Optical Sloth

Finally managed to find the first three issues of Only Skin by Sean Ford (in the very last box to be unpacked, naturally), so there’s a new review down there for Only Skin #5.  And it’s that time again: fundraiser!  When I quit my job I cashed in my retirement monies on the ludicrous idea that I could eventually make a living off the comics rental idea.  Well, that combined with selling comics combined with an odd job or two.  Anyway, I don’t get that check until the end of this month at the very earliest and SPACE is happening in Columbus April 24th and 25th.  I’d love to go and stock up on the minis (as well as talk to a bunch of you people in person about the concept of a comics rental service) but, as I don’t live there any more, it’s going to take cash for gas, cash for a place to stay (although I’m thinking a couch somewhere is possible), and cash for comics, as only about half of you cheapskates give me free review copies.  So how does this fundraiser work?  I’ll be doing a new review every day until the end of the month.  The best way to send me money is also the way that’s best for you: order comics.  I get the cash until I pay back the comics creators (which will happen when I get my big check), you get the comics and everybody wins.  If you already own every comic in the store or don’t think you want any more but still appreciate what I’ve been doing here for almost nine (!) years, you could just give me a few bucks.  I have a paypal account connected to my main e-mail address (and will put a “donate” button up later today or tomorrow) and seriously, every little bit helps.  I’m shooting for $500, which is probably wildly optimistic.  Or if you’d prefer to have your money go for something tangible and are intrigued by the idea of being able to rent comics, how about a down payment?  I’m hoping to get that officially started by May 1st and am still contacting people for permission to use their books, but even if the rest of them say no I have enough of a selection already to make it worth your while to try out for at least a month.  Monthly fees are going to be $22 (that number could still move up or down once I get things started and see how much it’s going to cost) and, depending on how quickly you read the comics you’re renting, it should be possible to get 3-4 shipments to you in a month pretty easily.  Well, it will if you live in the U.S., I have no idea how to make this worthwhile for people in other countries.  So if you donate $22 now just make a note in the subject line that you’d like it to be a down payment on the rentals and I can send you a list of comics that are already available.  As this is going to be first come first serve, the sooner you sign up for this the more likely you are to get the exact books you want.  I’m only going to have one copy of most of these comics to start (I’ll order more copies if this is at all successful), so it’ll help a lot to be one of the first people to sign up.  Of course, it’s also possible that you’ll sign up later and be the first to choose certain other books, as I’m going to have more than a few oldies available too.  The bottom line is that I need your help from now until the end of the month, although this is one of those rare fundraisers where you get good stuff for your money: comics.

Finally more or less settled in at the new place (yes, that address on the sidebar is correct), so I’m back with new reviews: BFF (Brainfag Forever) by Nate Beaty.  Yes, I know I promised an Only Skin review, but apparently I haven’t unpacked the box with those earlier issues yet, and I’m sticking with my pledge to review it once I get a chance to read the older issues first.  As for the site, yes, there are still going to be big changes starting on the 22nd and yes, I will start providing more details soon.  I’m trying to build up suspense over here…

So I was all set to review the fifth issue of Only Skin from Sean Ford, but as I was reading it I realized that a lot of little things had left my brain.  That’s the result of only reading the issues when they came out.  Instead of my usual half-assed review where I blab on about how I wished I remembered all the pertinent information to write an informed review, I’m going to wait until I make it down to Champaign (I move tomorrow), and am going to read the whole series again before committing to write a review with my full ass on Monday.  All information will be fresh, which will help.  In the meantime, that’s it until Monday, as moving is taking over my life and I don’t get internet until Sunday.  Happy weekend everybody!

New review for Milkshake Club by Mary Golding, another new mini, and that should be the norm again from now on (I think).  Here’s the schedule for the week, in case you were curious: I move on Friday (and if you happen to live in Champaign and have furniture or other items you’d like to get rid of, send me an e-mail) and get internet service on Sunday.  So probably another review or two, then things should be back to normal on Monday, then I start to get into more detail on the changes coming soon.  Hey, I’m excited about them anyway…

New review (yes, new) for Robot 13 #2 by Thomas Hall and Daniel Bradford.  I think I finally have the scanner problem figured out (thanks to the most patient computer expert/helper person on the planet), although the scans for this one are a little awkward.  Should be smooth as silk by tomorrow though.  I am moving on Friday, so if you have comics to send, hold up until next week, OK?  I’ll try to have only the most minimal of interruptions to the reviews…

I managed to find a comic that was already scanned without a review, so there is a new review for today after all!  This one is for Zoonbats #2 by Giles O’Dell, a comic that may or may not still be in print, but the guy still has a functioning website with that name, which is a hopeful sign.  I hope to have time to really dig into the new computer over the weekend and get this scanning issue worked out, otherwise there’ll be a few more of these random reviews coming.  Like that hasn’t been the case for the better part of the last few months anyway…

So I don’t have a working scanner at the moment.  There are still a few things I can ramble about, like one of the few things left unreviewed at the Optical Sloth store: Hoax #1 edited by Karl Kressbach.  If anybody has any suggestions for tomorrow, I’m all ears…

Try to contain your surprise, but the scanner doesn’t seem to be working on my new, cobbled together computer.  Shocking that everything didn’t work just fine the first time I booted it up, but there you go.  In another couple of weeks I’ll be settled in the new place and everything will be going swimmingly, and I still have high hopes that there’s a relatively easy fix for this scanner and will have reviews back up and running tomorrow.  If not, know that I am still working constantly on that secret project associated with the not-so-secret project (the comic rentals), so it’s not like I’m being a total slacker over here.

New review for another old mini, this time Get Bent #7/Unshaven Chi #3 by Ben Steckler.  Tomorrow is when I try out the scanner on my “new” computer (meaning “assembled from parts of my old computer and parts of newer machines), so there may be delays.  Of course, there’s also the possibility that it’ll start up just fine and work like a charm, in which case please ignore this message entirely.

New review for a very old mini, this time Super Growths: Strange Growths Sampler #1-6 by Jenny Zervakis.  At least this time around the artist in question has a brand new mini (the first one in 6 years!) newly available, so there’s some point to the old review…

New review for another old mini, this time There Is Nothing! by Marc Bell.  Has he been doing much in the way of comics over the last 5-10 years or so?  Let me know if you know of anything, I haven’t seen a new thing in that time…

New review for a new anthology: Gin Palace #1 edited by Rob Jackson.  I’m spending many hours a day fixing this place up, in case you think the lack of updates recently is a result of my laziness.  You won’t see any of it here until April 22nd, so you’ll have to take my word for it until then…