Monthly Archives: August 2011
Update for 8/9/11
New review for Extreme Lost Kisses #1 by Brian John Mitchell and Nick Marino. Yes, it’s exactly like a regular “Lost Kisses” but with guns. Exactly! As for that Burning Building Comix fundraiser that everybody here knows all about, did I mention that you can get a copy of the collected edition for a donation of $20? Because I have to imagine that the book will cost at least that much, and getting it for $20 would be a steal. Of course, donating more money gets you more goodies, but I’ll get into those later in the week. In the meantime, give the man some money!
Mitchell, Brian John & Marino, Nick – Extreme Lost Kisses #1
Extreme Lost Kisses #1
It makes perfect sense. After all this time with various Lost Kisses that were mostly personal stories or quiet, contemplative pieces, the comics world was needing a good old fashioned shoot ’em up. The story behind this is that the nameless badass gets surrounded by baddies, takes them all out and eventually looks for and finds a stolen nuclear device. I loved the fact that the internal monologue never stopped, not even when the leader of the baddies was maybe making a few relevant points to the situation. I don’t see any way that this crew (or any crew) could keep this concept interesting or entertaining for more than a few issues, but Brian has proven me wrong on such things before. If you like stick figure mayhem, well, look no further. As for me, I’m looking forward to seeing how this one fits in to the eventual, inevitable crossover involving the storylines from all of these comics colliding. Oh, don’t tell me you never thought about it… $1
Update for 8/8/11
New review for Monty Comix #4 by Kayla Escobedo. Sorry about the accidental vacation, but these things happen. At least I wandered off when the thing at the top of the page mentioned Jeff Zwirek’s fundraiser for his collected Burning Building Comix. Last time I didn’t get into what YOU could get for donating money, but I have to point out that if a person exists out there who has $400 for this, they can get their very own sort of prologue to this story! That’s right, Jeff will produce a 19 page comic showing the story of the janitor who lives in the basement of the burning building. Ah, if only I was rich. Plenty of other goodies available for much cheaper, which I’ll get into as the deadline for this fundraiser gets closer. But for now, I stand by my story that all it will take is for everybody reading this right now to give the guy $1 then he’ll be able to pull this off. $1!
Escobedo, Kayla – Monty Comix #4
Monty Comix #4
Some comics cry out for full color versions of themselves, while it doesn’t matter in the slightest for others. I would have put Monty into the latter category, frankly, but there’s still plenty of fun to be had from experiencing this bleak, disturbing world in glorious color. This one is a bit shorter than past issues (probably has something to do with all that color), but there’s still plenty of cringe-inducing stories in here. I mean “cringe-inducing” in the best possible way, of course, as certain kinds of art are failing if they don’t induce cringing. Stories in here include a stinky dead cat in a bag (and all the reactions surrounding it), a fried opossum and a grab bag page of shorter comics, Chris Ware style. The longest story makes up most of the book, and it deals with a sleepover that young Whalegirl attended. Things are going pretty well, then the host girl turns on a porno channel. Not only that, but there’s also beastiality going on. Young Whalegirl tries to process all this but appears to fail miserably, then the sleepover gets even worse. If you’re a fan of these comics (and why wouldn’t you be?) then it’s going to be impossible to pass up a full color version. If you’re not already a fan then maybe you should get some of the cheaper black and white issues first, then you can come back for this and see why it’s essential. If nudity of all stripes is a bridge too far for you, then ok, you got me: these books aren’t for you. For everybody else, that’ll be $6 please.
Update for 8/3/11
New review for Brain Dead Phylum #2 by Kyle Nolan. I also got an e-mail from Jeff Zwirek, and he’s asking for donations to help get his collected Burning Building Comix published. It’s a bit more expensive than usual for these sorts of things, but Jeff is looking to get this produced in the way that it was intended to be read: as a literal burning building with different, interconnected things happening on every floor. I tried combining my copies but it ended up being a bit of a mess (and my cat kept jumping on the pile, making reading them like that impossible), so I would absolutely love to see this released in its intended format. If you have any spare dollars and are a fan of truly innovative comics, you should go to this site and help the guy out. Seriously, this site still gets pretty decent traffic, so if everybody reading this just gave him $1 it might push him over the hump. There’s also the fact that I’ll be pushing this until he meets his goal, so if this sort of thing annoys you then it would be in your best interest to help him reach that total early, right?
Nolan, Kyle – Brain Dead Phylum #2
Brain Dead Phylum #2
I mentioned something in my review for the first issue of this series about how the next issue could go either way. Well, the next issue is here and the way that it went is fantastic. Things start off with our heroes (two robots named Parker Lewis and Quasar) talking about “religgen” and how you don’t actually learn about the ‘bibble” by eating it, but rather that you’re supposed to pretend to read it. It’s not often that I’m 100%Â behind a comic after the first page, but Kyle managed it with that bit of dialogue. Then we get to see the people behind the religion in this strange land while our two heroes try to find their way to the city. After a slight detour they make it to town but are shocked and horrified to discover that caffeine is no longer sold. Their reaction is a thing of beauty and if I had the technology to easily change the sample image below I would do it in a second. I have to stop myself before I ruin any more of this, but I do have to say a few more things: Pabst Blue Rocket and the incredulous reaction of the religious guy when he saw that he might actually be getting his message across. If I was undecided on the last issue, I’m totally decided on this one. Visually inventive as can be (while still depicting everything as dirty, seedy and run-down), dialogue that got at least a few honest chuckles out of me, and a story that’s more than engaging enough to hold your interest. Sure, there may have been a cheap plot point or two, but who cares? Here’s hoping Kyle keeps going in this vein for a long time to come. $2
Update for 8/2/11
New review for Life is Good #5 by Steve Seck, which is a flip book so it automatically comes with #4.
Seck, Steve – Life is Good #5
Life is Good #5
Steve went and snuck in an extra comic along with #5, as this is a flip book that also contains #4. If you already bought #4, well, tough luck I guess. You could always give your original copy to somebody else who might like it to try and get Steve another regular reader, or you could just silently fume about it, but there are plenty of worse things to be mad about if that’s the way you wanted to go. Anyway, this issue, as you could probably tell from the cover, deals with Unity Flower and Dr. Peace Rock. Just the two of them, so if you’re looking for that elusive character development of the main characters, forget it. If you’re looking for development of these side characters (that may blossom into main characters, what do I know about it?) then you’re in luck! Unity Flower is, it turns out, desperately lonely. She’s been having a really rough time of it in the online dating world, so when a hippie comes into her bookstore and takes an interest in how she runs the place, she naturally becomes way too trusting way too fast. Dr. Peace Rock has his own ideas for an ideal bookstore, and they tend to equal very few people actually buying books at the store. Other than that the issue is a descent into hippie madness, as being a vegan was declared to be not pure enough and selling fiction books in her bookstore was considered to be morally indefensible. From there it’s all about Unity trying to figure out if not being alone with somebody that she was gradually starting to hate was worth the trouble. No sense in totally spoiling the ending, but Steve finally referenced back to that scene in #2 with these two stumbling across the drinking pond. The trouble is that that exact scene was a little hazy in my mind (I do read a lot of these funny books and my memory has never been the greatest), so I could have used a bit more of a refresher than an instruction to buy #2 if I was interested. It’s around here somewhere, and that’s a minor complaint anyway. There are also a few extra pages of content to make you slightly less cranky if you already bought #4, but if you decide to make this issue your life’s cause then I guess you can just wait for the hypothetical collection to come out. That’ll show him! $4
Update for 8/1/11
New review for Hot Little Cut by Carrie Q. Contrary, but watch out, it’s for adults only!
Contrary, Carrie Q. – Hot Little Cut#1
Hot Little Cut #1
OK, so maybe Carrie Q. Contrary isn’t the author’s actual name. So what? I have my doubts about Dexter Cockburn too, but I thoroughly enjoy his comics, so who cares? Besides, the modern world still hasn’t quite caught up to the fact that you can write and draw stories with sexy bits strewn about without being considered a pervert at best, so why not use a pseudonym? There are two longer stories in this one and one short piece. It starts off with the daydream of our heroine as she imagines growing to gargantuan size, shoving a writhing guy into her vagina to serve as a living dildo and an army of men who are willing to service her. Yeah, it’s also explicit as all hell, so watch out for that/enjoy, depending on your level of sexual maturity. The short piece has a nice little punchline that I’m not going to ruin, and the second longer piece deals with Carrie’s discovery of her own sexuality. It all started innocently enough, as these things generally do when kids get so little instruction about those feelings from authority figures, and progressed to her late grade school years. Which means that it remained pretty damned innocent for the duration of the book. It’s a damned solid comic, although if naked people and sex offend you then you should run for your sad, fragile innocence. Three cheers for Dexter and his Comix Company (although I could have done with a better company name) putting together generally smart and sexy adult comics, and this one creeps dangerously close to informative at times. Keep up the good work, you dirty, dirty perverts! $4
