June 10, 2013
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Uncles #1
Uncles! Rarely is the word said in terror, but Desmond does his level best here to show why that should change. This one starts off with a young man and his girlfriend wandering off into the dark woods to try and find their missing dog. They stumble across a group of Uncles eating stuff out of a dumpster, which seems a bit odd out in the middle of the woods, but ignore that bit. Possibilities race through the mind of the young man, as he’s well aware of what a terror these creatures are, but he finally settles on a solution: running away. Unfortunately this plan leaves out his girlfriend, and the rest of the issue is their eventual reunion and what happens to her after the fact. I’m used to seeing Desmond’s stories crammed into smaller pages after his last book, and this time around her really lets his characters breathe and show some full page reactions. And if you thought that maybe he chose to use a simpler style of artwork on occasion because he was hiding a lack of talent, well, worry no more, as this issue looks fantastic. I have no idea where he’s going with this (who would in a series about the terrors of Uncles?) but I’m thrilled to be along for the ride, as Desmond rarely fails to get at least a few solid chuckles out of me. Check it out, be the first on your block to learn the terrors of this strange group of people. Cartoonists, that is. Or Uncles! That works too.
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Posted by Kevin
June 5, 2013
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Tall Tales for Short Kittens #2
I’m still not entirely sure how he did it, but I feel unclean after reading this. Not that there’s anything overtly gruesome or offensive about this, which is why I’m not sure how this happened. Maybe it’s the horrifying appearance of Chastity and Grace, the two sisters of evil? Chastity is basically a living beanbag with the hair of a pinhead and a gigantic bow while Grace is a… monster? Sure, let’s go with that. Anyway, this issue is another collection of thoroughly bizarre stories, although this time around some of them are going to be continued later on. Assuming that there’s a third issue, and hey, why not? Stories include the one with the three creepy sisters I mentioned before (“to be continued,” although I have no idea where it’s heading), the drunk wolf and the prank, a life lesson for a young bear (?), the nightmarish image of a female Jelli Bunni using the lower half of a human woman to rocket into space, and one page that I can’t help but use as the sample. There’s also another activity page, as Jason’s quest to warp young minds with a seemingly innocent title and promises of “fun pages” continues. This is pretty much the perfect blend of creepy and funny, although I am legally obligated to be annoyed at the (very few) spelling errors because hey, so easy to fix. Check it out! $3.50
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Posted by Kevin
June 5, 2013
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Morbid Dork #2
Who likes awkward party comics? Oh, be honest, you all do. Who hasn’t either been to an awkward party or been an awkward person at a party? Every single one of you. Probably. Eh, play along. This is the story of the three guys who were introduced in the last issue going to a party. They decide that this is the best course of action despite the fact that Alex (the “normal” one of the bunch, not the creator of the comic (unless they’re one and the same)) practically goes into a crying fit at the thought of attending a strange party, much to the consternation of his friends. I’m using far too many big words to describe this comic, as the premise is simple: two out of the three of the guys are there to get laid, while Alex is apparently just hoping to survive it. As the party goes on Coop homes in on an older lady who seems interested, Jamie finds a woman who is attracted to his fro and beard, and even Alex gets shoved into a room with a gorgeous foreign exchange student who is going to be leaving the country the next day and only regrets that she “never got to have American sex.” Who thinks that everything turns out happily ever after for these three gentlemen? That wouldn’t end up being much of a story, now would it? So obviously hijinx ensue, which I’m not going to tell you about because why ruin it. It’s funny, which is all you can ask for out of a comic like this (and by “like this” I mean “meant to be funny”), and Alex (the person) did an excellent job with this story that covered the whole comic instead of a comic of short pieces. There was one copier problem where I couldn’t see what was being said, but other than that I have no complaints. $3
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Posted by Kevin
May 30, 2013
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Madtown High #2
More high school hijinx! Actually it’s more stories from Whit’s time in high school, but if you went to high school anywhere near when she did you’ll probably find a lot to relate to. I have roughly ten years on her and we still seemed to be listening to the same music in high school, which struck me as a little odd, but that music is pretty perfect for that environment. Subjects in this one include her and some friends making a “B” horror movie in a day and the fate of that movie, going to see her first concert and trying to get onto the set of that awful MTV show where everybody stood outside the windows holding up signs (but hey, she was the perfect age to be doing that, so it’s hard to retroactively fault her), falling for boys in bands (or trying to), the panic that came after the Columbine shootings and the awkward ways that her school tried to deal with it, the local ice cream shop and the tactics of a friend who always gave the guy behind the counter shit, and Whit’s habit of picking masculine Halloween costumes until one year when she accidentally did not. I defy anybody reading this not to feel at least a bit of nostalgia for their high school years, most likely followed by the sheer relief that they’re no longer happening, although that might just be me.
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Posted by Kevin
May 29, 2013
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With Only Five Plums Book 1: The Time Before
What a haunting and riveting story this is, even though this is only the first of three books. There were all sorts of horrors going on during World War II, and this is the tale of Anna Nesporova and her life in the small Czech town of Lidice. Jonathon spends an admirable amount of time setting up Anna and her family as people, as it would have been easy to jump right into the more heartbreaking elements of the story. Actually, that’s not completely accurate, as getting to know that Anna still remembers the way her brother’s smile ticked up at one corner of his mouth more than 60 years later is pretty much the definition of heartbreaking. But we briefly see Anna grow up and get a good idea of her life in general before things start falling apart. An assassination attempt was made on an important German officer in charge of keeping the peace in Lidice and it was suspected that Anna’s brother (who had left them two years earlier in the hopes of sparing them this kind of attention) was involved. The Germans decided to make an example out of her family, but Anna managed to survive due to her pregnancy. I know that things are going to get grim but nothing is really known about what happened to her family or baby at this point, although I know enough about the history to know that it wasn’t anything good. Jonathon made the choice to let this breathe as a story told by Anna, so there are very few word balloons and a few times when he briefly pops into the story to try to get more details out of Anna or to ask her if she’d like to take a break. It’s impossible to avoid comparison to Maus when you’re talking about a comic set in World War II, and in the early stages I’d say that this has the potential to be as important as that. Who knows how people will actually receive it, but this is a story that needs to be told, especially as things get worse in Europe again. The recent anti-gay marriage marches have shown that homophobia and racism are right there under the surface, and it needs to be made clear to this generation that something like this could happen again, sadly enough. Humanity never seems to learn. On that cheery note, give this comic a shot. I think this is self-published and it deserves a wider audience. Oh, and I didn’t make it clear in the review, so I should mention that this is all based on conversations with Anna, but that some things are fictional, or events that happened at the time but not necessarily to Anna. $10
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Posted by Kevin
May 28, 2013
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Full Sanction: Threats
OK, technically I added that title to the comic, but there are a bunch of issues of this series out there and I want readers to at least have a chance to tell them apart. This comic defies review (in general but this issue in particular), as it either has a form of humor that you find funny or you don’t have a working sense of humor. Um, I meant to say that your brand of humor may be different. This issue starts off with one of our heroes steaming as our other hero says goodbye to a friend. The angry man, free to vent, spends the rest of the comic coming up with a wide variety of insults to describe just what he would do to this unseen person if given the chance while his other friend tries to talk him down and then instigates him a bit for the sheer fun of it. This thing is packed with funny threats, some of which I defy you not to steal and use in your own lives. Hell, even the list of rejected threats on the inside back cover is full of comedy gold. This is what makes it impossible to review, because if I start going through these threats then I’m taking that joy of discovery away from you. So to make this simple: do you enjoy threatening your friends with horrific, anatomically implausible statements? If so, consider this a textbook of sorts. Or if you just like funny things, this fits the bill for that too.
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Posted by Kevin
May 24, 2013
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Adult Babysitting #2
Bartenders of the world, you should probably have copies of this handy at your jobs as a way of quickly explaining to drunk customers what life is like behind the bar. Then again, most drunk people are not particularly interested in reading, so maybe that’s not a great idea. This issue continues the adventures of MarYanna in her bartending job, this time with crime! Subjects include the reaction of a woman who tasted the drink of the guy she was with after drinking her sugarbomb, two different job-related nightmares and the fact that bad dreams seem to come with the territory, one overly drunk woman who tried to get behind the bar with hilarious results, a Phil Collins jam session, various methods of delivering drinks and picking up the empty glasses, and the time that she went to a bar across the street after closing and got stuck in an armed robbery. The fact that she stopped in the middle of that chaos to pick up her drink is fantastic, as is the fact that the surveillance video clearly showed her doing it. Also included are a few color pages of various types of drunks and one tip on how to avoid citrus destroying your nails if you work with it all day. And drink recipes, including the dreaded (for bartenders) mojito! This is another pile of interesting stories about stuff that’s probably never crossed your mind, but if you go to a lot of bars it wouldn’t hurt to have some idea of what’s going through the bartender’s head. $5
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Posted by Kevin
May 23, 2013
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The Bridge
Want to know a trick that a really mean reviewer could use to bash this book? It could literally be described as a man walking across a bridge. What sounds more boring than that? The truth is that there’s a lot more going on here besides the obvious journey (which, spoiler alert, we do not see the end of, although the cover might illustrate why that is the case). This is the story of a man, or mannish creature, with the ability to manipulate his arms to various lengths, as he walks across a bridge with terrible safety standards. It’s clearly a nerve-wracking journey, and it’s never entirely clear if he has somewhere he needs to be or if he’s just out sightseeing. He goes through some extreme weather changes and eventually runs across a village of hauntingly non-specific creatures. An attempt is made to join them, but it does not go very well (which, come to think of it, also raises the possibility that this dude would very much like to get off this bridge). I don’t want to tell you the whole story, obviously, but I will say that those fish with the human faces are some of the creepiest things I’ve seen. This is a silent comic, which means that it’s open to interpretation, but it’s a fascinating journey no matter how you look at it. Aaron does a nice job of bending the laws of physics to suit his story needs, or perhaps he’s just set his story in a world where that is not a problem. It’s worth checking out for anybody who’s not much of a fan of reality, or somebody who thinks that it would be better with some minor tweaks. $4
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Posted by Kevin
May 21, 2013
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Fruits and Vegetables
Pretty much the only problem I’ve ever had with Desmond’s comics were that some of them seemed too short, which is pretty much the best “problem” you can have with a comic. Well, even that little thing has been solved with this issue, as Desmond put a dozen short stories in here and each one of them is damned funny. The creatures/food items/utensils involved in these stories usually come to bad ends, but at least it happens for the purpose of causing laughter. My only trouble is explaining these strips in a way that won’t ruin anything for the reader, so prepare to be dazzled by my lack of specificity! Stories in here include a conversation between two Tyrannosaurus Rexes (or is “Rex” still the plural?), three worms and the hygiene behind sharing their dirt, utensils with some alone time, a dog and a hamburger trapped on an island, two eggs talking about how things could have been much worse for them (this is the one that got the biggest laugh out of me), an imaginary imaginary friend, showing up too late for the comic, a cloud trying to get out of a conversation, two monsters knowing that they’re in a comic strip and that their life is as finite as the strip, mugs trying to figure out their purpose and geometric shapes and their inability to return a book in a timely fashion. At least a couple of these stories have previously been released as their own comics, but it’s hard to think of a more perfect collection of his work. Buy this immediately if you like laughing, or if you need a reminder that the original purpose of comics was to make people laugh. $5
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Posted by Kevin
May 20, 2013
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Unfortunate Mishaps in Aviation History
Well, you certainly know what to expect with a title like that. Don’t expect any happy endings here, as Emi once again tells a couple of stories about historical events that didn’t go exactly as the participants had planned. If you’ve ever stopped to think about how the parachute was developed, chances are that you can imagine that it wasn’t perfected on the first time out. The first story tells of one version of it and of the man who decided to test his own invention by jumping from the Eiffel Tower, even though he had only tested his parachute using dummies previously. The really tragic thing about this is that another inventor had successfully tested his own parachute two days before in New York. I do wonder if the doomed inventor had word of the successful test or if he thought he still had a chance to be first and that’s why he rushed it. The second story is all about an expedition to the North Pole in 1896. Emi does a fantastic job of showing the various terrible lapses in judgment that the crew committed before and during the trip, but the idea of using a hot air balloon that was able to control its progress by using a series of ropes dragging along the ground was always a little dicey, especially considering the fact that the inventor couldn’t even get it to work consistently in trials. Emi has managed to piece together a pretty detailed account of their trip, although she somehow manages to make it seem a touch less gruesome than it probably was. There’s room in the world for a big old collection of these stories, oh mighty comics publishers, once Emi gets enough of them together. In the meantime, the rest of you should probably buy these comics of hers to show her that it’s a good idea to keep making them. Not that she should give up on Spaz, but I’m always fascinated by historical tragedies that I’ve never heard of. $2
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Posted by Kevin
May 20, 2013
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Get Into Comix
Brad mentions in the letter that he sent along with his comic that this contains the whole “Get Into Comix” story, complete with earlier pieces that were first published in his regular series, but that he didn’t feel the need to mention that in the comic because those old minis are out of print anyway. So just in case you did listen to my earlier advice to read Brad’s comics back in the day, this has pieces from “Epic Tales of the Mundane” #6-9 along with a new chapter to finish things off. Just so nobody feels like they’re “cheated” by having the whole story in this damned nice package, because I know how weird some people can get about this stuff. Anyway! I’ve already talked about a good chunk of this in previous reviews, so you can read through those if the mood strikes you. This comic is really a origin story of sorts for Brad, as he talks about learning to draw from comics as a young kid and how he was constantly pushing himself to improve in the hopes of impressing his older brother. Then puberty struck, which diverted his attentions in a big way. It’s also rare that you get a chance to see the exact moment when a shy kid turns into a surly asshole, and Brad does a nice job of documenting that here. His life rolls along until he finds himself by himself at a Denny’s after yet another terrible hangover, where he sees a comics store across the street. He doesn’t have much cash and it’s been years since he’s seen any comics, so he wanders around trying to decide which issue to buy until the guy working there takes him on a little tour. He eventually shows Brad the minis, including a comic that he (the clerk) drew, which ends up being a revelation for Brad, showing him that anybody really could make comics. They don’t get enough recognition, but cheers to all the comic shop workers who have taken the time to point out the good stuff to people. It must get annoying to them, because I’m sure they get dozens of blank stares for every success story like Brad, but they’re essential to the process. This is a really solid story and it’s bound to remind people reading it of their own journeys so yes, you should really check it out. After all, if you’re reading these words there’s a damned good chance that you went through a similar journey yourself… $5
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Posted by Kevin
