August 25, 2012
Website
Goofy Funnies #3
I tried to make that cover a little smaller so as not to offend the delicate flowers in the audience, but the rest of you can just click on it to see boobs if you want. And who doesn’t want to see that? Most ladies, probably. And anybody at work who’s innocently coming to this website to learn more about small press comics, but you people should know that the small press stuff often has some nudity in it. Anyway, yes, this is going to be another review of a porn comic, or a for real “adult” comic instead of a comic that is listed as “adult” because it has the word “fuck” in it somewhere. And once again I’m going to dance around a few things, due to my generally shy nature and unwillingness to disclose too much about myself and my tastes. First off, I have to say that I find it hilarious that a title with this much sex in it (and on the cover, obviously) has as an innocuous of a title as “Goofy Funnies.” Granted, there is generally something funny in each story, but it’s mostly about the sexy time. Stories in this one include (just in case anybody is out there who wants to buy this for the stories and not for the fact that Dexter has some serious skills in his artistic depictions of lady parts) a young man whose time stuck in the nurse’s office becomes a lot more enjoyable when the student nurse takes over, a bear/man creature whose outdoor sex takes an interesting turn when a bee hive drops onto his head in the middle of coitus, an absolutely disgusting “do it yourself” Tiajuana bible guide involving Mary Worth characters, the surprisingly happy story of a woman with the perfect body and “a face like a can of smashed assholes,” a character from Popeye that you probably never wanted to see having sex, um, having sex, and a stop at an intergalactic garage that involves that perennial favorite of a woman who’s stuck bent over in compromising position but ends up loving the whole incident. Like I said, the man can draw one sexy (if maybe not so realistic in the real world, but this is a comic and not the real world) woman, which is probably what you’re looking for if you’re on the hunt for a naked adult comic. If not or if you’re offended by this whole concept, why did you read this far into the review if you could so clearly see those boobs on the cover? You need to take a long look at yourself in the mirror, dude. $4
Comments Off on Cockburn, Dexter – Goofy Funnies #3 | 
Reviews | Tagged: Dexter Cockburn, Goofy Funnies | 
Permalink
Posted by Kevin
August 23, 2012
Website
Chimps in Space #1
Is it a good sign or a bad sign that a cover like this is all it takes to get my full attention for reading a comic? I did get an ego boost of a guess about my age at work today, but the sad truth is that I should be too old to get excited about chimps/zombies/robots. Eh, screw the people who say it’s a bad thing, it’s not my fault that their ability to experience any bit of a child-like sense of wonder at monkeys has been burned out of them. Anyway, there is a comic here that I should mention, seeing as how those are the point of this website and all. Donna recently got her degree from the Center for Cartoon Studies, which continues to churn out some seriously talented artists. Their plan to comically take over the world is proceeding nicely. I’ve learned to expect books that are a little rough around the edges when I get a “#1” from students, but her skills already seem pretty damned polished in this one. The story details the adventures of a crew of four chimps and one tiny monkey (I thought those were the same thing, but the chimps can talk and the tiny monkey cannot) in a hilariously accurate monkey spaceship. Well, accurate in regards to the old space monkey ships with buttons that produced pellets when pressed. A murder is committed, everyone is suspicious of everyone else, and we spend the rest of the issue learning some strange secrets about the other monkeys. I mean chimps! This story seems to end in a fairly final spot, but I am curious to see where it goes from here. Future covers (and she did send along two more issues so I’ll find out for sure soon) indicate that events will take place on land, but she’d better be careful not to stray too far from that “in space” part of the title. $3
Comments Off on Almendrala, Donna – Chimps in Space #1 | Reviews | Tagged: Chimps in Space, Donna Almendrala | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
August 21, 2012
Website
Save the Ruined
One of these days I’m going to smarten up and do capsule reviews for tiny mini comics like some of the other review sites out there. This is an 8 page mini (although the cover is technically one page that folds over, making it a 7 page mini) dealing with a pile of ruins. Where did it come from? Who is it supposed to honor? And, most importantly, why aren’t people allowed to disturb a scattered pile of rubble? Is it going to become more disorganized and, if so, who would care? It’s an interesting batch of questions and a very thoughtful comic. The man can certainly draw rubble, and I’m happy to see something completely different from the last comic of his that I reviewed. Huzzah for being kept guessing! So I’d say that this is worth a look, but you should definitely get it in a pile of other comics unless you want your Marc Palm comic experience to be about 30 seconds long. Hey look, I basically did a capsule review anyway! $1
Comments Off on Palm, Marc – Save the Ruined | Reviews | Tagged: Marc Palm, Save the Ruined | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
August 20, 2012
E-mail
Anhedonia #1
It’s been a couple of years since I’ve seen a comic from Nick (or is that one year? Ah, who can tell with linear time), and this one is full of all sorts of short pieces. But there’s a larger theme at work, so there’s that. I should point out early on that Nick included two recent rejection letters from publishers for his comic in this issue, and the man has been around for ages, so if you haven’t liked his past work there’s a good chance that you won’t care for this one. Granted, he’s done a wide range of stuff over the last 5 years, but this one is back to the basics: gore, violence, poop, fighting babies, those sorts of things. The story that runs through the smaller pieces is about a man who’s trying to sell “make the giggles,” which I can’t really explain adequately so I’m not even going to try. The salesman becomes increasingly desperate and sad as people fail to buy his product, until he is suddenly replaced by another informercial, which is the way of things these days. Other stories include a notably grim tale about a dog that’s trapped in the ice and an attempted rescue, a creepy albino after a football game, fighting babies (what, you thought I was kidding?), dog violence, how Kirk Cameron gets his kids to listen to him, being drunk and racist on a bus, being a racist duck (with a twist ending), a number of three panel strips all crammed into one page, and space boobs. I’ll admit that a few pieces seemed to just drift off without accomplishing all that much (the story about the space boobs and albino football player), but overall it was still a pile of mostly funny comics. Which were also incredibly offensive to most sentient humans, just in case you were offended by… oh, lots of different things. $3.50
Comments Off on Jeffrey, Nick – Anhedonia #1 | Reviews | Tagged: Anhedonia, Nick Jeffrey | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
August 19, 2012
Website
Baltic Comics Magazine #11
Huzzah for international anthologies! Getting a comic from Latvia is a sure way to keep me fired up to write more reviews for another six months or so (international artists take note). One note right off the bat: it would probably be a good idea for them to put the title of their book on the cover. In this case “Artventurous” refers to art both being made and not made and the various adventures surrounding different types of art. Don’t get me wrong, that cover is going to grab your attention sitting on a shelf anyway, but that one descriptive word might have helped them pick up another reader or two who was too lazy to open the cover. Anyway, for me a 2/3 success rate is more than enough to recommend an anthology, and this one is closer to 4/5 fantastic/provocative/fascinating, which covers that spread quite nicely. Please note that I’m not going to talk about every single story in here (because then what would be left for you to discover?), but a full list of artists is down there in the tags below the review. My favorites from this boo include the closed loop story by Martins Zutis dealing with The Odyssey, the silent piece by KJ Martinet called “Ideal Form” (I don’t want to give away a bit more than that), the fantastically creepy “Leda” by Betty Liang, the mind-boggling amount of detail in “Necropolis” by Jean de Wet, Jen Rickert’s “The Loon” and its shifts between what is happening in the moment and the flashbacks from its murderous protagonist, Konig Lu Q’s simple (but not simplistic) extra commandments, Roman Muradov’s story that disintegrates into little pieces in the middle, the sheer adventurousness (and never discount the value of a giant robot yeti) of the Mikus Duncis story, the social horror of Olive Booger’s piece, the gleeful mayhem of Elina Braslina’s story, and the plausible paranoia of Dilraj Mann’s story. And this is all without me even mentioning Simon Moreton’s story (who, if you read this website at all, you know is a favorite of mine), which should tell you something about the overall quality of this anthology. Honestly, I should maybe even bump up that 4/5 quality estimate, as even the (many) stories I didn’t mention here usually had something going from them, between the vibrant splashes of color and the various social anxieties based on growing up around art or just trying to produce something of value when so much incredible stuff has already been produced. Pick it up if you get the chance, that’s what I’m saying, as it’s impressive that they’ve made it to #11 and they should shoot for many more. $13
Comments Off on Various Artists – Baltic Comics Magazine #11: Artventurous | Reviews | Tagged: Aidan Koch, Baltic Comics Magazine, Betty Liang, Brecht Vandenbroucke, Damiano Fenoglio, Daniel Werneck, Dilraj Mann, Elina Braslina, Emelie Ostergren, Ilde Betanzos, Ingrida Picukane, Jean de Wet, Jen Rickert, KJ Martinet, Konig Lu Q, Leonards Laganovskis, Marc M. Gusta, Martins Zutis, Mikus Duncis, Nicolas Mahler, Nicolo Pellizzon, Olive Booger, Oskars Pavlovskis, Renata Gasiorowska, Roman Muradov, Simon H, Simon Moreton, Ugo Schiesaro | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
August 17, 2012
Website for Brad W. Foster
Website for Simon Mackie
Website for Dexter Cockburn
Website for Macedonio
Too Blue Comix #1
Granted, I don’t usually list contact information for everybody in an anthology, but figured I could make an exception for an eight page comic. This is a series of comics with adult stories, and in this case that means boobs and penises (peni?) and such. Which has proved to be impervious to critical analysis in the past, but hey, it’s Friday, I’ll give it a shot. The bulk of this comic is Simon Mackie’s story about a man taking his son out to get laid. He brings him upstairs to a prostitute and leaves them together, at which point the young man is alarmed by the woman with very little clothes on and flees. But he does manage to get “laid.” Sort of. That’s where the comedy comes in, you see. Dexter has two single page stories next, one dealing with all the depravities listed in an adult comic (and where the line is of going too far) and one that combines making a deal for a good grade with the brief, sad life of sperm as it hits the air. Images by Brad W. Foster and Macedonio bookend this comic nicely. Dexter covers all the really graphic stuff this time around, so if that offends you you could always skip those bits (even if they are the most consistently funny bits in the comic) and read the rest of it. Then again, why would you have purchased an adult comic if comic characters having various forms of sex offended you? The point is that you get some funny mixed in with some sexy here. If that’s your thing, $1 isn’t much to ask for this, is it?
Comments Off on Various Artists – Too Blue Comix #1 | Reviews | Tagged: Brad W. Foster, Dexter Cockburn, Macedonio, Simon Mackie | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
August 15, 2012
Website
Oh Babies!
It’s possible that you could see that cover from a distance and think that this was a comic all about cute little old babies, which would quite possibly make you back away slowly, which would be a healthy reaction. Relax! Once you get a closer look at that cover and see the five o’clock shadow on one of the babies and their general shapes you should start to get a better sense of what you’re in for here. If you make it to the first page you’ll know for sure that this is not a preciously adorable comic, as there’s an all-out brawl going on between the babies and it’s pretty nasty. Hair pulling, using a chair as a weapon, spitting, they’re letting it all hang out. Things stop suddenly when a nurse wheels in a gigantic baby. They stop fighting when the nurse comes in, obviously, as otherwise she would know that something fishy was going on with all these tiny talking creatures. A plan is quickly devised to kill this new baby, and we get to see the industrious little critters at work. I’m in danger of saying too much about the plot already, but we learn more about these kids along the way, and things start to get really interesting when that sample page comes along. The rest of the book is a complicated plan to save that kid, even though they were trying to kill him earlier, and that discrepancy is never mentioned because hey, babies. Jeff can do very little wrong in my book and this is another fun comic from the man. Well, maybe “fun” isn’t the exact right word, but that dialogue is fantastic and that story could have only come out of a very special head. It’s worth a look, that’s what I’m telling you, unless babies in all forms just terrify you, in which case you probably have bigger problems to worry about than which comics you’re currently reading. The spinning random price wheel lands on… $4!
Comments Off on Lok, Jeff – Oh Babies! | Reviews | Tagged: Jeff Lok, Oh Babies | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
August 14, 2012
Website
Krunk #7
I should really start putting the “vol.” indicator up there, as the numbers from this series and the original Krunk series are starting to blur together. There’s also the small fact that this second series is called “Introduction,” but let’s not get bogged down in stuff like that. Anyway, last time around I was slightly confused by the lack of a recap after not reading the book for so many years, but this time it really didn’t matter at all. Why? Because damned near this entire issue takes place on a bus, and it’s all about the conversations that occur. That being said, I’m only going to give you the highlights, because this comic just flows all on its own, and it should be experienced by you folks who enjoy such things. There’s the slight shifting of your walk that you do when approaching somebody who you think is homeless to prevent any loose change from jangling (what, you never learned that trick?), the gold chains from the 70’s that laid worms into your chests to help with hair growth, the possibility of a ghost pen (followed by the best strategy for saving or not saving the pen for its rightful owner), sitting down against the rights of a person in a wheelchair, Hollywood’s continued quest for a perfect gruel of entertainment that nobody likes (but which also doesn’t offend anybody), getting married at 13, the “sin” of eating a eucharist when you don’t believe in that nonsense and the inevitable condemnation from the churchie on the bus. And that’s only the first half of the book! I particularly loved how that religious conversation ended which, once again, you’re going to have to read for yourself. Lots more good stuff in the second half of the book, including a fight scene if you demand such a thing, and why wouldn’t you? This is a hefty issue, so it’s $4, but it’s so packed with goodness that you’re still getting a deal. $4
Comments Off on Tautkus, George – Krunk Vol. 2 #7 | Reviews | Tagged: George Tautkus, Krunk | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
August 13, 2012
Website
Star Pilot #8
So here’s one possible spoiler alert to start the review, although I’m not at all sure that it’s a spoiler: this issue is a prequel to the first issue in this series. I checked on his website and Frank has all of the past issues up for free, so it’s not as bad of an idea as I originally thought, but it would still help if that information was given out at the start of the issue. But hey, who am I to tell the man his business? This also means that I’ll have to go back and read the entire series now that I can see that he has a clear plan, but I don’t have the time at the moment, so consider this another half-assed review. Huzzah! Well, I will use my whole ass to review this particular issue, which sounds terrible, so let’s just forget that I said it. This is one of those rare cases where I used the first page as the sample page, so you can see how he starts things off. From there we meet Kid Sampson, see a calamity at an air show, learn the truth about the minotaur myth, have possibly the quickest saving of the world that I’ve ever seen (hey, it’s a prequel; it’s kind of a given that the world will be saved), and even get a very brief glimpse of the monkey. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the madcap charm of the issues of this series that I’ve read so far, and this one is slightly lacking in that department (which is bound to happen when the monkey and the rhino are absent), but their loss is allowed because now I can see that Frank is building something here. That wasn’t entirely clear to begin with, but it instantly makes to curious to see more. And to read the earlier issues, which you could do right now if the mood struck you. He has everything up there except for this one. No price, but a couple of bucks sounds reasonable.
Comments Off on Swartz, Frank – Star Pilot #8 | Reviews | Tagged: Frank Swartz, Star Pilot | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
August 7, 2012
Website
Other website
The Index #1
Caitlin manages to nail down the essential problem with so many of the angsty comics in the world in the first few pages: the authors of said comics have invariably had pretty damned good lives, which is itself the cause of all the angst. Lack of adversity can be a creativity killer for sure. This one starts off (after a damned funny but unrelated intro that you can discover for yourselves) with Susan (our heroine) arranging blank index cards on a shelf. Each blank card represented the sum total of the achievements in the lifetime of a single human, and she uses them to bask in her own insignificance. This worked for Susan just fine until her boyfriend John moves in, and he doesn’t like that constant reminder of the insignificance of his own life one bit. Things get a little tense from there, but why should I spoil all that for you? Caitlin does an impressive job with the art on this one, and I’m always up for a story that points out the inherent insignificance of our lives when put into any kind of context. And yes, it does end on a bit of a cliffhanger, which makes that “prelude” thing on the cover a retroactively welcome sight. She has all kinds of other comics up at her website, if maybe you need more convincing, or if maybe you just like reading free comics online. As for me, I like the cut of her jib and I’m damned curious to see where she goes from here. No price, so the random price wheel today lands on… $3.25! Damn, that is random.
Comments Off on Cass, Caitlin – The Index #1 | Reviews | Tagged: Caitlin Cass, The Index | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
