May 2, 2010
Website
Kramers Ergot #2
Well, this anthology sure looks great. Fantastic design, great cover… it’s too bad that the inside is spotty. Luke Quigley provides a bright spot with his story of a snowman with balls, and Justin Howe steals the show with his “Frankenstein Underwater”. Great story, funny as hell. Everything else was either just OK or… not. I almost think it’s worth it for the look of the book alone and the few great stories. A lot of potential, don’t get me wrong, just nothing to get excited about. Anyway. I get the feeling that #4 or 5 of this series is going to be fantastic, but until then you have to deal with the problem that exists with most anthologies. It’s great at times and hardly worth reading at others, you just have to figure out if you don’t mind taking the bad with the good. Here’s a list of contributors, minus the ones I already mentioned: Dan Longfellow, Sammy Harkham, and David Brook. E-mail them to see what they have out out just send $5 per issue to: P.O. Box 2316 Beverly Hills, CA 90213-2316.
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Reviews | Tagged: Dan Longfellow, David Brook, Justin Howe, Kramer's Ergot, Luke Quigley, Sammy Harkham | 
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Posted by Kevin
May 2, 2010
Impossible
OK, now we have to deal with what you should do if parts of an anthology suck and parts of it are really good. This thing looked like a lost cause up until right around the midway point. Then I read Halfway to Hell, a story about the building of the Golden Gate bridge and the “club” of people who fell off the bridge but were saved by the temporary safety net. A few stories after that saved this book from being a total loss, but it certainly wasn’t great. Look, if you’re trying to find a wide variety of small press people that you probably haven’t seen before, anthologies are always going to be the way to go. I’d recommend starting with something like Non or Stripburger before this, but it does have its moments too. I think it’s $3 (I got it in a pile of stuff and it doesn’t have a price tag on it), and in this case the good stories make up for the bad ones, but just barely. Still, you could do worse than to send them some money. There’s no name on the address, but here it is:
PO Box 12299 St. Louis, MO 63157
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Posted by Kevin
May 2, 2010
Website
Side A: The Music Lovers Graphic Novel
Full disclosure time: I’m not a music lover. I mention this because it’s in the subtitle for this book and, as I’m not a music lover, chances are you can disregard my opinions about this entirely. I am a music liker, but it had very little influence on me as a kid and even now I mostly listen to talk radio of some sort. That being said, I did love this book. It has 33 stories in it by a wide variety of folks. I am much too lazy to go through them all one by one, but I will mention highlights. Rebecca Chapnik’s Last Act, about her trying to be punk in high school and still not managing to fit in with the punks, was wonderful and captured the rage of being unable to connect. Matthew Young’s Articles of Faith, about trying to find the exact song that was on when he started writing for the first time as a child, is something anybody can relate to who’s had part of a mystery song stuck in their head. Sarah Shay and Corey Marie Parkhill’s The Day We Got Kicked Out of the Feminist Treehouse wonderfully details some of the absurdities of modern feminism and trying hopelessly to fit in, or at least not be called out by the band. There are many many great stories in here, ranging from how music affects art and how to draw along with the beat (something I was completely unfamiliar with) to the music that influenced them throughout their lives all the way to being willing to break up with somebody if they didn’t like jazz. Genuine music lovers will probably get a bit more out of this than I did, granted, but good storytelling is good storytelling regardless of the subject, or the fact that the reviewer may be less than passionate about said subject. Absolutely a wonderful anthology, and cheap too! $10 Oh, and here’s a website if you wanted to check this out yourself.
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Posted by Kevin
May 2, 2010
Website
Liquid Sunshine
Have you ever wondered what comics creators do all day when they’re stuck at a convention? Most of them don’t have a line at their desk all day long and some of them (especially when they’re at one of the big conventions where the small press people are sometimes all shoved into a far corner of the building) get very few visitors at all. Well, sometimes they do little jam comics like this, purely for the hell of it. This tiny comic contains all sorts of people, namely Andy Runton, J. Chris Campbell, Duane Ballenger, Chris Pitzer, Sam Henderson, Rob Ullman, Jacob Chabot, Chris Giarrusso and Justin Gammon. If it wasn’t for the table of contents I would have no idea who drew which pages, as they mostly aren’t even using their usual drawing style. This book doesn’t say for sure, but I’d guess that they would do a panel and pass the book along to the next person to see what they came up with, as this doesn’t follow much of a story or have much of a point. There’s some liquid sunshine, you see, and a boy is carrying it around. Another boy wants to steal this glass of liquid sunshine for the obvious piles of money he’ll get for it, but abruptly drops this idea to urinate in the glass instead. It wanders around a bit more after that, but you get the general idea. This is a great comic for those of you who are curious about what artists do in their spare time at these conventions, otherwise it’s easily skipped. No price, but it can’t be more than $1.
Comments Off on Various Anthologies – Liquid Sunshine | Reviews | Tagged: Andy Runton, Chris Giarusso, Chris Pitzer, Duane Ballenger, J. Chris Campbell, Jacob Chabot, Justin Gammon, Liquid Sunshine, Rob Ullman, Sam Henderson | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 2, 2010
Website
The Bush Junta
I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume that I’m speaking mostly to people who are either of a progressive mindset (or why would you be reading about independent comic books?) or are Republicans smart enough to know that the current bunch of opportunists and criminals near the White House don’t have a thing to do with their beliefs. If you buy what these people have to say, nothing you see in this book is going to convince you of anything. It’s all that “liberal†comic company making stuff up, never mind the fact that the sources here for the quotes are immense, and boy there sure are an awful lot of coincidences leading up to a lot of bad things, and a lot of the people closest to this family have benefited the most from these horrible things. I have no interest in talking to you if you believe all of these things were a happy coincidence. You should read this more than anybody else, but you won’t, so why bother telling you to? This book is as complete and concise an account as you’re likely to find about all the major players in this administration, how they got there and what they did with the power once they had it. The ongoing US policy of torture is graphically documented here, with eyewitness accounts from the innocent people that we tortured and locked up for years without filing charges. And if that’s news to you, you REALLY need to watch the news more often. A lot of the best folks in the comic world have stories in here, including Ted Rall, Spain Rodriquez, Jamie o, Lloyd Dangle and Peter Kuper. Granted, this book does veer into mostly unfounded conspiracy theories at times. OK, maybe not so much “veer†as “dives right intoâ€. Still, like I said, there have been an awful lot of happy coincidences over the years for the Bush family, and the charges in here should at least be looked into by more people with actual positions of authority. This book is at its best when detailing known facts about these people and what they’ve done, which is as damning a list as you’re likely to find in recent memory. If you have a relative of some kind who believes in the crap these people are spewing and you just can’t find a way to get through to them, you could do a lot worse than to try and get them to read this. At the very least it should start a real discussion, which is another thing this country is sorely lacking these days. This is $18.95, but it’s available at Amazon right now for around $13.
Comments Off on Various Fantagraphics anthologies – The Bush Junta | Reviews | Tagged: Bush Junta, Jamie Crespo, Lloyd Dangle, Peter Kuper, Spain Rodriguez, Ted Rall | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 2, 2010
Website
Hi-Horse Omnibus
I might have a different criteria for a good anthology than most people. When I get an anthology, I get it to check out work from a lot of different people at once. Therefore, as long as the vast majority of them aren’t actively bad, I usually feel like it was a good anthology. Well, there wasn’t a single bad story in this, so mission accomplished. Lots of familiar names in this (Cole Johnson, Zack Soto, Dan Zettwoch, Jesse Reklaw, Thien Pham, HOB, Damien Jay, Gabrielle Bell) and some unfamiliar names (Howard John Arey, Ellen Lindner, Andrice Arp), which is always a good thing. More than a few of those people are getting e-mails from me to see if they want to be in the distro, in case you were wondering. There’s no theme here, which is also a good thing, and stories include a young girl reluctantly spending time with her father, a man trying to find a working bathroom, a cute pug, getting sucked into the television, dating literal monsters, a stranded pirate rhymer, giant babies taking over the world, and how horrible it is to quit smoking. Great stuff in here all around and it’s only $11.95, well worth a look. Here’s the Alternative Comics website, or just click on the title if you’re feeling spendy…
Comments Off on Various Alternative Comics anthologies – Hi-Horse Omnibus | Reviews | Tagged: Alternative Comics, Andrice Arp, Cole Johnson, Damien Jay, Dan Zettwoch, Ellen Lindner, Gabrielle Bell, Hi-Horse Omnibus, Hob, Jesse Reklaw, Thien Pham, Zack Soto | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 2, 2010
Website
Alternative Comics #1
This was the comic that was free on Free Comics Day a couple of months back, so I’m honestly not sure if you can get it online anywhere or not. Check the website and e-mail somebody, otherwise check out your local comic store to see if they have any left, because it’s a great piece of work. The idea is to showcase all of their artist’s best work and they pull this off beautifully. Sure, Sam Henderson could have had more than a page out of his sketchbook, and I would have liked to see more out of Steven Weissman than a cover, but overall everyone associated with the company (again, check the website, as I’m too lazy to type everybody in) had either a good or a great short story in here. There were links to everybody in the book as well, meaning that anybody who picked this up randomly could find whoever they liked best, and that’s the point of this book. Kudos on a job well done, and I’d have to think that this did a better job of promoting the medium than almost anything else could have. After all, it was free!
Comments Off on Various Alternative Comics – Alternative Comics #1 | Reviews | Tagged: Alternative Comics, Sam Henderson, Steven Weissman | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 2, 2010
Flock of Dreamers
I’ll give you a list of some of the names and you tell me if this is worth your while: Jim Woodring, Pat Moriarity, Robert Crumb, Rick Veitch, David Lasky, Eric Theriault, Jeremy Eaton, and Aleksander Zograf. Granted, there were a few names that I didn’t recognize at all, but there were all kinds of interesting dreams in here. Come on, tell me that you’re not wondering if Jim Woodring’s sleeping mind is as fascinating as his waking one. It’s an odd mix from all over the world and, as with any anthology, some things work and some things don’t, but what this has over the other anthologies is that everything is… unprotected, in a way. Sleeping is out most vulnerable state and everything listed in here is honest, even if some it’s kind of dull. Well worth a look, if only to see what these people dream about…
Comments Off on Various Kitchen Sink anthologies – Flock of Dreamers | Reviews | Tagged: Aleksander Zograf, David Lasky, Eric Theriault, Flock of Dreamers, Jeremy Eaton, Jim Woodring, Pat Moriarty, Robert Crumb | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 2, 2010
Website
Triple Dare #2
The thing about experimental comics is that, well, they're usually not all that good. Sure, they're interesting to students of the genre, and it was neat to read about the strict rules that the people involved in the first Triple Dare had to follow. Here's my problem: this is a book with two of my favorite comic people ever, James Kochalka and Tom Hart, and two other people that I'm trying to learn more about, Matt Madden and Nick Bertozzi. There's not really a bad story in here, but there's nothing all that great about it either. It would be nice to have a book with all these people in it that I could just hand to people and say "Look, here are some of the best comic people working today!" and have it be their best stories too. Maybe I ask too much. It's an interesting book. All the stories have to be on an island, and then are other stipulations, but hey, it's a surprise. Let's just say that they're inventive and possibly a little obnoxious when you know about them. If I have one piece of advice for the next issue it's that they should keep these stipulations secret and let the people figure them out for themselves. My favorite in the book was probably the Bertozzi story. Like I said, there's nothing bad in here, it's just that maybe all this daring is dragging the stories down a bit. I know, that's the whole point, it's not like my opinions have to make any sense or anything... If you're looking for a copy of this, go to the Alternative Comics website and ask nicely.
Comments Off on Various Alternative Comics anthologies – Triple Dare #2 | Reviews | Tagged: James Kochalka, Matt Madden, Nick Bertozzi, Tom Hart, Triple Dare | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 2, 2010
Website
Hickee Volume 3 #3
Are you somebody who likes to laugh while reading comics? One of those old fashioned types who’s here for the “funny book†aspect of it all? This is, and somebody please correct me if I’m wrong, the funniest book you’re likely to find. I could really cut and paste the reviews for all issues of Hickee, with a few minor changes for actual stories, and leave it at that. Putting out a book that makes me laugh out loud more than a few times is an impressive enough achievement, putting out multiple books that do that is  at this point. OK, fine, so it’s funny. What’s in this particular issue that’ll get you to check it out? There are a number of short piece by Nathan Stapley, including Depressed Pitcher, Football Players, Good Game, and Pee Wee’s. There’s Joop Joop by Razmig Mavlian, in which we get to see what happens when all the wishes of a small female child come true. Or maybe you’d prefer Getting Creamed by Joe White, an epic adventure of a farmer trying to milk his cow. Perhaps Gladiating by Scott Campbell, because somebody has to root for the guy with a net as his weapon. Not convinced yet? How about The Anna Nicole Smith Board Game by Vamberto Maduro (what, too soon?), a wonderful guide of her path to fame, fortune and early death. And, as always, Graham Annable raises the bar for funny with his piece, Frank’s Big Hand, in which a losing poker player finally has enough. It’s cheap at $2.95, that cover could fold out into a board game if you wanted to buy two copies and wreck the other one, and I did mention the part about all the laughing, right?
Comments Off on Various Alternative Comics anthologies – Hickee Volume 3 #3 | Reviews | Tagged: Graham Annable, Hickee, Joe White, Nathan Stapley, Razmig Mavlian, Scott Campbell, Vamberto Maduro | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 2, 2010
Website
Hickee
Here it is, the funniest anthology comic ever. It’s not? Fine, show me something funnier, I dare you. I’d love to see it if it exists, but I doubt it. If I had any doubts that the series would lose some steam or something after the first issue, I was happily proven wrong with the release of this collected edition. This is silly humor at its finest. I wouldn’t feel compelled to point that out if it wasn’t for the introduction of Sam Henderson, as he complains about being lumped into the same category as Graham Annable. There are many different types of humor comics out there among the very few alternative humor comics, and it’s important to try and keep them straight. If you like laughing, you’ll love this book. Few things have made me laugh out loud as much as sitting down and reading this volume. It’s $12.95 and it’s such a no-brainer that I’m not even going to try and hype it up any more.
Comments Off on Various Alternative Comics anthologies – Hickee | Reviews | Tagged: Graham Annable, Hickee, Sam Henderson | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 2, 2010
Website
Hickee #1
Anybody out there looking for the funniest anthology ever? EVER? OK, maybe some people would contest that, and I’m sure there are a few things that I’m forgetting, but this is the total package. I bought it because I mistakenly thought it was a new Graham Annable comic, but boy am I glad I was wrong. Don’t get me wrong, he does have the funniest story in here, out of four or five that are tied for funniest. There’s one story that’s retelling a song (even that had funny art), one with a guy farting and one that might have had a moral. Those were the ones that were below perfect. Everything else… ah, why rave about it? I’ll put the single funniest page in comics up as a sample (note from 8/6/07: turn out the computer ate those funny pages. Sorry). If you disagree, well, don’t buy it. If you agree at all, it’s all going to be funny to you. That story actually continues and gets even funnier, if you can believe that. Watch out because Alternative Comics is putting out a collected edition of this in a few months and you’d better believe that it’ll be up here as soon as I see it online. Here’s a list of contributors, and don’t let the fact that you might not have heard of these people scare you: Joe White, Marc Overney, Nathan Stapley, Razmig Mavlian, Scott Campbell, and Graham Annable. Anybody know if they have any solo efforts? E-mail the crew for ordering info or just wait for the big book…
Comments Off on Various Alternative Comics anthologies – Hickee #1 | Reviews | Tagged: Graham Annable, Hickee, Joe White, Marc Overney, Nathan Stapley, Razmig Mavlian, Scott Campbell | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 2, 2010
Website
Orchid Now Available! $8
And to think that I was regretting saving this one for last. After that Bogus Dead book in the middle of the week I was pretty sure nothing else was going to touch it, then along comes this book. In my opinion. there are two ways to make a great anthology. You can either have a lot of pieces, fast and furious, and you’ll come away with a good impression of the book as long as the majority of them are solid, or you can have a book with only a select few, long pieces. Orchid is comprised of seven long tales adaptations of gothic stories. The only one that didn’t do anything for me was Poe’s “The Raven”, and that’s mostly just because I’ve seen so many adaptations of it at this point in my life that I just don’t want to see it again. A personal problem of mine, granted, but that doesn’t change the fact that everything else in here is creepy and good. Kevin Huizenga (the back says that he “used to do a comic book named Supermonster”. Please don’t tell me that he’s done, that’s one of the best series out there and I only just found out about it!) has the longest piece, a disturbing tale about the power of visions. Here’s a list of the other names, and let me know if you need and more convincing: Lark Pien & Jesse Reklaw, Ben Catmull, T. Edward Bak, David Lasky, and Dylan Williams. It’s only $8 and I couldn’t recommend it more highly. Get this and Bogus dead and your anthology needs for the year should be pretty much met. If the website still isn’t working, you can send money to: Spark Plug Comics P. O. Box 10952 Portland, OR 97296-0952.
Comments Off on Various Spark Plug anthologies – Orchid | Reviews | Tagged: Ben Catmull, David Lasky, Dylan Williams, Jesse Reklaw, Kevin Huizenga, Lark Pien, Orchid, Sparkplug, T. Edward Bak | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 2, 2010
Website
Rosetta
It’s actually called Rosetta: A Comics Anthology, but you all get that, right? As for the book, it’s pretty much your average anthology, in that some of it is great (John Porcellino, Marc Bell, David Collier, Ron Rege), some of it is not so great (James Kochalka) and some of it is downright incomprehensible (M.S. Bastian, Renee French). Don’t get me wrong, I usually love James Kochalka’s stuff, it’s just that I really didn’t need to see the breakdown of one of his diary pages. Isn’t it self-explanatory enough as it is? Overall the whole thing is definitely worth a look, as more of the pieces are good than not and the production of this book was pretty amazing. It looks great. Unfortunately, that great look makes it $20, unless you go to Amazon quick and get it before they take the discount off. Another good thing about this is that there’s a lot of international talent, something we don’t see enough of in general. One problem I had was with Megan Kelso’s story. Don’t get me wrong, I loved it, it’s just that it was the length of a regular comic and it seemed sort of out of place in this setting. I say this fully knowing that I’m going to get her collected story when it comes out… Anyway, worth a look, but I’ve seen too many great anthologies this week already to get too excited over this.
Comments Off on Various Alternative Comics Anthologies – Rosetta | Reviews | Tagged: David Collier, James Kochalka, John Porcellino, M.S. Bastian, Marc Bell, Megan Kelso, Renee French, Ron Rege, Rosetta | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 2, 2010
Website
Bird Hurdler
A free sampler of some cartoonists you publish? What a great idea. And not just your average sampler, as the stories in here are self-contained, not just bits of stories to show off the artwork. They even have more available! It’s a good thing to be this impressed before I even get to the contents. Stories in here include Julia Gfrorer’s (and I would love to hear how that’s pronounced) story about getting killed by the chief man-witch and having to babysit for his child, Andrice Arp’s tale of a creep on an Amtrak train getting shot down, Zack Soto’s quiet piece about a relationship falling apart (told as an actual physical beating), Lisa Rosalie Eisenberg’s story of a cat trying to figure out the treat it got on Thanksgiving that was the best thing ever (and its sorrow at never being able to get said treat again due to the ethical constraints of its vegetarian owner), Farel Dalrymple’s piece on a botched magic spell and a girl who beats up boys on a regular basis (the only story that was a “part 2”, but it held up fine by itself) and a silent sleepy story by Theo Ellsworth. On the Spark Plug website they say that it’s available for $.01 and postage, but I’ll bet if you ordered a healthy stack of comics from them and asked politely they’d probably throw a copy in for you. Or maybe Nerd Burglar is better (as it’s also free), but I haven’t seen that one yet and this one if fine by itself. Any time I get a story told from the perspective of a cat I’m happy, as I’m apparently slowly turning into a middle aged woman. I still only own one cat though, so all hope isn’t lost for me yet…
Comments Off on Various Spark Plug Anthologies – Bird Hurdler | Reviews | Tagged: Andrice Arp, Bird Hurdler, Farel Dalrymple, Julia Gfrorer, Lisa Rosalie Eisenberg, Sparkplug, Theo Ellsworth, Zack Soto | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 2, 2010
Mallard page on Facebook
Mallard #3
What’s the word for an anthology that, although it has its moments, ends up falling pretty squarely in the “meh” category? It’s not awful, it’s not great, but to call it mediocre seems a bit harsh. Mediocre with dashes of brilliance? Closer. Anyway, the concept is fine, with Tom England (editor and contributor) pulling together various pieces by friends and strangers. First there’s part 3 of a text story by Christopher Leahy, in which the dialogue was amusing (once it got to the dialogue) but, being part 3 of a series, was a little hard to judge from my perspective. Maybe a recap of some sort for people like me who come in late? Fuong Mai Nguyen has a couple of shorties in here, one showing her room and one showing her face throughout the years. Hard to work up much enthusiasm for either, but the drawing of her room was at least impressive in its ambition. Philip Gyres probably has the strongest piece in the book next, a simple illustrated diary of a middle aged man going about his daily life. Dan Dyer has a few three panel strips after this, notable because one of them goes all the way to 6 panels to tell a story. Notable to me anyway, because it seems like most people who pick that format feel obligated to never change it no matter the story. Mostly mildly amusing, with a few of the punch lines the sorts of things you see coming from miles away, which is the danger of being required to end on a funny. Tom England has the biggest (illustrated) piece in the book, a meandering story about philosophy and flying (and swimming) monkeys. Finally there’s Claire Simmons with a text story about a young hog who decides to eat the world and the reaction of the rest of the forest to the disturbance. Oh, and Joe Baddeley has brief panels up throughout the comic that put the “minimum” in “minimalistic”, but they’re mostly funny and a nice break while reading the text pieces. As a whole maybe I should bump this up to “pretty decent with flashes of brilliance”. Claire’s story was creepy and fascinating, Tom’s bit at least got me thinking, and Philip’s story sounds like me in ten years. Based on the currency exchange rate, this is probably around $2.
Comments Off on Various Mallard anthologies – Mallard #3 | Reviews | Tagged: Christopher Leahy, Claire Simmons, Dan Dyer, Fuong Mai Nguyen, Joe Baddeley, Mallard, Philip Gyres, Tom England | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 2, 2010
Website
Romantic Eye #1
Is that a great cover or what? As always, when it comes to reviewing romantic comics and/or love stories, how jaded I am will inevitably shine through. This doesn’t say a single negative thing about the quality of the stories, the artwork or the wonder that is people in love… it just says that I tend to get a bit overwhelmed with this sort of thing and am not the best person to be rambling about it. That being said, time to ramble! There’s a wide collection of folks in here and, oddly enough, Mark Innes isn’t listed. Is it legal in comics world for somebody to publish an anthology and not be a part of it? Huh. Stories include Earl Geier’s tale of a post apocalyptic world and the man left fighting for all he has left of love, Henrik Rehr’s odd suggestion that I have a kid to compare that to being a kid, Ron Kasman’s seriously wonderful take on the hazards of getting cold feet while in the middle of a teleportation, John Migliore & Larry Blake’s Tales From The Crypt-esque ode to love in modern times, Steve LeBlanc’s warning about getting what you wished for, and Larry Blake’s explanation of how an attractive, ageless superheroine finds love. There’s a fair amount of shorter stories in here too, as this is packed for just a regulation size comic. Come to think of it, most of the stories in here aren’t as overtly sappy (re: legitimately romantic) as I first thought, and a bunch of them are clever even when expressing genuine emotions. It’s worth a look, probably even for us jaded types. Oh, and generally with the sample I try to capture either the art or the overall tone of the book, but for once I decided to sum up my feelings on the general idea of romance. $4
Comments Off on Various Anthologies edited by Mark Innes – Romantic Eye #1 | Reviews | Tagged: Earl Geier, Henrik Rehr, John Migliore, Larry Blake, Mark Innes, Romantic Eye, Ron Kasman, Steve LeBlanc | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 2, 2010
Website
Psychonaut #1
Hello and welcome to another episode of “we already know all about this guy”. I know, I’m about 5 years too late to be introducing this guy to anybody, but there is a chance that some of you out there might not have heard of him, and that would be a shame. These comics are a combination of tales of his life in Serbia before, during and after the war along with his hypnagogic (half dreaming, half awake) visions. He’s most famous for Life Under Sanctions, or at least that’s what I thought until I saw the other books that he has on Amazon. Great, another person who has a whole body of work that I would love to see and me with no money. Anyway, I can’t recommend this guy enough. He has a completely unique and honest view of the world around him and the bizarre and horrifying things that were happening in his land. If you like Joe Sacco (and who doesn’t like Joe Sacco?), then you’ll love this guy. I think Joe at least knew about this guy, as there aren’t that many “reporters” in the comics world. Not that that’s exactly what he did, but it’s the closest thing I can think of to describe it. These comics are cheap, buy a couple of them and see for yourself if you want to take the plunge with the bigger books.
Comments Off on Zograf, Aleksander – Psychonaut #1 | Reviews | Tagged: Aleksander Zograf, Bulletins From Serbia, Dream Watcher, Psychonaut | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 2, 2010
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The Magic Fishing Hook
One of these days I’m going to have to go through all the listings on this website (again) to find out current websites for everybody. Katrina only had her e-mail address listed in her comic, but after a fairly substantial amount of online digging I found something that seemed current. Hey, no big deal, I only have around 1000 people to check. How hard could it be? This comic is a fairly simple (and gorgeous) mini, dealing with a young boy trying to prove that he’s enough of a man to go out fishing with his older brothers. His mother makes his brothers take him out and, after having a spectacularly unsuccessful day, a previous thoughtless act comes back to him with a giant reward. A fairly simple concept, granted, but Katrina executes it perfectly. My only aesthetic complaint is that she left all sorts of blank pages at the end and a couple at the start. An artistic decision, I suppose, but I was enjoying the art so much that I wouldn’t have minded a short story or some sketches in those blank pages. Not exactly a pan, as how negative of a comment could it be if my only complaint was that I wanted to see more of her artwork? $1.50
Comments Off on Zimmerman, Katrina – The Magic Fishing Hook | Reviews | Tagged: Katrina Zimmerman, The Magic Fishing Hook | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 2, 2010
Comics at Stripburger
Baby Burgher
Another winner from the Stripburger pile. This one is all about Baby Burgher, a creature of pure evil apparently but also a small child, who goes around causing mayhem. He turns into a zombie, makes a cat-hippo, pretends to be a werewolf, steals the heads from dolls, turns himself invisible, and leaves the planet all so he can torment things and people. He kind of resembles Sof’ Boy (being a pudgy smiling creature), but lacks the joy for the world and has a hippo for a sidekick. Wordless and funny. I especially liked the touch of using pictures in the word balloons to tell what the characters were thinking. Anybody who buys these is probably going to be better off buying the whole pile from Top Shelf, but you can always e-mail the guy directly to see what else he has laying around.
Chris Staros over at Top Shelf told me that although the Mini Burger set isn’t available on the web page, you can still order it through their online catalog. Just go to the ordering page, click on #4 at the bottom (additional comments) and write in that you want the Mini Burger set for $19.95. They have it in stock, they just haven’t updated the site in a while. From what I’ve read, it’s worth it. There might be two bad ones in this bunch and a couple of mediocre ones, but the good ones are good in ways that you don’t usually see in this country.
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Posted by Kevin
