April 22, 2010
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Jape Volume 2 #1
Let me make one thing perfectly clear before I start: I am completely biased towards Sean Bieri. Jape was one of the first minis I read when I got on the alternative comics crazy train 15 years ago or so and I think he’s consistently the funniest person to ever do mini comics. Yes, ever. That being said… this may well be the funniest comic I’ve read this year. From the first page (the sample I used) to the last, not one dog in the bunch. In here you have pirates, a stuttering zombie, a cat fight, nostalgia hatred, looking like Michael Caine, guy hugging etiquette, and a handy alphabetical guide to things you should avoid in life. Oh, and all sorts of one page gag strips that I’m not even going to mention so as to leave plenty of surprises, as there’s not one good reason in the world that you don’t pick up a copy of this right now. He’s “relaunching” the series with Volume 2 here, so maybe if he sells enough of this one of the main small press comics companies will finally wise up and sign the guy. Let’s say $2 for this one even though it’s probably less…
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Jape #9
Did I say before that Sean is better with longer stories? Well, this time around he’s better with one-liners, or maybe it’s just better all around. Probably about half of this is one-liners and the vast majority of them are hilarious. There’s also a conversation between two guys sitting around a bar talking about gay people, a zombie asking for loose change, two stories about grass (different kinds), and him making fun of Antiques Roadshow. I wish these things would come out more often than once in a blue moon, but it’s always a treat when they do. Still only $.50 too, contact info is up there…
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Jape #8
Remember all that praise from the other issues? Well, this one was just so-so. It’s a series of one-page strips and, frankly, his strength lies with his longer stories. Unless, of course, you already read this and thought it was the best one, so what do I know? Don’t get me wrong, there are still plenty of moments of Jape goodness. I’m just used to laughing all the way through his comics, and I only laughed at about 3/4 of this one. Makes it awfully hard for me to make this review at all negative, but I still think that a bunch of his other issues are close to perfect. Hey, it’s his own damned fault for being so funny. Stories include Sean in the future, a perfect world, zombie Hitlers, milk, Aesop, haircuts and babies. Random enough for you? Seriously, there are few people out there that you could send $5 to and be guaranteed some serious belly laughs, and Sean fits the bill.
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Fun With Zombies
I don’t know why I picked this one to review. Mostly so I could show you one page from it. I guess. If you haven’t gotten it yet, I think Sean is one of maybe a dozen cartoonists who are always funny. That’s hard to come by. You should be giving him all your money so he keeps his good mood.
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Panel 9 From Outer Space
That’s right, a 3-D front and back cover. Nothing 3-D on the inside though, so those of you who can never seem to get the 3-D to work (like me) don’t have to worry about missing anything on the inside. Also, kudos to the joke in the title, and to those of you who don’t get it, take heart: there is a level of dorkdom you haven’t yet achieved if the title is lost on you. The theme this time around is science fiction in general, and it starts and ends with fake news pieces about 1957 and 2057 by Sean McGurr & Tim McClurg. The 1957 piece is all about hope for the future, with nuclear-powered cars, peace in Israel, competent government relief efforts and the flash in the pan that was “The Cat in the Hat”. The 2057 piece, naturally, is about how crappy things have gotten since then. The second piece here is Donkey Punch by Tom Williams, a story about a corporate exploration team who crash lands on a planet full of angry ninja women. Dara Naraghi & Andy Bennett are up next with a silent tale about a little boy who finds an alien in the woods and helps free it from a collar… but was that a good thing? Octopeye, by Steve Black & Sean McGurr, tells the tale of our future giant octopus overlord and our attempt to pacify him with what appears to be one of his illegitimate children. Monster Trucks And Baby Mammas by Tony Goins & Craig Bogart is the least fantastical tale of the bunch, as it deals mostly with white trash people sleeping around and/or trying to kill each other. Or maybe it seems more fantastical to people who didn’t grow up around that kind of nonsense, who knows? Finally there’s a one page shortie by Dara Naraghi & Tim Fischer called Love Ninja 8 which is, naturally, about ninjas using their love techniques to fight. My favorite had to be the Tom Williams piece for the sheer mayhem involved, but once again this is a solid anthology all the way through. The lack of a Matt Kish piece is depressing, but it’s a testament to the strength of the rest of these people that that lack wasn’t even noticeable until after I was done reading this issue. $3
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Jumbo Jape
This is long overdue. I read his Jape and 5 O’Clock Shadow comics years ago, but figured that everything was out of print when I started up the page. Well, I picked this up over the weekend at FLUKE (I think it was at the Top Shelf table, so you can always ask them if they have any copies laying around), so it is in print, and it’s well worth the $3. This has stuff from the older books, mostly, but a few of them at least were new to me. Stories in this one include Jesus, The Savior Man, Hard-Boiled Hygenist, Jesus is Cool in Any Age, Cannibal Picnic, Star Trek: The Next Muthafuckas, and Good ol’ Conan the Barbarian. I thought this guy should have been rich and famous for this stuff years ago, and I see nothing to change my opinion in this one. E-mail him and see what else he has around, but definitely buy this one when you do. Unless you hate the samples, of course, in which case you should go here instead.
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Website for Broken Lines
Website for Famous Fighters
Famous Fighters #1 (written by Matt Smith) Now Available! $6
God bless Matt and Tom, and I mean that as nothing but completely sincere. So many people who do comics are happiest when it’s one big chaotic fight scene, so they decided to take most of the story out of it and we’re left with one big pile of fights. Which, if you’re feeling particularly cerebral today, might not be your thing, and more power to you. I rarely if ever sample the first page of a book, and that’s all I needed to know I was going to like this one. Barbarian Lord is a character who’s confined to single page stories, usually ending in decapitations, and always ending in a poem. Nothing but fun to be had there, and these are sprinkled throughout the book. There’s a Pong contest between a man and Satan, done entirely in verse. You also have Eclipso (a fat-headed kid who kills flowers), a zombie metal band and an extended kung-fu parody, also hilarious if you’ve seen more than one kung-fu movie in your life. Really, there’s not a single thing here to complain about. Tom (between this and the issue listed above) looks to me to be a giant among comics men, assuming he has more like these last two in him, and Matt was able to do plenty of this issue in verse (which I usually hate) and make it a wonderful thing to behold. Buy it and laugh, as there are few enough things around that’ll allow you to do that without trying to teach you some sort of a message. None of that nonsense here, just an awful lot of decapitations! $5
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Jape #4
You probably can’t tell from that scan, but this mini is so old that it actually has rust on the cover. At least I hope that’s rust… So, alas, my Japes are not in mint condition, and if the world at large ever discovers how funny Sean Bieri is, my fortune will not come from selling his old minis. Oh well, I’d rather not sell them anyway, so screw you world! This issue of Jape, as you can tell, starts off with a fantastic cover. That’s one thing I always loved about these old minis: he hit you with his sense of humor right off the bat, and if it was something you didn’t like (or that offended you), you knew it before you even opened the book. Stories in here include trying to find decent comics in a pile of shit (still an apt analogy for the world of comics), an artistic adaptation of “Hey Joe” (or at least I think that’s the name of the song, you’d know it if you heard it but the lyrics might not do you any good), his cat the physicist (in which he/she discovers that knocking things off a shelf will cause them to come crashing down), and a joke on the last page that was a lot funnier when I looked up the meaning of the punchline (episiotomy. Go ahead, Google has all kinds of horrific images). There’s also one more story, the highlight of the issue, dealing with open mic poets. Shouting, whispering, pregnant pauses, repetition, and above all bad acting, this story nails them thoroughly. You could argue that they’re an easy target, and that’s fine, but it doesn’t make the piece any less funny. So overall, except for that song adaptation (which I’ve never been a fan of), this is a hell of an issue. Please add it to your list of things to get if you ever have access to a time machine.
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Nerd Wars
This is another tiny one, a 15 minute comic, and there’s really only enough time with these to get a visceral reaction. This one is about two nerds playing some kind of hero clix game, apparently involving dice to determine terms (hey, I may have worked in a comics store part time for a year or so, but it’s not like I learned everything). It’s 8 relatively sloppy pages, as it was done in 15 minutes, but the important thing is that I laughed out loud when I saw the ending, and chuckled again when I was flipping through it again for the review. If you’re looking for meticulous linework and complicated plots, 15 minute comics aren’t for you. If you’re just looking for a laugh, you could do a whole lot worse than this. Contact info is up there, it’s either $.50 or $1.
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Jape #3
My own personal look back into the mini comics of yore continues, although I’m not sure if 1994 qualifies as “yore”. Hey, if they can play Nirvana songs on classic rock stations, I think this fits the bill. This is, as all Japes have been known to be, a funny comic. Not as funny as some other Japes, but still funny. The main reason this one gets bogged down is the big story of the comic: Hard Boiled Hygenist. It’s funny to begin with (being a Sin City parody, assuming Sin City was out by then (if not he was remarkably prescient) combined with some intense dentistry), but it does manage to go on for at least a few pages too long. On other pieces Sean is his usual flawless self, including a gag that was (sadly) unsuccessful at killing 50’s clip art jokes, Sean and a smoking Jesus in a coffee shop, a nerd being a little too clever at a museum around a jock, and instructions on how to use chopsticks. Again, this is another one that probably isn’t in print (although pieces of it are in Jumbo Jape), but would be in a just world. Still, contact the guy, you never know. Even if it isn’t available maybe you’ll be the last straw that nudges him into putting them all back into print…
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Jape #1
Ah, Jape. The little funny comic that always, always made me laugh, and still does whenever I see a new collection of comics. Which is far too rarely, but apparently all these people that got me into this business back in the day have real lives these days, or have just figured out that nobody gets rich making mini comics, which leaves the rest of us without that essential funny. One of these Japes reached a perfect level of humor rarely seen in the world, and I look forward to finding it in my trip back through these minis, but this one wasn’t it. Don’t get me wrong, it was still funnier than most things in this world, but it wasn’t that one issue that got lodged in my brain and never went away. Stories in here include a creepy true tale of mass transit, the fickle nature of women, having somebody else use the bathroom while you’re taking a bath (and lying about the, um, nature of their visit), making interviewees eat a bowl of shit to gauge their reactions, dating the naked model from art class, and reverse discrimination. I’m started to sound like a broken record, but it sure seems like most of these old minis were never collected, and I doubt if they’re still available. If they are there certainly doesn’t appear to be any easy way to find them. Hello Turtle people? There’s a vast pile of things that should be collected into graphic novel form just sitting around out there. Start with Jape! $.50
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Clearance Items Only
More randomness from David, as this issue is a collection of “clearance items”, invented or seen as he was walking along, who knows? Items in here include a used dildo, a dinosaur bone, cynicism, a used birthday candle, and many other fabulous items. It’s done in a loose sketchbook style, so if you like your art neat and perfect your delicate sensibilities may be offended. It’s a funny mini though, and what more can you ask for from the shorties like this? $1
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Tear-Stained Makeup #4 Now Available! $5
This may be as big as the last three issues put together. So if you’ve been reading these and wondering why certain characters were getting less attention than you may have liked, everybody gets dealt with here. And if you haven’t been wondering because you haven’t been reading this, might I ask what exactly you have against comics? How many really great character driven fictional comics are there out there to choose from at the moment anyway? The story in this one deals with Tildy and her afterglow, Dr. Wilson and his unhealthy obsession, Laura Dee and finding a reason to live, Eddie and his crush on Tildy, Aurora (Tildy’s friend) and her nudity, and more side characters than you can shake that proverbial stick at that you keep around to shake at things. Marcos had a great idea to put out this giant issue, as all sorts of the background people are actual characters now and not just walk-on lines. There was even an incredibly odd bit from 1903, although I have no earthly idea how that fits into the big picture. If you like this series you probably already have this issue, but if you’ve been waiting until there’s more available to dig in, well, you got your wish. Great stuff again.
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Carl is the Awesome Volume 2
Oh what a happy day it is when I get another volume of Carl is the Awesome in the mail! Just in case there was some suspense on how I was going to review this for some reason, that should end that. This is another set of 4 minis (#5-8 this time), and these have a bit more substance to them, with more dialogue and occasionally more panels. First you have Carl and his band recording an album with his awesome band.Then a “challenge of the sexuals” between Carl and Carl from the French universe, to determine who was awesome enough to remain. #7 tells the story of Carl’s start in show business as a sex worker, followed by him wanting to be taken seriously as an actor and resorting to avant-garde shows. Finally with #8 there’s the obligatory issue on how to deal with small press conventions, with the notable exception that this one is actually useful and has some really essential tips. The bottom line here is that you’re missing out if you don’t check these out somewhere, either through the website or picking them up at cons. Or through the online store, unless they sell out in four seconds because they’re so awesome. Sure, I may be sick of this shtick by the time Volume 50 rolls around, but for now I can’t wait to see more and to wait for the inevitable live action “Carl is the Awesome” movie…
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Worthless Comix #6
Six years or so of doing this website, and I still love the random submissions. This one from David is a bit of a mixed bag, but there’s still more then enough good stuff in here to recommend it. It starts off slowly (and a bit awkwardly, frankly) as it goes back and forth between talking about his old girlfriend, why they broke up, and then throwing in a scene where they were still dating. It picks up in the second half of the book where he has short pieces dealing with an awful job, dangerous questions, why it’s worthwhile to go to jail, an itchy monkey, the dull adventures of the invisible man, and fish thoughts. The art varies wildly throughout the book, ranging from sloppy sketchbook stuff to clean, thick black lines, and even the darkness of the copied pages varies a bit. Still, there’s plenty of interesting thinking going on here as well as a few genuinely funny pieces, which is what still qualifies to me as a good mini comic. No price tag here, but what with the color covers and all I’d guess $3.
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Deviant Funnies #2
The first issue of Deviant Funnies gave you a variety of stories, the second issue gives you… the Wizmantles. This family consists of the Gummo (the narrator and “normal” one in the bunch), Zeppo (an aspiring wrestler who wants very much to be hardcore), Tuna (the slutty sister), and the parents, Shemp and Gertie. The issue starts off with the news that Gertie, who’s in her early forties, is pregnant. Some of this is based on Ed’s real life parents (at least judging the diary strip at face value), as he comes across their posting for swingers on the internet and gets to see his mom in a thong. Gummo decides to follow them out on a “trip to the doctor”, and it just gets more horrific from there. The whole thing concludes with a great letter to his parents, chastising them to be more careful with keeping skeletons safely in the closets. How much of this is truly based on his parents being swingers and how much is artistic license (assuming, of course, that the diary strip is nothing but the truth) is, frankly, something I’d rather not know. The important thing is that it looks fantastic and it’s a hell of a story, any similarities to real life are better left assumed and not spelled out… $3
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Casual Sex
What goes through the head of a single guy who spends a good chunk of his day wandering around a college town? Isn’t it obvious? This is a fairly cute (although not too cute) example of a day in the life of such a man, from waking up thinking about sex to going to work and thinking about sex (until some fat guy orders a hamburger) to wandering around town thinking about sex to going to a bar at the end of the day and trying to find somebody to actually have sex with. I don’t think there’s even a four word sentence in this whole mini but really, how many words do you need to get this point across? His obvious crudity gets his easily rejected at the bar until he finally, drunkenly gets somebody to take him up on his offer… and gets a lot more than he bargained for. Mark got the idea for the story, not surprisingly, just walking around Milwaukee, but I did find it interesting that this took a year and a half to put together after he got the initial concept. Anyway, it was a fun little romp with a mildly disturbing ending, just about all you could ask for out of casual sex. No price, but… $3?
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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City Under Sand
One thing David managed to nail in this (supposed to be) 24 hour comic is his excuse for not getting it done in time: he was busy. Ta-da! That and he had no real plans to do a 24 hour comic; he just started drawing on the subway one day. Still, he managed to get it done in a week, which is no small thing for a color book. At times this does look like it was done on the subway, as there are heavy, scattered lines all over the place in the first few pages, requiring the reader to step back and really examine the panels. Or you could take the cynic’s view and say that they look rushed, but I think there’s a very clear plan behind them. This is the silent story of a man who walks through the desert, makes his way to an underground city and gets on the subway. Things don’t go very smoothly from there, but I’m certainly not going to give it away. As for what was going on here, what kind of world was this, who was the walking man, these are all unaddressed, which is fine for a one-shot like this. Sometimes it’s better to have to come up with your own reasons for why everything is happening the way it is. All told it’s an intriguing book, which is all you can ask for out of this sort of thing. No price, but due to all the color I’m going with $2.
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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King Cat #62 Now Available! $2
#62! Now that’s a number all the small press folks in the world should try to reach. In my humble opinion, of course. This issue has a text piece about his move (he’s in San Francisco now), a comic about kites, one about getting out of bed, a zen story about a twisted nose that I still don’t get (I’m a bit slow at things like that sometimes, I’m sure it’ll hit me at 3 in the morning or so), his always essential “Top Forty”, hijinx with a beard that I can relate to, and a quiet, lovely tale about eating at work. And a few odds and ends, sure, but I don’t think this title is something that I have to “sell” you on, so pick it up and discover the rest of the stuff out for yourself. Also, if anybody out there has a million dollars laying around, please send it to him so he can quit his job and do comics all the time. Contact info is up there, buy some of his comics if you’re looking for a peaceful thing in your life.
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
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Life-Like Tales #1
Did I say the word “meandering” in the last review? Well, I’m going to say it again. This is a meandering tale about Jack going to a wildlife refuge. It’s a bit weak right off the bat. He does mention he did a large part of this without even thinking about publishing it, and it shows. Luckily for all of us the book changes completely once he gets out in the wild. It’s just him remarking on little things that are happening, and it’s really a great piece of work. There’s not really much of an ending here, which suits the book just fine. There’s a complete lack of pretension here that saves the book. It would be easy for him to go out there and make all kinds of pithy comments, but instead he just goes out there and draws stuff, while making a few asides. Well worth a buck. Contact info is up there, as far as I can tell most of his comics are only $1, so you could probably get a chunk of them if you sent him a five or something…
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Posted by Kevin
