April 24, 2010
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The Horrifically Complete Non-Winner Now Available! $13
Here it is, the perfect book for anybody who has ever enjoyed a good journal comic. Well, almost anybody, as I guess if you hated Kelli’s work for some reason this wouldn’t be for you, but what’s not to like here? This is the complete (as that cover may suggest) collection of her Non-Winner strip, done from 2001 through 2005. I’d never seen plenty of these, as she did most of these online, and it’s taken me weeks to get through the whole thing, as I’ve been picking it up and reading bits of it at a time. If you’ve ever read a journal comic and thought “what the hell were they thinking with this one?” or “this week’s strip looks like a complete waste of time”, well, Kelli is kind/neurotic enough provide commentary for every single one of these, going into details about her fractured family life and other personal details. At times the quality of the strips aren’t the best, as these were taken from her computer and some of these were designed with color or odd little tricks, but it’s only noticable on a very few of these. Topics in here include pretty much everything in Kelli’s life for those 5 years: family, married life, video games, comic conventions, dealing with publishers, hating (then eventually loving) Joss Whedon, and just about everything else you could think of. As for the commentary, I thought it would get on my nerves, but it ended up being completely fascinating. She adds all sorts of tidbits to everything, taking full responsibility when the strips sucked (mostly the “throwaway” type strips that she had to do while under deadline for something else) and adding relevant information to everything, including the awkward fact that her family did read her strip although she really, really wished they wouldn’t. For anybody who has ever wondered exactly what goes into making a journal strip, this is the perfect book for you. Hell, even if you aren’t even a little bit curious, you can still just ignore the commentary and enoy the strips. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable book, and it’s a damned shame that she decided to (temporarily?) give these up. $13
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
Website
Rummblestrips #2
Before anybody gets offended by the cover for some reason, I should point out that Joanne looks an awful lot like the woman in the center, except she’s been dressed a little more conservatively when I’ve seen her at conventions. This issue is a lot like the first, with a whole lot of dialogue and backstory for what looks a lot like a possible epic. Crash, who is very much not a robot, is on the run from somebody, and Rummble is trying to make a living through her writing while keeping a job where her boss walks all over her. Throw in some wacky cats, the editor for a porn magazine and a moron in the street and you have another solid issue. Things have to start happening eventually in the story, granted, but I’ll stick with my earlier claim that she has an incredible ear for dialogue and that’ll carry her far. It doesn’t hurt that the art’s incredible too. Check out the website, and if you’re incredibly cheap you can just wait a couple of years until the collected edition comes out, as I get the impression that she’s not going to give up on comics any time soon…
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
Website
Rummblestrips #1
Looks like I picked a good book to read first from the Mid-Ohio Con pile. I don’t really know what this book is about yet. Almost everything is left a mystery, with this book basically introducing the two main characters (I’m guessing here) with no real word of who they are, what they’re doing and what’s going on. And you know what? I loved it! The vast majority of the book was spent inside Rummble’s apartment with her talking with the other, um, “person” on the cover, Crash. I don’t know if she was kidding or not but she mentions on the back cover that she’s going to be doing this for #100 issues or so, and I’m fascinated so far. The dialogue is witty and real, the art is great, and I’m more than willing to take the long, slow journey to see what’s going on here. Although, honestly, I’d be happy just reading the characters talking. I read almost the entire thing thinking that there wasn’t any real background story and I was still happy. Visit her website, check out what there is to see.
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
Website
Fade From Blue #7
The thrill seems to be gone for me. Maybe it’s just that I wasn’t in the mood to read this, but I read it twice to make sure, and it just didn’t do much for me. Nothing much of note happened this issue, and Christa, for whatever reason, is starting to get on my nerves. Love the little advice columns that “Christa” writes in the back of the books though, so figure that out. In this issue Christa bitches about her life, Iya decides that she misses life as a doormat, Marit trains for The Big Moment, and Elisa is just kind of there. I know I’m being too hard on this, but I haven’t read any other issues of this for months and one issue doesn’t seem to hold up well. This’ll probably look stupid when the trade comes out and I give it a glowing review, but I have to work with what’s here. It’s still only $1.50 though, and at that price I don’t mind a so-so issue or two. Contact info is in the heavens!
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
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Fade From Blue #6
Was that me complaining about this story not developing quickly enough. Boy, is my face red. What you have in this issue is a whole bunch of things happening at once, some of which are still barely explained at all. The only problem with this issue is that it had too MUCH story at once and it took away from some of the wonderful dialogue we’ve been treated to in the first 5 issues. Looks like there’s no way I’m going to be happy with this series, huh? No, it’s just another example of how wishy-washy I am. I try to find something remotely negative to say about these guys because I feel like I’m being overly nice about them, then find something so minor that it later turns out that I didn’t care about it at all. Welcome to the world of my reviewing logic! Anyway, this is going to be a hit in a few years (assuming there are still comics in a few years), so check it out now while all the back issues are still cover price. Contact info is up there, of course…
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
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Fade From Blue #5
Maybe it’s a bit self-indulgent to review the next issue so soon after I reviewed the rest of the series, but I finally found this and was dying to read it, so self-indulgence wins again! My complaint about the story developing slowly was reinforced in this issue, but I’m starting to think that that’s not a bad thing. The art is gorgeous, the writing just feels real and it’s a witty, funny book. As long as they keep putting out an issue every three months or so they could keep dragging the story along until issue #100 or so and I’d still be along for the ride. The issue deals with the continuing problems of basically all of the women. Iya is practically suicidal, Marit is fighting the legal system and Christa has, uh, STD issues to deal with. If and when a big book of this is published, buy it and be amazed. If it’s not, seek out the back issues, as they’re all in print and all cheap at $1.50. Contact info is above, seek them out!
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
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Fade From Blue #4
What a great series! Sorry, that probably ruins the suspense of whether or not I liked the book. It's the story of 4 half-sisters, joined together when their 4 mothers all die under mysterious circumstances. I wouldn't even know this if I didn't read the synopsis at the start of the book, as it hasn't been mentioned much at all in the series yet. That's my only complaint about the book, coincidentally enough. I'm all for letting a story build up momentum slowly, but I read the first four issues all at once and it seemed like there's still a LONG way to go until a lot of major things are addressed. Hey, as long as they keep a consistent schedule (and it's looking bi-monthly to me right now), I'll have the patience to trust in their master plan. And did I mention how cheap these are? How many comics do you see with a color cover for $1.50? I'm not sure where a good starting point is... you might be better off waiting for the first collection to come out, whenever that is, and then pick up the issues from there. But what you have here are four distinctly different, vibrant personalities all trying to do their own thing, and the book is enthralling because of it. Check out the website, it's well worth the effort to spend a few books and get caught up with what's going on here.
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
Website
Catching the Moon
Say whatever you want about the price of these minis, but you’d be hard pressed to find more gorgeous books than this guy puts out. This one is about two people on a date, talking about catching the moon. Did I mention that this is a wordless mini? Well, it is. Anyway, they go over how they could possibly catch it, and have a whimsical imaginary journey before they realize… well, that would be telling. This is full color all the way though and is listed as $5 on his website, but it could be that I have an older copy of this, as he’s said that he redid it. Like my review for his other book, these are expensive books, but it’s obvious that a lot of love went into both of these.
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
Website
Why I Like Bugs
In a perfect world this would be passed out to grade schoolers. It’s a great, cute little book about bugs, just like it says, with a beautiful painted cover. The painted cover is, paradoxically, about the only reason not to get this book because it raises the price to $5 and it takes about a minute to read it. Still, like I said, it’s cute and quickly informative. Check out his website for ordering info and so you can read several comics that he has online. What, I have to have a long review for every comic?
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
Website
Froggy’s Problem Now Available! $.75
Depression with work and life and general seems to be the unofficial theme of the week here, or at least it is as of Tuesday. This is the story of Froggy, a depressed creature who doesn’t understand why he’s sad. He has a great life, a job he loves, and he even gets to dance, as he is a jaunty frog. So why so sad? This tiny mini mostly deals with the basics of Froggy’s day to day life, and ends up (spoiler alert!) leaving the question of his depression up the reader. I think it’s fairly obvious but, as I probably do a lot, it’s probably just projection. I should also point out that my scanner tends to make green things a little too yellow, as this one looks green to me, but not so much on the computer. Anyway, this is a solid mini, and cheap enough that it’s impossible to find anything to bitch about. $.75
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
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True Fiction #6 Now Available! $3
Comic strips! That idea can either terrify me or elate me, depending on who’s involved with it. Some of them are formulaic wastes of time (like everything in the paper except Boondocks, at least around here), and some of them at least try to expand the artform, challenging the readers here and there. Luckily this falls into the latter category. And the thing about strips like this is that sometimes the artist will try too hard, leaving a jumbled strip or two as a result, but as long as they keep pushing the boundaries and trying to come up with new things, it’s worth the trip for me. This is a book of strips of varying shapes and sizes, and I came out of it generally liking the whole thing. Individual strips might not have done it for me (like the silly Green Arrow strip), but overall this is worth a look. Topics include Hector on the Farm (which has more silly genital jokes on one page than I had previously thought possible, when I thought of it at all), backwards aliens, sneezing, dreaming, nudity, a butt on the loose, a devil dog, heaven and hell, an ethnically diverse buffet, quadriplegics, dumb food jokes, and the future. $3
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
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True Fiction #5 Now Available! $3
This was part of a neat idea for a 24 hour comic: 11 people got together in a comic store, sat down and started at the same time to finish 24 hour comics. Two of the people didn’t finish, everybody else came out of it with a comic. Tom’s was the story of a model for an art class, trying to remember poems that she needed to know for her poetry final the next day. Most of the book is just poems and her body floating around or going over the things that she’s thinking about, with brief bits of reality thrown in. It’s a bit too self-referential for my tastes, because if you know that he’s doing a 24 hour book he does all kinds of little inside jokes about it, but it’s not a bad little story overall. And he mentions in the afterward that the art gets stronger as he goes because he felt really rushed at the beginning, and it’s obvious in the final product. Not the best of his books and not the best of the 24 hour books that I’ve seen, but it’s far from awful and has a naked woman wandering around for most of the issue, so I suppose you could do a lot worse. $3, contact info is up there…
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
Website
True Fiction #3 Now Available! $1.50
Now this is what a tiny mini comic should be. You can quibble over the content, sure, but what you have here is a comic that’s full of a wide variety of stories that’s heavy on text, which, for me at least, is usually a sign of more bang for your buck. In here you have the life of a tiny mouse, a fable about a trusting cow, a trip to the moon, shape shifting around a naked woman, neglect beyond the grave, misery and dogshit. Yeah, that mostly sums it up. Tom was kind enough to send me a bunch of comics, so there will be a lot more of his books up here in the coming weeks, and so far that looks like a really good thing to me. Here’s an e-mail address just in case the one up there isn’t working, and at $1.50 this is well worth a look.
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
Website
True Fiction #2 Now Available! $1.50
With something this short you have time for a visceral reaction and that’s pretty much it, and I liked this one a lot. It’s the tale of a princess who’s shipwrecked on an island with a man who she completely ignores. Funny stuff, if a bit pricey at $2 (hey, it’s tiny), and definitely worth checking out. I just found the Squid Works website, and there are all kinds of comics there. Looks like Tom has done all kinds of comics, so I should be able to tell you a lot more about the guy if I ever get any money that doesn’t go right to rent or food again any time soon. I didn’t see this on the Squid Works page, but e-mail the guy and the see if he has any laying around.
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
Website
True Fiction #1 Now Available! $1.00
Here’s an interesting early effort from Tom. This is all about a guy who, while sitting at a coffee shop, has his nose fall off. He soon discovers that his nose is actively trying to escape, then also finds out that similar things are happening to other people around him. That’s all I’m giving away because it’s only 6 pages long, but it’s a neat little story. Too expensive for how small it is, sure, but that happens. If you like his stuff and already have some of the other issues this is worth a look, otherwise I’d say to start with one of the meatier issues (#3 is my personal favorite) and work your way back if you’re so inclined. $1.50, contact info is down there…
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
Website
Neptoons Now Available! $2
This book is one short barely contained doodle. Granted, it’s called a doodle comic right there on the cover, so it shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone. This is about a… creature of some kind telling a story to other creatures, all silent but with word balloons filled with images. The man in the story sees a shining object on top of a hill and seeks to attain it, which would have disastrous consequences. It’s a nice little story, but the highlight here is how busy the art is. The center spread, where the man in the story first sees a throng of creatures, all talking amongst themselves, has to be seen to be believed. I’m still not sure what the vast majority of them are talking about, as a lot of the images in the word balloons flew right over my head, but the images alone are worth the price of admission. If you’re picked up any of the other damned near countless minis Tom has put out over the year, this is an excellent companion piece, as you’re rarely going to see such unbridled creativity from anybody as you see from him here.
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
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Let Me Out Of Here Now Available! $1.00
A lunatic singing a song about wanting to get out of the nuthouse. With a good part of the rest of the inmates eventually forming his backing choir. What more can you ask from a mini? There’s also the remarkable fact that this was made in 1987, at which time I believe the most interesting thing I was reading in terms of comics was Secret Wars II. There, that should establish some street cred. As for the comic, there’s not a whole lot to say. Tom draws an excellent crazy person, he manages to throw in enough disturbing visuals to keep essentially an illustrated poem interesting and funny, and it’s cheap as could be. Worth a look, like the vast majority of the rest of the stuff on this page.
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
Website
The Drawing Stick Now Available! $1.00
Hey, they were making silent mini comics way back in 1985! Kids, if you weren’t born yet, ask your parents. This shows pretty clearly that Tom has been putting out quality books for over 20 years, although the poor guy probably had to take a few breaks in there to pay the bills and such. This is the silent story of a young man, a drawing stick and a cast of characters that all try to cheer up a sad young woman. This drawing stick can make anything, at least briefly, and yet nothing seems to be working. More than that and the whole thing is ruined, as this is a tiny thing, but it’s cute with a great punchline, and what more can you ask for out of comics?
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
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Damn Weird #23 Now Available! $.75
Is it cheating for the purposes of a review to just say that the title is accurate and leave it at that? Probably so. The setup for this is that we should throw off the shackles of linear time and space and take a trip to the state of grace. There, I’ve “spoiled” about a third of this tiny thing. This folds into a giant four page spread where the artist takes you to the places he’s just promised with a seemingly random series of images and dialogue, although it’s possible that I’m just not enlightened enough to get it. There’s plenty of well, weird stuff in here though, if that’s what you’re going for, which is probably the case if you’ve seen the title and the sample images.
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Posted by Kevin
April 24, 2010
Website
Comic Book Artists I Have Seen Now Available! $.50
This is exactly what it looks like from the sample: a collection of sketches of comic book artists alongside their characters. Unfortunately, as I pick samples for stuff in the store before I read them (usually, anyway), I missed the highlight: the back cover. On this page Tom details how to draw a comic book artist and, as I don’t want to ruin the whole thing considering this is a tiny thing, I’ll just say that you always start by drawing a shmoo. And if you don’t know what that is, I have all the faith in the world in your googling abilities. It’s a shortie but cheap, worth a look if you enjoy making fun of comic book artists, and really, who doesn’t?
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Posted by Kevin
