April 28, 2010
Website
Pater Contratius
Here’s a Robot Publishing story that’s significantly different from the other ones. This one’s about a pastor who walks through life reading the Good Book, blissfully ignoring the very real problems of the world around him. He sees things in a new light when his book is taken from him, and hilarity ensues. Or something like that. This is a wordless color mini (I can’t stress enough how good all these Robot Publishing minis looked) and it’s a treat. The art reminds me a little of Edward Gorey but not inked quite as heavily, if that makes any sense. Very professional and I’d love to see anything else she’s done. For now you can go to Mars Import and order this if it strikes your fancy. It’s worth $1.80 for the second to last page alone…
Comments Off on Malkasian, Cathy – Pater Contratius | 
Reviews | Tagged: Cathy Malkasian, Pater Contratius | 
Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 28, 2010
Website
E-mail
Giocanda Fucked Up!
This one was done by a couple of brothers in Italy. It’s simple as all hell, as it’s just a man (Giocanda) alone in a room ranting about different artists and their paintings. A quick read, but funny. Kind of had the feeling that there were a lot of in-jokes involved (I know the basics of art history but that’s about it), so somebody who knows the medium a little better might have gotten more out of it than I did. Still, I liked it and I would pick up anything else I saw that they did.
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.
Comments Off on Maicol & Mirco – Giocanda Fucked Up! | Reviews | Tagged: Giocanda Fucked Up, Maicol & Mirco | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 28, 2010
Website
Lone Racer
What’s so great about redemption anyway? That’s the uplifting moral I took from Lone Racer, and three cheers to Nicolas for pointing that out. This is the story of Lone Racer (at least I think that’s his given
name), a racer who’s past his prime and dealing with a wife stuck in the hospital, a constantly drunk best friend and a cop friend who’s on the verge of becoming a criminal. So what’s left to do when you were once
the best at your profession and are now unable even to qualify for races? Well, there’s always the option of having an affair on the invalid wife, if conscience will allow it. Or there’s a life of crime. Or, of course, he could always try to make a comeback. The art here could only be called unique; it’s up to you from looking at that sample if you think it’s amateurish and ugly or transcendentally beautiful. I never thought characters essentially without faces could be so expressive. The final race scene here, from qualifying all the way to
the reactions after it’s over, is a thing of beauty. It’s sad that price has to come into the equation here (if you’re independently wealthy I recommend this unreservedly), but the sad fact is that this is $12.95 for a pretty short read. Maybe you can get it cheaper through Amazon or the next time Top Shelf does a big sale, who knows? It’s a wonderful story in every aspect. Bits of it have been swirling around in my head since I read it a couple of days ago, which is always a good sign. Or merit alone, this is a great book for optimists and pessimists alike.
Comments Off on Mahler, Nicolas – Lone Racer | Reviews | Tagged: Lone Racer, Nicolas Mahler | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 28, 2010
Website
, Henry
There are times when I want to talk about a comic when it’s done, go over all the finer points, explain exactly what I didn’t like about something. There are also times when I just want to bask in something that I truly enjoyed, and this is one of those times. What can I say about this… It was a poem about life and the world, at least to me. It’s not perfect. One of the stories in the back didn’t do much for me, and he reaches a bit too high at times, but it’s a great book, it looks amazing and I’ll probably read it a few more times in the next couple of days. I’m not sure what else I say to recommend that you at least try it, so there you go. E-mail Paul and demand that he do more comics.
Comments Off on Madonna, Paul – , Henry | Reviews | Tagged: Henry, Paul Madonna | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 28, 2010
Website
A Fine Mess
Regular comic series being put out by any of the “major” independent comic publishers these days are almost extinct, so it’s great to see any additions at all. It’s even better when the new book is almost thoroughly enjoyable. The only part I didn’t like was the “Exercises in Style” bit at the end where he told the same story several times using different cartooning styles. I didn’t even hate that, it just kind of bugged me for some reason. It’s interesting in theory, and I can see why he would want to experiment, I was just bored. The rest of the book was great. The opening story was in SPX 2001, so if you’ve read that you know what I’m talking about. The bulk of the book was about the last night in town of one man and what he does with it. A fascinating, real story about how some things just don’t get worked out. Sure, it’s about a lot more than that, I’m just projecting here. Visit his website for ordering info and bug him to keep putting these out while you’re at it…
Comments Off on Madden, Matt – A Fine Mess | Reviews | Tagged: A Fine Mess, Matt Madden | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 28, 2010
Website (for a DVD, with contact info)
Air Mail
Quick, everybody check that cover out and tell me what the title of this book is. I have no idea at all (and no, the inside doesn’t help), so instead of writing everything on the title I’m going with “air mail”. It’s not on the website either, but this might be new for SPACE, so maybe it’ll be up there soon. Anyway, the comic. It’s only about four pages, so there’s not much to say (apparently I got a lot of tiny comics at SPACE, which wasn’t the intention). What there is to say isn’t good, unless this is an experiment in minimalism, in which case I still don’t get it. It’s a dry-as-a-bone rundown of the trip described in the telegram on the inside cover, no frills at all. You can see for yourself with the sample about the art. Looking at the website it seems like there’s some interesting stuff there, so I guess I just picked up the wrong one at the con, but I didn’t get much of anything out of this one. Let’s call it $1 and leave it at that…
Comments Off on Mackey, Jim – Air Mail | Reviews | Tagged: Air Mail, Jim Mackey | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 28, 2010
Website
Smoo! #2
Ah, the quiet, contemplative comic. They seem to be harder to come by these days, although that could be my imagination, or perhaps just my lousy memory. This one is a series of short pieces that all more or less blend together. Things start with Simon needing a change and going for the easiest one: haircut and growing a beard. Stories after that include visiting a stranger’s grave, exaggerating your qualities while telling stories about yourself to strangers, the nature of time and worrying about the future, the inability to really remove yourself from the world, Simon’s sudden memory of killing a small wounded animal as a child as something he thought of as a kindness, and the brief space right after a fight with a girlfriend when things could go in any of a number of directions. The stories have more variety than you might think from those basic descriptions, as Simon regularly populates stories with images and/or demons from his mind. The art is quietly impressive without being overbearing, as it seems simple enough until you really start to pick at it, then you can see that there’s plenty going on. None of that lazy, “I’ll just skip the backgrounds” nonsense going on here. Anyway, it’s worth a look, although it’s always at least mildly worrisome when the most recent book from somebody was done over a year ago. Or worrisome to me at least, as it seems like minis build up a momentum of their own and once they’re left alone for too long that momentum never comes back. No price, but let’s go with $3 for no reason.
Comments Off on M., Simon – Smoo! #2 | Reviews | Tagged: Simon M., Smoo | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 28, 2010
Website
Last Kiss Preview
Is it cheating to review a tiny preview of a comic? Well, fine, then I’m cheating. I didn’t pick up a regular issue of this (as I was broke by the time I got to his table), but the story of the book was too great for me not to try it. John bought the rights to an old Romance series of comic books and puts his own dialogue in the bubbles. Sounds simple, I know, and it is, but it’s also pretty funny, or at least it seems to be from this little sample. This one is all about how Martha Stewart became a super hero and her rocky marriage. Oh, and irradiated fish. Funny stuff, I’ll have to get a real issue one of these days to write a proper review, but I can at least tell you that it looks promising and give you a website to check it out for yourself…
Comments Off on Lustig, John – Last Kiss Preview | Reviews | Tagged: John Lustig, Last Kiss | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 28, 2010
E-mail
In the Name of Love (R. Kelly Comics)
There are times when I just don’t get it. This is, of course, a useless opinion when it comes to writing a review, because then why would you even bother? Well, Scott has done some work with Chris Anderson (and all of you should immediately buy and enjoy his comics, or at least all of his comics that I’ve seen), so I thought he needed his own page here, a way for people to contact him directly. Scott has done here what it probably looks like from the cover: he has illustrated various R. Kelly lyrics. The trouble is that the images seem to have little or no connection to the lyrics. Don’t get me wrong, the man can draw and some of the images by themselves are powerful/funny/impressive. But the two things never seem to line up, and it’s hard to wonder why this exists in the first place. If he was looking to shine a light on the sheer ridiculousness of some of R. Kelly’s lyrics, well, kudos, although how these lyrics are any dumber than any of the other utterly interchangeable R & B singers is beyond me. Maybe it’s all a bizarre meta experiment in making reviewers look stupid? Hey, I don’t need any help. At the end of the day it’s nice to have at least some small clue of why a comic exists, and this one just baffles me. Check out his work with Chris Anderson, as it’s brilliant, but this one is easily skipped. Unless you can spot something in that sample that I’m missing… $3 (?)
Comments Off on Longo, Scott – In the Name of Love (R. Kelly Comics) | Reviews | Tagged: In the Name of Love, R. Kelly Comics, Scott Longo | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 28, 2010
Website
Pretend
This is one of those cases where the title sums up the book perfectly. This is all about a young girl going out for a walk and pretending that she’s a mermaid. Not to give anything away, but that should be fairly obvious by the cover. Her mother decides to join her, and most of the book is basically them frolicking. There is a conflict too, but it’s the happy times in this that I like. Fiona has worked with Dave Kiersh and it’s obvious that she’s been influenced a wee bit by his drawing style, as she has similar, meandering backgrounds at times, and I only mean that in the best possible sense. Anyway, I thought it was a great comic and I think she has big things ahead of her, as who on earth could go wrong by being influenced by Dave Kiersh? Is it obvious that I’m just a bit biased? Oh well, I think it’s obvious to any regular readers of this site that some people would literally have to poop on their comic before they sent it to me to get a bad review. I’m guessing, based on the size and the fact that the cover is colored, that this is $3. I could be very wrong, but why not send her an e-mail at fionaoksana@hotmail.com to find out for sure?
Comments Off on Logusch, Fiona – Pretend | Reviews | Tagged: Fiona Logusch, Pretend | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 28, 2010
Website
Fidget #16
I have to give T. and Dan credit: they make the absolute most of their 8 page mini. For one thing, look at that fantastic cover. You have a snake with a grenade in its mouth, the body of Nick Fury with a clown head grafted on top, a woman wearing a bikini and holding a knife, and a pepperoni pizza. Almost impossible not to pick that up for that $.30 listed price. The story inside is mostly a parody of 24 done really well, touching on the absurdities of travelling across town during commercial breaks and how it’s not important if much happens during the hour as long as that hour is appropriately dramatic. They also somehow manage to cram in jokes about Pamela Anderson and the logical future progression of Fox reality shows. Judging from the website it looks like there’s a big book of this stuff available and it’s all parody in one form or another, at least from what I can see. Hard to say if this would hold up over a big book, but it’s certainly hilarious in a small dose like this and, seeing as how the things out there to parody are limitless, it’s sure possible that a big book would be hilarious too.
Comments Off on Litz, T. Richard & Kellaway, Dan – Fidget #16 | Reviews | Tagged: Dan Kellaway, Fidget, T. Richard Litz | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 28, 2010
Website
I Love New York
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’ve been getting entirely too many of these 9/11 benefit books. I’m curious to see how the artists I admire reacted to that day, naturally, but I’m even getting stuff from people I never heard of, like this guy. Maybe I’m looking for some feeling of closure, or maybe I’m waiting for somebody to explain the whole thing and have it make sense, I honestly have no idea. Anyway, this one is by a cartoonist who apparently specializes in drawing half-naked women (click on the link on the title, you’ll see what I mean). Not that that’s a bad thing, and I haven’t read anything by the guy, so I’m not going to start making fun of him. His regular stuff doesn’t look like anything I’d be interested in and, until I hear differently, I’m not going to check it out. What about this one, is it worth getting? Eh, I don’t know. Here’s possibly the worst line ever in a comic, and that’s saying a lot: “I heard thousands of human voices meeting their ends, like human cold cuts in a concrete sandwich of death”. Um… yeah. The only reason I didn’t stop reading it right then is because the line was from a story somebody told him, so at least he didn’t make it up. All of these comics about that day are at least fascinating to see all the things that happened to all the different people, how they all learned about the events, how they tried to find their family, or made a connection with their family after many years simply because this happened. If you’re interested in that type of stuff, get this. It has a great afterward too, something that I didn’t think was possible for whatever reason. Wishy-washy review #941, but there you go. It’s hard to criticize something this heartfelt, even if it does come across as cheesy at times. Go to his homepage, maybe you can find something you like.
Comments Off on Linsner, Joseph Michael – I Love New York | Reviews | Tagged: I Love New York, Joseph Michael Linsner | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 28, 2010
Website
The Egg Mysterious
Sometimes I have no problem with symbolism and being able to tell if a comic is just an elaborate in-joke for the author, and sometimes I have no clue. That’s the case for this one. I like the very few pages of dialogue, then it goes to a movie about a woman who is having a dream about becoming a sperm, if I’m even interpreting that correctly, until she wakes up and it loses me completely. Don’t get me wrong, there’s something here, it’s just that I’m getting dumber as I get older and I’ve lost my ability to figure stuff like this out. Except for the times that it makes perfect sense, of course. The art was expressive and detailed, no problem there. Based on the dialogue pages I believe that Ellen can write and I’d like to see it displayed in another comic, as this one honestly just confuses me. Liked the ending a lot, though. E-mail her to tell her how stupid I am if you wish, or check out her website.
Comments Off on Lindner, Ellen – The Egg Mysterious | Reviews | Tagged: Ellen Lindner, The Egg Mysterious | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 28, 2010
E-mail
Creep #1 (art by Jack Bertram)
Who likes exclamation points! Should I put them at the end of all my sentences here, just like in the comic! No, I didn’t think so. It’s OK, he’s doing it on purpose, to make fun of stupid comics. I think. The first story is about The Creep, a very gross superhero. Mostly just because he oozes all over the place. The second story is about cannibal pygmies and how pointless it is to fight them. Really, if that $.05 cover price it true, there’s no reason not to check this out. It’s hilarious at times, and the dialogue (and captions) are so over the top that it’s impossible not to laugh. No contact info in here, but here’s an e-mail address from the letter that came with the comics. Yes, as in plural, so there’ll be more up here soon enough.
Comments Off on Limacher, Al – Creep #1 (art by Jack Bertram) | Reviews | Tagged: Al Limacher, Creep, Jack Bertram | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 28, 2010
Publisher’s website
Power of 6: The Twisted Apples Part One
A note about this particular page first: there were image scans of all the comics Jon had published (until about 2003 anyway) and links that no longer worked, but not much that could be called a proper review, so I chucked the whole thing. Sorry, but what’s the point of having a bunch of outdated links cluttering things up? Jon’s past series have been wonderful, wonderful things, if you can manage to find copies of any of them. True Swamp, Spectacles, and Ghost Ship are things you should always be searching for, if you don’t have them already. OK, how about this comic? Jon tackles a super hero group this time around, or at least I think that’s what they’re supposed to be. It opens with Convenient Boy, nervous about his upcoming interview with a team of actual heroes, sipping coffee and using his powers to warm it up for himself and his mailman. We follow him to an ordinary house and an awkward interview in which he gets to demonstrate all three of his powers (secreting stickum, making copies of things, and using the power of a microwave), all to disastrous effect. It’s a great introduction to the group, as they have to deal with the mess he caused showing off his powers. I know some people don’t do super hero comics, no matter what form they come in, even if done by one of the better comics creators working today. That’s fine, whatever floats that boat of yours. But so far this is funny, smart and completely human, something lacking in plenty of these types of books. And we haven’t even seen all the members of the group yet! It’s only a two-parter, so things will have to get wrapped up quickly next time around. I’m just thrilled that he’s working, and seems to have all kinds of things planned according to the back of the book. It’s $4.95 but it’s gorgeous and a pretty fat book, for what it’s worth…
Comments Off on Lewis, Jon – Power of 6: The Twisted Apples Part One | Reviews | Tagged: Jon Lewis, Power of 6, The Twisted Apples | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 28, 2010
E-mail
Walking Man Comics Presents: Special #38 Split Heirs
What’s there to say about a comic that is done with a variety of rubber stamps? I only got two of these at SPACE, but they’re both basically the same thing. Matt uses rubber stamps and either lyrics or poems to tell his story, and then it’s over. This is a tiny book. Kind of cute, but that’s as far as it goes. Not a bad idea, but there’s not much here to get excited about either. Maybe if I saw more of his stuff, something with a bit more substance, I could draw a more positive conclusion from this. Until then. it’s OK. That’s all I can tell you. Send him money ($1 each) at 123 Elm St. Hatfield, MA 01038. Or just e-mail him, he can probably explain this better than I can…
Comments Off on Levin, Matt – Walking Man Comics Presents: Special #38 Split Heirs | Reviews | Tagged: Matt Levin, Split Heirs, Walking Man Comics | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 28, 2010
Website
Drawn From Experience
Here’s a collection of short gag strips and one page stories from a guy who says that he’s been “lurking in the fringes” of the small press scene for 15 years, trying to get back into comics. I say good for him, because while some of these are pretty dated (there’s one about DC setting up a hotline on whether Robin should live or die from the late 80’s, for example), they’re generally pretty funny, or at least funny enough for me to want to see more of what Michael can do today. Tons of random stuff in here, including the perils of office romance, Hatman, Leo the Lion, a giant cockroach, finding motivation, a convention stand-out, and a couple of other random gags. Like I said, pretty funny overall, it makes me wonder what else he has up his sleeve. I’d say this is a buck or two, but you can always send him an e-mail to find out for sure…
Comments Off on Leuszler, Michael – Drawn From Experience | Reviews | Tagged: Drawn From Experience, Michael Leuszler | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 28, 2010
Website
The Bridge Project
Just so it’s clear, as of 10/07/09 that website is still “under construction”. Well, it does lead to a fair amount of samples from Matt and other places to learn about this book, so it’s better than most “under construction” websites, and this book is new enough that it might really be under construction. I’ve just become jaded from seeing that warning on countless websites only to have the construction never start. Anyway, how about the book? This is an anthology with a unique goal: team up on cartoonist living in Portland with one living in San Francisco, let them do their thing and see what comes out of it. Some of these stories just have one person drawing, some of them mix both artists in, but the mildly surprising thing is how well all of this works. Collaborations can be a tricky business, but Matt seems to have found the magic formula. This did take a couple of years to put together, so I guess technically he did have time to work some bugs out. Stories in here include The Forlorn Hope (by Shannon O’Leary & Ryan Alexander-Tanner, dealing with the infamous Donner party), The “The Bridge Project” Project (by Peter Conrad, the only solo piece in the book due to Peter’s partner crapping out on him), Nerd Prom (by Carolyn Main & Jesse Baggs about cartoonists in relationships getting along a little too well at a convention), Shanghooked (by Graham Annable & Scott Campbell), Lost Intersection (by Matt Leunig & Seamus Heffernan, the heart of the book), Jumpers (by Sina Grace & Susan Tardif, about a long distance relationship disintegrating), Future Jerks (by Jonathan Hill & Calvin Wong about, um, vegan jerks in the future), Dark Matter (by Tom Lechner & John Isaacson, dealing with an especially creepy invasion), The MVPs (by Josh Frankel & Greg Means, it’s about star basketball players yearning to make comics), and The Doppelganger (by Tessa Brunton & Vanessa Grunton, it’s all about the various evil twins we have all over the place. All that and there’s still room for a couple of short pieces by Rina Ayuyang & Erika Moen (an untitled piece about trying to fit in in Portland), Mari Naomi & Rachel Mendez (Inga and the Whales, a heartbreaking tale (almost certainly an urban legend) about a whale thanking its rescuers), and David Chelsea & Two Fine Chaps (that’s really what they’re called, it deals with David’s uncle having a stroke). It’s packed, is what I’m trying to say, and there’s really not a weak piece in the bunch. Graham Annable is always worth the price of admission to me and his piece on the sea serpent was brilliant, there were some damned useful tips in The Doppelganger (if you ever run into yours, that is), Peter Conrad was far too nice in not naming the slacker that promised him a script for months, and the center of the book by Matt & Seamus, dealing with a few people and their relationships over the years, was a perfect place to do some artist swapping. So now that I’ve mentioned how great the content was, I at least have to mention the layout. No table of contents, but that was made up for by the inclusion on the bottom of every page of the artists.  It seems to be the norm not to mention that on the page in anthologies, and it bugs me every time it’s not included, so kudos to Matt for that. It’s an impressive achievement, here’s hoping this didn’t scare him off editing anthologies altogether and he can keep this concept going with other cities. And did I mention this is a measly $9.95?
Comments Off on Leunig, Matt (editor) – The Bridge Project | Reviews | Tagged: Calvin Wong, Carolyn Main, David Chelsea, Erika Moen, Grahan Annable, Greg Means, Jesse Baggs, John Isaacson, Jonathan Hill, Josh Frankel, Mari Naomi, Matt Leunig, Peter Conrad, Rachel Mendez, Rina Ayuyang, Ryan Alexander-Tanner, Scott Campbell, Seamus Heffernan, Shannon O'Leary, Sina Grace, Susan Tardif, Tessa Brunton, The Bridge Project, Tom Lechner, Vanessa Grunton | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 28, 2010
E-mail
Big ‘Un Visits the City
Who likes mayhem? As you may have guessed by that cover (shame on you for judging a book by its cover, even if you did get it right this time) that giant sea monster (?) decides to wander into the city, because… well, why do these big monsters usually go into cities? Let’s go with that reason, whatever it is. The monster gets some resistance, mostly just a nuisance to him (unless it’s a her), and has a merry old time tearing up the place. Eventually the secret weapon is brought out, but I won’t give away the ending. It’s a fun book if you’re into this sort of thing. No graphic violence so your kids could read it if they love monster movies, and there are a number of little clever asides. I particularly enjoyed the crowd scene consisting of 4 people planning and a number of others running away. Clearly these people were in some sort of anti Big ‘Un squadron, but I loved how any details about it or about the secret weapon were glossed right over. Hey, it’s only a mini comic and the man needed to cram as much destruction in here as he could; there’s no faulting him for that. If you’re looking for a long whiny tract about What It All Means there are plenty of pages on this website that’ll fit the bill. If you just want to see a big monster tearing through a town for no good reason, you’ve come to the right place. $1
Comments Off on Leonard, Brian – Big ‘Un Visits the City | Reviews | Tagged: Big 'Un Visits the City, Brian Leonard | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 28, 2010
Website
Tales From The Farm
Hooray for relentless ugliness! The art here is blotchy and clumpy, with all sorts of angles on the faces of these sad, sad people. It’s the story of a young boy named Lester who goes to live with his Uncle on a farm after his Mother dies of cancer. His Uncle, Ken, never had any kids and seems to be at something of a loss as to how to deal with Lester. He’s obviously trying, but Lester is having his own problem adjusting to things and they just can’t seem to connect. Lester meets a shopkeeper in town, Jimmy, an old hockey player who took a nasty hit and was never the same. They spend their days building a fort for the upcoming alien invasion and generally playing around like kids do except, of course, Jimmy is a grown man. The sheer vulnerability of everyone here is astounding. With the exception of maybe a page or two (when Ken tries to convince Jimmy to stay away from Lester), the faces here tell a tale of confusion, of trying to cope with something genuinely awful, of knowing that the only option is for them to move forward together but being unable to make the leap. And if Jimmy comes across like a simpleton from that description, it’s not how it reads. He’s a lonely man, sure, but he’s mostly sticking around Lester because he’s trying to help the kid cope, and because…well, some things are best left to the reader to discover. Good stuff, and this is the first part of a projected trilogy based around Essex County. It looks like the characters will change from book to book, but that’s the sort of thing that’ll become a lot clearer when the rest of them are published, obviously… $9.95
Comments Off on Lemire, Jeff – Tales From The Farm | Reviews | Tagged: Jeff Lemire, Tales From the Farm | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
