Monthly Archives: January 2012
Update for 1/11/12
New review today for SF Supplementary File #2A by Ryan Cecil Smith. Sorry about the missed day yesterday, I was mostly out of town.
Smith, Ryan Cecil – SF Supplementary File #2A
Supplementary File #2A
American readers take note: this comic is meant to be read manga-style, meaning back to front and right to left instead of the other way around. Granted, the fact that the cover is on the back of the book (as they are usually arranged) should be a pretty big clue, but I just wanted to make that perfectly clear. Another big clue is the fact that this is a redrawn version of a Matsumoto Lieji comic called Queen Emeraldas from 1979. So really, you no longer have any excuses if you read this thing backwards. Anyway, this is the first of three parts of the adaptation, with Ryan releasing one part each month for three months (an impressive achievement in today’s small press comics world). This one starts off with our hero running into somebody who apparently just landed called “Boundless Ocean Boy.” They’re also searching for Deathskull, who apparently got away after being wounded. They chat for a bit and then leave the planet, but after they go our hero blows the entire place up. And this is one of the things I’ve always loved about manga: the willingness to let the stories breathe. We’re treated to several pages of the planet starting to blow up, first with smaller explosions and finally with an explosion big enough to turn it into rubble. With most American comics you’d see the planet explode, either in one panel or one page, before moving on to the rest of the action. In this comic you’re given plenty of time to absorb the fact that you’re watching a frickin’ planet explode and maybe you should take a moment to appreciate that fact. It’s an intriguing set-up for a three part comic, with my only complaint being the lost word bubble on the third page. Maybe it was supposed to fly off the page? Either way it doesn’t do much damage to the rest of the book. Oh, and this book will also make perfect sense to you even if you’ve never read any of Ryan’s other comics, so don’t worry about getting bogged down in the continuity. $4
Update for 1/9/12
New review today for The Offering by Anna Bongiovanni. Hey, there’s another Kickstarter fundraiser that you should be looking into: Marcos Perez is trying to raise $1,000 to put out a collected edition of Carl’s Large Story. The donations have already doubled since I first looked at it a few hours ago, so I like his chances of making his money, but if you have the means (and would like some of the swag that he’s offering to people who donate) then send the man some cash. This world would be a vastly poorer place if a collected edition of all of his Carl stories wasn’t allowed to exist.
Bongiovanni, Anna – The Offering
The Offering
I was wondering what had been going on with the folks from the Good Minnesotan anthologies. I first noticed Anna’s work in the pile of other comics that comprised Good Minnesotan #4 (hey, whatever happened with that Kickstarter fundraiser? Is there a collected edition in the works?) and have been curious to see further work from pretty much everybody involved. This comic tells the story of two young sisters who go off into the woods to meet some witches. The older sister is going because she wants to help the witches, while the younger sister is reluctantly being dragged along for the ride. The older sister decides that she wants to be an active participant in the witchcraft that’s going on and ends up being sacrificed to bring a monster baby either to life or back to life. This freaks the younger sister out more than a little bit, obviously, so she runs away from the witches and comes across another, unrelated witch in the woods. From here she learns a possible method for bringing her older sister back to life before confronting the original witches again. It’s a thoroughly engaging story and that ending is pretty much guaranteed to creep you out. Solid art, enthralling story, there’s not much more to ask for from a comic. My only problem was a technical one, as she didn’t list any contact information inside the actual comic. Luckily she doesn’t have the most common of names and her information is easily found with a Google search (and she included a business card with the comic), but it’s always a good idea to put at least an e-mail address inside your comics, as you never know who’s going to end up reading it. But the actual comic part of it? Yeah, I liked that a lot. No price listed (which is impossible to get annoyed about, as very few people bother with a printed price), so I’m guessing $4 for no good reason.
Spina, Sam – Fight
Fight
Sometimes my rule about never listing any spoilers really hinders some of the points I should be making. This comic was damned near a masterpiece before it reached that ending, which kicked it up a few notches. Mega-masterpiece? Masterpieceapocalypse? Make up your own awesome word, it won’t be as great as this ending. Still, I’m getting ahead of myself. Fight is the story of a professional wrestler/monster named Fight. He’s having a good run as champion until a female version of himself called Super Fight comes onto the scene. He falls instantly in love and she takes advantage of his distraction to beat him and win his title. It turns out that Fight managed to get Super Fight pregnant during their kiss (hey, they’re monsters, who’s to say how they reproduce?) and she has a baby called Fight 64. This thing seems to exist purely to cause mayhem in various situations (I would direct your attention in particular to the chapter dealing with the pathetic creature known as the Boobstadon). Meanwhile Fight is down on his luck after losing his title, attempting to get a series of humiliating jobs, and Super Fight seems to be trying to drink herself to death. All three of these characters stay away from each other until right near the end and, as I’ve mentioned, what an ending it is. The book is a damned epic, and this in a book that I assumed would be merely funny with a bit of a punch-’em-up thrown in, which is what I get for assuming. This book won a Xeric award, and this world would be a poorer place if the money didn’t exist to put this book out, which maintains their damned near perfect grant record. I guess you might hate this if you’re looking for a heartfelt tale of introspection and loss, but if that was the case you probably wouldn’t be picking up a book called “Fight” anyway. Read it, love it, and recommend it to your friends. Yes, even the ones who don’t like comics. If they like funny things done well then you just might manage to convert them to comics. $5
Update for 1/4/12
New review for Brown Vs. Brown by Bryan G. Brown, also involving Box Brown, but only his likeness. Otherwise the title wouldn’t make any sense!
Brown, Bryan G. – Brown Vs. Brown
Brown Vs. Brown
My sozzled brain is still recovering from all the cold medicine and nasty side effects of this cold, so I’m sticking with small comics like this for the time being that have simple concepts. This one, for example, deals with Bryan’s rage at being confused with Box Brown (who makes the delightful Everything Dies series, among other comics). The rage builds for a bit before Bryan snaps and has to attack Box, but Box has a secret weapon up his sleeve (that I couldn’t help but spoil in the sample, for which I apologize, but how could I pass up that image?). It’s funny and you might end up being surprised by the winner of the fight, so what more could you ask for? It’s also a short 8 pages, so you might want to go for one of Bryan’s other comics if you really want to see him flex his artistic muscles. Or you could apparently just buy some of Box Brown’s comics instead just to piss him off…
Update for 1/3/12
New review for Lobotomy by Sara Lindo. Place your bets now on the first time this year that I’ll slip up and call it 2011!
Lindo, Sara – Lobotomy
Lobotomy
There are times when a silent comic needs a few words of explanation, and this is one of those times. Or it’s possible that all the cold medicine that is still coursing through my system (along with the actual cold itself) is making me stupid and I’m just not getting parts of this. Actually, I’d bet on the latter explanation. This is the story of a smaller chunk of a larger brain that has taken over the whole brain and, well, lobotomized it. Sort of, anyway, as the larger part is still capable of independent thought. Why don’t I just flip through this again in the hopes of making this review at least slightly coherent? Small brain chunk wakes up and goes about its daily business. Then it wanders over to the larger brain and hooks it up to something that is clearly hurting it. The small chunk then rides the large chunk throughout the day like a steed, while the large chunk is clearly miserable the whole time. Once the small chunk goes to sleep the larger chunk takes off for its own adventures, and I’ll just tell you the whole comic if I’m not careful. Maybe my confusion is due to the fact that a lobotomy is permanent and I’m taking the title too literally. It’s a fun little story regardless, although the ending was a little confusing to me, but again, that’s probably the cold medicine talking. $2
