Monthly Archives: March 2011
Evens, Brecht – Night Animals
I don’t think it’s ever taken me longer to read a silent comic. In case that’s not clear enough, that is high praise. It also made it difficult to pick a sample image, as a good chunk of the pages in this fantastic book are two page spreads, chock full of weird and alarming characters. There are two stories in here and each has more creatures than I could describe if I used a million words. The first is “Blind Date,” in which a man solemnly dresses in his finest bunny costume before a date. He follows a series of painted arrows to his date, traveling through a sewer, forest, underwater nightmare land, and a series of tunnels before finally making it to his goal. I particularly enjoyed that last arrow, but if I tell you what that’s all about then I’d be ruining a perfectly good punchline. The second story deals with a young girl getting her first traumatic period at school. She goes home and is lured from her bed by a creature that seems to promise only fun and good times to go with her new adulthood. Again, one of the final images is of the creatures juxtaposed with that of a perfectly ordinary search party, and once again Brecht hits exactly the right tone with their ethereal but obvious presence. Yes, it does too make sense, and if you read the book you’ll be able to see what I mean. Overall I’m left without a single complaint, which is always a welcome occurrence. The art was pitch perfect in every single panel, the sheer range of the creatures presented shows the work of a vibrantly imaginative mind, and any one of those two page spreads could be happily examined for minutes at a time and you’d still be running across little surprises that were thrown in. It’s still fairly early in the year, granted, but this is the best book I’ve seen in 2011. Granted, that’s partially because the huge Alec collection was technically released last year, but it’s still high praise that I don’t go casually tossing around. $7.95
Update for 3/4/11
New review for Bird Brain #2 by Francois Vigneault and, as the universe clearly hates me, the frame for my glasses just exploded for no good reason. It’ll be a little longer until I can get a scanner that works every day, and my plans for going to SPACE this year are looking increasingly unlikely. So if you have books that you generally hand to me in person at SPACE, you may want to think about getting a package together to mail to me instead, barring a minor miracle or the discovery of a rich relative.
Vigneault, Francois – Bird Brain #2
Bird Brain #2
If anybody out there hates birds, it’s probably best to move along to the next review. Who hates birds? Well, somebody is bound to, right? People either hate or love all sorts of things that seem to mild to me to feel strongly about either way. Anyway, this is another collection of birds Francois has observed and drawn in his travels. Birds that he has observed include herons, ospreys, tree swallows, hummingbirds, swallows, bald eagles, Candian geese, screech owls, warblers and a few more to leave you some surprises, as I have no idea what constitutes a spoiler in this sort of book. He does a masterful job of conveying the birds, but that’s no surprise because he’s also extremely gifted in drawing people. There’s also a nice introspective author’s note in the back detailing why he loves larger birds and how their sudden acts of violence remind him that our world, though appearing tame, really isn’t far from that sort of thing. In case you think that this is simply a collection of bird drawings, well, no. He makes them funny on occasion and includes his observations throughout, so if you like his other stuff there’s no reason in the world to think that you wouldn’t like this one. And who doesn’t like his other stuff? $2.50
Udpate for 3/2/11
New review for Cheetahs Never Win #1 by Steve Reeder because today is Austria Wednesday! Just today though, unless all kinds of Austrians start mailing me comics in the very near future. Oh, and the scanner worked fine today, thanks for asking, so if it can hold together for a few more weeks I should be able to replace it myself and stop bugging the lot of you about it.
Reeder, Steve – Cheetahs Never Win #1
Cheetahs Never Win #1
Ah, it’s a nice, uncomplicated series of short pieces. Mostly they’re one panel strips involving animals in some sort of humorous situation or saying something funny (or hoping to be funny; these things never land 100% of the time), with a few actual people thrown into the mix. Strips include existential dinosaurs, an excellent warning sign for elephants, looking for meaning while being attacked by a giant squid, animals discussing various states of inebriation, Does Your Cat Look Like Hitler, dodos talking about the good old days, directions on how to annoy yourself, rich assholes saying stupid thing and a self-justifying stick-up dog. There’s also a section no various lies that Steve has told throughout his life, with my personal favorite being that Steve’s Dad wrote for professional wrestling. Why the reality of his Dad actually BEING a professional wrestler wasn’t cooler I’ll never know, but it was still a good one and the illustration for it nailed it down as my favorite. So clearly if you need a linear story right this second you had best move on to something else. If you’re fine with a consistently funny series of shorter pieces, I’d say you have everything you need in this rather hefty (for a mini comic) package. $5
Update for 3/1/11
New review for Moulgar Baggg Digest #3 by Rusty Jordan/Brent Harada, and it nearly came without a sample image because my scanner died again after getting the cover scan. A few well-placed punches later and it was back in action. Stay tuned tomorrow to see whether or not the scanner works! Oh, and for a new comic of some kind if it does.
Harada, Brent/Jordan, Rusty – Moulgar Baggg Digest #3
Moulgar Baggg Digfest #3
Oh Rusty Jordan/Brent Harada, it has been far too long since I’ve made a fool of myself trying to write a coherent review for one of your comics. As for that title, well, that’s how he wrote it on the back (at least it was included somewhere on the comic) this time, so that’s how I’m going to type it. You can’t stop me! So anyway, the story in here starts off with a man throwing some bait into what appears to be an ice fishing hole although, come to think of it, there’s no fishing line. The bait sinks, and everything else is all guesswork from me. There’s an image of excessive choking violence, what appears to be Scott McCloud in a straw hat, the man peering into his fishing hole, a monstrous creature getting grabbed where its gonads should be, a death, a toilet paper turban, some drugs, and an ending that I think involved the answer to all the questions in the universe. Oh, and there was also the part in the middle that was shockingly banal to bring it all together. A more disturbing and eclectic bunch of images you’re not likely to see anywhere, and a smarter man that me could probably easily make some sense out of them. Me, I go for the pretty pictures and try not to take too much meaning out of anything. No price, but let’s say $3 and hope for the best.
