May 30, 2014
Website
Towerkind #5
Another issue, another chance to get a bit more clarity on a few of the characters involved in this opus. Am I allowed to call this an opus if it’s a series of mini comics? Eh, it’s my website, I can potentially misuse words if I want. Anyway, this time around we get some solid information on a couple of the kids that have been hanging around in the background, Duk and Daniel. We see them playing jacks outside until some jerk almost runs them over as he’s leaving the parking garage (with the way this series is going, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if whoever is driving that car factors into things too). One of them gets a cut on his knee, which leads the other one also mysteriously getting a cut on his knee. The rest of the issue is spent with the two of them exploring how far this connection of theirs goes, with another decidedly odd thing ending the comic. Oh, and these two kids are not related, just in case I didn’t make that clear. Kat even explained a bit of her thinking on the inside back cover, which has been illuminating every time so far. I’m thoroughly enjoying watching her build this story up brick by brick, and it may have taken me a few issues, but these covers are really growing on me too. I initially thought that they were just piles of junk that might be found around any tenement, but there’s a lot more going on in these images. They’re also wrap-around covers, so you’re only seeing half the picture. Buy the comics and see the whole thing! Or look around more online if you want to be cheap about it, I’m sure the complete images are out there somewhere…
Comments Off on Verhoeven, Kat – Towerkind #5 | 
Reviews | Tagged: Kat Verhoeven, Towerkind | 
Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 28, 2014
Website
Darkest Night #2
For whatever it’s worth, I was completely wrong in my guess of the direction that this series was headed. Which is the best thing in the world about reading a series, frankly. This was too big of a spoiler for the last review so I didn’t reveal it (and you should know better than to read a review of a second issue if you still have interest in being surprised by the first), but Caleb’s parents died in an accident in the last issue, not long after he’s dumped by his longtime girlfriend. This issue starts off with the funeral, with his ex (Callie) making the questionable call of bringing her new boyfriend to the funeral. I get where she could use the comfort, but the day really wasn’t about her, and it causes a few problems down the line. Caleb is having some troubles getting through the eulogy, and seeing Callie there doesn’t do him any favors. From there they all move to a smaller gathering, and at this point the boyfriend tries to stay in the car but Callie needs him with her, so they go in together and the new boyfriend tries to introduce himself to Caleb. It’s awkward, as he points out, and at this point a friend of Caleb’s literally barges into the conversation to try and break things up. Since I’m still guessing what’s going to happen here, I’d have to call that guy the hero of the story so far. Caleb slowly gets back to his life, but how do you recover from a series of tragedies like that? This is all shaping up to be quite a third issue, and I’m looking forward to getting my expectations subverted yet again. Hayden has done a really excellent job of showing some of the less talked about angles of a breakup, including how it all plays out when it happens right next to a family tragedy like this. There were more than a few heartbreaking moments in here, like poor Caleb waking up and sleepily asking his mother for painkillers. Hayden was also nice enough to send along a collection of his entire Billy the Demon Slayer series, and I’m looking forward to reading that all at once to see how it all comes together. Within the next couple of months if all goes well…
Comments Off on Fryer, Hayden – Darkest Night #2 | Reviews | Tagged: Darkest Night, Hayden Fryer | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 27, 2014
Website
The Washington Tragedy #1
Just a note to clarify things before I get started: Robert has NOT given up on his “Stranger 2 Stranger” series, he’s just taking a break to work on this story. And hey, I’m all for artists trying new things, so long as my own personal preferences aren’t affected in the slightest and that they eventually go back to that thing they did that I already know that I love. Some slight exaggeration there, but I’ll bet at least a few of you agree with that completely. Anyway, this time around Robert is trying something completely different, as he tells the tale of Daniel Sickles, his wife Teresa and their life together. Daniel takes a crooked path to the top, being accused of being a shady lawyer and hanging out with prostitutes (well, one prostitute in particular, and he practically seemed monogamous with her). As is often the way, all this corruption eventually led Daniel to become a Congressman, and he moved into a house right across the street from the White House, with frequent visits from James Buchanan. Have I mentioned that this is set in the 1850’s? That’s pretty relevant information. Anyway, Daniel further scandalized this easily scandalized world by marrying a young woman of 16, with the general assumption being that she was knocked up when they got married. Teresa had the baby quickly and was often seen at social gatherings when possible, but Daniel was still perfectly happy to travel with his favorite prostitute and wasn’t particularly subtle about it. A friend of Daniel’s tragically had his wife pass away, and he gradually started spending time with Teresa (she had a lot of free time with the small children and Daniel away for work). This may have started out innocently but it did not stay that way, and rumors started swirling before eventually getting back to Daniel. I love how the cheating of the men is always just part of the deal in these old-timey stories, but if the woman is even possibly involved in anything even slightly untoward, look out. The rest of this comic details the search to determine the truth of the rumors, and Robert is going to be wrapping this story up in the next issue. He telegraphs pretty clearly where all of this is going on the first page, but I won’t ruin the surprise if you haven’t picked it up yet. I’ll withhold my judgment until this short series is done, but I thoroughly enjoyed the first issue and am looking forward to seeing what happens next. Granted, I have a pretty good idea, but that’s just a guess and I’m not going to spoil it by checking with the actual history of the event. $5
Comments Off on Hendricks, Robert – The Washington Tragedy #1 | Reviews | Tagged: Robert Hendricks, Stranger 2 Stranger, The Washington Tragedy | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 22, 2014
Website
Towerkind #4
This time around we finally start to get some hints that Tyson (the king of the tenement from past issues) may be a human being after all, although it’s still hard to shake the sense that he’s not a very good one. It turns out that he either has a girlfriend (Maha) or a girl that he is interested in, but he clearly has no sense of how to talk to her. That’s OK, as it’s also clear that she has no idea how to say no to the creep, and I can’t see this ending well. Maha is also fascinated by a couple of kids blowing bubbles beneath her window, as these bubbles contain images of life of other people in the tenement (odd but not terrifying) and a large meteor heading straight for them (terrifying). The sense of magic and/or things hiding beneath the surface is stronger than ever this time around, and I am slowly losing my struggle to keep these reviews more or less weekly and am in serious danger of just finishing the whole thing in a chunk. Hey, it’s Kat’s fault for telling such an engaging story.
Comments Off on Verhoeven, Kat – Towerkind #4 | Reviews | Tagged: Kat Verhoeven, Towerkind | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 2, 2014
Website
Beach Girls
Ah, girls going to beaches for vacation. Why are they there and what does the local population think of them? I suppose neither of those questions is a big mystery, as they’re mostly there to let loose in ways that they can’t at home, and the local population thinks of them as either easy marks or obnoxious invaders to their town. This comic digs a little deeper into both of those things, as it wouldn’t be much of a comic otherwise. We’re introduced to the three girls first: the unnamed (or I missed it?) leading lady and her two friends Ducky and Katy. Our hero would like to be like Ducky (uninhibited) and Katy (gorgeous), but she also wants to make her own way and is more than a little annoyed at the two of them in general. On the other side we meet a muscle bound oaf and his friend. The oaf is thrilled that the tourist ladies are coming to town, while his friend just wants to surf and work at his skateboard shop and is most than a little annoyed at these intruders. Along the way we see various little interactions in the town, the nightlife options, how our lady heroine decides to spend her vacation time and how it changes her (and how it doesn’t). It was, simply, a damned near perfect representation of a vacation spent in a strange town, all of the days blurring together with all of the booze and marijuana. If you’ve ever been on one of those trips (or lived in a town where those people visited), good luck reading this without getting hit with some serious nostalgia and/or general memories and regrets. There’s also a story in here by James Kochalka, and I have to admit that I’ve lost touch with his work (other than Superfuckers) after he started aiming his comics more at kids. He has a pretty funny story in this one, as two… mushroom people? Whatever they are, they follow a trail of empty beer cans until they run into a passed out lady. The elder mushroom dude leaves when she starts to wake up, but the smaller one (Dweeb) starts yelling at her that she’s a pretty princess, and in her still-drunken state she takes this as her boyfriend from the night before making up with her (it doesn’t seem like she ever opens her eyes to see this little monster). So hey, there’s two solid stories in one comic for you to enjoy, all for the reasonable price of $6. What a deal!
Comments Off on Brown, Box; Kochalka, James – Beach Girls | Reviews | Tagged: Beach Girls, Box Brown, James Kochalka | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 1, 2014
Website
Towerkind #3
More new characters are introduced this time around, and the line between reality and the perception of these characters continues to be as blurry as can be. In this issue we’re introduced to an unnamed woman who finds a dead bird outside on the apartment grounds. She strikes up a conversation with this bird, asking it how it died, and gets an uncomfortable (but plausible) answer. She also asks it if it wants a grave, and what type of grave it would like to have if it does. This leads to a conversation (with herself) where she remembers another burial and the lengths she went to to keep that creature company, but then the king of the apartment complex shows up and ruins things, as he has a tendency to do. That kid is quickly becoming one of those characters where some kind of comeuppance is going to be required to make things right. Unless the story is going in an entirely different direction, which is entirely possible, as I still have another 10 issues to read before I find out. Three issues in and I’d say that it’s safe to recommend this series, and I’m once again debating whether or not to step up the pace of these reviews so I can see what happens next. If the story keeps humming along like this I won’t be able to help myself.
Comments Off on Verhoeven, Kat – Towerkind #3 | Reviews | Tagged: Kat Verhoeven, Towerkind | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 30, 2014
Website
A Voyage to Panjikant
It’s usually a good sign when my main complaint about a comic is that it’s not long enough. This felt more like a preview to this series than the first comic of the series, but I’m not the boss of Marguerite and she can release these however she likes. This series is historical fiction based on the Sogdians of the 7th century and their travels along the Silk Road. This issue specifically deals with a merchant and three of his children (although we only see two of them). It is mostly told in the form of a flashback, as the father explains to his daughter why one of his sons is being punished with cleaning the stables when that is usually the job of the other son. It turns out that this son, despite studying Buddhism for over two months, was still unable to satisfy some Buddhist businessmen, which led to some real problems for his father. Marguerite was nice enough to include a little afterward in which she explains that there’s lots more to come and that these characters will be fleshed out more as she goes, which means that she has plans for this series. Which is a good thing, as I’m already intrigued to see more of this world and time period. This is also one of those cases where her having the ability to color the story (I’m assuming that it was her, as nobody else was credited) transforms it into something greater than your average mini comic. It still would have been an interesting story in black and white, but the colors turn it into a gorgeous work of art. Take a look at it, you won’t be sorry. Oh, and I don’t usually mention other art projects from the various comics artists I talk about, but Marguerite also makes and sells pillows based on Tang dynasty Chinese motifs, and they are ridiculously beautiful. Buy the comic, read it while reclining on one of her pillows! $5.50
Comments Off on Dabaie, Marguerite – A Voyage to Panjikant | Reviews | Tagged: A Voyage to Panjikant, Marguerite Dabaie | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 30, 2014
Website
Darkest Night #1
This series is off to a promising start, which is always a welcome sign when somebody sends along their entire series so far for me to review. Things start off with a couple breaking up, as the guy gets home from work (?) only to find a text from his girlfriend breaking up with him. I think he’s meant to be the scary creep of the pair, but breaking up with somebody via text already made me dislike the girl a bit. We see them both at school the next day (they’re in high school, when all relationships are the end of the world), and the girl seems to be taking things a lot better than the guy. Oh fine, the girl is Carlie and the guy is Caleb. Anyway, her friends seem to be thrilled at the concept of Carlie being single along with them, while Caleb is brooding and not ready to listen to his friends call Carlie trash and that he’s better off without her. Things move along from there (some timeline would have been helpful here, but I’m guessing this takes place over the course of a few weeks), with Caleb getting moodier all the time and Carlie moving on, as she even takes tentative steps to start dating again. At this point I had a suspicion that I knew where all this was heading, which makes Hayden’s next move even better, as I did not see the tragedy that does happen coming. My only complaint so far is that a little backstory would have been helpful to know why this breakup had to happen and why it was seemingly only a big deal to Caleb, but Hayden sent along two more issues that might explain that more clearly. Like I said, this is an intriguing start to the series and I’m curious to see which direction this goes from here. This is $10 Australian money, but I’m a dumb American and have no idea what that translates to over here in North America. It’s worth contacting him to find out!
Comments Off on Fryer, Hayden – Darkest Night #1 | Reviews | Tagged: Darkest Night, Hayden Fryer | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2014
Website
Towerkind #2
Two issues in and I’m already starting to think that I’m going to have to review these issues more quickly than just once a week. Or maybe just review more than one of them at a time? I’ll figure something out, but it’s clear already that things are going to happen slowly and that it would probably be a more rewarding experience if I read this series in bigger chunks. That being said, what’s going on this time around? Our hero from the last issue (the kid who was reading and wouldn’t bow to the “king”) slinks away from his confrontation in tears. He runs into a German priest (who is speaking German, so I have no idea if he tried to give advice or was just talking about the weather), then goes back up to his apartment. A tin can comes down to him as he sits on his balcony, and he starts chatting with a neighbor girl who isn’t allowed to use a cell phone. The rest of the issue is them going off on an adventure, once again raising the question of what powers the people in this complex actually have and how much of this is the illusions of kids with plenty of imagination and a lot of free time on their hands. I’m clearly enjoying this quite a bit, as it’s not like I’d be clamoring to review something more often that I was hating, but I still have no idea where it’s going. Maybe that’ll end up being a letdown, but it’s always hard to tell this early, and either way it looks like the ride is going to be a blast.
Comments Off on Verhoeven, Kat – Towerkind #2 | Reviews | Tagged: Kat Verhoeven, Towerkind | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 16, 2014
Website
Number 1
Most people probably have that moment as a kid when they learn that something that they believed to be real isn’t actually real. Mostly this is because our parents have lied to us (about Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny or “work hard your whole life and good things will happen to you”), but in the case of this comic this comes about when our hero meets a wrestler and learns about “kayfabe.” In wrestling terms, this is the acting out of the story, where the winners and losers have already been pre-determined, and pretending that this is all real life and they’re making it up as they go along. Once our hero learns of this it’s impossible for him not to apply it to the rest of the world around him. For example, when the anti-drug people came to his school and sprayed something that was supposed to smell like marijuana at them, he couldn’t help but notice that he had also smelled the same thing when he went to visit his father at work. From there the kayfabe theory spread into everything, and the only thing he had left to do was to start a magazine explaining his theories and the proper way to view the world at large. The rest of the comic deals with chasing his hero, expanding the business (by learning how to properly exploit the dopes who were willing to pay for it in the first place), and learning how wrestlers “blade” so that they can properly have a crimson mask for certain matches. It’s a damned fascinating mash-up of the hopefulness of starting a new business mixed with the bleakness of starting that business to tell everybody that the world is all bullshit, and the uncomfortable reality that a hero of his who inspired the entire thing can easily be forgotten by the world at large. There are also two one page strips at the end, showing a documentarian who goes about his daily life while not being entirely clear on how to interact with humans. The inside back cover showed that Box was working on the life story of Andre the Giant, which will be required reading for any human once it comes out. I don’t know if the full story of Andre has ever been properly told, but the idea of it coming from Box sounds just about perfect to me. As for this one, it’s well worth a look, but Box’s name alone should have been enough to clue you into that fact… $6
Comments Off on Brown, Box – Number 1 | Reviews | Tagged: Box Brown, Number 1, Retrofit Comics | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
