April 21, 2016
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Genius Junkies
Anybody else getting a serious “Bride of Frankenstein” vibe off of that cover? No? Just me, then. It’s actually a clever use of a giant pill behind one of the geniuses mentioned in that title. This is the story of two junkies that Brian has known over the course of his life and how easily they outsmarted everybody around them. First up is the local neighborhood junkie who is always asking people if they need help with any yardwork. That’s fairly common, and Brian was convinced that the guy was casing houses to rob later. It turns out that the guy was a little smarter than that, but why spoil it for you? Pretend to have a junkie brain and try to imagine what you would actually be up to with that scheme. He also relates the story of a girl he knew in school who used to make money babysitting various kids around the neighborhood. Her scheme may have been a bit more obvious than the other junkie, but I’ll bet you can figure out that one too if you think about it. As far as I can tell neither of them ever got caught with these schemes, or if they did Brian never heard about it, hence the title of the comic. Check it you, get some tips on how to be the best junkie you can be! $1
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Reviews | Tagged: Brian John Mitchell, Genius Junkies, Nate McDonough | 
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Posted by Kevin
April 20, 2016
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Caroline’s Catalog
Have you ever had one of those days when you realize that you don’t know as much about the universe as you thought you did? Or, rather, how the important bits of the universe were discovered? This comic is all about Caroline Herschel, who worked with her brother for years in the early 1800’s to discover and catalog comets, nebulas (nebulae?) and star formations where the people involved didn’t yet know what they were looking at. Her brother was an earlier tinkerer with different types of telescopes, constantly looking for better ways to view the stars and get a closer look at things that were very far away. A lot of those old telescopes look frankly ludicrous in modern times, but really it’s more the outside covering than anything else. Giant telescopes are still alive and well today, after all. Anyway, Caroline ends up helping her brother quite a bit, with their research almost becoming interchangeable over the years, and this book details the ways in which she was and was not recognized for her work. Frankly, I was expecting her plight to be worse, as it’s not like the early 1800’s were a particularly enlightened time in regards to women being recognized for their scientific achievements. She did get some slight recognition (nowhere close to the amount that her brother got, but there didn’t seem to be a systemic effort to take her achievements away) and had a comfortable life with the money she made doing this work. Oh, and her brother discovered Uranus. Maybe I should have led with that. This is a fascinating story to anybody who’s interested in the stars and how humans got really good at cataloging them and other celestial objects, told in a relatable way from the perspective of an older woman (she’s depicted as 82 here) who has had time to contemplate her life and work. Which isn’t a shock, as E.J. has been doing great work for years now, but it’s very much worth checking out. $3
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Caroline's Catalog, E.J. Barnes | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 20, 2016
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Middle-Aged Monster
Credit where credit it due: I did not see that final page coming. Granted, with a title like that I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, but way to find a solid cliffhanger for what could have been a fairly standard giant monster comic. This one starts off with an unhappy monster couple, living together under the sea and bickering like an old married couple. Because, apparently, they are an old married couple, although I’m not sure who or what could have officiated over such a ceremony. That’s clearly digging too deep into things, but the monsters get into a bit of an argument (the monster on the cover would prefer to eat more humans, his wife would prefer to keep to his fish diet because it’s healthier), the angry monster storms off into Manhattan in a huff and runs into Kongo (based on King Kong, obviously) and they reminisce about the good old days while destroying large chunks of the town. They also run into one more monster who is strangely reluctant to get into a conversation with them, so naturally that comes back around eventually. Steve is able to put these comics at a ridiculous pace, and they’re always at least amusing, while I’d go so far as to call this one a blast. Is there a pun in there? No, I think I’m in the clear. Anyway, another solid addition to his growing library of comics, so check it out if you’ve ever wondered what giant monsters get up to once their glory days are behind them.
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Posted by Kevin
April 12, 2016
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Eyez
How soon exactly will it be until our every waking moment is under surveillance? Hell, why not our every sleeping moment too? Or is it already happening and we just don’t know it yet? If you relate to that sort of paranoid (but all too realistic mindset), do I have a comic for you! This is the story of a human who is just trying to sunbathe naked on their roof. As they’re relaxing they notice the whir of a drone and retreat back into their apartment, but even there the drone can peek in through the windows. Once this person is secure they transform back into their real self… but surveillance can come from unlikely places, and it’s difficult to be sure if you’re ever really alone. This is a wordless book that is creepy as can be, especially if you’d prefer not to be watched all the time and feel increasingly helpless about stopping it. For example, do you have a camera on your laptop? Do you know that creeps can tap into that even when it’s not powered on? Or maybe I watch too many spy shows and am getting my information wrong, but you don’t really know, do you? Damn it, like I needed to be more paranoid. Thanks, Eyez! Seriously though, give this a look. The art and coloring are both gorgeous, and you’re pretty much guaranteed to be creeped out. $6
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Aisha Franz, Eyez, Mini Kus | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
March 31, 2016
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Unwell
If there’s a better use for dogshit, I’ve certainly never seen it. Getting ahead of myself a bit with this review, but that’s definitely the standout image of this mini comic. This is the story of a young woman going about an average (probably) day in her life. It’s wordless and starts off with this woman waking up to what appears to be a strange man. She does everything possible to avoid waking him up, anyway, which certainly implies “stranger” to me. From there we see her triumphant escape and her journey home to a waiting dog that is clearly overjoyed to see her, as is the custom of dogs with all returning owners, no matter how long they’ve been away. The rest of her day consists of her taking a shower, going through a bunch of outfits before finally picking one out, taking her dog on a walk (this is where the dog shit bit comes in, but I’m not going to spoil the context) and finally stopping to get some liquor. The art is gorgeous throughout and Tara really nails the most important aspect of a silent comic: emotive facial expressions. This is fantastic tale of a day in the life, warts and all.
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Posted by Kevin
March 9, 2016
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Future Shock #0
Before I get into any of the content, I just want to point out that this is one of the most beautifully colored books that I’ve ever seen. Granted, a lot of small press anthologies are in black and white, but every story in this collection is colored beautifully, up to and including the collages by Josh Burggraf. So hey, what about the content? This is a collection of science fiction stories on a variety of different themes. Some (but by no means all) of my favorites included Vincent Giard’s tale on perspective in movement and meaning, Jason Murphy’s conceptual struggle, Lala Albert’s piece on mutations caused by a certain type of water and what people do with said mutations, a lengthy wordless piece by Alex Degen about virtual reality and the consequences of dreaming, William Cardini’s depiction of the death of a planet and the aftermath, Pat Aulisio playing around in a post-apocalyptic wasteland with mad dogs and killer lizards, Aleks Sennwald and Pete Toms showing the lingering effect of ads on the environment (even long after humanity is gone), and Anuj Shreshta’s story on the increasing ease of blocking out all bad thoughts and opinions and the consequences of those actions. Aside from being just damned pretty, this is also one of the more thoughtful science fiction comics I’ve read in ages. The last two stories I mentioned alone had several comments and images in each of them that made me stop and think or examine an assumption I’d had from a different angle, which is always welcome. No anthology is ever going to be perfect for everybody, but if you can’t find several stories in here to love then maybe the fault is on your end. $18
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Aleks Sennwald, Alex Degen, Anuj Shreshta, Ben Urkowitz, Future Shock, Jason Murphy, Jordan Speer, Josh Burggraf, Keren Katz, Lala Albert, Marine Blandin, Pat Aulisio, Pete Toms, Sophia Foster-Dimino, Sungyoon Choi, Tory Sica, Victor Kerlow, Vincent Giard, William Cardini | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
March 7, 2016
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Run Boys Run
Quick, judge a book by its cover. Put together what you think this book is about in your head based on that cover before I say anything about it. Ready? This is a comic about three friends who run to and from school every day. One is a cyborg of some indeterminate origin, one is the displaced prince of a strange realm who can also transform into a giant wolf, and one is the magical descendant of a powerful witch who is also bad at running. Right around what you had in your head, right? Michiru does a fantastic job of setting these characters up right away, then delves more into their origins and how they met with shorter stories later in the comic. To start things off we get the explanation of why these kids never ride the bus (although their classmates remain in the dark): because they’re hunting shadow monsters. That the wolf prince can detect by smell, so he’s the one leading them around. That’s the only area where I wish I had gotten more information out of this comic, as I don’t get the motivation for the monsters or what their overall deal is. Then again, it’s perfectly acceptable for the motivation of a monster to be “being a monster,” so maybe I’m overthinking things here. A confrontation is had with this monster, battle ensues, and we get to see how all three of them handle themselves in a crisis situation. And like I said at the top, there’s a lot more to this comic than one measly monster fight, as we even get detailed bios for some of the side characters, which implies to me that there’s more coming with this crew/artist. Here’s hoping, as that was an intriguing first issue and I’d like to see more. If this is all there is ever, well, it is self-contained, so no worries about a lingering cliffhanger or anything like that. $5
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Michiru Morikawa, Run Boys Run | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
February 29, 2016
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Mixmen Hyperworld #1
I should make one thing clear early on in this review: this comic series is more or less intended to be an origin story of sorts for characters and settings that are going to be used in a tabletop game that the creators of this comic is putting together. I’m still going to judge the comic on its merits, but it should be noted that the people responsible for this have big plans and show every sign of having their act together enough to make this happen. That being said, this is a #1 of a series and there’s still no #2 listed on the website. Let’s just say that I’ve learned to take this sort of thing with a grain of salt over the years until I see tangible proof that things are progressing. Anyway! This is the story of a planet that was terraformed (for lack of a better word; giant aliens put this planet together seemingly from scratch) for the purpose of being used as a prison planet. There were three zones and one warden (i.e. character with super powers) was put in charge of each zone. As time went on the population exploded, necessitating several more wardens, and after many years pass the place seems to be clearly broken down into three groups: the dominant group, the “police,” and the scholars. All this information is neatly laid out before we meet the hero of the story, or at least our introduction to this world: Takota, a “recycled” former warden. We also get to see him trying to figure out his powers, which was handled about as well as I’ve seen in comics. The guy was delightfully out of his league in testing his limits and it was nice to see our hero being fallible right off the bat. Yes, I may have seen one too many “instant savior” science fiction movies over the years. I still have lots of questions after reading this, but the creators seem very aware of potential questions and sure seem like they know what they’re doing. I’m hoping for the best, as this series intrigues me, but one issue isn’t really enough to judge a series one way or the other. I think it’s worth a look, although $7.50 for a comic seems a little expensive to me. At least you can get it for $5 from a convention, so try to find them there.
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Alister Blackthorn, Bob McHenry, Mixmen Hyperworld, Molly McHenry | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
February 24, 2016
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Men’s Feelings
Ha! I just started writing the review for this issue, checked back to my website to make sure I had already reviewed the first issue (yes, I do sometimes use my own website as a resource), and realized that I had started writing the review exactly the same way that I started writing that review. I wonder how often that happens? Never mind, I don’t want to know. Anyway, this is a new comic by Ted May, which is always a good thing. All of these stories refer back to Men’s Feelings in some way or another, sometimes obliquely, sometimes straight up. Subjects include a man going on a walk with the son of the woman he’s dating and trying to win him over, what goes through your head on a flight in regards to the person sitting next to you, the efficacy of wake-up calls in hotels, a bad pick-up line, the option of going towards the light, technically following mom’s order with eggs, football, and praying. The story of the man trying to connect with the son of his girlfriend was my favorite, mostly because that’s as hilarious of an ending to that scenario as there is in the world. I also laughed several times, which is always welcome in the realm of comic books. It’s a great book, that’s what I’m saying, which you should already know if you’ve read Ted’s other comics. If you haven’t, there’s still time to rectify your terrible error in judgment! $5
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Posted by Kevin
February 23, 2016
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30 Miles of Crazy: Another Round
If there’s one rule about autobio comics, whether they’re daily strips or regular old comics, that everybody should stick to, it’s this: have something to talk about. That’s it! The “something” could be deeply personal, or absurd, or just observances of the people around you. I’m happy to report that Karl nailed that last one, as this is a collection of stories told (usually) at bars, or at least dealing with drunken people. And, if you’ve ever been to more than a few bars, you know that that is where the best stories often come from. These were originally single page strips that were published on a weekly basis on his website (and he’s still keeping up with them as of late February 2016), so there’s no greater narrative arc here, but who needs it? Some of these stories are funny, some baffling, and some are downright sad. Subjects include the various ways that people get kicked out of bars (as a recurring theme in these strips it’s hilarious), what counts as an ID, eating a sandwich that was left at a bus stop, getting lectured by a bum about forgetting the lesson of Super Size Me, drunken acrobatics, drunkenly hitting on ladies on a bus, picking the appropriate area to vomit in, finding his people at a comic convention, and the troubles with a language barrier while trying to find a little person prostitute. That covers about half the book anyway; the other half is up to you to discover. Unless you just read them all for free at his website, you cheapskate you. Overall this is a fantastic collection of stories and overheard conversations and I defy anybody not to enjoy reading this. As for me, I don’t go to bars much lately, but this comic actually has me missing them, which is no small feat. $15
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: 30 Miles of Crazy, Karl Christian Krumpholz | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
