Monthly Archives: September 2010
Update for 9/3/10
King Cat Friday! Ah, if only a King Cat came out every Friday so I could make this a weekly thing. New review for #71 by John P.!
Porcellino, John – King Cat #71
King Cat #71
I’ve long resisted implementing any kind of a grading scale for reviews. No “8 out of 10” for anything, no “5 stars!”, none of that crap. It’s not because what I have to say in the body of a review is all that important, it’s mostly just because such a simplistic way of doing things really belittles something that took an artist weeks, months or even years to accomplish. That and it often makes little sense; I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read a review on CHUD.com tearing a movie to pieces, explaining in excruciating detail how every little thing about the film is terrible… and then they give it a “4 out of 10” grade. It’s gibberish, I tells ya! So why bring this up? Even with my feelings against such a system, I’m starting to think I could grade King Cat comics on a “wistfulness” scale. It would still be simplistic and cheap, but it might be handy for the folks out there who can’t wait for each issue. This issue is more wistful than most, as John moved to Gainesville, FL at some point during the making of the comic and has apparently ended up there without his cats, which is mildly baffling to me, but he doesn’t get into it (or I read the last story of the book and assumed that that’s still his situation, which is probably wrong). Stories in here include a pearl of wisdom from Jesus (the guy had a lot of nice things to say, too bad he’s depicted now as a dude who wants poor people to suffer), a daydream about a missed personal connection, a genuine white trash moment, another one that isn’t labeled as such, a visual aid to all the new forms of life John is seeing in Florida, a drunken lighter request, some lingering silence, and a really fantastic essay detailing Denver before everything became profoundly commercialized. Of all the comics in the world, I hope I can say “more of the same” with this one and have the reader understand what a unique and tremendous thing that is. I also love John’s willingness to just get up and go when he thinks that life is pushing him in a specific direction; if only everybody had that kind of courage. In conclusion: of course you should get it. If there was an issue that disappointed you, I’m going to resist the urge to say it was your fault and just say that this issue in particular really moved me, for whatever that is worth…$3
Update for 9/2/10
New review for Walking Man Comics #34 by Matt Levin, and I may or may not get around to making up for that missed day yesterday. What’s it to you?
Levin, Matt – Walking Man Comics #34
Walking Man Comics #34
Matt Levin has been doing comics for a very long time, or at least he has in “internet years”. I reviewed one of his books age ago (oddly, it was #38), but he just sent me a few books, so it’s clear that he is still cranking them out. My confusion last time is the same as this time: are they all done with rubber stamps? It’s an interesting idea, but I just don’t see how it holds together for at least 59 books. Well, that’s not my concern, right? Let’s talk about this one. This is a story about the belief in magic or, rather, why people believe in magic at all. He makes a few good points about it (this is basically a poem, so it meanders a bit) then circles back around to believing that there is at least one thing in humanity that is magical, but what kind of reviewer would I be if I spoiled that for you? It’s interesting how he lists the source for all his stamps at the end of the book, so if you wanted to produce one of these comics, it’s easy enough to do. Well, you do also need a bit of talent, as a simple story of hope, longing and peace isn’t that easy to pull off. He has plenty of these books available but no sort of coherent website to check them out, which is a shame. Still, samples can be found at that website I linked (which looks a bit outdated but it still works), and if this sounds like the sort of thing that would intrigue you, it’s worth a look. The last I heard these were available at 3 for $4, so that should be a wide sampling range if you are so inclined.
