October 9, 2010
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Space Trucking
We don’t get to hear enough origin stories about comics. Oh, I don’t mean the crap about how Superman came to Earth or Peter Parker got bitten by a spider, that kind of thing is part of American mythology at this point. I’m talking about where small press stories come from, as much as that question can ever hope to be answered. For example, Macedonio answered a Craigslist ad for somebody who was looking for an illustrator to make a “space panda”, she liked his drawing but didn’t think it was right for the project, he got inspired and drew 80 pages with his own space panda and a friend, she threatened a lawsuit because that’s just what people do these days even if they never pay for an original idea to begin with, and Macedonio ends up with a comic series. This is the first 26 pages of that story, and it follows a pretty clear path, although it gets a little whacked out on occasion. I mean that in a good way, of course. Panda & Monium (no, I can’t tell what Monium is supposed to be either, if anything real at all) come from “an obliterated planet of miscreants and social refure”. Instantly intriguing, and it’s clear that they’re basically wandering around space aimlessly. They are discovered in hostile territory, make their way to the planet more or less as prisoners, leave some, uh, droppings behind, and manage to escape. Still, droppings to you are treasure for certain aliens, so they’re asked back and start a minor revolution of the culture. It’s funny and wildly inventive and Macedonio, if you read the last review of his I posted, is a guy who has more than paid his dues over the years and deserves all kinds of riches. I won’t spoil the ending more than I already may have, but this definitely worth a look, and I will say one thing: three boobs. $2 (or so)
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Posted by Kevin
October 7, 2010
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Who is Amy Amoeba?
To anybody out there reading this who would like to make comics but who doesn’t think it’s possible because you can’t draw your way out of the proverbial paper bag, I give you “Who is Amy Amoeba?” This isn’t to say that Jason can’t draw; I checked out his website and plenty of stuff looks pretty as can be. It’s just that for this story about amoebas (amoebi?), Jason didn’t need to show all that much. The story begins with Amy Amoeba addressing the audience, telling them that they’re “about to discover the exciting world of unicellular biology” and then, with a mighty f-bomb, splits in two, ensuring that children will never be able to read this book for educational purposes. The two amoebas debate which one is the real Amy Amoeba, one of them splits again, things get even more confusing, another one splits, and soon one of them is made fun of until she leaves the group. Things only get more complicated from there, as there are now two distinct and rapidly expanding groups occupying a small area with a limited amount of food. This could have stayed at the level of an extended “Who’s on first” joke (kids, ask your great grandparents on that one), but Jason expands it to deal with societal acceptance, a struggle between civilizations, slavery and adherence to silly religions. It’s a lot to make out of a comic consisting almost entirely of little blobs (not entirely, but I’m not ruining the surprises on that one), but Jason pulls it off admirably. Again, to anybody out there who thinks they have a story to tell in comics, one look at this will show you that it is possible. Sure, it helps to know how to accurately depict a crowd scene, a range of facial emotions or just have the ability to draw a human hand, but all of these things can be avoided by simply not drawing humans. Oh, and this one also has the benefit of being an educational experience, for those of you who like to learn a thing or two in your comics. $3
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Posted by Kevin
October 6, 2010
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Life is Good #1
Ah, the idea of all creatures living together in harmony. I don’t think that was on Steve’s mind as he wrote and drew this, but I generally can’t read minds, so what do I know? I was mostly commenting on the fact that there are so many different anthropomorphized beings in this comic that it has to represent some sort of perfect world. There’s the bottle on the cover (the main character, and that makes it extra funny when he eventually descends into drunkenness), an alligator, a carrot, a cat, snakes, a chicken, an octopus, a dog, an ice cream cone, a turtle, a mustard bottle, a pig, and something that appears to the letter “T” with eyes. If nothing else, the man gets points for creativity. Anyway, things start off with Brown (the main character, also know as “Brownie”) in a meeting with his boss. He obviously isn’t thought of all that highly, as his boss takes a lengthy call with the, um, “guy” still sitting there, and the boss eventually gets down to the business of firing him. Sure, it’s a lousy job, but Brown had always hoped to quit in a blaze of glory, and getting fired has robbed him of that plan. Brown’s friend Charles the alligator (or is it a crocodile? What’s the difference again?) insists that Brown get drunk for at least a week, as getting fired for the first time is a perfect excuse to do so, and Brownie eventually succumbs, but only after a seriously bizarre dream. Hijinx, naturally, ensue. Steve has a great ear for dialogue, as several simple lines left me chuckling that could have been banal as hell in the wrong hands. This is early days of the series (he sent along the next three issues as well), and the backgrounds are occasionally a little scratchy or vague, but the variety of the characters helps a lot, as does the engaging nature of the story. It’s possible you’ve read your last mini comic story about getting fired and moving on with your life afterwards, but if you aren’t predisposed against the genre so far I’d say this is worth a look. It’s hard to hate something that is this consistently funny and engaging unless you’re just trapped in a cycle of cynicism… $4
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Posted by Kevin
October 5, 2010
Secret Prison website
Ian Harker website
Secret Prison #2
Here’s hoping it’s still OK to use images from the internets for the review, as it’s impossible for me to scan the newspaper sized stuff. And if you agree with me that Benjamin Marra is tearing shit up with that cover, you should see the back cover by Pat Aulisio. I’m also not entirely sure if it’s possible for any old schmuck online to get a copy of this, as I think it’s only available at cons, but that’s a damned shame for a pile of great strips like this. Share it with the world! If I’m not mistaken (and I probably am) this one is even longer than the last issue, and it’s one of those rare anthologies with no really weak pieces. Sure, some things are better than others, whatever that means, but everything in here has something going for it. Strips in here (and they are strips, nothing is longer than 2 pages) include Pat’s tale of deliciously sorrowful soul, Luke Pearson’s absolutely brilliant “How to Exist For a Day,” Ian’s silent cubed spy story, Josh Burggraf’s text message-a-rific story of need, Cody Pickrodt with some true confessions, Bob Pistilli going a long way for a great ending, Box Brown and his experience with an exotic “delicacy,” the story behind that ridiculously good cover by Benjamin Marra, Art Baxter loving the summer, Simon Gardenfors getting the most out of his page with a series of mishaps involving a round dude wearing underwear, Kelly Phillips wondering if there’s a line cardiologists should not cross, Cyn Why with a tale for the ages, Steve Teare going to heaven, Doug Slack with a pile of funnies, and Jose Mochove & Rusty Rowley using photos to destroy us with reality. I skipped a few to leave some surprises for people who manage to find an actual copy of this, not that I spoiled too much for the other stories, but everybody likes surprises, right? Seriously, show this to the world, you guys! A working table of contents, a huge pile of talent, this should not be kept away from the world at large. Unless it isn’t, and I’m wrong, in which case let me know and I’ll tell people here how to buy it.
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Posted by Kevin
October 4, 2010
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Jumbly Junkery #9
Sometimes this whole art form just hits me all at once. L. had a simple note at the start of this mini, mentioning that this was one of 200 copies of this issue and that there were only going to be 200 copies of this issue ever and really, she’s right. Sure, there might be a collection some day, a “best of” kind of thing, but there are 200 copies of this issue in the universe and that’s it. Then I take a step back and realize that I have boxes and boxes full of comics just like that, one of 100 copies ever made, one of 50 copies, sometimes even one of only a dozen or so copies ever made. That’s what this crazy business is all about right there, the love and dedication that goes into making something with only a relative few copies floating around the world. As for why I’m in a “what’s it all about” mood anyway, I blame L. and the latest issue of Jumbly Junkery. There’s a sense to me that something has settled in her life, although a lot is still less than ideal, and yes, that is totally me pulling these ideas out of a few fictional stories, so feel free to laugh at me. Just a general sense of a slowly dawning acceptance of the nonsense in the universe. As for the actual stories in here not related to my opinions, they include worries about a self-perceived lack of originality, wishing for snow but enjoying warm weather, random items and their potential, having to think about how old you are, realizing that life does not pause when you want it to, the vicious cycle of insomnia, all the skinny people, true love, a recent lack of interest in music, all the people trying not to sleep on a train, a lack of truth, trying to trust in a world of internet dating, dance moves, rain, turning it all off, and Outlaw Dog and Knuckles. The range of artistic styles she chose was impressive as hell too, ranging from the simple to the abstract to cartoonish to certain forms that I believe she made up herself. Her feeling of a lack of originality is baffling to me, as people who always stick with their preferred style could learn a few things here. As for the sample, yes, it has very little to do with the rest of the book, but I could not resist that dog shooting at the shark while jumping over it. Too awesome for words… $5
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Posted by Kevin
September 30, 2010
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The Visible Rooster Jack
Ah, now I get the title. Kudos on leaving it a mystery until the end of the book. There’s a lot going on in this comic and there are a lot of characters doing the goings-on (I’m still not completely clear on that first page of wordless action), but Adam was nice enough to list all the characters and what they were all about. Concise but effective, while still leaving the reader wanting more. Crap, I’d better be careful with the “kudos” this early in a review. Anyway, Rooster Jack and his band of adventurers is out camping one night when Razzle Dazzle (the perfectly named magician of the group who is “haunted by visions of a late 20th century world”) dreams of “basket of balls” with the ball and parts of the court being on fire. Luckily Razzle Dazzle is able to undo pretty much all the harm he does to the group, and the group sets out in the morning. What they’re out to do is never made clear, as Jack is attacked by a strange woman who tells them her tale of woe and convinces the bunch of them to travel to her besieged town. Things get a little hairy from there, but you’ll get no spoilers here. The mass of characters introduced later did leave me a bit confused, but maybe I’m reading these out of chronological order and there’s more to the tale. Or Adam just packs as much in as possible and leaves it to the reader to keep up, which would also be a good thing. Plenty of amusing bits are contained in these pages, the writing is smarter than you might think if you zoned out once you read “band of adventurers” earlier in the review, and he managed the difficult task of rounding out 5 out of 6 characters in the group in one mini comic. The tiny fairy got short shrift, but other than that I already have an idea of where all these people are coming from. The art was fantastic too; that hall of horrors in particular was gruesome, the backgrounds were impressive and all the characters were instantly unique. A pretty damned good comic, that’s what I’m trying to say, unless you hate adventure stories of all stripes, even ones that are funny as hell, in which case I mourn the lack of joy in your life. $4
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Posted by Kevin
September 29, 2010
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The Trial of Sweetie Snake
It’s not every day that you see a snake with a five o’clock shadow. That’s the adorably named Sweetie Snake on the cover (duh, and no, it didn’t come all crumpled up, that’s just what the cover looks like), and it takes a little while to get him to trial. Sweetie Snake, at the outset, could be mistaken for old school Bugs Bunny, as he is scooped up out of the river by an inbred prospector and goes on to a series of escalating pranks until his true nature comes out. Hey, he is a snake, after all. A sheriff stumbles across the scene, Sweetie ends up on trial for murder, then things get into O.J. Simpson territory, although it’s tricky to say more without giving away the ending. The comic occasionally wanders over the line between funny and mean, but only for a split second and it still manages to keep it funny. That’s probably not going to make sense to anybody without full access to my brain, but it makes sense to me. The art maintains a cartoonish quality, but that probably has something to do with this basically being an illustrated cartoon. I have plenty of other books from Steve to come, as he took me up on my challenge to send enough books along for me to review them once a week, so I should get a better sense of his skills in the coming weeks. As for this one, it was funny, those newspaper titles were hilarious, and he managed to make the very dated O.J. Simpson references seem relevant. Good stuff, that’s what I’m getting at. $4
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Posted by Kevin
September 28, 2010
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Philly Alternative Comic Con 2010
Well, at least I think Pat was the editor. He put the book together, anyway, and that’s basically the same thing. Sadly, it’s one of those anthologies without a coherent table of contents (although I did like the look of the one Box Brown put together), so a lot of these stories are going to be reviewed through a bit of guesswork and process of elimination. Stories in here include a very colorful mess from Pat, Liz Baillie keeping the tradition of record collecting alive, Hawk Krall with some disgusting but hilarious pranks, Dina Kelberman’s inimitable comics (with a drunken disclaimer tacked onto the bottom), Mike Sgier with a futuristic tale of trying to cap an uncontrollably spewing well, Ian Harker’s love of flying, L. Nichols and going along to get along, and Sally Bloodbath & Matt Wiegle with a piece on the most horrible child alive and her fitting end. That leaves a few pieces without a noticeable creator, so in no particular order, the other stories in here dealt with making a friend (literally), trying to make art to please a critic, and two grotesque creatures sharing an apartment and their antics. Chris McDonnell probably did the first two pieces and Lance Hansen probably did the last story (which was actually a series of smaller stories), and I say “probably” because that’s where my coin flip landed, and when has that ever been wrong? Box Brown did the covers and has a lovely group of people at the end of their lives bemoaning their lack of buying quality comics in their lives, something you should all take to heart. As this was from a con I have no idea if it’s still readily available to the world, but as it’s all in color, gorgeous and full of talent, you should hunt it down if at all possible. Pat would probably know if it was around, why not check it with him? Or I can post a little update here if I hear anything, how about that? No price, but $5 sounds nice, if possibly too low.
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Posted by Kevin
September 27, 2010
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Monkey Squad One #5
Is Doug secretly Donovan Cater in disguise? Seriously, the similarity in the artwork is uncanny (go ahead and look around at some of the ancient (because he appears to have vanished from comics) Donovan Cater reviews and see if I’m wrong). Well, I’ll go with the theory that it’s a different person, as a close inspection does show that it probably isn’t Donovan. Doug does a smart thing right off the bat: he lets the reader know what happened in the last issue. As this is “#5” that is crucial, but you’d be surprised how many comics creators just don’t bother to keep readers up to date. Anyway, U.N.C.L.E. Doug (leader of Monkey Squad One) is on trial for losing the team, even though they’ve been lost in time and it apparently isn’t his fault. The trial goes badly, Doug has a ridiculously easy time escaping from this supposedly secure facility (he is aided by the fact that gravity apparently doesn’t apply to him), and meets up with some old foes to help him out. They, unsurprisingly, don’t help him out, but it’s a funny conversation that leads them to that conclusion. Things devolve a bit into Star Wars parody from there, and hasn’t the universe as a whole decided that the prequel movies were so awful that people were no longer allowed to parody Star Wars any more? Except for Robot Chicken and Family Guy, but they only get away with it because they’re rich and occasionally have scathing satire. Well, more Robot Chicken than Family Guy on that front, but I’m getting off topic here. The Rancor is played in this comic by Granmonster, who is able to fill that role as well as getting loose in the town and fulfilling the “giant monster on the loose” requirement. The comic as a whole is fairly amusing, even with me being at the point of Star Wars parodies just bugging me. Overall I’ll need another issue to really make up my mind, so it’s a good thing Doug was nice enough to send the next issue along as well. Even with the recap I don’t know if it’s a good idea to start at #5 of a series; if you’re looking to give it a shot maybe see if the guy has earlier issues available. $2.50
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Posted by Kevin
September 26, 2010
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Bachelor Girl’s Mother Goose
If you read an intro for a comic that states that it was conceived while the author was miles away from home, alone and suffering from swine flu, you would probably be right to assume that it would be a little… odd. There may be exceptions, but it seems like a pretty safe bet. This one definitely falls under that category, as Amy takes her Bachelor Girl characters and puts them in situations involving a series of nursery rhymes. I think at least a few of these were original works, but I’m not familiar enough with nursery rhymes to say that for sure; maybe she just plucked a few really obscure rhymes from the void. Anyway, the end result is that pretty much every nursery rhyme you can think of (go ahead, let your mind wander and allow a few to pop into your brain) show up on these pages. Wee Willie Winkle, Georgie Porgie, Humpty Dumpty, Little Miss Muffet, Little Bo Peep, Peter Piper, Jack Sprat, they’re all here. It’s funnier than you may think if you’re as cynical as I am, and Amy shows remarkable self-restraint at not turning even one of these vaguely pornographic sounding rhymes into anything all that risque. Suggestive, sure, but that just adds to the funny. As a single man somewhere in his 30’s, this isn’t exactly targeted at me, but whoever can’t enjoy a book like this has lost all their sense of fun. Check it out, why don’t you, or get a copy for your single friend or relative. Not your girlfriend/wife/mistress though, as it makes the single life look like way too much fun and they’ll probably dump your ass… $5
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Posted by Kevin
