New review for Walking Man Comics #71 by Matt Levin, and I’m playing the whole “reviewing during the weekend” thing by ear this time around. Maybe no reviews, maybe several, who knows?
Update fofr 11/12/10
November 12, 2010
Comments Off on Update fofr 11/12/10 | 
Site News | 
Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Levin, Matt – Walking Man Comics #71
November 12, 2010
Walking Man Comics #71
I don’t care if the guy does make comics based around different stamps he’s managed to find, getting to #71 in the small press comics world is still a big deal. This one is a bit more defined than some of his past issues that I’ve seen, as there’s a distinct story happening and more than a few stamps that he’s working with. It’s all about, as you can see from that cover, a super hero frog. He mostly flies around, being all super hero like, and we get to see his origin story: playing with chemicals while being struck by lightning. Kids, that is a sure-fire way to get super powers. I’m also not entirely sure why a frog would need a fiery steed, but it sounds good to me. It almost seems like there’s a page missing between 6 and 7, as I’m not entirely sure what the little guy was upset about. Other than that it’s an entertaining story, if a bit sloppy here and there (or maybe his super power on page 5 involved his having a tinier pair of legs dangling behind his regular legs), but a fun read. I think you should dig up any old stampers you have laying around and e-mail the guy to see if he could use them, as I’m all for increasing the variety of his stamper collection. $1
Comments Off on Levin, Matt – Walking Man Comics #71 | Reviews | Tagged: Matt Levin, Walking Man Comics | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Update for 11/11/10
November 11, 2010New review for what is still, albeit in a very loose sense, Dan W. Taylor Thursdays: Pork Belly #4. It’s an issue that’s all Tom Brinkmann, but Dan did publish it, so it still barely fits the theme. That’s the last of his comics though, so it’s back to random Thursdays unless somebody else wants to send me a stack of books. And why do people say “Happy Veteran’s Day?” I don’t get it. Thank them for their service, sure, but is it really supposed to be a happy day? It’s always baffled me…
Comments Off on Update for 11/11/10 | Site News | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Brinkmann, Tom – Pork Belly #4
November 11, 2010
Pork Belly #4
Technically this is part of Dan Taylor’s Pork Belly series, but as he doesn’t seem to have anything to do with this (other than publishing it), I won’t put his name in the subject line. Probably not even worth mentioning that, but I wanted to work Dan’s name in here somewhere. This is, as the cover indicates, an “All Brinkmann issue,” featuring eight images of varying levels of “what the hell?” I mean that in the best possible way. I generally think calling art “psychedelic” is a lazy way to describe it, but I’m at a loss as to how else I should describe this. The issue contains an image of a trippy clown face from 1970, a melting face, flying body parts and the sampled image. Everything else is up to you to figure out, as I have no idea, but I do know that it is invariably interesting as can be. If you like your comics to be a visual blast, step right up ladies and gents! If you like a thoughtful story that builds up to a satisfying conclusion, I’d say you have plenty of other options around this site… $1
Comments Off on Brinkmann, Tom – Pork Belly #4 | Reviews | Tagged: Dan W. Taylor, Pork Belly, Tom Brinkmann | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Update for 11/9/10
November 9, 2010Top Shelf Tuesday! New review today for Fingerprints by Will Dinski.
Comments Off on Update for 11/9/10 | Site News | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Dinski,Will – Fingerprints
November 9, 2010
I have a list of people making mini comics who should really have been published by now (well, not a literal list, but I could rattle some names off the top of my head pretty easily), and Will Dinski has long been one of those names. His “Habitual Entertainment” series, “An Endorsement of Smoking” and some other shorties have long had me wondering why none of the “big” small press publishers have gobbled him up yet. Well, the wait is over, as Top Shelf turns out to be the smart ones of the group. In this gorgeous graphic novel Will tells the story of a plastic surgeon, a female actor that he has basically completely remade (and she’s almost JUST RIGHT), the surgeon’s assistant and a closeted gay male movie star. Oh, and the aging wife of the surgeon, can’t forget her. We get to see these mostly soulless people in all their glory, and our “hero” the surgeon has the world by the tail before his assistant starts her own practice with a revolutionary new invention: a helmet you can put on to change your features into one of the two previously mentioned stars. The order of the plastic surgery universe is turned on its head, but gosh, that invention sure did come about awfully quick, and who knows what the side effects will be? Anybody who has seen Will’s work knows that it’s damned near flawless, and this time you get that quality alongside a full color package. He says plenty about the culture’s obsession of youth and beauty over common sense, but it never gets to a the preachy obnoxiousness which would have been so very justified. He even manages to be funny! I often say that books are worth a look, but your buying this one will probably help convince Top Shelf that he deserves more graphic novels as well, which will lead to more wonderful books like this one about any number of topics that are undoubtedly floating around Will’s brain. Think of a purchase of this book as a step towards the artistic development of one of the more gifted artists around and do your small press civic duty! $14.95 Oh, and “duty” probably comes across too strong, as that implies it’s more a chore than anything else. Not so! But if you wonder why there aren’t more quality comic options available, supporting a book like this will only increase those choices in the future. I’m having trouble thinking of a single thing wrong with that…
Comments Off on Dinski,Will – Fingerprints | Reviews | Tagged: Fingerprints, Will Dinski | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Update for 11/8/10
November 8, 2010New review for Simpler Times by Adam Jakes, don’t forget the Zombre update if you guys don’t come around here over the weekends…
Comments Off on Update for 11/8/10 | Site News | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Jakes, Adam – Simpler Times
November 8, 2010
Simpler Times
Huzzah, an e-mail address! It’s still not a website but at least it’s a quick way of contacting the guy, as if you check my review for his last comic you’ll see that he only listed a postal address. One quick complaint before I launch into the praise: more fat people please! I don’t mean obese, but every character in this book is full of bulging muscles with 0% body fat. Granted, we learn in this issue that these people have exceptionally long lives and 20 years of solid training would make you pretty buff, but at least some fans of small press books have a natural aversion to their character being too muscley. This book is way too funny for people to not even give it a chance because everybody looks ripped. Now that I have that thoroughly ridiculous complaint out of the way, this is one great comic. Well, maybe parts of the story seem a bit rushed, but a little bit of funny goes a long way, and this book has a lot of funny. The one-liners are fast and furious and the vast majority of them hit the mark; I even laughed out loud a few times, which remains a rare occurrence while reading comics. Crap, I should get to the plot. This comes after the events in “Dark Dreams” (which was apparently also known as Floid #4, with this one being Floid #5), which I learned thanks to the handy comic listing in the back. No recap this time around though, although the comic did a decent job of that on its own. So Guedo is still stuck in time, fighting whatever looks like a good fight, and as he dozes we get to see his origin story. He trained for decades with his sister, their teacher was coerced into graduating them before he thought they were ready, they meet up with Floid, and I don’t want to spoil any more, sorry. The story wasn’t always the most complicated thing in the world, but the constant humor propelled it past any weak spots. It’s well worth a look if you’re not scared off by too many muscles. I’d be interested in seeing the early issues just to check if he honed his art or his humor over the years, or if it’s possible that he was this polished when he started. No price again but it’s another hefty offering, so $5?
Comments Off on Jakes, Adam – Simpler Times | Reviews | Tagged: Adam Jakes, Simlper Times | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Udpate for 11/6/10
November 6, 2010New review for Zombre #2: The Magic Forest by Ansis Purins, and if all goes well I should be able to get another review together tomorrow.
Comments Off on Udpate for 11/6/10 | Site News | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Purins, Ansis – Zombre #2: The Magic Forest
November 6, 2010
Zombre #2: The Magic Forest
I have one problem with Ansis, and one problem only: he doesn’t make enough comics. Yep, if you’re looking for the final verdict on this one, you can probably figure it out from there. Getting a new Zombre comic is like a ray of sunshine being belched into my face by a unicorn. And even if the man does take some time to put out individual issues (making him right in line with every single other small press guy on the planet not named “Brian John Mitchell”), he really delivers when the issue does come out. This is a behemoth with a large cast of characters and it’s absolutely gorgeous. My scanner couldn’t handle the sheer orange of that bird and had to tone it down a bit. This time around we’re introduced to a hippy park ranger and the forest in general before finally getting around to Zombre. He eats a butterfly, gets his eyes seared by the sun and terrorizes some campers before using his mildly defective problem solving skills to throw a tire through the ranger’s car window. A daughter and her overprotective father enter the picture, Zombre eventually meets them, and I used one of the very few menacing pages for a sample. Hey, he’s not a bad guy! I will say no more, as each bit of this should be read and savored, but I will say that I noticed the “to be continued” after that fantastically ridiculous ending. It’s huge, it’s only $4, and it’s Zombre. There’s still time to get in on the ground floor (more or less) of this soon-to-be global phenomenon. Hey, “The Walking Dead” did huge numbers, just think of how a zombie with a heart of gold would go over with the public…
Comments Off on Purins, Ansis – Zombre #2: The Magic Forest | Reviews | Tagged: Ansis Purins, The Magic Forest, Zombre | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Update for 11/4/10
November 4, 2010New review for Unleashed on this Dan Taylor Thursday.
Comments Off on Update for 11/4/10 | Site News | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Taylor, Dan W. – Unleashed
November 4, 2010
Unleashed
I had to use the back cover of this comic as a sample because all the inside pieces had nudity that offended my delicate sensibilities. Well, not mine, but it might offend a reader or two, and we can’t have that. There’s also the fact that I liked the back cover image, so make of that what you will. It’s all Dan this time around and it’s all for mature audiences, as he deals with the Kardashians (using an image that reminds me of a similar piece in National Lampoon from the 70′, and no I’m not quite that old but I did manage to find a pile of them from back when that magazine was funny), curse words and their shock value, a tapeworm joke, a clever pun on a Lady Gaga song, and a ribald song from his youth. Kids, if you’re looking for a secret way to look at boobs that your parents might not suspect, there are plenty of more revealing images on this very internet or on network tv. Adults, if you like a bit of funny that assumes that everybody reading it is a “mature” adult, I believe you will find at least a few stories in here that you will find amusing. All for a measly buck!
Comments Off on Taylor, Dan W. – Unleashed | Reviews | Tagged: Dan W. Taylor, Unleashed | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Update for 11/2/10
November 2, 2010New review for a new theme day: Top Shelf Tuesdays! Hey, sue me, I love me some alliteration. Undeleted Scenes from Jeffrey Brown is the book today, and I should have enough stuff from them to keep this going for a few months at least. To those of you Aulisioholics out there hoping for a new Pat Aulisio book, I can’t find anything else in the review pile, but I will obviously post anything I find/get up here in a timely manner.
Comments Off on Update for 11/2/10 | Site News | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Brown, Jeffrey – Undeleted Scenes
November 2, 2010
I wasn’t expecting much of a “theme” out of this. After all, it is “undeleted scenes,” meaning mostly odds and ends from anthologies, notebooks, and whatnot. Still, by the end of it I had more of an impression of his overall life than I’ve gotten from any one of this graphic novels, and that’s saying something. The material ranges from his early days to his having a baby (well, not him, but you get the idea), to the actual raising of the child. Granted, it often came in more of a “drive-by” format, as there wasn’t space to delve into everything in minute detail, but it painted an impressively revealing whole. For all you fans of his work out there (and why else would you be reading this?) , if you own the following comics you already possess the bulk of this collection: “Be a Man,” “Feeble Attempts,” and” Minisulk.” If you just buy the graphic novels and don’t get the individual comics there will be plenty of new material in here for you, although I guess “MiniSulk” was more of a “graphic novel lite,” what with the size and all. Even if you have all of that, you’re still looking at roughly 100 pages of material that’s new to you, and there is some fantastic stuff in here. “Be A Man,” for those of you who don’t know, was Jeffrey’s answer to criticism that he was too wimpy in “Clumsy.” It is a thing of sheer beauty to see him turn all faux-macho for 30+ pages, so that’s worth the price of admission right there. His story about being unable to eat ramen noodles should resonate with anybody who was ever a poor college student, or possibly is still poor now (hey, I bought some just last month!) Then you have his grandma’s reaction to the nudity in his comics (always wondered about that), a lengthy story about bum avoidance and conversations, another weird pseudo-relationship, him almost getting into a drunken brawl (well, the other guy was drunk anyway), fun with medical insurance, and listening too literally to the word of god. And that’s just the stuff that is pretty much guaranteed to be new to you! “Feeble Attempts” was just a regular old comic, so maybe you missed it, but there’s plenty of good stuff in there that now has a home here. Really, at the end of the day your only questions should be “Is this good enough for me to buy” and “Is there enough new material to make it worth my while”? The answer to both of those is an emphatic “yes.” If you’ve never heard of Jeffrey Brown, welcome to the land of the living and maybe check out “Clumsy,” “Funny Misshapen Body” or “Bighead.” You’ll come back to this soon enough, although I guess it may be just a little confusing for new readers (the “Be A Man” stuff in particular would make people think Jeffrey is an a-hole if they weren’t in on the joke), but for everybody else, yeah, I’d say this is required reading. And it is over 350 pages for $15, so it’s a bargain too…
Comments Off on Brown, Jeffrey – Undeleted Scenes | Reviews | Tagged: Jeffrey Brown, Undeleted Scenes | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Update for 11/1/10
November 1, 2010New review for Chickenbot’s Odd Jobs #2 by Eric H., and there were reviews over the weekend if you only kill time here during the week and have not yet mastered the concept of scrolling up and down a page for yourself.
Comments Off on Update for 11/1/10 | Site News | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
H., Eric – Chickenbot’s Odd Jobs #2
November 1, 2010
Chickenbot’s Odd Jobs #2
Eric made the decision to keep his comics self-contained after putting out the first half of the first “Odd Jobs,” and can I just reiterate that it was an excellent idea. This issue features out hero going back out to find another job and, as always, his options are rather limited. He goes with “paranormal investigator” over “gnome wrangler”and “dragon slayer” and ends up trying to figure out the truth about a UFO sighting. He heads out to the farm (and alien sightings are always on or near a farm), pokes around a bit and finds prairie dogs with hats firmly attached to their heads and the head farmer spontaneously combusts. Chickenbot seemingly has no fear, as he finds out the truth about the aliens and hitches a ride up to their ship. I won’t ruin any more of it, but I will say that he could have picked “dragon slayer” right off the bat and saved himself a few steps. Sure, putting these comics out as self-contained stories means there’s going to be more time between issues, but every one of these so far has been a treat. “Funny and smart” is a big part of what I look for in comics, and this one has both qualities in large lumps. The only trouble is with Eric’s website as, even though it has the entire comic available for free, there’s no link to any place to actually buy a copy. Wait, did I just say that getting to read his comic for free was a bad thing? I’ve been doing this too long. Clearly it’s a good thing for us comic readers, but if Eric is going to be nice enough to post the entire thing he maybe should have a link for people who like to own physical copies of comics. And some indication of the price. It’s a hefty thing, so I’m going to say $5 randomly, but I couldn’t tell you where to get a copy.
Comments Off on H., Eric – Chickenbot’s Odd Jobs #2 | Reviews | Tagged: Chckenbot's Odd Jobs, Chickenbot, Eric H., Odd Jobs | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Update for 10/31/10
October 31, 2010New review for Silent V #2 by Kyle Baddeley, happy Halloween and don’t forget to watch The Walking Dead tonight on AMC. Hey, they already have a good track record for shows, and this is a zombie show. What could go wrong?
Comments Off on Update for 10/31/10 | Site News | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Baddeley, Kyle – Silent V #2
October 31, 2010
Silent V #2
There’s a fine line between playing fast and loose with your storyline to enhance it and make it wonderful and just throwing a bunch of shit against the wall and hoping something sticks. I wish I could tell you exactly where that line was, as it would save a lot of creative types some trouble, but I have no idea. Wherever that line is, Kyle has found it and is currently dancing a happy jig all over it. I have very little idea what’s going on in the grand scheme of things in “Silent V,” and I really couldn’t care less. This is a whole pile of inspired brilliance, so much so that I had to sample two images from the book. Well, nobody made me sample two pages, but I would have sampled the whole thing if I thought that was fair. OK, let me try to sum up the story just a bit (this ought to be good.) A baby is dropped off to be a new recruit of some kind (but the “dropping off” was maybe a bit too literal), Doug fights off some goblins in the clock tower, we travel 700 years back in time for no discernible reason, Burrd Flappy gets what’s coming to him, and that “to be continued” page was a thing of sheer awesomeness. Generally with this type of book I hold a hope of eventually going back and re-reading the series to make some sense out of it, but this time around I’m frankly rooting for chaos to win out. Read it, love it, scratch your head out of sheer delighted confusion. $2 (?)
Comments Off on Baddeley, Kyle – Silent V #2 | Reviews | Tagged: Kyle Baddeley, Silent V | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Update for 10/28/10
October 28, 2010New review for Symphony in Ink edited by the man of Thursday (for the next few weeks at least), Dan W. Taylor.
Comments Off on Update for 10/28/10 | Site News | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
Taylor, Dan W. (editor) – Symphony in Ink #4
October 28, 2010
Symphony in Ink #4
Dan has finally put his comics fancy pants on, as that there is a full color cover. Kudos! As is the case with a good chunk of Dan’s books, this one is an anthology, all loaded up with talent and goodness. Dan has a funny if mildly disturbing strip about a guy in a pool; Andy Nukes has a series of images that I’ll let speak for themselves (because they’re better experienced than described, and I realize that that accounts for a lot of what I do here, but if I think too hard about it I’ll vanish in a puff of smoke and logic); Kelsey Donald has a piece about a determined fish, a artistic baby genius and an assholish ice cream shop customer; Steve Steiner (if it’s based on a true story) has a girlfriend with some questionable sanitation habits; Josh Blair shows the true meaning of a hybrid car and Jarod Rosello has an epic about trying to find adventure but not being entirely sure how to spot it. Whew! Having a little bit of space has done wonders for this comic, as people were able to tell a lengthier story when they needed to while other could still stick to the shorties. Here’s hoping Dan has this full-size mini comics (just typing that almost caused my brain to short out) thing in his blood now, because I’m very much liking the new format. Oh sure, it’s a little pricier at $3, but you guys are still going to buy it, right?
Comments Off on Taylor, Dan W. (editor) – Symphony in Ink #4 | Reviews | Tagged: Andy Nukes, Dan Taylor, Jarod Rosello, Jeff Plotkin, Josh Blair, Kelsey Donald, Steve Steiner | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
