Or Else #3�
| The comic’s world is a better place when Kevin Huizenga is making comics. This is something that can be said for a few people, such as (and please don’t think this is anywhere near a complete list) John Porcellino, Jim Woodring, Dan Clowes, Renee French, and Chester Brown. Some of those people are still producing on a regular basis, and some have more or less moved on, but their defining characteristic to me is that my day is vastly improved when I happen across a new book from any of them. That being said, I thought it was great news when I heard that Kevin had a regular comic with Drawn & Quarterly. To those of you who knew about him all along, this is something of a mixed blessing, as this issue of Or Else is filled mostly with material that was already released in old issues of his (is it too soon to call it “classic”?) mini comic Supermonster. He punches up the art for these stories, although it’s hard to notice without the original material close by. For everybody in the world who didn’t see Supermonster or just couldn’t get any copies of the minis before they sold out, this is a wonderful way to get some of these stories in one place. Stories in here include I Stand Up For Zen (one of my favorites, as Kevin struggles with the moral dilemma of putting in the ad copy “Fashionably Zen” to some crappy spirit beads), and Al & Gertrude (about his older neighbors slowly losing their independence). There are also plenty of shorter stories dealing with subjects from a snippet from Kafka’s diary to dealing with sales tax over the phone. Great stuff as always from Kevin, and this reminded me that it’s been far too long since I’ve read most of his stuff, a situation I plan on remedying soon… $3.50
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