New review for Some Stories #1 by Desmond Reed. Don’t forget the Top Shelf Comix cheap comics sale! You only have until tomorrow to stock up…
Update for 9/22/11
September 22, 2011
Comments Off on Update for 9/22/11 | 
Site News | 
Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Reed, Desmond – Some Stories #1
September 22, 2011
Some Stories #1
Is it just me or are some people not even trying with their comic titles? In the past Desmond has come up with some clever, sparse titles that usually got even funnier after you’ve read the story. This one? Pfft. That being said, I did enjoy the content a whole lot, which is the point of these funny books. “Some Stories” in this case refers to two stories. Why not just call it that? OK, I’ll shut up on that subject now. The first one is called “4 O’Clock” and deals with the untimely death of a guinea pig just as it’s about to get a nice, juicy carrot. He chats with god (well, the god of the guinea pigs) and finally learns of a deal he can make with the devil to be brought back to life and finish up any lingering tasks. He wants that carrot so he makes the deal, but this is the devil we’re talking about here and yes, that title does come back in a pretty damned funny way. The second story is either a masterpiece of an homage to Memento or a direct rip-off of Memento, depending on your perspective. Like Memento we start at the end, but in this case it’s a heartwarming scene of two fish falling in love. The idea is that fish have such tiny brains that they’re constantly forgetting what’s happening to them, so as we go back in time we watch the awkward courting process, keep seeing signs referring to a “Todd,” a singing crab, and if I say another word I’ll start to spoil too much. Once again the ending is a thing of beauty, but in this case it also makes the entire comic that much better. If you were afraid to try his previous comics because they were too tiny, this one is perfect for you. Two whole stories, one lazy title, $3.50!
Comments Off on Reed, Desmond – Some Stories #1 | Reviews | Tagged: Desmond Reed, Some Stories | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Update for 9/21/11
September 21, 2011New review for Gaylord Phoenix #4 by Edie Fake, and I’ll try to make up the missed review from yesterday during the week. I did mention that this computer is on its last legs, right? Yeah, that’s screwing me up more than a little. Hey, buy some comics from Top Shelf Comix during the sale, will you? This is their big funding push for the year and they have a ton of great stuff available for very cheap until Friday. How about a copy of Alec: The Years Have Pants of your very own? It is impossible to be disappointed with that book.
Comments Off on Update for 9/21/11 | Site News | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Fake, Edie – Gaylord Phoenix #4
September 21, 2011
Gaylord Phoenix #4
Full disclosure time: I haven’t read the previous three issues of this series and it looks like Secret Acres is putting together a collection of this series in the near future. That implies to me that this is most likely meant to be read consecutively, which is something that I haven’t done, so a good chunk of my comments on this comic could safely be considered bullshit. Not that that means that I’m going to get all complainy up in here, but I did want to make that fact clear. In this hefty, disquieting, mesmerizing, gorgeous and relentlessly compelling book (that, again, I didn’t fully understand) we have the birth of the Gaylord Phoenix. Or at least his birth in his present form, or at least his birth in this particular area. Gaylord is looking for his other self, which resides within him, but getting that self out proves to be tricky. From there we get a rebirth, some mutilations (but all for a good cause) and some generally drastic actions in the other half and the attempts to purify Gaylord. This issue makes me all kinds of curious about past issues and how this whole thing holds together. Visually this issue is stunning, but I needed more of a connection to what was going on here to completely love the story all out here by itself. No price or a place to buy his comics online that I can see (why, comics artists, why?), but you can send him an e-mail from his website.
Comments Off on Fake, Edie – Gaylord Phoenix #4 | Reviews | Tagged: Edie Fake, Gaylord Phoenix | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Update for 9/19/11
September 19, 2011New review today for The Black Project #1 by Gareth Brookes. That cheap Top Shelf sale is going on until Friday, and I’d happily post a link here if my computer didn’t have a horrible virus where most Google searches go to blind links. Google “Top Shelf Comix,” I think you can find it for yourself.
Comments Off on Update for 9/19/11 | Site News | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Brookes, Gareth – The Black Project #1
September 19, 2011
The Black Project #1
I never know what to expect with Gareth, and that is a wonderful thing. Between the Man Man books and some other assorted comics it was already made clear that he has a real knack for genuinely funny stuff. This one, on the other hand, takes another turn entirely. This is the story of a young boy and his obsessive quest to “create” a girl. I don’t think it’s ever spelled out how young the boy is. I’d guess somewhere around 12, as he’s still in school and rarely gets much time away from his parents. Anyway, he manages to assemble a monstrosity called Laura, but a friend notices an arm, a fight ensues, and the boy has to dismantle it in a hurry. That’s enough creepiness for one comic, but Gareth is just getting started. Our hero decides to make another girl, and this time he’s going to do it right. Naturally it isn’t going to be as easy as all that, and the boy is eventually found out, but I’m in danger of spilling too many beans here. I’ll just say that (according to the message at the end) this story is going to be continued, and I’m a big fan of the new direction. Well, maybe not if this is going to be 100% of his focus, as the world needs a new Man Man comic every year or so, but this book succeeded on just about every level. It’s set up with large chunks of text with illustrations filling in some gaps, but it’s not like a lot of text-heavy comics that seem to rely almost completely on the words. Those pictures are crucial and add to the horror of this “girl” that he’s constructing. Once or twice the words got a little too small (I’m guessing he had to shrink things down for the comic size), but that’s the only negative thing I have to say about this. If you have a hollow spot where your funny bone used to be, buy this for your first introduction to Gareth’s work. Or if you just like a good, unnerving as fuck comic. No price as always, but I’ll guess $5.
Comments Off on Brookes, Gareth – The Black Project #1 | Reviews | Tagged: Gareth Brookes, The Black Project | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Update for 9/16/11
September 16, 2011New review for Poit! #1 by Brian John Mitchell & Dave Sim. See, it wasn’t really that hard for me to get 5 reviews up. Remember when I was doing two a day and holding down a full time job? Madness. Also, good news for the weekend: Jeff Zwirek’s fundraiser for a collected edition of Burning Building Comix was a rousing success! I had my doubts when he was only halfway there with about a week to go, but it turns out that sometimes the good guys do win. Happy weekend!
Comments Off on Update for 9/16/11 | Site News | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Mitchell, Brian John & Sim, Dave – Poit!#1
September 16, 2011
Poit! #1
This all wrapped up so nicely that I almost didn’t include the “#1” (it might be meaningless anyway, as even some comics that are meant to stand alone sometimes come with a “#1” marking). Still, that’s not my call to make. Dave Sim again! Despite the fact that just saying/typing his name is bound get somebody annoyed, I do miss having a monthly comic of his to look forward to. Few comics have ever given you as much bang for your buck as Cerebus. For $2.25 (and he kept it at that price for years even though he had long since stopped making money on the individual issues) you’d have a chunk of the ongoing story, an introduction, letters from some of the smartest people around, and for the last 100 issues or so either an ongoing conversation (his multi-issue conversation with Alan Moore was a thing of brilliance; I wonder if that was ever reprinted?) or a lengthy screed on different subjects. I remember having a two hour gap between classes at the time and once a month I would spend the whole time reading a single issue of Cerebus. OK, nostalgia corner is now closed. How about this comic? Well, for one thing Dave’s art couldn’t be simpler. It’s all stick figures and sound effects (and I know “poit” probably didn’t start with Cerebus, but that’s what immediately popped into my mind). The story deals with a man who is popping in and out of time in a variety of situations. There’s an angry moment, trying to figure out the year, peaceful time in bed with a woman, and the constant presence of a pier. OK, sure, it’s entirely possible that this could be a compelling series if it continues, but it really does feel like it wrapped up nicely here if this is all there is. It’s the usual $1, and somehow that scan is bigger than the actual size of the comic.
Comments Off on Mitchell, Brian John & Sim, Dave – Poit!#1 | Reviews | Tagged: Brian John Mitchell, Dave Sim, Poit | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Update for 9/15/11
September 15, 2011New reviews today for Mongoloid Revenge by Josh Burggraf and Slither #7 by Kelly Froh. Hey, I promised five reviews this week and I had workers in here yesterday so I couldn’t get an update in. I’m trying over here…
Comments Off on Update for 9/15/11 | Site News | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Froh, Kelly – Slither #7
September 15, 2011
Slither #7
Hey, Slither! It’s been ages. For people who don’t follow the website or Kelly’s work, that’s not to say that she’s been slacking for years, that after starting Slither 8-10 years ago (at a pure guess) she’s just been coasting. She’s done plenty of other mini comics, and at least a few of them that referred to this period in her life. Anyway, this one is all about her last year of art school in Vancouver and her falling in love with her current boyfriend (it always feels stupid to call somebody that when they’re over 30, but I’ve never been able to come up with a good alternative either. “Significant other” is just odd). The introduction mentions that she intended to finish this in 2006, so I guess you could call it late, but it fits right in with the other issues of Slither. Stories include her little section of Vancouver (and how her friends and everything that mattered was within walking distance), her awful experiences with her printmaking teacher, her boyfriend coming to visit and that developing into a situation where he was soon moving in, various activities around town, spending time in Georgia, her bad movie club (wasn’t Larry Drake, the “mentally challenged” character from L.A Law, in The Dentist too?), mice in her apartment, and finally graduation. It’s another solid mix of short pieces that leads up to her life during that years and, as always, I think you should buy it. What can I say, I remain biased towards the good stuff. Oh, and one more thing as a general reminder to people who send review comics: if I don’t review your comic within a few months of you sending it (depends entirely on how much of a backlog I have to get through), then that means either it got lost in the mail or it got lost here. Mounds of mini comics are not a good organizing system, but maybe the second decade of this site is when I’ll finally get that shit organized. For everybody who doesn’t send me review comics, please disregard that entirely and just buy her comic already. $2
Comments Off on Froh, Kelly – Slither #7 | Reviews | Tagged: Kelly Froh, Slither | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Burggraf, Josh – Mongoloid Revenge
September 15, 2011
Mongoloid Revenge
I keep trying to get past my confusion on the title, but it’s a sticking point so it’s best to mention it. What the mongoloid goes through in this issue is the exact opposite of revenge, or at least it is from his perspective. Josh starts off with a brief recap of the previous issue (every lazy comics person in the world who doesn’t bother doing this, take note), and it turns out that a walking, talking moose blames the mongoloid for several troubles. It’s never made clear if he has a good reason to blame him for his troubles, but that’s irrelevant to the story. Things start off with the Moose putting himself in serious danger in his efforts to get revenge. Things seem to turn out OK for him, judging by the epilogue, but it’s left at a dicey moment. About halfway through the book we get our first glimpse of the mongoloid, as he wanders around the apartment innocently. The revenge bit kicks up shortly after that, as a crew of monsters seems to be living in his house after having seduced his wife. Things get even uglier from there, and that epilogue really shows him at his lowest. All in all it’s a bit bleak, but it’s a fun ride getting there and Josh has an excellent eye for the bizarre. Worth a look, and it’s most likely required reading for anybody who read a copy of the previous issue, Mongoloid Diner. $2 (?)
Comments Off on Burggraf, Josh – Mongoloid Revenge | Reviews | Tagged: Josh Burggraf, Mongoloid Revenge | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Update for 9/13/11
September 13, 2011New review today for My Life in Records by Grant Thomas. That’s one thing about having to use the backup computer: it’s also the only one that lets the scanner work, which makes it MUCH easier to scan new stuff. Everything else about it is a decided step down, but hey, silver linings and all that.
Comments Off on Update for 9/13/11 | Site News | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Thomas, Grant – My Life in Records
September 13, 2011
My Life in Records
It’s always a little tricky to pull off music in comics, but I think Grant nailed it here. This one is split into three stories, and the first one is entirely about music. There’s his first record, how certain songs trigger a nostalgic reaction or bring up distinct mental images, the air guitarist gradually moving up to the actual guitarist, all ending in a cacophony of sounds and images. Next up is a story of Grant growing up (Grant must be his middle name, as he’s called Tom in this one). It starts off with explaining the items that meant the most to each of the three brothers, then moves on to drawing in the early Saturday hours and how his only knowledge of Sesame Street was through a record with Bert and Ernie. There are also bits about growing up in a small room with two brothers (then the shock of moving to a house where they all got their own room) and trying to get a few glimpses of television when they visited their grandparents. This is the bulk of the book and it looks like the start of something bigger, and he’s gotten off to a fantastic start. Finally there’s a story about seeing Pinocchio in the theater when he was a kid, how he tried to make a Halloween costume of Pinocchio as he was changing into a donkey, and how he learned the difference between the “good” and “bad” record players. All of this is full, gorgeous color, so for $5 I’d call this a damned good deal.
Comments Off on Thomas, Grant – My Life in Records | Reviews | Tagged: Grant Thomas, My Life in Records | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Update for 9/12/11
September 12, 2011New review today for Monkey Squad One #7 by Doug Michel. Remember how I said that there would be regular updates unless the computer freaked out? Yeah. I’m on my backup computer at the moment (backup = hopelessly riddled with viruses), but I’ll keep doing reviews as long as this thing holds out. After that it’s off to shouting about comics from street corners, so Champaign Illinois residents could be in for a treat…
Comments Off on Update for 9/12/11 | Site News | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Michel, Doug – Monkey Squad One #7
September 12, 2011
Monkey Squad One #7
OK, I’m officially converted. I was on the fence after the first couple of issues of this (that I saw, anyway, as I missed the first four issues), but then loved the recent annual. This particular comic is a thing of beauty, and I’m going back and forth on either explaining every bit of this comic or leaving it all to your imaginations. A happy medium would be best, don’t you think? It was mentioned in the last issue that the squad would be escorting a rapper to an awards show. But, thanks to the fact that this comic comes out on a regular basis and Doug has time to spend on such things, we get a few pages of backstory for this rapper before things get going. Then we jump to the gang sitting around listening to the rapper tell his story, and a fantastic ongoing gag begins: this group of kids trying to understand the language of an old white rapper. There’s plenty of comedy gold to be mined from that subject. Then we get to the digestive issues (that I could have done without, but hey, it is a group of kids we’re talking about), a roadblock, and then: zombie apocalypse. Regular readers of the site can stop right now, as that’s generally enough to get my seal of approval, but wait, there’s more! This is where it gets tricky in terms of saying too much, but the conversation about the believability of zombies in movies being turned into zombies while they were in full gear (cheerleader, clown, that sort of thing) never striking them as all that believable was fantastic. Anyway, the whole comic was a good old fashioned blast, and that full page of images of puzzles that they had to solve (all video game staples and cleverly done) now holds a special place in my heart. See, this is why I always tell people whose work I’m on the fence about to please keep sending me their stuff and to try and work out the problems that I point out. Not that I’m a guru at making a successful comic, but I like to think I at least have a few useful pointers on how to make it look more professional. Doug has improved by leaps and bounds in a few issues (not that he was terrible to begin with by any stretch) and now I have one more comic that I love seeing on a regular basis. $2.50
Comments Off on Michel, Doug – Monkey Squad One #7 | Reviews | Tagged: Doug Michel, Monkey Squad One | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
9/9/11
September 9, 2011Sorry, but the week got away from me again. I got behind in my work and, as that’s the writing that pays the bills, it has to take precedence. 5 reviews next week at a bare minimum, that’s my pledge. Barring a full computer meltdown it should be possible. I also wanted to mention the current Top Shelf $3 sale. There isn’t a better deal in small press comics. The money from this sale pays for a lot of their yearly operating costs, and you get to have a whole pile of comics for cheap. There’s the cheaper versions of the collections and hardcovers (hardcover copies of the gigantic From Hell and Alec: The Years Have Pants for $25 each), $10 or $8 sales on much more expensive books (if you’ve missed any Jeffrey Brown comics, now’s your chance) and the $3 and even $1 books. You can get the two Hutch Owen collections by Tom Hart for $3 each along with even more Jeffrey Brown comics, and for $1 you can get all of the Happy comics by Josh Simmons, Hey Mister by Pete Sickman-Garner and a few Jennifer Daydreamer books among many other things. Check it out, buy comics and be happy.
Comments Off on 9/9/11 | Site News | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Update for 9/7/11
September 7, 2011New review today for Window #11 by Dave Lapp. Hey, I took that accidental week off, I should check in with Jeff Zwirek’s fundraiser for a collected edition of Burning Building Comix. Damn, it looks like he’s only about halfway to his goal with 8 days left. Seriously, there are only 41 people in the world willing to give this man some money? This is why us small press comics fans can’t have nice things. Give the man some cash already!
Comments Off on Update for 9/7/11 | Site News | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Lapp, Dave – Window #11
September 7, 2011
Window #11
Dave changes things up a bit in this issue by making the entire thing about one story. That cover page sums it up pretty well, as one of the bigger girls at Dave’s school tries to get a Tamagotchi from a smaller girl and her friend. The smaller girls make it clear that the device isn’t with them at school, things escalate for the poor girl on the cover (things get even worse than that for her), and somebody in authority is finally called in. I was a little annoyed at the lack of resolution until I realized that bullies and beatings like this rarely got satisfying resolutions when I was in school either. Teachers would get both sides of the story, one of those sides would be completely fabricated, and the frazzled teacher would have too much going on to make an accurate call, so they would usually split the difference. Dave wasn’t physically present in this issue, so I’m left wondering how he pieced this together. Did he get the accounts of the girls involved? Bits and pieces from various teachers who observed certain parts of this exchange? Either way it does an excellent job of summing up the chances these kids have of getting things decided fairly. It’s probably best to get them used to such disappointments at an early age, he says pessimistically. These books remain hard to find, but if you can’t they’re generally only a buck of two, so be on the lookout.
Comments Off on Lapp, Dave – Window #11 | Reviews | Tagged: Dave Lapp, Window | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Update for 9/6/11
September 6, 2011New review for Indestructible Universe #6 by Morgan Pielli. Sorry about that unintentional vacation, I got busy with work stuff last week and then decided to take the holiday weekend along with the rest of the country. Normal posting will resume at this time.
Comments Off on Update for 9/6/11 | Site News | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Pielli, Morgan – Indestructible Universe #6
September 6, 2011
Indestructible Universe #6
Would you like to know exactly how far my annoyance at people who can’t spell extends? Well, not so much people who can’t spell, as they can always ask friends who can spell to proofread their work, or use a spellchecker, or even plug a word into Google to get the correct spelling. When the comic with the terrible spelling is crappy anyway, the whole enterprise is easy enough to dismiss. For a comic like this, it gets a little more complicated. Morgan is a graduate of the Center for Cartoon Studies and studied under Jason Lutes, Steve Bissette, Eddie Campbell and James Sturm. That’s an impressive group of teachers right there, and this book is gorgeous in many ways, from the basic images to the inventive use of panel layouts. But is there no class at that school where they stress learning how to spell? For me that simple act of laziness at best or willful ignorance at worst makes me question the whole comic. Yes, I am aware that I’m getting all worked up over a “little thing” like proper spelling, but it takes a book that could easily pass as a professional comic from Fantagraphics or Drawn & Quarterly and makes it instantly amateurish. Feel free to chuckle if the culture has passed me by on this and nobody gives a shit about such things, but I’ll stick my curmudgeonly ways on this one, thanks all the same. So after that rant, what about the actual comic? Like I said, this book is gorgeous. I’m always up for a smart science fiction story, and this one either has potential to be that or is already there (this is the first issue I’ve read, so I have no idea what happened in the previous issues). The first story deals with some holy men and their task of keeping people from turning into werewolves with lanterns that they carry around, while other citizens get addicted to moonlight and have to be “healed.” There were more ideas in this eight page story than there are in many comics and I’d love to see them expanded upon, if they haven’t been already. The next story deals with the evolution of man and their constant efforts to control or curtail death. Next is a fantastic little fable about a group of animals combining their resources to reach the moon and steal back the piece of everybody that was left there to hold us all back. Finally there’s the ongoing story called Driftwood and, while I loved that “the story so far” page, it didn’t do a whole lot to explain what happened in previous issues. Still, it had another great fable (this time about a bird that outsmarted a hunter) until all of the characters get trapped in a traffic jam, which is apparently a bad thing. Logs are also involved, but I’m clearly not caught up on the story to make a coherent judgment on it. All in all I loved most of this comic, and if there were only a few spelling errors I could get past it, but there were several. If Morgan can do better in that department I think he’ll be an important voice to watch. Well, he’ll be that either way, but I’m not the only person in the world who tunes out when the spelling flies off the rails. At least I hope I’m not, although with the way the world is going it’s entirely possible. No price listed, but this beautiful and hefty book is at least $5.
Comments Off on Pielli, Morgan – Indestructible Universe #6 | Reviews | Tagged: Indestructible Universe, Morgan Pielli | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
