rest of this page you already know the drill for his books. If not, it’s $1, contact info is scattered over the page. See if you can find it!
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Cay… the Night Huntress #5 Now Available! $!
OK, so THIS is the last issue of the series. Or so it says at the end of it, anyway. It’s the big confrontation between Kay and that mattress guy, and a chance to end the piles of vampire zombies coming after her. There’s a bit of a rant against men in general and Zak in particular, then the series moves on and everything is settled… OR IS IT? I think this might be my favorite of his series, although it’s a close race with the scaredy cat. Still, kudos to Brian for completely winning my over by the end. Everything else will be in larger format, so get yer tiny comics while they last!
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Cay… the Night Huntress #4 Now Available! $1
Take a look at that cover compared to the one for #3. No, there’s nothing different about the artistic style, I just got a new scanner today and I’m in awe. Anyway, I was wrong about #3 being the end of the series, obviously, but it’s OK because this one is better than the rest. Collage is still a big theme for whatever reason, as is Kay’s general problem with men. He’s had plenty of practice with this format and he has it down pretty well. OK, forgive me, but I’m too impatient to see what the other sample looks like on the new scanner to ramble on here…
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Cay… the Night Huntress #2
It looks like Brian actually has a continuing story going on with this series. Sure, Zeek is the same character, but there’s no clear direction of where it’s going. This one is about Cay, who apparently has to kill all things undead. He goes on about how horrible collage art is (in his trademark “between the panels” rambles) and throws in a few vampires that act suspiciously like zombies, unless of course they’re zombie vampires. Another shorty but I like where this particular series is going, and it’s cheap as the rest of them too. Check it out already, here’s the website again if you don’t feel like scrolling up…
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Scat… the Scaredy Cat #5 Now Available! $1
More Scat, and it’s almost like there’s an underlying story going on here. There’s the aliens who wanted Scat to be their ruler, and there’s the exploding rat who just wants to play, which does nothing to soothe Scat’s nerves. It’s still a smallish comic, sure, but #5 is considerably better than #1, and that’s all you can really ask out of a comic artist. Good stuff, it’s $1, and contact info is all over the place, or you could just buy a copy from me, if you were so inclined…
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Scat… the Scaredy Cat #4 Now Available! $.50
The tiniest comic in the world continues. I think this series is probably my least favorite of Brian’s, mostly because it’s too small to be anything but a one-gag comic, and you can see that gag coming a mile away. In this one an alien tries to convince Scat that there’s a hole in the wall leading to all the quiet and calm in the galaxy. On the plus side, the art is getting more and more polished every time I see it. The messiness that would come up with the shading just isn’t an issue any more, which leads to the whole package looking a whole lot better. Like I’ve said before, if you’re going to buy his stuff, it’s better to send him a few bucks so you can at least have a few comics to flip through. No sense in the world to buy one book and then have it read in 15 seconds. Contact info is all over the place here, you know what to do… ($.50)
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Zeek the Martian Geek #8 Now Available! $3
I’ve probably mentioned it before, but this page is officially getting out of hand. Maybe I should break his comics down into separate pages for each title or something, except for the fact that he seems to be devoting all his energies to Zeek these days. As for the comic, I mostly liked this one, as I do enjoy it when he puts out the longer stories. About half of this book is one big story, and it’s all about Zeek and Nurdy falling into a place in space called The Zone and yes, it is an homage to Twilight Zone, as there are things floating through space and Nurdy breaks her (brand new) glasses upon landing. There is also a cat in a spacesuit who shows up to get revenge on Zeek for all the cats he’s eaten over the years, and then the story degenerates into a series of pop culture references that eventually ends in an explosion. Sorry, did I give away the ending? Well, in this case I didn’t mention it it wouldn’t have made any sense when I praised how the eyeballs of the creature who exploded managed to stay in the exact same place when its head exploded. The rest of the comic is mostly a bunch of one page strips, dealing with computer humor, matrix-frisbee, getting away from civilization, extreme bowling, learning from a child, and trying to find their way through the wilderness. Good stuff, although I’m sure everybody on this website knows by now whether or not this is for them. If it is there’s also a brand new collection of the first 7 issues available, so you should probably keep that in mind… $3
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Zeek The Martian Geek #7 Now Available! $3
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a Cattapan comic, so I was starting to wonder. It looks like he was just putting a lot of energy into making a really fun comic, so all is forgiven here. This issue is basically about Zeek and Nurdy trying to learn more about humans, with Nurdy being transformed into a girl so she can read books (not sure why either) and Zeek just going to Earth as his usual self. Occasional hilarity does ensue. There are also plenty of one page strips to break up the action, keeping everything moving right along. Frankly, I think Brian has come a long way. Even with some of the earlier works when everything wasn’t quite coming together you could see his heart was in the right place, and now it’s all clicking. The comedic timing, the art (in hindsight I’m glad he stuck with the charcoal style), he does good work. Granted, if you’re looking for the most intellectually complex book in the world you’re going to go away disappointed, but if you’re just for a fun comic you could do a whole lot worse.
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Zeek the Martian Geek #6 Now Available! $2.50
Look, a big comic! Well, it’s still mini size, but that’s still bigger than the usual Cattapan offering. He says he’s going to be making all his books bigger, just so the word is out there and everything. This one is all about Zeek and his new girlfriend, who just happens to be a flower who loves to dance. Wackiness ensues, and the flower’s um, family maybe, decide that she’s not allowed to dance. Zeek has to come to the rescue, but can he find her and let her dance again? Well, probably, but you’ll never know for sure until you read it. The art looks MUCH better with the bigger pages. Not that it was bad before, but the extra size really lets everything breathe. It’s $2.50, contact info is all over the place, and there are quite a few of his books available here now, if you’re curious…
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Zeek the Martian Geek #5 Now Available! $1
Good to see that he’s not using a parody of something in every issue. OK, so The Cat in the Hat from Dr. Seuss was in here, but just barely. This one is mostly about Zeek and his potential lady (?) friend dancing around and having fun. Zeek likes having a bit more fun than his lady friend, and that’s about as close as you get to a conflict in this. 8 pages or so of whimsical tomfoolery! Contact info is all over the place and he’s quickly amassing a pile of books to choose from, if you’re inclined to sample a couple…
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Zeek the Martian Geek #4
There’s a lot to be said for being prolific, and there’s also plenty to be said for keeping all the comics he puts out fun. There’s what, three series that he’s doing on a regular basis now? Kudos to him. This issue is a parody of the X-Files (called the Ex-Iles, I don’t know why he doesn’t just use the real name, it’s not like anybody is going to sue and I think that’s fine when used in a parody anyway), and it’s basically making fun of the fact that Mulder and Scully never kissed. Or maybe they did and I missed it, I missed whole chunks of that series and still only have the vaguest idea of what was going on. Anyway, another issue in, and his Plympton-like drawing style is really growing on me. Contact info is around here, see if you can find it!
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Posted by Kevin
