August 19, 2010
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Yo! Burbalino #3
What we have here is the tale of two comics all wrapped up in. The first half of the comic is one story, dealing with our hero the chef , his wife, and his friend the squirrel. Chef Don has a romantic dinner planned with his wife for Valentine’s Day, while Earl Squirrel (I know, I know) has forgotten the holiday and is scrambling to make up for it. Earl steals the reservation for himself, panics when he sees Don, and mild hilarity ensues. Very mild. Still, what separates this from the rest of the book is the quality of the artwork, as it looks like Greg drew this while on a long, bumpy train ride. The rest of the book looks great, so I don’t get why you would rush the central piece of your mini, as he’s clearly capable of better work. The rest of the book has a remarkably disgusting while amusing piece on nose picking, the story of true love between a plate and spaghetti (really just an excuse for a recipe), some tips for bachelors, a smoker’s poem, and the highlight of the book: an extended revenge plot just to fire one squirrel. It’s an uneven issue, that’s for sure, and I’d definitely go with one of the other issues if you’re just looking to check out his work. He also sent along a fourth issue, so here’s hoping it’s more like the first two. This one did have a few moments, granted, but it’s clearly not his best work. $3
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Posted by Kevin
August 19, 2010
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The Experts #2
Is it insulting to call this smarter than it probably should be? Yes, that is almost certainly insulting. I only mean that if you’re one of those people who judge a book by its cover (and quit it if you do), you might not have high expectations for “Mad Motorcycle Mayhem!” Well, you’re only hurting yourself. I missed the first issue so I’m largely making this up, but this appears to be about the adventures of a team called The Experts (duh), and this issue focuses on a few of them specifically. There sure seems to be plenty more of this team, at least judging from the inside cover and next issue blurb, but this issue only deals with Ninja Witch, Frost Queen, and that woman driving the motorcycle on the cover. I don’t know if they ever mentioned her superhero name, but it’s a minor point. Things start off with Frost Queen telling the other two heroes all about the Silver Muse, a telepath who they’re going to have to stop. Her powers are strongest against men, which is probably why none of the men appear in this issue. The merchandising rights of their toy line is also mentioned, and the strong impression that their impending saving of the town is more about selling action figures than anything else. Anyway, the Silver Muse robs an art show (apparently she likes really stupid rock sculptures) by taking the men under her control and making the women sick. Ninja Witch resists, she grabs up her partner whats-her-name, and a merry chase ensues. I didn’t like this one as much as the other Minter/Pruiit book (It Sure Is A Super World!), but it’s hard to talk too much trash about a book that looks this good and manages to have at least one genuinely funny line per page. There are also two other short pieces in here, one was included in that other book I mentioned (“Z-Squad”) and the other appears to be a new shortie about their Thing substitute bemoaning the fact that nobody ever asked his opinion in the new tell-all books from his old team. I’d say start with the book I reviewed before if you’re interested, the maybe get the first issue of this series so you’re not trying to catch up like me. I’d say these two are people to watch, assuming they keep at it… $3
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Posted by Kevin
August 18, 2010
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Everything Dies #2
If this series doesn’t win some small press comics award, I’m turning in my fake membership badge. He has apparently put out a few other comics, but I rarely see stuff this polished and this perfect. So what’s there to write about when I have no complaints? Well, how about the good stuff? Note: it helps if you read the first issue of this series (two of the pieces come directly from the first issue), but he still manages to make them self-contained. The second part of the modern re-telling of the Book of Job was again a thing of brilliance, as Job gets increasingly baffled by his continued problems, seeks advice and eventually meets God himself (and it never occurred to me how much of a let-down that conversation must have been for Job (if he had actually existed or talked to God (or if God existed))). Ah, my first triple parenthesis. I’m so proud. The other part of this book that puts all other comics to shame with its scope is the adaptation of how various religions view the end of the world. If you read the first issue you remember that he did this with how all religions view the beginning of the world, so it only made sense to go here. No matter how knowledgeable you are about all this, I guarantee that you will learn something new. Whether it’s the utter insanity of the Sunni Islam sect believing that Allah will kill all humans only to immediately bring them back to life to be judged, the Mormons believing that 1000 years of missionary work will follow the destruction of the wicked (who would they be preaching to exactly?), or the simple science of the Big Crunch, this is as close to flawless as a comics story gets. There are also two pieces about the monk and his pupil, but I’m leaving those stories (that would be the highlight of most other minis) to your imagination, as everybody should already buy this anyway. Yes, I know I say that often, but I mean the hell out of it this time. Trust me, you’ll be sorry when he’s famous in a few years and these minis are completely out of print… $5
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Posted by Kevin
August 18, 2010
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Crass Sophisticate #11
I’d like to start this review off with a little rant to people that probably only exist in my head. Hey you! Yes, you, the person who is going to skip this review because they’re offended by the cover, or simply think that it means this comic is going to juvenile and stupid. Well, you’re wrong. You know what? While the Crass Sophisticate crew is often, well, crass, they do manage to put out an entertaining issue each time, often something that makes me feel like I learned something. Very few series can say that, and very few series get their title so right. If you have no complaints about that cover, please ignore that rant, but I felt the need to make it clear that these guys are amassing quite a pile of crassly sophisticated work and should be credited as such. This issue, as you can tell, is about masturbation. I’m really hoping the story told in the first part is fictional, as it deals with a young boy who, after first learning what masturbating is, enjoys it a little too much and eventually sees blood in his urine. The doctor announces this fact to the mother of the child, which would be OK if it wasn’t for the fact that the boy’s brother was there as well. The Dad only cares that he is thinking of girls while the Mom wants to take him to a shrink. This all comes to a head as the boy draws a science project partner who is remarkably well-endowed for her age, his brother tells some friends that he was called a chronic masturbator, and his science partner hears the story. Again, I can only hope that this wasn’t true, as it would certainly mess a guy up for life. The second part of the book deals with the early days of porn, when our author (or his fictional stand-in) would go to a local newsstand once a week to get a copy of High Society. This practice was done happily for years, until a chance encounter with an older woman did him some serious damage. I’m not sure who did what this time around so I’m just throwing all the names up there and hoping for the best. Sure, there are still some unerased pencil lines, but the quality of the stories has officially surpassed my annoyance at such things. Buy some of these and be cured of a bit of your indie snootiness!
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Posted by Kevin
August 17, 2010
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Schmuck #14 – Blue Plate Special
Oh makers of small press comics, will you never learn? How do you expect to sell your comics if you don’t list them on your website? Granted, Mark does have a nice site with all kinds of samples (including the first half of this book, if you’re curious),. but how are you supposed to get a copy of this, or anything else he’s done? How are you even supposed to know WHAT he’s done? It’s baffling to me. And really, I just pulled that title from the slew of words on the cover and hope that I put them in something approximating the correct order. I wasn’t a fan of the other comic of his I got at SPACE (listed as a #3, meaning that there are theoretically plenty of issues that are nowhere to be found), but this one had its moments. It’s an 8 page shortie dealing with the wonders of working in a fast food restaurant. Is “restaurant” too strong a word? Probably. Anyway, the experience is as bad as you think, unless you’ve worked at one yourself, in which case you already know all about it. Highlights include Melvin getting his good mood crushed right out of him, giving the customer the receipt, the internal dialogue while talking to customers, the “joy” of the day being over, and trying to figure out what it all means. This might have been a series of one page strips, as there’s no real linear flow of a coherent story going on, but the tenuous connection is enough. Here’s hoping that more of his comics are like this one than #3, but judging from this and the samples on his site I’m going to have to revise my opinion of the man upward. Now if there was only some way for you to order his comics without just sending him an e-mail and seeing what he has laying around…
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Posted by Kevin
August 17, 2010
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The Fifty-Flip Experiment #11
In case you’re curious, yes, the back cover does show the end result from the pose depicted on the front cover. No, I am not going to show it to you. Buy the damned book! Although at the moment Dan’s website appears to be down, and this has also followed a prolonged period of inactivity for the man, so the signs are ominous. Still, I heard it from the man himself that he will put out another issue, so that’s settled, and I’m sure the site will be up and humming again soon, along with all of humanity learning to love each other. In “I have to complain at least a little bit” news, the unerased pencil lines are fewer this time around, but the copy smudges and dark spots more than make up for it. Nothing to be done about it now, so on to the content! Stories in here include a running fake newscast gag (involving the horrors of kids reading “e-texts” that are meant for adults and a commercial for a slinky de-tangler), sorting out some angst, the dangers of Garden State addiction, getting a body mod for the kermit face, and a series of strips with the same punchline that somehow got funnier each time, leading up to a grotesquery of funny.  And here’s a fun fact for your Optical Sloth trivia game: I bought a bookcase off Craigslist from Dan Hill. If you live in town and find something he’s willing to sell, he may even drive it to your house. I’m mentioning this to point out what a swell guy he is and that maybe you should buy his comics. Just as soon as he gets his website up and running again…
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Posted by Kevin
August 16, 2010
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Asbestos Wick
I have no idea what the fuck is going on in this comic. There, I said it. Anything that I say from this point on will be babble, my attempt to make sense out of something that is most likely not in any way meant to be taken literally. First, let’s get one thing out of the way: my “not getting” a comic is in no way meant to imply that the comic is bad or in any way not worth reading. On the contrary, there are several pages of this book (picking just one sample was difficult) that will haunt my dreams, and that has to be considered a good thing. It’s just that a silent comic where most of the pages resemble that sampled page below and rarely have any of the same characters sticking around for more than a page or two is going to be immune to any kind of conventional analysis. Look, Eamon has been around for a bit now, and I’m guessing the smarter and more refined among you have already checked out his Wormdye series or graphic novel. If you already know his name, good news! He has a couple of new books out. If not, OK fine, I’ll try to make some sense of this. Things start off with a creature with the giant head of an owl sitting atop something that looks like a house of worship. Standing outside is a creature with a baboon head, a creepy smiling face throwing up what appears to be spaghetti for a body, and fat old man legs that are naked except for shoes and socks. This creature is holding a woman (who is terrified) over its head, and somehow the woman has her breasts clearly visible even though she seems to be wearing a t-shirt. On the next page the woman has had her head torn off by the baboon creature, and what appears to be an assembly line is picking out a new head for the woman. Or it is pulling all the possible heads out of her body. On the third page the head of the woman seems to be shooting energy beams from its eyes, with a snake crawling through its ears, as it is either vomiting fire onto worried people or helping them out through vomit. Shall I go on? Things eventually make more sense, then they don’t, then they do again, but it might all be a lie. Check out the samples on his website or other reviews on this site, that should give you a clear idea of what you’re dealing with. If you prefer your comics simple, go elsewhere. If you like a challenge that is at the very least visually rewarding, read Eamon Espey! $4
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Posted by Kevin
August 16, 2010
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Pork Belly #2
Ah, another tiny comic where I try to make it seem like I have something relevant away. Oops, gave away the game there. I may be able to squeeze a few good points out of this review, but no promises here. That has nothing to do with the quality of the comic (which was excellent, for what it’s worth), more about my own shortcomings, and this review isn’t about me, is it? There are three stories in this mini, and I didn’t pick Dan’s because it was the only one page strip. No, it was because it took me until almost when I started writing this review to get the joke, and anything that gets an honest chuckle out of me is definitely worth a sample. The other stories are The End Of Me by Meeah D’zasteur (about a worm, its life and wonderings about the mysteries of the universe, followed quickly by a brutal death) and Obsessive Compulsive Order by Macedonio Garcia (four silent pages of the various household items that are needed to keep OCD in check). I think Meeah’s use of the number 4 on one page and 5 on the other, compromising the background behind the four panel pages as they were repeated enough to cover the whole page, was an interesting choice fora background. Maybe not a good thing, but for somebody like me who is always complaining about the lack of backgrounds in comics, at least some effort was made. Of course, I was talking about the backgrounds IN the panels and not behind them in general, but why quibble? It’s another solid mini edited by Dan, and his master plan to get as many artists as possible out there into the comics world is proceeding nicely.
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Posted by Kevin
August 14, 2010
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Cops and Crooks #1
Brian has this listed as a #1, but in this case I don’t get it. I suppose, if I squint my eyes just right, this could be the perfect beginning of a series. Or it could be the perfect example of a self-contained comic. Ah, who cares? He has a half dozen or so other series that he’s juggling, so either way works for me. This is the story of, well, cops and crooks. This has to be close to the shortest flip book around, as half of it deals with a cop and the other half deals with a man who wants to kill all cops and destroy the system. The cop had a rough but decent life, as his father (also a cop) was killed when he was four years old, but he was raised by a bunch of different cops on the force, with them taking him on their family vacations and generally doing all the things that a father should do. The other guy had a completely different experience, as his father was taken away by cops before he was even born, so he has, quite naturally, hated them ever since. There’s also the distinct contrast of the artwork, as Jason Young (I’m guessing the Veggie Dog Saturn Jason Young?) has a clean line with everything seeming to be sweetness and light, while on the Crooks half Eric Shonborn perfectly captures some scratchy (but still intricate) rage. Like I said, this could go either way in terms of it being a series. I could see them both eventually crashing into each other, or this just being fine all by itself as a commentary of the intrinsic nature of cops and crooks. Either way, as always, I’m on board, and you should be too. $1
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Posted by Kevin
August 13, 2010
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SkullyFlower #2
The improbably named Dragon Green has kept things moving along nicely with this second issue, and this also shows some clear improvements from the first issue. Not that the first issue was bad, mind you, but improvements are supposed to made from issue to issue (artistic growth, don’t you know), so I’m always happy to see that pattern hold true. If you haven’t read the review for the first issue or seen this comic before, I recommend clicking on that website link or finding the old review, because I’m just going to get right into it. Stories in here include trying to find a food source for the plant, adopting the proper state of mind to be able to deal with one of those big box hardware stores, almost being killed by a stupid woman on a cell phone, getting free stuff due to some corporate butt-covering, teaching the plant to skateboard (and Dragon actually managed to make this plausible; no mean feat) , and discovering that the plant could fly. That last one might qualify as a spoiler but, then again, it may not. Reading over her website, it sounds like she’s in a bit of artistic paralysis at the moment, as she sees herself as unable to complete a satisfactory background. As somebody who often complains about the lack of quality backgrounds in comics, I have to say: don’t let that stop you. Unless the format changes completely in later comics (and it might, this one is from 2006), she’s doing such a great job on the humor of the book that backgrounds aren’t the biggest deal in the world. That and it probably isn’t really as bad as she thinks. Anyway, the comic is worth a look, so why don’t you already? $2
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Posted by Kevin
August 11, 2010
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Smoo #2 1/2
What the heck? 2 and a half? That wouldn’t be so bad, but the next issue in the pile o’ comics Simon sent is a preview of #3. I don’t make the rules or anything, but I’m pretty sure you’re not allowed to have two issues between one issue number. This one is called the “odds and sods” issue, as it supposedly only has bits and pieces of things. Still, if you go into this expecting a sketchbook or something without a bit of genuine storytelling, that’s not the case at all. He could have just slapped a “#3” on it and I would have been none the wiser. Stories in here include a personal rumination on a night spent in a hotel room (and how he was unable to go out and enjoy the town due to feeling guilty about everything), a drunken bar conversation about the baffling behavior of one woman in particular (and the proposed mental sweepers to keep their brains free from “emotional debris”), Simon’s thoughts as utter nothingness, and a winter trip to see Mount Etna in Sicily that seemed to be poorly planned in every way but still a profound experience for him. OK, maybe the issue was a bit shorter than his other offerings, so I guess that’s where the “1/2” comes from. I still think he could have gotten away with calling it #3, and if you’re already a fan of his work this isn’t something you should miss.
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Posted by Kevin
August 10, 2010
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The Single Girls
Ah, the random comics I get in the mail. Every time I think maybe I should sell all my minis to Poopsheet or anybody else that would take them and move to Iceland to live life as a hermit, I get another pile of comics like this that makes me realize I don’t have things so bad. This is a collection of strips of varying lengths dealing with the life of single girls. As should have been blisteringly obvious from the title, but hey, I’m trying to write a review/recap here. This appears to be the oldest of the books Amy sent to me, but I like to think that 2008 isn’t yet completely outdated. It starts off with Amy telling the audience exactly what’s coming, as she lists a number of things women are no longer willing to accept (wifeliness, sex in front of the tv, domesticity) and what they’re going to have instead (dancing alone, some fancy drinks). Conservative types who have managed to make it to 2010 still somehow believing that a woman’s place is in the kitchen, please seek your entertainment elsewhere. Strips in here deal with such subjects as hilariously off-color jokes, rapid mood swings (with cause), the happiness of getting a delayed period, cheerfully demolishing the self-esteem of men, poking a giant strap-on into the myth that you need men to do the heavy lifting, the thought of a year of celibacy, hoping the ringing phone is yours, the fear of commitment in men, and waking up to disappointment. There’s more, as this is a fairly hefty collection, but why ruin all the surprises? This is a pile of funny, and that’s even with the obvious realization that I am not the target audience for this comic. Single ladies, this one is clearly for you. This almost feels like a series of New Yorker strips at times (and I mean that in the best possible way), except for the fact that I believe the New Yorker still believes all sex talk in comics should be vague to stay in that strange realm of “high-brow”, and Amy is anything but vague. I’m really looking forward to reading her other books, especially considering the fact that she probably got better as she went along. Check it out already! $6
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Posted by Kevin
August 9, 2010
Happy anniversary, me! And to all the people, past and present, who have helped build and maintain this website, thanks for everything. No way in the world would this have ever gotten off the ground if it wasn’t for your contributions. Same goes for all the people who have sent their comics in for review, as there’s no way that the selection of books here would be as rich as it is without random people sending in their books. If you’re a fan of the site, or at least appreciate a place to find new stuff like this, I’m holding a fundraiser/anniversary celebration all month where you get a free comic with every 9 comics ordered and a piece of original artwork from some of the many people who have sent me their comics over the years. There’s also the fact that I’m rapidly running out of cash, so your ordering comics now would be a good thing for me. New review today for Necrocomicon, edited by Brian Ehrenpreis, by the way.
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Posted by Kevin
