Butler, Ronson – Antlusian Chronicles #10

December 28, 2004

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Antlusian Chronicles #10

Anybody out there still reading this expecting a great artistic achievement after that cover? If so, I’m going to have to burst your bubble. It’s garbage. Now’s as good a time as any, of course, to remind you that my opinion is my own and I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who would like this. Here’s the thing about books for mature readers. You can show all the boobs you want (and these boobs don’t have any nipples, so I’m not sure how “mature” this is supposed to be), but it helps an awful lot to have a basic grasp of the language and how real people talk. Then again, real people don’t have giant breasts that point up at the sky, so maybe he was reflecting that. Anyway, I didn’t like it. No sense beating a dead horse here. It didn’t help that this is the last issue in the series and I had no clue what was going on, but I don’t think it would have made that much of a difference. Um, the art was pretty good. Not pornographic enough for porn and not intelligent enough for a good comic, you’re not left with much. E-mail him or send him some money if you like giant cartoon boobs at 10 South LaSalle #1500 Chicago, IL 60603.

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Posted by Kevin

Gregory, Roberta

December 28, 2004

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A Bitch is Born

Roberta is one of the most respected cartoonists going today, and for good reason. This is the first volume of her comic, Naughty Bits. The volumes are good but the comics have their own unique charm, what with all the news of the other stuff she’s doing and all the small press stuff that she’s constantly plugging. She’s been fighting the good fight for years and deserves all the credit in the world. Check out the website!

Bitchy’s College Daze

As Naughty as She Wants to be

At Work and Play with Bitchy Bitch

Bitchy Butch (World’s Angriest Dyke)

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Posted by Kevin

Young, Robert

December 28, 2004

Website

The Comics Interpreter #5

Reviews, interviews (Brian Ralph, Jef Czekaj and the Bipolar Twins), essays, and what appears to be a genuine love for the medium. How can you go wrong?

The Comics Interpreter #6 Now Available! $4.95

You know, I wasn’t sure if I should give this its own page or not. It’s not an issue of whether or not it deserved it, because I enjoyed both of these. It was just because it isn’t a comic, it’s a zine about comics. Then I remembered that my decisions only have to make sense to me, so here it is. This one has an interview with both of the Hernandez Bros, which is worth the price of admission right there. The rest of the issue is a tribute to them, with all sorts of people commenting on their place in comics and what the Bros’ contributions to the field have meant to them. And, while I never really got into him, there’s also an interview with Jamie Delano. You might be better off going with #5 if you’re shooting for more of an overview of mini comics, as the theme for this issue is pretty specific. As for the actual layout of the zine, there are a couple of things that I could nitpick about, but I just don’t see any reason to. If he keeps this up we might get a viable alternative to The Comics Journal after all. Well done, and everybody out there should send him money so he keeps it up. We’d all be a lot better off if this zine does well… Visit his page, e-mail him or send money or free stuff to: TCI 5820 N. Murray Ave. Ste. D-12, Charleston, SC 29406.

The Comics Interpreter Volume 2 #1 Now Available! $5

It’s things like this that make me wonder if I’m wasting my time writing reviews. I have fun rambling about comics, sure, and I like to think that I’m at least giving enough information away about something to make people interested in a book, but the way this guy writes reviews… He’s informative, funny, and intelligent without crossing that “Comic’s Journal” line of being overwhelmingly pretentious at times. Granted, it’s still not a magazine that any random person could pick up on my coffee table and enjoy, but it’s impossible to make a magazine about comics that fits that criteria. Looks like this issue finally got printed, which is great news, and it’s $6. In here are plenty of reviews that put the words on these pages to shame and two hugely entertaining interviews, especially when you consider that I knew nothing at all about Hans Rickheit and Paul Pope before this. There’s also a section where readers weigh in on the most interesting person in comics, and did I mention the reviews? Check this out, give those people at Fantagraphics some competition!

The Comics Interpreter Volume 2 #2 Now Available! $5

The Comics Interpreter Volume 2 #3

Why is this listed as quite possibly the last issue of this series? Is there really nobody out there who wants to find out about random small press people that you’ve probably never heard of? Is it blind, slavish devotion to The Comics Journal to the exclusion of every other magazine about comics? Whatever the case, it’s a damned shame that Robert is struggling to get to #4 of this series when he’s doing such a great job with this. #3 of this series has interview with David Rees, James Jean and Tak Toyoshima. He has a lengthy essay about whatever happened to the Moore/Sienkowitz project Big Numbers, reviews of a few comics and a special section dedicated to piling on that dipshit we have for President. In other words, a solid issue dealing with people I’ve never heard of and with more than a few comic strips. I don’t know what I can tell you about this, folks. It’s always kind of odd reviewing, um, a reviewer. I don’t agree with him on everything he writes (which is a good thing in my book), but I always find my position challenged by the way he tackles an argument or a particular comic. If you like this site because you like finding hidden gems in the comics world, you should do yourself a favor and check out this magazine. Any issue, from what I’ve seen, has all kinds of great stuff in it. And, of course, there’s the stuff that I don’t much care about, but it’s a 64 page magazine. I don’t mind “not getting” a few pages, and neither should you. Sorry if this review came off as even more of a rant than usual, but I think Robert should be given a chance to keep going with this magazine, as I want to see what it’s like 10 years from now. Check it out, contact info is up there…

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Posted by Kevin

Crumb, Robert

December 28, 2004

Misogynist? Racist? Somebody who hates the world? Or a master of social satire? Hell, I don’t know. But if anybody is curious to find out, there is certainly a pile of books out there that should help you figure it out. He’s produced some of the most talked about comics of the last 40 years and has (for better or worse) influenced an entire generation of cartoonists. I’ve read a bunch of his comics, but very few of these giant books. Luckily, most of them are at the library, so you should still get my two cents worth on these at some point. Until then, a good starting point would probably be somewhere in the middle of the Complete Crumb volumes. Why the middle? Well, this is a thorough synopsis of his career, and the first couple of volumes are kind of short on comics, focusing more on his illustration work with Hallmark and some other various things. If you’re just looking for the comics, they start to focus completely on that right around #4 or 5. As for all of the other books, until I find out what they’re all about, enter at your own risk.

The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book

Looks like a pretentious mess at the bookstore, but I think that’s what it’s supposed to look like. I still think the best way to go if you really like Crumb is to buy all the Complete volumes from Fantagraphics. If you just like him a little bit or are just curious, I guess something like this would be OK.

Odds and Ends

A collection of things done for greeting cards, advertisements and other random things. Probably only something you would really want to get if you’re a big time fan of his work, but what do I know?

Crumb Family Comic

If you saw the Crumb documentary, you know how messed up the rest of his family is. So please, join them all for comic fun!

Book of Mr. Natural

Remember that old bald man with a beard in a lot of his older comics? You know, the hippy. I never thought much of those stories that I saw (not that I saw more than a fraction of them), but if you liked them, here’s a collection of them for you.

R. Crumb Draws the Blues

I believe this is a collection of all the strips that Crumb did relating to people who played the blues of jazz back in the day. Seems obvious from the title, right? Anyway, I know he is a big record collector and I’m sure he knows a lot about most of those guys from the early part of the century. It’s probably fascinating reading and this is at least one of the ones that I’m going to get when I’m rich. What do you mean I’m never going to get rich running a website based on good comics?

The Complete Dirty Laundry Comics

OK, I don’t like his wife. I’m sure she’s a nice person and all that, but her comics have just never done anything for me. The parts that Crumb draws are OK, except that they’re few and far between. Stay away, Joe.

Your Vigor For Life Appalls Me: Robert Crumb Letters 1958-1977

I ordered this a couple of years ago and was told that it was cancelled, so I got my money back. This is the first time I’ve seen it since then, so I guess it does exist. Not a comic, obviously, but it has to be an essential look into the mind of a unique guy.

The Life and Times of R. Crumb: Comments From Contemporaries

My initial impression when I saw this at the bookstore was that it was probably way too biased to be fair, as it was edited by a friend of his. I still don’t know if that snap judgment was true or not, but if anybody out there has read this and can tell me, let me know.

My Troubles With Women

If you have some kind of problem with Fantagraphics or just don’t want to buy all 15 (and counting) volumes of his collected work, this would probably be the one to get. A lot of his neuroses come from his dealings with and feelings for women, and that’s what this book is dedicated to. I’d buy it if I wasn’t planning to eventually get all the volumes.

R. Crumb’s America

Well, the only review of this on Amazon says that it’s a jumbled mess, but what do they know? If you’re curious about his view of the country (and keep in mind that he left in disgust for good in the mid 90’s), then you should probably consider getting this. It’s apparently a collection of a whole bunch of his stories about America, from the 60’s through the 90’s, so it might be interesting to see how his views change.

Big Yum Yum Book: The Story of Oggie and the Beanstalk

This is a book that he did as a teenager with one of his brothers, I think. It’s (so they say) a remarkably innocent book, considering what his later work consisted of. Might be interesting if you’re a completist or something, otherwise it’s probably not essential reading.

The Life and Death of Fritz the Cat

This is a character that he killed off basically because he hated the movie that was made about the cat. Most of the stories are just dressed-up hippie stuff, so unless that’s your thing, don’t bother. I’d much rather read some of his autobiography or stuff from the 80’s on up than any of this.

Complete Crumb Volume 2: More Years of Bitter Struggle

Complete Crumb Volume 3: Starring Fritz the Cat

This is the only one of these volumes that I actually own, and it’s not very good. Too many greeting cards and things that, as a fan mostly of his comics, I really could care less about. I’m not going to comment on the other ones until I get them from the library (or find a box of money), so take what you can from the title or click the link to see what Amazon has to say about them if you’re curious.

Complete Crumb Volume 4: Mr. Sixties

Complete Crumb Volume 5: Happy Hippy Comix

Complete Crumb Volume 6: On the Crest of a Wave

Complete Crumb Volume 7: Hot ‘N’ Heavy

Complete Crumb Volume 8: Death of Fritz the Cat

Complete Crumb Volume 9: R. Crumb Versus the Sisterhood

Complete Crumb Volume 10: Crumb Advocates Violent Overthrow

Complete Crumb Volume 11: Mr. Natural Confined to a Mental Institution

Complete Crumb Volume 12: We’re Livin’ in the Lap of Luxury

Complete Crumb Volume 13: Season of the Snoid

Complete Crumb Volume 14: The Early 80’s and Weirdo Magazine

Complete Crumb Volume 15

R. Crumb Sketchbook Volume 3

I’ve never been a fan of sketchbooks. Probably because I can’t draw my way out of a paper bag, but there you have it. For those of you who have to have everything that this man has done, here you go. Each of these volumes represents basically a year of him sitting around drawing, and if that’s what floats your boat then I’m sure you could find the rest of them at the Fantagraphics homepage. Same goes for the Complete Crumb volumes I don’t have here too, probably.

R. Crumb Sketchbook Volume 6

R. Crumb Sketchbook Volume 7

R. Crumb Sketchbook Volume 8

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Posted by Kevin

Dunlap, Rob & Lumby, Peter – Tozzer2 #1

December 28, 2004

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Tozzer2 #1

Just to make one thing perfectly clear: I’m basing my opinion on one issue of a mini series, and apparently there was already a mini series that came before this, so maybe I’m just a bit lost or behind everybody else. Still, this didn’t do much for me at all. What’s this comic about? Tozzer and his crew having adventures, I suppose. It’s so packed with parody that it was hard for me to make out the story. You have Michael Jackson and his ape traveling around and looking for Tozzer, Samuel Jackson (the Pulp Fiction character) and his Yoda puppet, Eminem, George Lucas, and more Matrix parodies than you can shake a stick at, if you have a stick handy. Oh, and judging by the cover, the next issue is about Michael Moore being very fat and trying to eat people. I’ll wait an issue or two until I totally make up my mind (the second issue is sitting here and I’ll get to it soon), but this looks to me like a bunch of tired, tired parodies being done one more time. There’s plenty good to be said for the art, and there were more than a few points that there was a gag or something that made me chuckle, but it’s more than a bit of a mess when you put it all together. Here’s a website, I’m hoping that this is just a bad first impression and it’ll get better later…

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Posted by Kevin

Kuper, Peter

December 26, 2004

Website

Stop Forgetting To Remember

Whenever anybody only slightly familiar with comics would ask me what were some of the great uncollected graphic novels (or something approaching the nebulous term “graphic novel”) out there, I would always lead with Peter Kuper. Bleeding Heart and The Wild Life were two of the great, though short-lived, titles of the 90’s. Or was it even as far back as the 80’s? Either way, they told, in small pieces, the story of Peter’s awakening as an artist and a human being, him experimentations with drugs and sex, and were told with such brutal honesty and artistry that is was impossible not to take them as the best of the craft. This book collects those stories, wraps them around new interstitial bits, and throws in some new material from the years since those two series were widely available. In this volume Peter, loosely disguised as Walt, grows up (trying to have sex, with little success, along the way), does a lot of drugs, bemoans at least one relationship that he was clearly better off without, and finally has a kid of his own. Peter’s work is pretty widely available for a cartoonist these days, there are plenty of things on this page you can get from Amazon, a little digging will get you through to most of his other published work. Still, I’d maintain that not only is this volume the best thing he’s ever done, it’s one of the best things ever done in the medium. Many people before and after (but mostly after) Peter tried to pull off autobiography like this, brutally honest but still not completely focused on self-indulgent navel gazing, and very few of them came close to pulling it off this well. This is simply one of the best books of this or any other year, and it’s about damned time that it’s available in a “respectable” format. It’s $20, cheaper through most of the online stores, and if you like comics even a little bit there’s no chance that you’ll regret getting this.

The Metamorphosis

There’s a reason why I don’t often update the pages of people like Peter Kuper. What’s left to say? What do I have to say about a book by one of the legends of comics that hasn’t been said before, by somebody who’s actually able to put together intelligent, coherent sentences? Then again, if I took that attitude with all these books I wouldn’t do anything, so screw it. This is an adaptation of Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis, probably one of the most imitated books ever. For those of you who never went to a school that taught this, assuming that’s possible, it’s the story of a traveling salesman who wakes up one day to find out that he’s been transformed into a giant bug. His family and his employers, understandably, are more than a little upset by this development, and the rest of the story is a slow, painful descent into the inevitable. Kuper has adapted ome other Kafka stories over the years in various places, but he’s really outdone himself here. His dark, thick lines are perfect for the atmosphere of despair that’s so prevalent. Every character in this is adapted perfectly. The angry, bitter father, the mother in denial, the sister who cares for him but can’t stand to look at him, even his boss is nailed. If you don’t already love Peter’s work there’s probably not much that I can say to convince you, but this is an incredible, lovely book. I miss the comics he did that were more personal, but there’s a whole lot to be said for this. Check out his website, and you could probably find some of his older comics for cheap here and there, like at the Fantagraphics website.

Speechless

Give it Up: And Other Short Stories

Eye of the Beholder

Mind’s Eye: An Eye of the Beholder Collection

The System

Peter Kuper’s Comic Strips: A Journal of Travels Through Africa

World War 3 Illustrated 1980-1988

World War 3 Illustrated: Confrontational Comics

Stripped

New York, New York

Topsy Turvy

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Posted by Kevin

Hornschemeier, Paul – Forlorn Funnies #3

December 26, 2004

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Forlorn Funnies #3

This issue looks like the middle of a three part story, and in this case that means that’s in between the huge events. Or maybe that’s a simplistic way to look at it, I don’t know. Anyway, the father (David) copes with his deteriorating mental state and the son (Thomas) deals with his new life with his aunt and uncle. Overall it didn’t blow me away as much as some of his other issues have, but it’s like writing a review on a few chapters of a novel. I’ll know a lot more when I know how it ends. It looks beautiful, of course, and he does such a great job with that that it’s recommended because of that, if nothing else. I wouldn’t pick it up if you’re looking to try out his work though. Wait until the collected edition of this story comes out, then you might have an amazing thing to read…

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Posted by Kevin

Chadwick, Paul

December 26, 2004

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Concrete – Killer Smile

I know, I’m veering a little from the “indie” ideal that I’m trying to promote here. I don’t care. This page is dedicated to bringing small press things to the attention of a larger audience, true. However, I’m also here to show what I believe are the best comics currently on the market. And while Concrete hasn’t had anything new in a couple of years, it’s still widely overlooked and one of the better books of the past 15 years. If you passed it up because you think that it’s just some stupid superhero who’s covered in cement, well, you’re in for quite a surprise. If you pick up a volume or two, that is.

Concrete – Strange Armor

I guess you’d have to call this the “origin” story, for lack of a better term. This book wonderfully shows how a regular human being deals with being cut off from certain sensations by being trapped in an alien body, conceivably for the rest of his life.

Complete Concrete

And to think that I was talking shit about this book not being as polished as his later works. It’s not, I guess, but that doesn’t take away any of its charm. This is the original ten issue series from Dark Horse all in one volume, and it’s big. It tells the tale of Concrete scaling Mount Everest, attempting to cross the Atlantic Ocean, helping a troubled farm out, freeing some trapped miners, being the bodyguard for a rock star, and telling his origin story to Larry. If these all seem like fantastic adventures, they really don’t feel that way in the book. That’s the beauty of this work. The main character is so down to earth that nothing fantastic that he ever does seems like something that the average person wouldn’t try, if given the same opportunity. I did mention at some point that he’s not a superhero of any kind, right?

The best parts of this book are the quiet parts. Concrete eyeing Larry when he meets his (unknowing) love interest, or his fear of scaring little children, or even the exact moment when he knows that he has jumped too far while avoiding the cops and he sighs before falling into a swimming pool. It’s the little things that make characters human, and these little things are done to perfection. I said before that this might not be the best starting point for this series because the writing and the art both get so much better in the later series. That’s true, but this is a good starting point. It may get a lot better, but this stuff is pretty damned good in its own right. And this way you get to see his evolution as a being who is trapped in a giant concrete shell, instead of picking it up at a later point and trying to figure out what’s going on. This isn’t the best book I’ve ever seen at dealing with interpersonal relationships, Love and Rockets takes the cake for that. But this series is one that I look forward to coming out more than most, and the lack of anything new for the last couple of years has been tough. This is quite possibly the best “ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances” story ever done in any genre, and that’s saying a lot when you look at all the movies I’ve watched and all the books I’ve read. If there are people out there who hate this book, please, let me know. I want to hear any possible argument against this series as being (all around) one of the best comics series ever.

Concrete – Think Like a Mountain

My personal favorite of the Concrete books. He spends time with a group of radical environmentalists and has to choose between doing what he thinks is morally right and what is legal. Fascinating and compelling.

Concrete – Fragile Creature

Concrete is commissioned to do stunts for a low budget sci-fi movie. Naturally, things get more complicated than that.

Complete Concrete Short Stories 1986-1989

It’s usually not a good sign when the author says in his introduction that he never had any intention of doing short stories with his character. It’s a good thing he did though, and he readily admits that later on. It helps a lot to have read the first book of Concrete before you read this, but it’s far from essential. A couple of things are mentioned, like his transatlantic swim and his experience on a movie set (from Fragile Creature, which wasn’t done until three years after the introduction was done) that it helps to know a little bit, but only in passing. And, as with all collections of short stories, the quality varies. Different stories were obviously done for different things. The enviromentalism short Stay Tuned for Pearl Harbor was probably good at the time but seems dated now. Of course, I remember reading science fiction stories from the 60’s and 70’s that had the same message and they were ignored too.

My favorite piece in the book (and I wasn’t expecting this at all, I remembered it as being Little Pushes) was probably the last one in the book, Visible Breath. A simple tale of Maureen and Larry stopping at a hotel for the night with Concrete staying out in the bushes to avoid paying a hefty insurance fee to have him sleep in the room. All of his fears about Maureen falling for Larry come to the surface and there’s also an adventure with a drunken man trying to find his room. Quiet and funny, it’s this kind of story that makes Concrete great. There’s plenty of good stuff in here. The two stories with the sitcom about the talking heads was obviously barely connected to Concrete at all, but they were both OK stories. We get to see Concrete try to fit in at a party and on a beach and fail miserably. We get to see his biggest fan, a Ms. Strangehands, and her thoughts about what kind of a man he really is.

There’s nothing really holding this book together though, and that’s its biggest flaw. I know, books of short stories aren’t supposed to have anything holding them together. True. That’s why I don’t like them as much as graphic novels. That’s my personal preference and I’m sticking to it. It’s not a bad book by any means. If you already have read other Concrete books and love the characters but thought that maybe the short stories sucked, you were wrong. If you’ve never read any of this stuff, don’t buy this. You won’t know who these people are and it isn’t a good starting point. It you want to start reading this series and don’t want to start right in the middle (which is where he’s doing his best work, assuming that right now is “right in the middle” and he still has a lot of stories planned), then buy the first book. If you like that, buy this book as something like a companion to it. The art gets a lot better later and so do the stories, but they start off pretty damned good. And he is not a superhero of any kind, so anybody who thinks that can check that idea at the door. It’s the story of the life of a normal man trying to do good with a pretty amazing situation that he finds himself stuck in, and there’s not really anything else like it in comics.

Complete Concrete Short Stories 1990-1995

More of the same, but his style was definitely becoming tighter and more focused.

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Posted by Kevin

Powell, Nate – Walkie Talkie #4

December 26, 2004

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Walkie Talkie #4

Three cheers for another brilliant comic by somebody I’ve never heard of. I caught part 2 of a 2 part story, so I missed a lot of the necessary information to make this make any sense, and I still loved it. The writing is incredible, the art is damned near flawless, there’s just nothing to complain about here. Has this guy been doing comics for years with me missing out, or is he just an amazingly gifted newcomer? I don’t know how much I should tell you about this because I’m sure to give a lot away for people who should really buy this (and, I’d guess, the other issues) for themselves. My take on it is that it’s about regret, a dog, a bird, loss, and a prophecy. And melting, but not really. Look, just buy it. If you trust my judgment yet, just trust me. If you don’t, well, buy this and you can decide if you like the same stuff as me, OK? Send him money ($2.95) at: 7205 Geronimo N. Little Rock AK 72116. Or e-mail him to see what he has available.

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Posted by Kevin

Leoncini, Mike – The Crash of Metal #0

December 26, 2004

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The Crash of Metal #0

I should point out right away that I liked this comic. The close ups on the faces in the early stories were creepy as hell and I thought he did an incredible job of illustrating the futility of daily existence and trying to fit in with people who are “out having fun”. My main problem is that some of his stories of things he had seen and heard were downright dull, which I guess is just the point he was trying to establish. Another problem I had with the book were the sketchbook pages, and I only had a problem there because there was a drastic drop in quality from the rest of the book. The stories were about as good, the art wasn’t. Other than that, fans of Ivan Brunetti rejoice, as all this guy needs is a loveless marriage to become equally miserable. Stories in here include Blind People Make Me Nervous, The Disquiet Is Deafening, The Kiss (one of the more disturbingly realistic stories I’ve seen in a while), Don’t Fuckin’ Touch Me!!! and a comic he did for his Granny. E-mail him to see if he’s still OK, or just where to send a couple of bucks, as this is one fucked up comic that shouldn’t be missed.

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Posted by Kevin

Kelso, Megan

December 26, 2004

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Queen of the Black Black

Anybody with any sense of the history of mini comics remembers Girlhero. This is a collection of the best of the short works in that volume. What the heck is she doing these days anyway? I read that she’s going to have something in the next issue of NON, but why doesn’t she have her own series of some kind? Anybody a really big fan who knows more that I do? I’m really curious.

Girlhero #4

Girlhero #5

Girlhero #6

Hooray, some of these are in print! Found ’em at Megan’s homepage, which also has an interview with Brian Ralph and all kinds of other things. Visit it and look around, won’t you? She’s also doing a continuing story over at the Highwater page. See, and here I thought she wasn’t doing anything these days…

Unspoken

Her website says that this was put out in 1995 and it had all of her non-Girlhero work in it. It’s only $2 and I’m sure curious to see what’s in there…

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Posted by Kevin

Groening, Matt

December 26, 2004

That’s right, Matt Groening. You know, the guy who made the Simpsons? Actually, if any of you out there didn’t know that, go ahead and leave my page right now. What I might be able to excuse out of some of you (if you were raised in a cave or a different time period, perhaps) is if you hadn’t heard of the comic he was working on before, during, and probably after The Simpsons: Life in Hell. Yes, he really does draw like that all the time. There was a time when this was the best comic in the newspaper and, even if I think it isn’t as good recently (as some people say about the Simpsons, but that’s a different conversation entirely), the old stuff is classic. Buy these for anybody you know, or for yourself if you don’t already have them. He’s one of those rare people where the world would be a much crappier place without him in it.

The Big Book of Hell

The Huge Book of Hell

School is Hell

Work is Hell

Love is Hell

This book has gotten me through a few breakups, that’s for sure. Of course, by the time you order it and it gets to your house the worst of your depression will probably be over, but it’s funny even if you aren’t heartbroken.

Childhood is Hell

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Posted by Kevin

Hernandez, Los Bros

December 26, 2004

A wonderfully huge link collection at Zompist (never heard of it, but that’s a whole bunch of links)

Love and Rockets Volume 1: Music for Mechanics

Kind of a mish-mash of early stuff. Essential reading once you’ve gone through the series, but if you haven’t read any of this the perfect place to get started is:

Love and Rockets Volume 2: Chelo’s Burden

Heartbreak Soup remains one of my favorite stories of all time.

Love and Rockets Volume 3: Las Mujeres Perdidas

These will all get reviewed sooner or later, but until then, here’s what “funny as a barrel of monkeys” means, from A Hog on Ice and Other Curious Expressions: One monkey arouses a great deal of amusement. Two more then double the interest and amusement. If one were to release a barrelful of monkeys, we must suppose that their antics would become hilariously comical. The expression is common among children.

Love and Rockets Volume 4: Tears From Heaven

This volume features the “Stigmata” story as well as all the goodness you’ve come to know and love.

Love and Rockets Volume 5: House of Raging Women

Best title of any volume of anything ever.

Love and Rockets Volume 6: Duck Feet

All Gilbert, so it’s all about Palomar. If you put a gun to my head I would have to pick Gilbert over Jaime, but not by much.

Love and Rockets Volume 7: Death of Speedy

That being said, this one is all Jaime and might be the best single volume in the bunch.

Love and Rockets Volume 8: Blood of Palomar

If you’ve read any of the volumes yet, you know who Tontazin is. Gilbert once said that he loved her more than any of his other characters, and this volume shows her search for meaning in the world. OK, maybe this one is the best of the bunch.

Love and Rockets Volume 9: Flies on the Ceiling

Both of the Bros are present again in this volume and this deals with a lot of the “supporting” characters, further fleshing out the whole world of both authors.

Love and Rockets Volume 10: X

More Gilbert, this time set in L.A.

Love and Rockets Volume 11: Wigwam Bam

The breakup of Maggie and Hopey?

Love and Rockets Volume 12: Poison River

How did Luba become who she is today, and why isn’t she safe wherever she goes?

Love and Rockets Volume 13: Chester Square

All Jaime and this one is mostly about Maggie and how she’s dealing with everything that’s happened to her.

Love and Rockets Volume 14: Luba Conquers the World

All Gilbert. The last full volume dealing with Palomar.

Love and Rockets Volume 15: Hernandez Satyricon

Random things that were left over from the series that didn’t fit into any of the other books. Like Volume 1, not really necessary until you’ve gotten to love the rest of the series.

Love and Rockets Sketchbook Volume 1

Love and Rockets Sketchbook Volume 2

Birdland – Gilbert Hernandez

������� This one is from Eros and boy is it ever adults only.� One of the very few graphic novels that Eros put out that actually had a plot and a landmark for pornographic comics.� Well, it would have been a landmark if anybody ever tried to put a plot in one the damned things again…��

Luba In America

Collects the first part of the Luba series, one of the best series coming out in the last few years. Is it true that people don’t really buy the spin-off series and that’s why they had to start back up again with Love and Rockets? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad they did, but they shouldn’t have been forced to just because of a name. Their projects since then have been just as good (if not better) than the rest of their stuff.

Fear of Comics – Gilbert Hernandez

Kind of a random assortment of stuff Gilbert has done since L & R wrapped up.

Girl Crazy – Gilbert Hernandez

Dark Horse published this book of his work, which for some unfathomable reason I still haven’t seen.

Whoa, Nellie! – Jaime Hernandez

All wrestling and you can just tell that he grew up on the stuff.

Locas in Love – Jaime Hernandez

All done after L & R was finished and all well worth reading.

Love and Rockets #8

OK, I’ll be honest: I’ve been avoiding reviewing individual issues of Love and Rockets. I know, it’s not like I’ve done that great of a job with the graphic novels either, but the individual issues have always seemed like (to me, anyway) brief chapter installments with not much going for them individually. Not sure exactly where that opinion came from, because I decided to examine this one from a “critic’s” perspective, and there’s all sorts of things in each issue that tend to get overlooked when the reprints come around. There’s a short tale about an aging woman who’s extremely dissatisfied with her life… except it’s really about the attempted murder of a stuntman. There’s also a short about a young woman who’s afraid of the world because she keeps seeing a laughing dog; that’s a loaded two pages. Then of course you have the main stories: Maggie by Jamie and Fritz by Gilbert. Those aren’t the titles of the stories, but for anybody who’s read these guys for the past 10-20 years (and if you’re reading this page, not to mention this site at all, that probably includes you), that’s all you need to know about the stories. Sure, Fritz has great big boobs, and it would be easy to leave it at that. But there’s so much more to what Gilbert does than that. He makes a real human being behind those boobs, same as he did with Luba years ago. I don’t think anybody in comics has a handle on real people the way Gilbert does, except for maybe Jamie. All I have to say about his story: poor Maggie. These issues beg to be read in chunks, sure, but as the Hernandez Bros. are the best people in comics at keeping a schedule, even if you read them when they come out you probably still have a good idea in your head of what happened in the last issue. This series remains required reading for anybody who likes comics.

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Posted by Kevin

Polderman, Linc – I Belong to Jonas #4

December 26, 2004

I Belong to Jonas #4

I feel dirty. Let me explain before I even get started that Linc sent me issues #1-5, which I believe makes this a complete series. Why aren’t I reviewing them one at a time? Well, they’re tiny individually, and they’re only $.25 each, so you can buy them all for the price of a very cheap regular comic and get the whole story. And you really, really should, because you’ll miss the whole point of the thing if you just get the first issue or two to check it out. Consider yourself warned! This is the story of a family of mice in a little aquarium. Everything is sunshine and rose petals for the first few issues, to the point that I was having trouble keeping my lunch down. Then the series starting to get awfully realistic in portraying the lives of mice, and then I had trouble keeping my lunch down for an entirely different reason. Look, this takes a few issues to build up to any kind of a payoff, but once it does, it is well worth the effort. No e-mail address, which sucks in this day and age, but anybody who sends $1.25 to this guy (plus a little bit for postage, I’d wager) won’t be disappointed! 5638 Cranston St., Portage, MI 49002.

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Posted by Kevin

McCubbin, Laurenn & Coffman, Nikki

December 26, 2004

Website

XXX Live Nude Girls #1

Hey, this isn’t what the title suggests at all. Seriously though, the toughest thing these two women are probably going to have to deal with is getting people to pick this book up despite the title. I knew about them from various people so I knew what this was when I saw it, but the average comic book geek is going to blush and walk right by this. Then again, they’re probably not going for the average comic book geek. The book is four tales, possibly autobiographical, possibly not, about booze, drugs, sex and rage. They all share a certain sense of despair, past that they’re as different as can be. Insightful stuff about missing smoking and having a former lover serve you at a restaurant, along with some creepy, shadowy art, make up this one. $2.95 and well worth a look. Go to the website for the comic or the one for the publisher, whatever floats your boat.

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Posted by Kevin

Justin, Larned – Charlie Chong in Cairo Joe

December 26, 2004

Website

Charlie Chong in Cairo Joe

OK, I was really hoping that this issue would change my opinion of this series one way or another, but it didn’t. I did learn that this is all supposed to be a parody/tribute of the old Charlie Chan movies, which is something that’s incredibly obvious in hindsight and should make you all question if I have any idea what I’m talking about ever. This one is the start of a series about a plot to steal a “baseball diamond”, and yes, most of the puns really are that bad. It’s probably not bad if you liked the old Charlie Chan stuff or appreciate that type of humor, but it just isn’t the thing for me. Contact info is up there…

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Posted by Kevin

Deitch, Kim – All Waldo Comics

December 19, 2004

Website (at Fantagraphics)

All Waldo Comics

This is somebody who should have been one of the first people on my page. He’s one of the originals, one of the guys that you call “underground” instead of “alternative” or “independent” because they’ve been around so long. Christ, Art Spiegelman worships the man, and everybody who reads comics these days worships Art Spiegelman, so how good do you think that makes him? His Waldo comics are slightly similar to the Frank comics of Jim Woodring in that they both have a cat-like protagonist wandering around and getting into trouble, but that’s where the similarities stop. Except for the fact that they’re both extremely visual and at least slightly insane, that is. I don’t know how much convincing anybody would need to try one of his books. If you’re interested in the history of comics, you’ve probably already seen it and have made up your mind about it. If you’re completely new to comics, this isn’t the first thing that you’re likely to get. It’s amazing, groundbreaking stuff (you can see his influence all over the place), but nobody hopping onto the tiny comics bandwagon would start with one of the underground guys. Well, you should at least go back to him and check out a couple of his books. This one is a good one to start with because they’re all about Waldo. It’s cheap at $7.95 and has enough stories in it to give you a pretty good idea of what this guy’s all about. He absolutely packs the panels of his earlier stories full of stuff, you’d have to read them a few times just to get everything out of them. The later ones are a lot more business-like, more condensed and easier to get. The result of less drugs, maybe? Not that I want to say that all the great visuals came from the drugs, because he still did incredible work after the panels got simpler. Anyway, the man has a cheap library of stuff available. Sadly, it’s the kind of stuff that you can usually find in bargain boxes at comic stores, so do some hunting if you don’t feel like paying full price. I know there’s a store in Carbondale IL that has plenty of his comics…

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Posted by Kevin

Onofrio, Kevin – Koco Comix #2

December 19, 2004

Koco Comix #2

It’s tempting to just let that cover speak for itself, but that’s not why they pay me the big bucks, now is it? I should point out that this is 6 years old and it’s entirely possible that Kevin has moved on to bigger and better things, that this was just a phase that he was going through and I picked this one up instead of one of his later, better books. Here’s hoping, because this one was pretty bad. First off, don’t make fun of superheroes in mini-comics. There’s just no reason to do it, unless there’s a big subculture of people out there who go for that kind of thing in mini comic form that I don’t know about. Second, don’t have a character berating you and your story as you’re going along. It’s ridiculous, it’s lazy and it calls unnecessary attention to what you’re doing. Third… aw, screw it. This wasn’t a very good book. I liked the art OK. Nothing fantastic, but it was solid and manic at times, which fit the book. Like I said, this is from a long time ago and maybe he’s embarrassed by this. No webpage because this is so old, but you can send him money at: 4927 Galway Drive Dublin, OH 43017. This one was a buck and pretty bad, unless you go for superhero parody. Ask him if he has anything later than this, I’m curious…

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Posted by Kevin

Koike, Kazuo – Lone Wolf & Cub

December 19, 2004

Website

Volume 1: The Assassin’s Road

Volume 2: The Gateless Barrier

Volume 3: Flute of the Fallen Tiger

Volume 4: The Bell Warden

Volume 5: Black Wind

Volume 6: Lanterns for the Dead

Volume 7: Dragon Cloud, Tiger Wind

Volume 8: Thread of Tears

Volume 9: Echo of the Assassin

Volume 10: Drifting Shadows

Volume 11: Talisman of Hades

Volume 12: Shattered Stones

Volume 13: The Moon in the East, The Sun in the West

Volume 14: Day of the Demons

Volume 15: Brothers of the Grass

Volume 16: The Gateway Into Winter

Volume 17: The Will of the Fang

Volume 18: The Last Kurokawa

Volume 20: A Taste of Poison

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Posted by Kevin

Kaz

December 19, 2004

Website

Sidetrack City and Other Tales

Kaz has always been, for whatever reason, somebody that I didn’t think too much of. Maybe it’s just the sheer volume of people that I read, some of them are bound to fall through the cracks. Still, it’s a shame when somebody like this doesn’t get the recognition he deserves. Not like he really needs it from me, as he’s doing a weekly strip in a lot of alternative newspapers and I’m sure he’s doing just fine for himself. He’s one of those comics visionaries that I talk so much about. Every panel of this book is packed with surreal imagery. I can guarantee that you won’t catch everything he did even on the third way through (I read this for the third time to review it and there were more than a few new things in there for me). Stories in this include Satan falling in love, a floating pig head who tells the protagonist in the title tale to do evil things, burly men with boobs, Bill Beak (a psychotic baby chicken), and too many other things to mention. It’s kind of a short book at 64 pages, but it is absolutely packed and I don’t think anybody is going to go away disappointed. I think part of my negative impression of the guy was from a few Underworld strips I’d seen that I didn’t like. Who knows, maybe I just caught him on a couple of off weeks, but I can tell you that this book is good. Anybody who wants to clue me in with the Underworld books is more than welcome to… Don’t forget to check out his website to see for yourself what you think of his stuff, as he has tons of samples up. You can kill an afternoon here pretty easily and have a good time doing it.

Underworld Vol. 1: Cruel and Unusual Comics

Like I said, I don’t know much about these. This will be rectified in time, but it might be a long time, so I’ll once again recommend that you check out his website to see what you think. All kinds of samples there,folks.

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Underworld Vol. 2: Bare Bulbs

Underworld Vol. 3: Ink Punk

Underworld Vol. 4: Duh

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Posted by Kevin

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