March 14, 2013
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The Index #3: The Library
You’ve already read the first two issues of this series, right? Because otherwise I don’t see what you could get out of this one. That’s true for most series that tell a continuing story (not so much for series where each issue is a bunch of unrelated gag strips), and people should already know such facts by now, but this is America, where it’s best not to take intellectual competence for granted. Sorry, you caught me right after I learned that the ratings for this fourth season of “Community” are apparently the best ever, even though the show is a sad shadow of its former self after they fired Dan Harmon. Oh hi comic book! I didn’t see you there in the middle of this word cloud I’m spewing up. This issue deals with the fallout from the previous two issues, as Susan tries desperately to find something to replace the index cards in her life and John tries to come to terms with a new index card. From here we get a history the Library of Alexandria from way back in the day and how it really wasn’t all that great (relatively speaking) when it got burned down. I’ve mentioned how much I loved Caitlin’s art and writing before, but I should also mention her lettering. The words jumble and clash with each other, never to the point where it’s illegible, and it has a very subtle way of adding to the tension of a scene. Unless it’s just her handwriting and I’m reading too much into it, but it serves to make the whole comic more complete. If my description of the story is boring you silly then I’m doing it wrong, but give this series a shot. Your brain will thank you for it later (warning: please consult a doctor if you’re having regular conversations with your brain). $3.50
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Posted by Kevin
March 13, 2013
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Jason
Just a general service announcement for everybody out there who spends countless hours planning, drawing and distributing comics: for the love of all that is holy, use a spell checker. Or a dictionary, or that friend of yours who placed 11th in their high school spelling bee. I’ll never understand why so many people are so willing to spend so much time on art and so little time on figuring out if you’ve got “actually” spelled correctly. Also it always sucks for me to open up with a rant when I actually (see what I did there?) enjoyed the comic quite a bit. This is a week in the life of Jason, that dude from the Friday the 13th movies, and I initially thought that Bonesteel was going in the same direction as John Brodowski’s Curio Cabinet (no I’m not going to explain the reference; the collected edition of that book is available and you should all have read it by now anyway). That turned out not to be the case, as Bonesteel’s take on the character was of a guy who punches in to work each day, selects the weapon he’d like to use and goes about his way. I was hoping to get some sort of explanation of Jason’s uncanny ability to sense when teenagers were having sex, but maybe he’ll get into that in later issues. Anyway, we get to see Jason in some downtime at the office, playing a game of cards with other horror movie icons (and I will now and forever object to that guy from Scream being included in this group), discussing ways to liven up their boring routine, and eventually getting a pet (sort of). Bonesteel doesn’t mess with hands, feet or faces, which gives everything a vaguely dreamlike quality, but the dialogue is funny and that’s all that matters in this kind of story. It’s worth checking out and I’m curious to see if he keeps it up, and if he does keep it up if he can manage to keep if from getting repetitive in a hurry. He’s off to a good start, once he finds somebody to check over his spelling…
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Posted by Kevin
March 12, 2013
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Estuaries #1
Who likes their comics smudgy? OK, it’s petty and irrelevant to start a review with a comment about the fact that the black ink on the front and back covers was still, well, inky, but there you have it. It would have been much more fair to start the review by mentioning that the writing in here was absolutely fantastic, that it took me back to my own illicit wanderings through a closed mental health facility when I was a teenager, but I prefer to get my pessimism out of the way early. This one starts off with M. and friends sneaking into an old abandoned forced labor camp/retirement home for very poor people that closed in 1975. It changed a few times over the years (M. also has a nice summary of the history of the place), but the end result now is that going to it leaves you charged with the feeling that you might get caught, or that you might discover something unique. The middle of the book is all about Alice Austen, a photographer who was so broke (due to nobody buying her pictures and the fact, never mentioned out loud due to the time period, that she was a lesbian) that she had to move to the place as her retirement home, and how she was able to leave soon after once people finally started appreciating her pictures. It’s a nice reminder of how much society has changed in the last 100 years and how far we still have to go, which is clearly something that people need to be reminded of on a regular basis, as people can be awfully stupid about that sort of thing. It’s the quiet moments of this comic that really shine, such as M.’s evaluation of some of the graffiti or the haunting final image/description. It’s well worth checking out, but if your copy is of the same inky composition as mine you might want to have a napkin handy…
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Posted by Kevin
March 8, 2013
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Monkey Squad One #11
Ah, the bane of the small press comics world: the second part of a three part series. Actually, I could think of a few dozen things off the top of my head that are bane-ier than that, but it’s always a little bit of work to get caught up on something that’s only published every few months. Doug does a great job of always putting a recap in his comics, although at this point I could use a damned flow chart to keep up with the always increasing cast of characters. I mean that in only the good way, as by #11 of a series like this your cast of characters should be huge. Anyway, things were left on a cliffhanger last time around, what with two of our heroes going up against a giant ant and his tiny rider and the rest of them making their way to the land of the women from #4 (why oh why is there no collected edition of this out yet? Financial plausibility schminancial schmausibility). One of these altercations is taken care of quickly, and we learn that many years have passed in this lady land since #4 while only a few months have passed here. The rest of the issue deals with spies, boob-shaped panic rooms, explaining what exactly is going on here and the introduction of what appear to be some pretty awesome new villains. The finale to this arc should be out in April, and Doug is usually pretty good at keeping his deadlines, so I’m really looking forward to seeing how all of this stuff comes together. Here’s hoping he keeps up the good work and finds a publisher willing to put all of these issues into one big old book. $2.50
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Posted by Kevin
March 7, 2013
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History in Ruins #1
This comic is more a teaser than a regular first issue (unless you think that all first issues are teasers for series, which is a perfectly legitimate position to take). Things start off with a heavily acned kid working at a convenience store, coming to the end of his four hour day (he’s forced to leave early because otherwise he’ll go over 20 hours for the week). On the way out, grumbling about his work restrictions, he takes three things that he says will help him with his “home project.” He arrives home, seems a little too interested in the ass of his mother as she works in the garden, and heads downstairs. So yes, you will have to wait another issue to see what the story is behind those ingredients. Or the ass. The comic is certainly a lot more, well, accessible (for lack of a better word) than some past comics I’ve seen by either of these guys. We’ll see whether or not that ends up being a good thing, but it’s off to a damned intriguing start. They were also nice enough to send along the second issue, so I’ll get a better idea of what’s going on here when I review it in a week or so.
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Posted by Kevin
March 5, 2013
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Stranger Two Stranger #4
I keep thinking that Robert is going to run out of material for these comics, or at least that the whole thing is going to start to feel repetitive. Nope, that is not the case, or at least not yet (keep pessimism alive!). This issue has probably the most eclectic mix of the bunch, and I defy you not to either laugh out loud or shake your head at least a few times in rueful amazement. I don’t even want to summarize these stories, as they’re that damned good, but I will offer up tantalizing hints. There’s the poem, the picture and the lack of moral standing as to what happens with it, the end of Craigslist, advice for a new neighbor, the lady behind the plate at the baseball game, how a day can be brightened, when it’s maybe not appropriate to hit on someone in a grocery store, wordplay, the unfortunate side effect of riding a bicycle, responsibility, how did that get there, and a couple of very awkward ways to meet somebody. There, go pick up a copy of this, read it, then come back to the review and see if it makes more sense. Everybody out there has at least one story of The One Who Got Away, or The One I Didn’t Have The Guts To Talk To, or something to that effect. Compare your stories with the ones in here and you’re sure to come out feeling OK about the whole thing. $2
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Posted by Kevin
March 4, 2013
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Adult Babysitting #1
First things first: that is the perfect title for a comic about MarYanna (I’m just going by the spelling of her first name on the cover) and her adventures in bartending. She’s also making badges, and it would be lovely to see bartenders from all over the place start wearing them. Anyway! This is her first comic, which either means that she’s been working on it for ten years or she’s professionally trained, as it’s a gorgeous book in every way. There are four two page color spreads in the center of the book depicting the four seasons and the changing bar crowds that come with each, and they are a thing of beauty. The rest of the book details various conversations/interactions she’s had with drunken and not-so-drunken customers while tending bar over the years and a few drink recipes (although it’s hard to call a beer and a shot a “recipe”). There are a few of the lessons she’s learned along the way, the necessity of assigning nicknames to regulars, how drunk customers are never right, the older rocker lady and her unique bathroom habits, names she’s been called while bartending, an older infrequent customer and his amorous intentions (that’s putting it so much more nicely than just about any other way to describe that scene), a very busy night and the fantastic punchline to it, and the story of a camouflage shrubbery that arrives too late. It’s a hell of a book, and my only complaint is one of omission. She sent a nice letter along with it and she has maybe the best cursive handwriting I’ve ever seen. Granted, comic book convention says that you have to letter your books in more easily legible print, but maybe she could be a trendsetter to start to turn that around. Pick it up, give it a chance, you won’t be disappointed. Unless you’re one of those people who hates booze and everybody associated with it, in which case, other than my general bafflement at your existence, you’ll probably like this one quite a bit too, as it’s not like the drunks are usually the heroes of their stories.
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Posted by Kevin
March 1, 2013
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An Army of Lovers Will Be Beaten Volume Two
Color! If only it was possible to use it in more small press books. Bernie makes good use of it this time around, and things slip more into dreams in this second book. We get to see a lot more of Lichi (the villain of the story? I’m starting to think that nothing in here is as simple as all that), a dream conversation that Buckeley has with his dead children that will break your heart, a bar battle between Lichi and an outmatched dog (that turns into a battle between the dog and an even more outmatched dog), Buckeley’s old house and the current inhabitant, Lichi trying to prod a sentient mountain into assisting him in his vendetta against Buckeley, Lichi interacting in a dream with his younger self, the cows mourning the parts of themselves that never gets used and shines on the hills, and the return of the llama from the first issue and his desperate search for tits. I guess if you wanted to nitpick you could say that not much changed on the real world end of things, but this book was perfect in really fleshing out everybody involved in all of this. Except maybe for Skunk and Beverly, but we did get to see a bit from the early years and I’m sure there’s still plenty more to come on those two. Colors were rarely used, granted, but when they were used I couldn’t picture it being done any other way. The llama in all his battle gear glory, a quiet moment with the stars, seeing Lichi through the eyes of a family that he’s killing, everything was damned near perfect. I don’t want to jinx the guy by saying that this might end up being one of those rare comic series that we end up showing our friends to prove that it is too a real artistic medium, but it sure has that potential. It’s bizarre while making total sense and riveting even though so much is still to be uncovered. I can only hope that his financial support holds out and he’s able to finish this as he wants to, and hey, your buying copies of these two volumes sure wouldn’t hurt. $10
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Posted by Kevin
February 27, 2013
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An Army of Lovers Will Be Beaten Volume One
I reviewed the first issue of this series years ago, and Bernie was recently nice enough to send me the first two collected editions, making up the first six issues of the comic (that’s assuming he’s even putting them out in single issues any more, as he may have decided to just put out the collected editions for financial reasons). In my first review I mentioned that it’s projected to be 12 issues, which may or may not still be true, but these two books should give a solid impression of the series regardless. Right away I have to warn you: if that title strikes you as whimsical, that you might get a lot of chuckles out of a series with that title, that will not be the case. Unless you’re a remarkably morbid human being, I guess. Things start off with our hero Buckeley trying to get some distance from the war he’s fighting. The journey is told in grim but exacting detail, and we see him immediately being sickened by the town he’s arrived in. Bernie didn’t skimp on the level of detail at all here, as even the individual people in the crowd scenes are distinctly individual people (unlike lots of people who draw a few faces in the crowd and leave the rest of it an indistinct mess). Buckeley eventually makes his way to what he thinks is a peaceful place, only to discover that bombs are landing in his resting area. I don’t want to go into too much detail, as this series should be read by any person with an interest in the quiet moments of a pointless war, but from there we get to meet some of the nastier (and nicer, and sadder) inhabitants of this town, Buckeley’s wife (and what she is now doing for a living, not to mention who she’s living with), and various other residents of this town. The third issue is set entirely in a bar (outside of a few flashbacks) and it’s absolutely riveting. We get to see how this war affects people and creatures from a few different walks of life, including the reason why everybody thinks Buckeley is a war hero (and the real story behind the heroism). The details of this universe are laid out bit by bit, with plenty of things still left to be uncovered. I apparently wasn’t fully convinced just from reading the first issue of this series, but reading the first three issues in this collection washes those doubts away. The quiet, deliberate nature of the revelations draws you right in and keeps you there, and I think I’m going to break my unwritten rule about not posting reviews about the same person on consecutive days and will read and review the second book tomorrow. So for long time readers, that should give you a better indication of how much I liked the first book than anything I could say here. $10
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Posted by Kevin
February 21, 2013
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Tits! The Spiny Northern Maid
Ah, mermaids. Disney ruined how monstrous those creatures could be years ago, but Caitlin is doing her part to right that wrong. Not that’s she portraying mermaids as monstrous necessarily, but I’m getting ahead of myself. The idea behind this book is that a mermaid has been captured and has been held for the last 20 years (mermaids live for hundreds of years, so this isn’t considered to be all that long). There are five other types of mermaids, but the rest of them have been hunted to extinction over the years and most of them don’t look all that human anyway. We learn all this through a class that’s being taught by a woman, and the mermaid falls for this woman right away. While she’s dreaming about this woman later on strange things start happening outside and the playing field is leveled a bit for this captive mermaid. I can’t say much more without ruining things, but this book was nicely done all around, from the behavior of the captive mermaid to the guy feeding her calling her “tits” because yeah, it would probably be that crude. I must be getting close to reading half of this Lutefisk Sushi E collection by now, and the vast majority of them have been well worth reading.
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Posted by Kevin
February 21, 2013
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Website where you can buy Lutefisk Sushi E
In Between
OK, this is a really clever comic. It’s another one from the Lutefisk Sushi E box, and as such it’s damned short, but it didn’t need to be long to make its point. You know all of those stories involving some lone hero on a quest of some sort, how all we usually get to see is a straight line from A to B? This line can be long (like the Lord of the Rings trilogy), but it’s still going clearly from A to B. This comic takes the hero from one of those quests and shows what happens when he goes off track a little bit. He’s still completely self-assured, but his asking a question about “the one I am looking for” to a random stranger makes him seem a little crazy, as it so obviously would. There may or may not be a larger story attached to this and, oddly, for once I don’t care. This is a perfect little moment all by itself, and another fine example of the kind of comic that fits perfectly into a large grab bag of mini comics like this.
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Posted by Kevin
