January 22, 2013
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I Will Bite You
There was only one question in my mind when I started reading this book: would it live up to its title? Because that title is one of the best things that I’ve ever seen. As this is a book of short stories, it’s not really fair to judge the whole book by that unbeatable title, but I will say that that particular story more than matched up to it. The gist of it is that there are two suns in the sky, but the cartoon kinds of suns with facial features. They’re coyly in love, sneaking kisses with each other and being very pleased with each other when this happens. Meanwhile, there’s an angry kid on the ground, and he’s going around biting creatures. I’d say “people,” but most of the things he bites are odd beings of some kind or another. Anyway, the kid finally gets punished and he notices one of the two suns laughing at him, so naturally he jumps up to it and takes a bite out of it. What follows is equally hilarious and horrifying, and I’ve already said far too much about this so I’ll leave it up to you to discover. But wait, there’s a whole lot more! Next is “After School Snacks,” in which a posse of creatures terrify a couple of kids after they discover the deliciousness of pudding snacks. It’s a testament to Joseph’s skills that these creatures oozed across the page, and there was also some wildly inventive uses of word balloons as weapons. Other stories in here include “Mom Said” (in which a young boy tries to join in on the activities of his brother and friend, eventually resorting to drastic measures to get their attention), “Turtle Keep It Steady” (a slow build of a story involving a turtle playing drums, trying to compete with a much hipper drummer in another section of the room), “PSR” (a man just tries to eat his damned ice cream without getting it stolen out from under him every year, with one hell of an ending), “Too Far” (we watch a boy swallow his own father in anger and things spiral from there), an untitled piece (about cavemen, the natural order of things, using pterodactyl wings to fly and kissing the sun) and “Every Day” (kind of extended version of the theory behind the ending of “I Will Bite You,” as a boy picks a fight with the sun every day with hilariously predictable results… mostly). Now that these are all arrayed in order, there really isn’t a weak story in the bunch. Some are better than others, as is always the case for books of short stories, but you’d be hard pressed to find a stinker in here. Unless you have a pathological hatred for all stories involving suns with faces, in which case there’s a lot that you could find wrong with this book. This is a hell of a debut book, and yet another piece of evidence that The Center for Cartoon Studies knows exactly what’s it’s doing. And anyway, who wouldn’t want a book with this title sitting on their shelf? $14
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Posted by Kevin
January 18, 2013
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Ritual #2: The Reverie
I’ll occasionally read a comic and it just reaches out and punches me right in the heart. Which isn’t a bad thing, as if you’re not affected at all then a comic isn’t doing its job, but be warned: if you’re looking for a lighthearted romp, go elsewhere. This one starts off with a day in the life of a young boy and his sister, waiting on the couch for their dad to get home after one of them has broken a clock. We see the dad pull up, then we’re transported to a scene three years later of his dad working on a project in his garage. The transition is jarring, but keep reading, as it all pays off in the end. Keep reading the comic, that is, as it’s not like I’m going to spoil the ending for you, or even much of what leads up to it. From here we see the dad working on a much more complicated project five years later, the death of a crucial family member four years later, and the effect on the family (still) six years later. From here we finally get to the meaning of the title, and here’s where it gets tricky in regards to spoilers. I will point out that the first story segment is listed as 2009, so if you do the math you can see that it stretches out well into the future, meaning that you can expect some fantastical hypotheticals. Which is great! I’m all for thoughtful science fiction, and there isn’t enough of it out there in comics, what with the necessity for lengthy comic series to tell the stories and the uncertainty of having a consistent publishing schedule. What’s most important (arguably) in this comic is what’s left unsaid, as we see these people for very brief snippets over the course of years and have to fill in the blanks ourselves as to what’s happened to them. That conclusion was absolutely haunting, and it left me feeling like the “hero” of the book made the wrong choice, even though you could go at it from a different angle and conclude that that was really the only choice available to him. This Malachi Ward fellow is clearly somebody to keep an eye on, and he’s on my list of people to finance (and/or bribe into giving up his day job and only making comics) if I should ever happen upon a giant pile of money. No price listed, but the first issue of this series (which isn’t really connected to this one in terms of story) was $6, so let’s go with that.
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Posted by Kevin
January 17, 2013
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The Frantastic Four
Do you automatically steer clear of any small press comics that you think might be super hero parodies? You do? Come closer to the screen so I can punch you. OK, maybe it’s not always a terrible rule, but you might as well punch yourself in the face if you skip out on this one. So much comic for $5! Things start off with Frank Frantastic being picked to fly to Neptune to check out some strange life sign readings. Frank has always lived in the shadow of his more successful older brother, who “died” in an explosion years before (Frank never bought the official story). He makes it to Nepture, discovers a substance that appears to be alien in nature, and then discovers the creature who was shitting out this other substance. Frank decides that this creature is too much like him to be turned over the government (even though, brilliantly, the creature never says a word), so he makes a plan to sneak him out of the shuttle and back to his apartment, using the hilariously unlikely means of putting a sheet over the creature’s head and leading him out of the space center. Once back at his apartment Frank introduces this creature to his roommate (a robot made years earlier by Frank’s brother), the creature is confronted by another creature who lived underground (he came to the surface after sensing the “evil” nature of the alien), the alien is given a name (“Celery”), and Frank draws the conclusion that they are now the Frantastic Four and that they should fight crime for a living. The rest of this damned hefty book deals with them trying out a number of different careers (as it turns out that nobody pays you to fight crime in such a fashion, and there really isn’t all that much crime to fight to begin with), showing what happened to the crew a couple of years after the events of the comic, and an epilogue where it shows how their lives ended up years later. This makes the possibility of a second issue of this series unlikely, which is a damned shame, but you basically have an entire series crammed into this one comic anyway. I’m increasingly of the opinion that Sam can do no wrong, and this comic has damned near set that opinion in stone. Buy this comic, laugh a whole bunch of times, feel better about the world for a bit! $5
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Posted by Kevin
January 17, 2013
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Dog Walk Dog
Huzzah for dog anthologies! Well, pet anthologies in general, as there aren’t nearly enough cat anthologies in the world for my tastes. This one has a collection of fantastical tales involving dogs of some kind (no mushy autobio stuff here) along with a few photos of dogs. Things start off with a story by Patrick Keck about a humanoid dog walking another dog, having a perfectly lovely afternoon or evening. The humanoid dog reminisces about his dog when he was a kid and how he was sorry about how he was only rarely able to let it into the house, which was odd as the humanoid dog was apparently a human boy as a child, but I shouldn’t get wrapped up in such things. Next up is “Woof” by Tom Van Deusen, which probably unnerved me more than was the intention of the story. It’s about a dog and his animal friends playing in a band and having a BBQ, which all sounds perfectly nice, but the way that all of these creatures’ mouths were all the way open when they talked (along with the casual way that the alligator at the deli counter scarfed down a squirrel customer) was more than a little disturbing. And that’s not even getting into his representation of God at the end of the story, or the way his/her/its mouth was a black void of stars, or the horrible dead eyes. Yes, this is more likely to be my own odd hang-ups than the actual meaning of the story, but that’s all I have to work with here. August Lipp has a short piece next about dogs on their humping schedule (of legs, that is), then Karissa Sakumoto tells the story of a half dog, half man creature and how it is unloved in either world. Another one that’s a little creepy, but it was thoroughly engaging. There’s also a centerfold with a new interpretation of the famous dogs playing poker painting, just in case such a thing would push you over the edge into checking this out, you weirdo you. You have to be a fan of the particular animal for most pet anthologies, but for this one you’d be just fine if you hated dogs, what with all the general insanity going on. No price listed, but maybe $3 at a complete guess?
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Posted by Kevin
January 15, 2013
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Super Lobotomy
Have you ever wondered about the domestic life of a walking, talking brain and the piece of itself that was cut off in a lobotomy? You haven’t? Lucky for you, Sara is on the case. The basic story here (and it will be difficult to do this madness justice) is that the vast majority of the brain has no interest at all in household chores, and instead chooses to focus on daydreaming and loafing. Maybe the portion of its brain that was removed was the part that controlled such things? Eh, I’m thinking way too literally and scientifically here, and I apologize. Anyway, the brain sends away for a “hero cape,” it finally arrives in the mail and the brain proceeds to go into town, looking for various ways to save the day. It’s likely that I wouldn’t want to live there, but this world would be a fantastic place to visit. Sentient waffles, one of the ghosts from Pac-Man (purely guessing here) as a criminal, a pineapple parking enforcer, a piece of toast working as a hot dog vendor (would it be unethical for a piece of toast to sell hot dog buns, as they might be related? Yet another thing that I had never considered before reading this comic), and an ice cream cone and a gumdrop playing together. Why does the gumdrop only have one leg while the ice cream cone has two? It’s probably best left to your imagination. My only minor complaint is that, as a silent comic, there are a couple of moments when I had some difficulty following the action. But it always made itself clear in a panel or two, which is why it’s only a minor complaint. This is a pile of fun, and good luck not chuckling at least a few times. $5 (guessing again, as it’s not listed on her website as being for sale yet, but it totally is)
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Posted by Kevin
January 15, 2013
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Startled Maggie
Well, this book took a turn for the better when I found out that this was actually all about Meghan as a kid and not about the early days of her child (if she has a child, which she may or may not, how should I know?). It deals with the first few years of life of a young girl, her various utterances (it’s tough to call them conversations) and happenings. It seemed almost too cute if it was about Meghan’s mythical child, but learning that it was about Meghan as a kid and that she’s doing this series to document the nature of memory and early life makes it a lot more interesting. This wouldn’t be the case if I had a kid of my own and/or shared the belief of all parents that their children and their children alone are precious little snowflakes, but alas, that isn’t the case. It’s irrelevant, as these are all stories told to Meghan by her parents about her very early days. I’d be curious to see a comparison after this is finished between her own memories and the memories that she depicts here. Are they largely the same? If not, where do they differ, and what does that say about everybody involved? This has the potential to be a downright fascinating series when all is said and done. I have no idea how long she’s going to depict this (it would lose some of the point if she kept it up through her teenage years where, if she was like most other teenagers, her parents lost touch with exactly what she was up to on a daily basis), but I am very curious to see how it all shakes out. $6
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Posted by Kevin
January 11, 2013
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The Return of the Magic Whistle (#12)
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One of the oddest things about my reviewing comics on this site for the past 11+ years (!!!) is that I’ve lost touch with more than a few of the comics that got me started doing this in the first place. It’s hard to overstate the importance of Magic Whistle during my small press formative years when I was climbing out of the superhero ghetto, and I still have most of his mini comics before he was published by anybody to prove it. Still, I ended up getting overwhelmed with comics submitted for review (a damned nice problem to have) and taking fewer trips to the comic stores, so the end result is that I haven’t read an issue of this in at least six years. It turns out that Sam hadn’t put out an issue in roughly four years, so it turns out that I hadn’t missed all that much anyway (although there are at least two issues advertised in the back of this one that I don’t own, a situation that will soon be rectified). So, much like my King Cat reviews, don’t expect to find a lot of negativity here, as the sheer joy at seeing another issue of this series overwhelmed my critical faculties. Which is not to imply that it’s bad and that I’m too biased to see it but, humor being subjective and all, I guess you might not find it funny. Hey rambly, what’s this comic about? Well, for those of you who have never read an issue of this series (and, after being gone for four years, I could even excuse a few of you for that), there are no magic whistles present in these comics, except for maybe the very early days. Instead they’re a series of funny bits of differing lengths, which may sound like a lot of comics, but Sam’s style is simplistic in his own unique way, and there’s no mistaking it once you see it. Subjects in here include a protest about the reality of the constitution by a man in the audience of a school play, the trials of having a large ass and always being expected to give people rides on it, a look back at a really terrible gym teacher from grade school, Dirty Danny’s sneaky trick after getting elected, the lonely robot duckling asking questions about the terminology behind pornography (in the story that got the loudest laughs out of me), the differences between how you’re perceived crossing a section of the river as a child versus doing it at 42, learning about his teacher and her possible gay relationship as a child, some letters from ages ago, and several one panel gags that I’m not going to spoil even a little bit. If you’re just wondering if he’s still funny: yes. Yes, he is. And that’s why you’d be buying a Magic Whistle comic anyway, right? It’s good to see Sam back and, with his announcement of a big collection of strips coming out in 2013, it looks like we’ll be seeing a lot more from him in the near future. Hurray! $4 |
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Posted by Kevin
January 10, 2013
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SF #2
If only Ryan didn’t have to worry about making a living, I’d say that this story has the potential to become one of the next great comic epics. As it is I don’t see how he’ll have the time to do this story justice, but please, prove me wrong! I say that because Ryan puts together supplemental issues for the regular issues, expanding this universe of his every step of the way, and reading this issue showed me about a half dozen different ways he could take this story. There’s a handy and concise recap on the inside cover (every other comics artist ever who puts out a continuing story, take note), then the bulk of the main story deals with two members of the SF squad (actually SFSFSF, but maybe that was too clunky for a title) trying to free an admiral who they hope will become an ally. A game is played to determine his fate, something goes horribly wrong, and the planet ends up devastated, as you may have guessed from that cover. And oh, the devastation! Ryan shows a world both crumbling and being eaten away, and he does it beautifully. He even saves time in the end to show off the SF headquarters and for some character development, although I maybe shouldn’t tell you what kind, as that would give away more of the content of the main story. The only complaint I have is a technical one, as pages 8 and 29 are completely blank (unless that is some artistic master plan that I’m not catching onto). Ah well, something to fix for the collected edition, right? If you’re not following this series and you’re at all interested in anime/giant galactic skirmishes, I’ll just come right out and say it: get it together. Maybe ignorance could excuse you before this, but you’re reading these words, right? Buy the issues and put them in a vault, as this man will become famous for his comics if there is any justice in the world. Which there usually isn’t, but hey, we can always hope. $7 (for a damned hefty comic)
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Posted by Kevin
January 9, 2013
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Segway
Hollywood, take note: “Time Puncher” should be a major motion picture in the next few years. Conversely, Rob should really trademark that idea. Oh right, you probably don’t have any idea what I’m talking about unless you’ve already read this. The main story in this comic deals with time travel, hilariously set up by a guy who’s just trying to read the electricity meter and has no interest at all in the fantastic goings on around him. The professor who invented the machine wants to go back to a few moments in his past (relatively minor moments, sort of, but they do involve punching), but things naturally get a little tricky by the end. But wait, there’s more! Other stories include an anxiety dream involving spiders shaking their fists in anger (I wonder how many fists they were shaking? It’s just the one in the image, but with the eight legs and all…), the only good thing about the power going out in a freezer full of Rob’s homemade ice cream, living the life of a ventriloquist, having a ghost in the house (song lyrics, not some dope who actually thinks that ghosts are real), the ups and downs of how dreams were interpreted in ancient times, and the true origin of a woman named Marigold. That last story seemed to just fade away at the end, but it was still an amusing story while it lasted and I have no complaints at all about the rest of the book. I’ve been reading Rob’s comics since damned near the beginning of this website, and I have to confess that there were moments when I didn’t think that he’d make it (whatever that means). But the man has built his own niche, handling short pieces and longer pieces with equal skill, and this one even has a genuinely striking cover. The lesson to people who put out a few comics but maybe weren’t happy with the results? If you have something to say, keep at it! You’ll get there. Dave Sim has said a lot of genuinely crazy things over the years, but one thing I always liked was his comment that every artist had 1,000 pages of terrible art in them (I’m probably getting the number wrong, but you get the idea) and the only way past it was to draw the pages and get them out of the way. Anyway, buy this comic and enjoy. No price, but his books generally go for somewhere in the $5 range.
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Posted by Kevin
January 8, 2013
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Coffee and Donuts
Hey, who’s up for a heist involving cats with pants? Well, shirts too, and one of them even has a pair of glasses on. You also may be thinking that the title and that image of a cop car on the cover have an obvious correlation, but you’d be wrong! And a little too quick to go with a stereotype, frankly. Anyway, this is another review of an older (2006) graphic novel in my continuing series of “oh, that person that I really like put out a graphic novel 5+ years ago and I somehow never heard of it? Huh.” reviews. This one starts off with two cats (Dwight and Jules) who are living in a dumpster, trying to find enough food to live on. They also have a mysterious benefactor who leaves (you guessed it) coffee and donuts on their dumpster lid every morning. Life goes on for these two until they notice that the same armored truck makes the same stop near their alley on a regular basis, and there’s only one guard to the truck, so they figure that it should be easy to rob. Not that they’re bad people (um, cats), but a bag of money would do wonders for their situation. Little do they know that two professional criminals have also come to the conclusion that this armored car would be easy to rob and they’re making their own plans. Well, Dwight and Jules get there first, and their heist attempt goes disastrously wrong, as you’d probably imagine regarding a heist planned by two homeless cats. This failed attempt is seen by the criminals and another mysterious observer who isn’t revealed until later, and the rest of the books deals with those two cats trying to get out of this increasingly dangerous predicament. This is all making the book sound like a serious, tense heist thriller, when this could actually be pretty easily be categorized as a children’s book. The danger never gets too serious and the characters do cartoon character moves, like jumping safely from a roof onto an overhang several stories below. But it is still an absolute blast, and it manages to be adorable without crossing that line over into obnoxious. And those flailing cat arms! Ridiculous and mesmerizing. It’s a complete shift in tone from Max’s first book (“Hello, Again”) and it’s well worth a look, unless you have moral problems with cats wearing pants. $10
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Posted by Kevin
January 7, 2013
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The Homeland Directive
When my biggest problem with a book is its fairly generic title, it’s safe to say that I don’t actually have much of a problem with the book at all. This is the story of a conspiracy within the U.S. government, told with snippets from all sides. There are the two scientists who have been targeted for assassination, although we don’t learn why for quite some time (and obviously one of them gets away initially, as there wouldn’t be much of a story otherwise). There’s the Homeland Security chief, who’s fed up with a feckless President who is more caught up in his image than in doing what the chief considers the necessary dirty work. You also have three agents from disparate government agencies who have detected that something is up and have decided to help the targeted scientists, and there’s the agent (or assassin) who’s trying to take them all out. These are the trickiest comics/stories to review, as they’re based almost entirely on suspense and the ability to keep surprising the reader, and a sloppy reviewer can take that away pretty easily. I can tell you that the suspense is so expertly handled that the ending of the book completely snuck up on me, which is tough to have happen when you’re holding a physical copy of a comic and can tell that there aren’t many pages left. It felt like it could have gone on longer, but they mentioned in the story a fact that would have kept a book like this short: there are tons of ways for the government to find you and only so many ways that you can avoid being found. One thing that I usually pick up on in a story (sometimes too much, depending on who you ask) is whether or not it’s plausible, and it has to be plausible the whole way through for a book to “win.” This one meets that test all the way through up to and including the way the ending is handled, and what more can you ask out of a suspense/thriller? It even has a few messages tucked in, which can be dishearteningly rare in small press comics. Of course, Robert Venditti is the guy who wrote “The Surrogates,” so maybe “small press” is stretching it a bit. Anyway: it’s relentlessly suspenseful, the use of color only in portions was inspired, and, just to give them something hokey to use as a quote that I also believe, it was a hell of a ride. $14.95
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Posted by Kevin
