March 11, 2015
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Killjoy #3
See, this is why all small press comics (that are part of a continuing series) should have notes on at least one of the inside covers. Right away I learned that these stories were taken from a project called Catch A Fairy, which is all stories from “formative years prior to secondary education.” So before high school? That seems to be the case for all of these stories so far. I also learned that these are stories of Robert as a child, as he called upon the memory of the girl involved in this story to fill in a lot of details. It’s called “Valentine,” so you can probably guess where it’s going, and he includes many delightfully awkward moments that brought up a wave of memories. There’s the valentine snuck into his desk, which he shoved back into said desk in a panic, and which the girl who had a crush on him had to basically drag out into the open. There was Robert’s utter cluelessness about the term “going out,” which I could relate to in far too many details, but he managed to figure it out relatively quickly. From there we see all the gory details of a boy in middle school trying to figure out the rules of dating while also being far more interested in hanging out with his boy friends than he was with anything involved with dating. He was remarkably callous and more than a little cruel to Amanda (although he was nice enough to apologize in the forward), which is exactly what most “relationships” are like at that time of life. It’s another really great issue, and I’d say that three in a row makes a pattern. These books are unlike most other “when I was a kid” stories and you should really check them out. I guess if you were the perfect kid you might not find anything to relate to, but if that’s the case then why are you reading reviews of small press comics? $5
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Posted by Kevin
March 11, 2015
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Satan Cat #1
Aw, look at the cute little cat mini comic! This is a shortie with a very simple premise: a cat thinks that it is Satan. Or maybe the cat is Satan? There’s at least a second issue of this series, so maybe we’ll find out later! Although it’s most likely just a regular cat. Anyway, this issue deals with the cat (named, according to the food bowl, Muffin) trying to order a bug around as his minion. The bug is skeptical but follows along, mostly because the cat is very much larger than the bug. This goes on for a bit, the cat convinces its owner to give it fish bits, which then annoys it because its mouth is too small to eat as many fish bits as quickly as it would like. Things are resolved (no, I won’t spoil even this), and that’s that. Like I said, this is a very short story, but it’s cute and there’s always at least a little bit of ambiguity about whether or not any one cat is actually Satan. Check it out if you like cats or Satan!
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Posted by Kevin
March 9, 2015
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Night of the Living Vidiots
Full disclosure: Andy works for Adventure Time (he was, according to Wikipedia, instrumental in their getting their only Emmy so far), which means that this book automatically just went up a few notches in my mind. And if you haven’t watched that show because you’re an adult and think that it’s only for kids, you’re wrong. Pendleton Ward, Tom Herpich and Jesse Moyhihan were all mini comics people before making that show, so their hearts clearly come from the right place. Says I, even if I am biased. Anyway, I’ll take a calm step back and evaluate this book purely on the merits. This is a collection of short stories from Andy, done between 2004 and 2013, put together with the invaluable financial assistance of Kickstarter. Stories in here include the title story (about humans who are consumed by literal televisions and end up spouting inane advertisting/self help lingo as they convert everybody they come into contact with), a wolf man and his hot rod (and the law on his tail), an anime extravaganza featuring smaller ships that form a larger robot against nature, Dr. Mario Bandini and his unintentional (and often horrific) heroism, the continuation of that wolf man story (also featuring a vampire lady and a giant squid), and the high price of winning a race to impress the ladies. That anime story was probably the best of that really solid bunch, as the idea of two giant robots playing poker with cars (with card symbols painted on the hoods) to go with the stakes of said game was a thing of beauty, and there’s no getting away from the sheer joy involved in that ending. Recurring characters play a big part of this book too, and it never hurts to break up a collection like this with short single page strips. These are mostly the Death Shirt and Frosty Beveraged Man, who is just like the Kool-Aid Man but full of beer. He gets into all sorts of ethically questionable adventures and, again, Andy really stuck the landing with that character. Oh, and there’s Mangfish, who deals with all of the problems that a man-eating monster would deal with while taking his date to the prom. It’s a really solid collection of stories, many of them are in full and glorious color, and I’m of the continuing opinion that everybody involved with Adventure Time should be as rich as humanly possible, which doesn’t leave you very many reasons not to buy this. Unless people misusing “your” sticks in your craw, that is, as he gets that wrong an alarming number of times. But he gets it consistently wrong, which is oddly comforting to me. Anyway, I highly recommend this, and don’t let my nitpicking at the end here scare you off. $20
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Posted by Kevin
March 5, 2015
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Killjoy #2
Ah, childhood. Last time around we got one long tale about camp, this time around we get several smaller tales of some of the more traumatic moments possible for a kid. Stories in here include the secret of Robert’s crush getting back to the source (I’m just assuming that the character is based on Robert because his name is “Robert,” but I have no idea if these are all things that actually happened to him. In some cases I very much hope that they’re fictional), getting in trouble for pushing down a kid that was making fun of him, the urban legend of concentrating hard enough to leave your body behind but then never managing to get back to your body, the forbidden thrill of watching something that you’re not supposed to be watching after your parents have gone to bed (and the way that the cartoon in question undercut their argument at a critical moment was priceless) and getting lost in a crowded space. That last one happened to me as a kid and let me tell you, it’s terrifying. All you can see is a tall, endless sea of people who aren’t your parents, and Robert nailed that image. Two issues in and this series is still delightful. The only way I could see anybody hating it is if they wanted to pretend that they were never a kid, but for everybody else you’re bound to find at least one story that you can relate to in a big way. $5
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Posted by Kevin
March 5, 2015
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The Littlest Pervert
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to read a children’s story based on the life of a pervert? Well, wonder no more! Maybe this isn’t technically a children’s book (no “maybe” about it, really), but that’s how this comic reads, which makes it extra creepy. As the title would suggest, this is the story of the littlest pervert. His tiny size makes him the butt of jokes amongst the other perverts, and it also makes him really stand out in police lineups, so eventually the perverts gang up on him and chase him out of town. From there our “hero” goes on a quest in the forest, and I have rarely been more tempted to spoil an ending. I’ll just say that I wasn’t sure if it was possible for an ending to be deeply creepy and somehow still a happy ending, but Desmond has managed it here. There are plenty of times when I wish a comic I was reading was a continuing series, but Desmond has put together a bundle of one shot comics that could only work in that format, and he has done it beautifully. I hate to think what would actually happen to this character after the end of this issue, but as a single issue it’s funny and unnerving, which is exactly what it should be.
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Posted by Kevin
March 3, 2015
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Harold
What an absolutely fascinating book. I don’t think this is any part of a larger universe, which is a shame, as all kinds of themes/characters in here could be expanded upon pretty easily. This is ostensibly the story of a famous man, his bodyguard and them hiding in their vehicle when the princess is getting ready to leave her hotel to avoid the swarm of paparazzi. Leading up to that we see a pack of wild dogs roaming, suggesting that civilization doesn’t stretch far in this world, and the bodyguard is wearing a square covering over his mouth… assuming that is his mouth. From there the bodyguard tries to tell the story of the princess to his client, but the client falls asleep on him before we get to see the ending. What we do see shows a pampered young lady who remained in her apartment, cut off from the world below, as society crumbled. As for the princess leaving her hotel, things are not as they seem, and a trick is pulled on the assembled paparazzi. And a secret is revealed about the nature of the bodyguards, as you may be able to guess from their picture on that cover. Antoine does a fantastic job of letting the images speak for themselves and having quiet images serve to build up the world and the status of certain objects in that world. The slow build to the apartment of the princess took many pages, but it was the perfect way to show exactly how cut off she was from any kind of reality outside of that apartment. I said earlier that this series could go on, but don’t get me wrong: this book works really well as a self-contained story. I’m left with more questions than answers, but there’s no law that says that that has to be a bad thing. $6
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Posted by Kevin
February 27, 2015
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The Escape Plan
Well, it’s official: I don’t have anything to add to this one. Granted, I have blustered my way through a few reviews in my day with nothing to really say about a comic, but I thought I’d try to be up front about that fact this time around. This comic is about… hm. See, there’s this guy… nope, for all I know it’s possible that it’s a lady. OK, there’s this character who starts off with two giant pupils in their eyeballs. After a shake of the head and a heavy blink, this character only has one giant pupil. This pupil moves from side to side as the character shakes their head and/or blinks heavily. And then… well, that’s the gist of the comic right there. I hate to do this because this is undoubtedly going to come across like me not liking the comic, which could not be further from the truth. I was absolutely riveted for the minute or so that it took me to read this (it’s wordless), and what else could you ask for out of a comic? If you’re looking for an utterly unique experience, this one certainly fits the bill. $1
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Posted by Kevin
February 25, 2015
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Killjoy #1
Who out there went to camp when they were a kid? If so, you may get some a serious blast of nostalgia from reading this. I went to a couple, but nothing that was an much fun as this one looks, and that’s even with the awkward social interactions. I’m mostly basing that on the abseiling (basically repelling yourself on a rope from a tall structure, although I think I’m thinking of a word other than “repelling.” Whatever the word is for “bounce down a wall like Batman did in the old tv show while holding a rope, which is also being held by an adult to prevent injuries”) and the construction of shelters. Anyway, that wasn’t the theme of the comic, that was just a taste of the nostalgic blast I got from it. This is about a young boy (of around 8 maybe?) being dropped off at camp and not really knowing anybody. There’s an embarrassing moment when he doesn’t know the slang being used for going to the bathroom, a moment of pure panic before he starts abseiling, being falsely accused of wrecking the structure of some other kids, and coming across the instructions for condoms in the woods. But lest you think that this was all about camp drama, I should point out that Robert was much more interested in showing the camp experience itself, and he does a fantastic job of laying that out, all the way down to the look on his face as he gets in the car to go home. His introduction was also damned entertaining, as he detailed the very few reasons why somebody would get their hands on a copy of his book, and I’m just going to flat out copy and paste his explanation for why he hasn’t been too productive with making more comics over the last five years: “…intent is frequently nullified by a toxic compound of doubt and indolence.” Yep, that nailed procrastination for sure. There are two more issues of this to review so I’m curious to see where it goes from here, but this issue was thoroughly entertaining.
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Posted by Kevin
February 18, 2015
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When We Were Kids
I wonder sometimes how many stories from artists I really like are scattered around in anthologies that are long out of print, never again to see the light of day. Granted, I’m wondering this because the three stories in this book are from the Irene series, which are all (as of now) still in print. And sure, lots of people eventually put these “lost” stories into a collection of some kind. But when I think about the mid 90’s, back when I was getting started on good comics instead of Marvel crap, all kinds of those mini comics artists would put stories into anthologies for friends, often with print run in the dozens. Anyway, tying this back into the comic, this walk down memory lane was inspired by the theme of this book. Which, as you may have guessed from that title, deals with stories (real or imagined) from childhood. Andy picks three big moments here, and they’re moments that might not seem like that big of deal while they were happening. The first story is about a young man and woman who take acid and hike up a dune. The guy has never done it before while the lady has, and the story is delightfully thin on the stereotypically “trippy” visuals that often mar stories like this. No, more often than not these kinds of experiences are all about the conversations, and the revelations that come out of them. The second story deals with two young brothers who are trying to adapt to a new stepfather, and the moment we see here is set before a snowmobile race, after all kinds of beers are drank all around. The final story is between two girls who are on different paths after graduating high school, with one of them leaving and the other sticking around. This isn’t written as an ending for the two of them, but you can see the hints of it in the pauses and quiet moments. It’s a damn fine comic book, and I’m glad that all of these stories are gathered together here, even if what I’ve seen of Irene has been pretty great too. $5
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Posted by Kevin
February 17, 2015
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Rosie and Jacinda: Demon Cloud
Can I be cranky curmudgeon reviewer guy for a minute? Why am I asking, I can’t hear anything that you’re saying. I just wanted to establish the fact that I have a complaint that isn’t entirely fair or relevant, but it bugs me nonetheless: if you’re going to have a continuing series, please either number all of them or give them all a distinct title. Preferably the numbering, as it feels like I missed an issue before this one, but either way works. Granted, at least part of this is because of the labeling system that I use here, which is not a problem that many other humans have. Now that I have that ridiculous digression out of the way, how about that comic? This time around Rosie decides to tell Jacinda her true nature, the true identity of a teacher at school is revealed, and there’s a nice swerve involving _____ at the end that I did not see coming. Oh, and there’s a demon on the loose, and he’s hunting for someone. All this and the usual high school drama, where the leader of the cool girls clique finds somebody “worthy” to be with her, and where Rosie’s story is overheard, which leads to all sorts of issues for her at school. This time around the art chores have been divided among a few new people, and it’s a testament of the skills of the whole bunch of them that nothing jarred me out of the story. Richy is building a world bit by bit and I’m intrigued to see where he goes from here. He certainly set it up so that it can go in a number of ways, and this issue went a long way to fleshing out the characters of just about everybody. Well, except for maybe the potential love interest of Jacinda, who got short shrift this time around, but he wasn’t a relevant part of the story for this issue. The next issue might be an entirely different story. It’s a really solid issue and well worth checking out, unless you hate all stories involving high schools. Even if that’s the case there’s something to love in here for damned near everyone. Once again I’m going to guess on the price and, inflation being what it is, this time I’m guessing $8 (it is quite a large comic).
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Posted by Kevin
February 10, 2015
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Scumbag
Now that was one viscerally creepy comic. It takes a lot to get my skin to crawl after being desensitized over the years by horror movies and video games. but this thing grossed me out. I mean that in the best possible sense, of course. So! This one is all about a Scumbag who was born to two other Scumbags, but they didn’t want him so they left him in a dumpster. You can’t see the entire glorious picture from that cover, but this creature was also born wearing tighty whitey underwear. Anyway, he was taken in by “a pack of wild uncles,” and we’re treated to one of said uncles nursing the Scumbag. They all lived a happy life together until one day our hero felt a sharp pain in his stomach and was astonished to see a tiny Scumbag pop out of his stomach, fully formed. This then started happening every day, and the rest of the comic deals with his attempts to keep his offspring alive against a variety of enemies/nature. And then there’s the babysitter that will haunt your soul. It’s a thoroughly entertaining story, and a good peek into where Scumbags might come from. It does make a certain kind of sense that they would enter this world fully formed, that’s for sure…
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Posted by Kevin
