April 22, 2010
Website (down as of 4/5/10)
The Sins of the Archons
You know, I can’t say that I’ve thought about it much before David Stanley, but why not use the cover page to keep on telling the story? Sure, I guess some covers look pretty cool, but when you’re dealing with a tiny mini, why not squeeze some more story into it? I think he had a good idea. This one is all about the creation myth, specifically how the Earth was created and the story behind Adam and Eve. The twist is that these are Gnostic creation myths, even though they sound an awful lot like the ones in the Bible. Oh no, could it be that the Bible isn’t literally true? Sorry, not to offend any of you fundamentalist types out there, but those people probably just ignore any information that conflicts with their tiny worldview anyway. It’s interesting, and tiny, and the gods in here resemble the Old Testament God a whole bunch, at least in terms of pettiness and anger. It’s probably $1, it’s an interesting read and it doesn’t have a proper cover! Run for your lives! Contact info is up there…
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Silent Forest #1
There are times when you can judge a book by its cover, and this is one of them. I probably wouldn’t have even picked this one up but they seemed like nice folks and no one was at their table at the time (I got this at SPACE), so I got the book. It’s the story of some bears who live in the woods who are angry about a new golf course that interrupts their sleep. It’s pretty dopey, honestly. I’m sure there are some people out there who would enjoy this, but I’m not one of them. One thing for every creator to keep in mind is what the character’s dialogue would sound like said out loud, and almost everything in here would sound awkward in conversation. Not that funny and too cute for words describes this pretty well. Go to the website if you’re curious, here’s hoping for better things from them in the future.
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Small Bible: The Old Testament
Who needs to read all 920 clunky pages of the Old Testament when you could just go and read 9 pages of highly condensed mini comic? As someone who had the bright idea to read the Bible over the last summer I really wasn’t sure what to expect here, but Shannon does manage to nail the high points. A brief synopsis of the relevant passage, a quote and an image later and you get the idea of things. Best of all there’s no axe to grind here, no moral viewpoint he’s pushing, just good old Bible stories. Bits in here include Joseph (you know, the guy with the technicolor dreamcoat), Moses trying to convince people of his veracity, and God being a general dick to his followers who doubted even a little bit, which seemed to happen a lot back then. Oh, and there’s also the bit about the ass, but I don’t want to spoil it. It’s a fun comic for everybody, nothing to offend the overly religious types and it’s pretty informative for the rest of us pagans. $3
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
The Perils of Alternative Energy Girl
What happens when an enviromentally conscious young women gets chloroformed, taken prisoner and set in a variety of dangerous situations? Well, it depends on why she was taken prisoner in the first place. This short book is all about this young woman screaming about the horrors done to the environment while facing life-threatening situations of her own, which completely ruins the plans of her captors to have some dramatic footage of a terrified young woman facing certain death. It’s a fun, relatively smart comic, if a bit short. Frankly, it leaves me wondering what else they can do, but this is a pretty good comic on its own. It’s only $1.50 and here’s a website for you to check out.
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Why Comics?
Geez, what is a reviewer supposed to do with this? This is a short, utterly adorable comic that shows a few reasons why comics are a force for good in this world: the fact that everybody can make them, that the possibilities are limitless, that they challenge us, that they’re cheap to publish, and finally just because they’re fun! I’m far too jaded of a human being to be reached by this, but it’s also too utterly pure and good for me to make fun of in good conscience. This is meant for all ages, and it’s meant to inspire kids to make comics. I don’t see any reason why it can’t do just that, as long as it reaches the right hands. In the hands of the jaded, this could be a terrible force for evil in the world. Give it to the kids and keep your cynicism to yourself! No price, but I’m guessing it costs approximately one moonbeam or one sleeping puppy, or possibly $1.
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Fleep Now Available! $5
Didn’t I say before that I was going to buy everything that this guy had? Like I do with so many other artists, I just never got around to it. After reading this I’m going to have to make that pledge again. This is one of the more innovative and original books that I’ve seen in quite a while. It opens up with the main character walking into a phone booth. He loses consciousness, wakes up, and is surrounded on all sides by concrete. All he can remember is that he went into the phone booth to call his wife… I’ll say no more. This gets my unreserved recommendation. It’s $5, go to his website and see what else you can find.
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Publish Your Own 8-Page Mini Comic!!
I finally went over to Marek’s website and the man doesn’t look anything like what I figured. Not that anybody ever does when you see their work before you see the person, but I half expected a being of pure light and goodness, and he looks like a regular guy to me. Odd. This is, obviously, a how-to book when it comes to making mini comic. I had a different method back in the day (yes, I once made comics. No, they will never see the light of day), but this one works just fine. Marek has a whole line of these little things, all basically touting the general awesomeness of mini comics, and more power to him. Spend about $5, get the lot of these for the artistic kid in your life, or just get this one if you want to know a simple, practical way to put one of these things together. If you’re looking for death and destruction, you’ll probably want to wander off to other pages on this website…
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Let’s Make It Readable!
Here’s another in Marek’s series of minis dealing with the grunt work of making comics, this time trying to get people to understand the aesthetics of text. Granted, it doesn’t seem like this would be an issue for people who are already making their own comics, but you’d be surprised how much stuff I see where some crucial chunks of dialogue are just unreadable. This comics shows Reed and Bill… OK, that’s just a terrible pun. Still, for the sake of the meaning behind this comic, I’ll soldier on. Reed has all the useful answers, Bill shows how not to do everything. Marek makes some good points here: to write the words before drawing the word balloon, to make sure of placement of the word balloons to have any given panel make sense, to step back and read your work from a distance to make sure it’s all legible, and to have someone proofread your work before inking. Marek won me over instantly with that panel, as easily corrected spelling errors are one of my biggest pet peeves. Granted, comic artists don’t have the spell check that I do when writing these reviews, but most of them do have friends, or they could post a few pages on their websites to get rid of at least the most glaring spelling mistakes. This is another good contribution to this particular series of minis, and Marek should thinking about putting all of these together when he’s done, as they’d make a decent “how-to” book for beginners. And, frankly, some people who should already know better. Marek was also nice enough to send me a gigantic collection of his strips, so look for that in the coming weeks. I have a sneaking suspicion that this may all be too much cute for a giant book, but I’d be happy to be proven wrong. No price, let’s call it $1
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Mimi’s Doughnuts Zine #17
Finally, a non-instructional comic from this man. Granted, I do have the hefty collection of stories, but I still haven’t had a chance to get to it. Still, this was a nice primer of what to expect from that giant book and, overall, I was pleasantly surprised. Anybody who reads this site on even a slightly regular basis knows that the three panel strip is a dangerous thing, often forcing the writer into horrible puns and is rarely a good idea. There are exceptions, of course, and just enough of them to make me give them a chance when I see them and not run screaming in the opposite direction. This book is an odd combination of all that, as some of the strips are three panels, some of them are the whole page and all of them combine to form a slightly jarring whole. That’s the first 16 pages anyway (out of around 40). Marek is nice enough to have a recap page to start off, telling us what must be just about everything we need to know. The big underlying story after that was of a group of friends dealing with holidays and trying to figure out alternative sources for energy. Yes, there is a serious environmental conscience on display here, and if you’re at all like me your cynicism may reach up and grab you by the neck. Still, more than a few funny bits and an excellent cast of rejected Christmas mascots won me over (Slushy the Snow Mound in particular is a fantastic idea). From here we go to two pages of comics from other contributors (assuming they’re all not just pseudonyms, which, come to think of it, they probably are) dealing with the financial crisis which, again, were actually pretty funny. One suggestion though: maybe Marek should put the date of the strips somewhere in them. Or somewhere in the book at least, as I could figure out that this was all 2008-2009 from the topical references (and, um, the note in the front that says everything is from 2008-2009) but as these things get older a little more specificity might be nice. After all, this is #17, which is an impressive number for this sort of thing, and Marek seems to be very serious about the concept of subscriptions. Following this is the heart of the book, a silent story about a farmer trying to make a living with his goods, trying out a deadly chemical to kill off the bugs and then dealing with the consequences. Generally speaking it’s not a good thing to have your villains be utterly adorable, but it manages to be a good story regardless. Finally there’s one page which is a call for the comics industry to be bailed out as well, to which I would like to wholeheartedly concur. Think of the tiny amount of money the government would have to give out to have all the mini comics creators in the world free to make whatever they wanted! Not to mention how little it would take for people like me to make this our full time job, bringing the word of decent comics to everyone. Just sayin’. So: I was pleasantly surprised by this, as I wasn’t at all sure what to expect after the instructional books. It might overwhelming in a huge collection, but I will be finding that out for myself in the weeks to come. $4
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Breakfast at Mimi’s
I finally got around to reading this big collection of the Mimi strips, so the question can be answered: it to too cute to be any good in one huge chunk? It turns out that my question is stupid, because this, while being occasionally adorable, couldn’t rightly be defined as “cute”. That probably makes no sense at all, so let me explain. This book is, essentially, a collection of the life of a family over a 4 year period. Things start off with Shayna (the oldest daughter of the family, and no, “Mimi” is never explained) in 8th grade and it ends shortly after her 16th birthday. It’s mostly a collection of full page Sunday strips, but there are still plenty of the three panel strips thrown in. Still not a fan of that format, but the strangest thing happens when they’re all lumped together on one page: they form a seamless story. If I had one complaint about this book, it’s that Marek should maybe number the strips (he does refer back to older strips at times, and while I knew what he was talking about because I just read the whole book, it would be tougher for people reading this via newspaper/mini comics). At its heart this book is (and I never thought I would say this about anything) uplifting. It’s the story of a family broken up by divorce, remarried with the birth father almost completely absent and a whole new set of relatives, all while dealing with the normal events of a childhood. It’s not all fun and games either, there’s child abuse and stealing in here, but they’re dealt with in a mature way that isn’t overly moralistic. I was completely blown away, if all this rambling isn’t enough of a clue of that fact. It’s easy enough for us cynics to dismiss this with a glance. Hey, if it’s in any Sunday newspapers it must not be that funny. I was very wrong on that one. Subjects in this vast tome include the opening and running of a doughnut shop (told mostly from the perspective of someone who hates doughnuts), a stepsister moving in with a fairly hostile sister, building a city for ungrateful cats, kids spiking the punch in their own unique way, trying to get fortunes into sealed fortune cookies, dealing with bullies, building a perpetual motion machine, vampire mosquitoes, 8th grade prom night, and going to a high school party. That’s only the first section of 4, and only a small sample section of that. There are plenty of samples at the website if you need convincing, but if this can win over an old curmudgeon like me it can win over anybody. And it’s only a measly $12!
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Nicaragua
There’s a good reason why more people don’t do travel journals: it’s too expensive to travel. At least that’s my theory, it’s possible that most people who aren’t me just don’t like travel journals, although that seems at least mildly ridiculous. Marek has gotten around this slight problem through a grant that lets him and a couple of other people have basically a cultural exchange program: some Nicaraguan students came to the US to make comics, and they were soon on their way to Nicaragua to teach their craft. Honestly, the fact that we’re still giving out grants for things like this gives me some small hope that maybe this country as a whole really does value art and the value of learning things from other cultures. From Marek’s past minis it’s clear that he’s an ideal choice for this sort of thing, as his instructional minis were genuine all-ages books, useful to everybody. It’s also clear from this book that he just can’t stop teaching, as he takes time to jot down the things that it takes to make a successful travel comic. Everybody who’s just starting out should really check out this book and his minis. Getting a handle on the basics is clearly not easy for some people, but between him and Scott McCloud it should be easy to get a general idea of how to make comics. Anyway, this graphic novel is an impressive thing, taking the reader through various parts of Nicaragua. It shows all kinds of aspects of their lives (things you wouldn’t even think about), how Marek and his friends fit in and even has a (very basic) history of the region. Best of all, of course, is how the kids react to making comics. It’s clearly an alien concept to them at first, but Marek works at it, has some basic examples of how to tell a story with pictures and it’s impressive how quickly he’s able to get through to these kids. This is a review copy and it says that more actual samples of their work will be available in the actual printing, with even more samples up at his website. I’m sticking to generalities about this because it’s almost impossible to go into something to filled with specifics. Marek details the result of his asking a stupid question early on (even though it’s a question just anybody would have asked), the various living arrangements, the kids getting out of school and going right to work, the food (and how it changed wherever he went), even briefly going into the political situation. This is an engrossing work, miles above everything else I’ve seen from Marek, and it’s not like what I’ve already seen was bad. This is the kind of thing that should be taught in schools to show what we’re capable of as a race if we just stop to listen to to what the other side is saying. I loved it and it’s a measly (for the size) $10.
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Link to buy comics (website down as of 7/21/07)
Manya: Marie
OK, I don’t know much about Marie Curie and, seeing as that’s who this comic is mostly about, I thought it best to mention that right away. I’ll speak as someone with limited knowledge of the subject, so feel free to dismiss my uninformed opinion. Does that mean that I hated it? No, far from it, I just wanted you to know that I don’t know what I’m talking about. This one is pretty simple, where the last issue I read (see above) was all over the place, but in a good way. The bulk of this story is a day and night in the life on Manya. She hates her job, has dinner with her grandma and has a conversation from beyond the grave with Marie Curie. I learned a few things, the art is still incredible and the dialogue is fantastic, all around not much to complain about it except that it was slightly, um, dull. Sorry, I just didn’t know the character. There were more Manya books at the comic store and you’ll be hearing about the rest of them sooner or later too. Check this one out if you’re a fan of Marie Curie, otherwise stick to the other one and get this when you’ve read everything else these two have done. Contact info is above, don’t you know…
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Link to buy comics (website down as of 7/21/07)
Manya: Prose, Poetry and Mosquitoes
I’m constantly amazed at the sheer number of comics that are really well done that I’ve just never heard of. Remind me to never assume that I know everything about comics just because I seek out the small stuff. Anyway, what you have in this comic is a gifted poet/author and a wonderfully expressive artist. How can you go wrong from there? There are more than a few great comics out there from female creators and it’s always great to add another couple of names to that list. My only fear with this was that this book came out in 1996. A little searching turned up a website. Turns out that they’ve been doing stuff ever since and they have quite a few books available. The site is a little sparse still, but it looks like they moved the site recently, so give them time for samples. The comic is all over the place, but in a good way. She deals with work, camping, growing up, oppression, stereotypes, and pretty much everything else that you can think of. This one is apparently sold out (unless you go to The Laughing Ogre in Columbus, OH like me), but I’d have to imagine that she has plenty to say in her other books too. Check some of their stuff out. I’m curious to see where they went from here…
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Shrimpy and Paul and Friends
For anybody out there putting together a “best of” collection for any of their characters, this is how you do it. There are strips and stories in here from many different years, letters from fans, Shrimpy appearances in other comics, newspaper strips (some in glorious, glorious color), a cover gallery, even a FAQ. For those of you who have never been introduced the world of Shrimpy and Paul, well, you no longer have an excuse. The pages aren’t numbered, but I’d guess that it’s about 150 pages of great stuff. My favorite story in the universe, “The Ball, the Goose, the Power” is in here, as well as an interconnected epic that involves Kevin, Chia-Man, Saul (Paul’s brother who lives in his nipple), Blimpy, Mushroom Hed, Ib-Ub, Miss Polly, Taco, Mennod, Lucky E., Sanitation Man-Of-Festo, Tim Horton, Goose, Texas Sheriff, Mills, Cubby, Mr. Socks, Captain Beige, Mr. Duck Chocolate, Sue, Jambo Stretch, and Grumpy Man in Small Home. Nobody, and I mean nobody, has panels as intricate as Marc. It would take you over an hour to skim through this book, but everything in it is begging to be examined closely. This is truly one of those books that gets better with every read, as there are a ton of tiny side characters everywhere that you miss if you blink. It’s $16.95, and it’s one of those books that I’d pass out to everybody I knew if I was made of money. The humor might not be for everybody, I guess, if you don’t like things that are funny. As for me, this gets my vote for best collection of the year. Somebody find this man and give him a regular series, or a newspaper strip, or something. Talent like this should be rewarded. E-mail address!
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Shrimpy and Paul (and Friends)
I’d heard a lot about this guy before I ever read him. His name was popping up on websites as the next big thing in minis, as being the next guy who was going to break out into the world of, say, Top Shelf or Highwater Books. I read another book of his and, honestly, thought it was a disorganized mess. Potential, sure, but it looked to me like he had another couple of years left before everything came together and he put out a really good book. But I had purchased Shrimpy and Paul in the same shipment, so I tried going into it with an open mind. The main story in this mini is called “The Ball, the Goose and the Power” and it is one of the best things I’ve ever read. And what a cast of characters! Taco, Cubby, Miss Polly, Chia-Man, even Big Boy in a brief cameo! It’s about a greedy goose and the things that Shrimpy does to try to please it. There is so much more to it than that, but the joy of reading minis like this is in discovering things for yourself. There are a few shorts in this as well, the one page strip about a dream (called ?????!!!!!) being the best. Apparently the main story in this issue ran in a newspaper too. And to think I was complaining a minute ago about him getting his shit together. Turns out that he’s at his best when his shit isn’t at all together. This is the kind of book where, if I had a ratings system that was on a 1-10 scale (with 10 being the best, of course), I would give it an 11. Yes, I know, that’s an impossible score and it belittles the whole point of having a ratings scale based on 1-10, which is why I don’t use it at all. The point is that it’s better than almost anything out there. The people who said that he’s the next big thing are right, if there’s any justice at all in the world. Elements of work from Doug Allen and Robert Crumb (the ‘Ol Simp character) are apparent, but he’s taken it to a whole new level. Buy whatever he has and then beg him to make more.
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Lucky 2.5
In case you’re wondering, this is #2.5 because she lost her sketchbook (which had #2 in it) at an airport and was never able to find it. So if you’re ever in San Francisco airport, stop by the lost and found, see if you can find a sketchbook. This one is about a few random things, like how she lost the sketchbook and tried to get it back, how she sold some comics on the street and how she tried a yoga class. It was mostly just the retelling of a couple of days in her life (I think), with those being the “big” moments. I’ve said it before, I like her work a lot. This mini looks a bit sloppier than her other stuff, or I’m being too picky, but it’s just shaky line panels here and there, nothing serious. And I saw at the Alternative Comics table (and it’s a good thing I got there late in the day, because I probably would have spent all my cash there if I had the chance) that she has a ton of minis, so anybody who’s interested could do a lot worse than to send her a bunch of cash for some books. E-mail her for a listing, I think this one was a couple of bucks…
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
When I’m Old And Other Stories
Hooray for a big collection of her work! I think I gave away the fact in my last review that I love her comics, but I hadn’t seen very many of them. Problem solved! A few of the stories were in her other book that I read, but overall this was a bunch of new stuff. It’s a bargain at $12.95 too, but you probably want some sort of description before you buy it… OK. There’s a short story about the best babysitter in the world, a lot of one page stories about a girl with different trophy boyfriends, a suicidal kid, Gabrielle growing to giant size, a story about figuring out the human heart, and plenty of other stuff. The fascinating thing about her stories for me is that you’re never quite sure if it’s autobiographical or not, so you kind of have to take everything as a combination of both, or perhaps just her interpretation of real events. Fantastic, vivid writing along with some of the best facial expressions I’ve ever seen, I really can’t recommend her stuff enough. Buy it!
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Book of Black
Just so you know, I loved this book. It gets my highest recommendation, for whatever that’s worth to you out there. It’s loosely based on the film “Repulsion” by Roman Polanski, and there’s a part one out there somewhere because this was the second half. It’s about a young girl who is finally released from a prison for girls and is living with a popular girl, and she liked her existence. Nothing much happened, and that was fine with her. Things gradually began to change with her roommate leaving town for the weekend and the unwanted attentions of a guy on the street. It’s fascinating to watch the transformation of the character, to watch her try just a little to make a human connection but not to know how to do it. I haven’t seen Repulsion for a while, but I know she made this story a little more modern, seeing as how Trent Reznor is in it. I hope that didn’t turn anybody off who hates the guy, because he has very little impact on the story. Anyway, great stuff. It takes a hell of a story for me to ignore my nitpicky nature and barely even notice little things like misspellings and “your” instead of “you’re” here and there. Hey, I didn’t say it was right, I’m just saying that that kind of crap has the potential to push a so-so book into bad territory for me. Maybe you should get part one (it’s called Book of Insomnia) first though. E-mail her to see what she has available or just send her money (I’m guessing these are $3 but I have nothing at all to base that on) at: 3288 21st Street #217 San Francisco, CA 99110.
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
True Story Swear to God #4
Remember how I said in the last issue that this series would be more than a little bit too cheezy for people who aren’t in love? Well, some time has passed, a few things have changed for me, and (get ready for too much personal information) I’m in love with someone these days. I say that not for you all to send me e-mails saying “Awww…..”, I just wanted to point out that my perspective on the series has changed. Combine with the fact that the girl I’m in love with lives 4 hours away from me, and I can certainly relate to the long-distance relationship thing going on here. This issue is all about Tom going to Puerto Rico to visit his future wife. Is it still cheezy? Well, kind of, but it’s also pretty accurate. Things get sappy real quick these days, so these books of his make a lot more sense. And he’s putting these out on a regular basis, so he’s got that going for him. What can I say, my impression of this guy is improving all the time, and it wasn’t that bad to begin with. It was fascinating to find out that he originally did this just for himself and only decided to publish it after the fact. It’s incredibly personal at times but it’s also funny as hell at others. If you wait a few more issues you can probably just buy the graphic novel, but these work pretty well as self-contained issues. Check it out.
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Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
True Story Swear to God #2
Tom makes the jump to color covers and self publishing with this series. Look, I’m going to give it my all here to be as unbiased about this as possible. This series is about Tom falling in love with the woman who is now his wife, and there are two frames of mind in which you can read this comic: being in love yourself or not. I’m not right now, so this is all a little too syrupy for me. It’s kind of like watching two people make googly eyes at each other for two issues (so far). If and when I fall in love again, I’ll read this again and tell you all how my opinion has changed. Until then, stay away unless you are the most romantic person in the world. On the bright side of things, his weekly comic is getting better and better all the time. This is, to me, not a big enough story to make into a graphic novel, and that’s obviously what he’s doing with it. Again, I like to think that I wouldn’t like this even if I was in love, but I know better than to say for sure that that would be true. Eh, buy the first one, if you’re really curious. Actually, if you’re lucky enough to find it in a comic store, just read part of it there. You should know pretty quick if it’s something that you’ll be interested in or if it will drive you crazy. All the contact info is the same as above, and there are a few more issues of his mini (you know, the one that collects his weekly strip and goes by the same title, confusingly enough) out there too.
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Posted by Kevin
