April 27, 2010
Website
Website for Pinstriped Bloodbath
Pinstriped Bloodbath (edited by Jeff)
What a great idea for an anthology. Take various artists, let them use gangsters from Chicago in the 20’s-30’s (or some modern day take on it) and put the whole thing together. That suit on the cover folds out as you open the comic, and that little flower in the lapel is apparently different for the different stores stocking it. So fine, the packaging is gorgeous, what about the comic? There’s a fine collection of talent assembled, and they all have their unique takes on the stories. Bernie McGovern has a heartbreaking and gory take on the last moments of Baby Face Nelson, Neil Brideau has a quiet conversation between gangsters as one of them tries to crack a safe, Nate Beaty has a silent take on the constant violence and the practice of soaking of blood from the murder scenes as a macabre souvenir, Rickey Gonzalez shows the last moments of Dillinger (or is it?), Neil Fitzpatrick proves that he can’t draw regular human eyeballs and tells the tale of the gangster killed by a horse (and the gangster’s revenge on said horse), Sam Sharpe retells a conversation he had with his at least mildly demented mother about keeping his “gangster” name, Jeff Zwirek has what appears to be a soundly researched piece about the Thompson submachine gun, and Jeremy Tinder closes with instructions on how to make bathtub gin. Throw in a couple of illustrations by Ivan Brunetti and Joshua Cotter and voila! You have one ridiculously entertaining anthology. You could practically make a series out of all the gangster stories from that time period, but Jeff probably already rounded up most of the high points. If you’re at all a fan of this sort of thing it’s essential that you pick this up. If you’re at all squeamish, however, things do get a little bloody, because how else could you tell these stories? No price, let’s spin the mystery price wheel… $6!
Comments Off on Zwirek, Jeff (editor) – Pinstriped Bloodbath | 
Reviews | Tagged: Bernie McGovern, Ivan Brunetti, Jeff Zwirek, Jeremy Tinder, Joshua Cotter, Nate Beaty, Neil Brideau, Neil Fitzpatrick, Pinstriped Bloodbath, Rickey Gonzalez, Sam Sharpe | 
Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website
Redbird #1
Three cheers for a regular series from Dan Zettwoch! OK, I’ll reserve the cheers until it’s an actual series instead of an intended ongoing series (I know how these things sometimes turn out), but if he does keep it up and if the other books are as good as this one, there should be a lot of happy folks out there. The first big story in this book is about an illustrator talking to a high school class. They’re bored silly, although he does finally manage to win some of them over, but the dialogue and the actions of the students are just priceless. There’s one short story about a man who gets his chicken dinner stolen and then a great little tale about making sweet tea. I won’t get into the details here, but if I had all of things needed to make this in glass form (which is apparently essential) I’d sure give it a try. Everything I’ve seen from Dan has been great and this didn’t do anything to change that opinion. Contact info is up there, it’s only $2 and well worth a look.
Comments Off on Zettwoch, Dan – Redbird #1 | Reviews | Tagged: Dan Zettwoch, Redbird | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website
Iron Clad
You know, I would think that historical comics would be pretty boring things. I don’t think I’ve seen one yet that has been dull, maybe it’s just latent memories of school or something. This is the tale of the beginning of iron battleships when they were used in the Civil War. He uses all kinds of references and has a great ear for realistic, old timey (I know there are better words to use, I just wanted to say “old timey”) dialogue. What makes it fascinating is that nobody actually died in the battle he depicted, as both of the ships were evenly matched. Great art and it’s pretty much a history lesson, which is the kind of thing that you don’t get much in comics. Go here, or to the Catastrophe page to see all of this comics…
Comments Off on Zettwoch, Dan – Iron Clad | Reviews | Tagged: Dan Zettwoch, Iron Clad | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website
A Story About Collectin’!
All this for $1? This is a pretty dense little book, a story of an older man and his collection of junk. Or treasure, depending on how you look at it. It’s refreshing to see a story that focuses on an elderly couple. Sure, maybe more people can relate to the stories that are about 20-something slackers, but it can get a bit monotonous at times, even when it’s done well. Anyway, I liked this one. Maybe the reason I’m liking most everything these days is because I’m buying stuff like this based on the recommendations of the people on The Comics Journal Message Board, so it shouldn’t be all that surprising that I’d share some of the same opinions. The actual story doesn’t really even get started until the main character finds a key and a locked box while fishing but, again, I’m not going to go into details here. Are you telling me that you don’t have a dollar to check this out? It takes a while to read and it’s a good story. Cripes, he even researched the hell out of everything. You can get this from Kevin Huizenga’s page or you can just send him a few bucks (maybe he has some other stuff that he can send to you) at: Shotguns and Typewriters 1411 15th St. San Francisco CA 94103.
Comments Off on Zettwoch, Dan – A Story About Collectin’! | Reviews | Tagged: A Story About Collectin'. Dan Zettwoch | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website where you can buy her new (as of 2010) comic
Where you can buy #14 1/2
Online comic
Strange Growths #14 1/2
I’m always amazed when I read a comic from somebody like Jenny (who I’ve been reading for years) and see that they don’t have a page on my website. It’s completely because I haven’t seen anything new from her for years, and I don’t even know if this is new, but you can still get it at USSCatastrophe, so I guess that makes it still viable. She’s one of those people that I just ate up back in the day, completely taken by the sheer beauty of the prose. In other words, if you find yourself in a place where you can get a bunch of her old minis, for the love of all that’s holy do it. This one is a shortie with dreams she had while pregnant. Fascinating stuff, and it’s too short for me to ruin it by telling you what it’s about. Which is sort of a cop-out, I guess, but if you already know who this is and didn’t know this issue was out you won’t need much convincing. $1.50
Comments Off on Zervakis, Jenny – Strange Growths #14 1/2 | Reviews | Tagged: Jenny Zervakis, Strange Growths | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website where you can buy her new (as of 2010) comic
Where you can buy #14 1/2
Online comic
Super Growths: Strange Growths Sampler #1-6
Every once in a while I hit one of these nostalgic old mini comic reviews at the right time: John Porcellino (yes, THAT John Porcellino) is distributing Jenny’s first new issue of Strange Growths in 6 years (#15). That’s great, as this is another mini from 1993 and it had me wondering if it was a complete waste of time to list it. The good news is that I also found a place to buy another issue from her online (links to both are above) so, while it’s not necessarily convenient and it wouldn’t hurt to have more comics available, at least you can buy a few of her books easily. This is a sampler of her older comics, so the art is a little rough on occasion, but the genuine heart in these stories more than makes up for it. Pieces in here include getting a growth removed from the face of her brother (twice, and it just occurred to me that that may be where the name for the mini came from), inflamed balls on the bus, changing seasons, dealing with self-help, learning (and dealing out) cruelty at an early age, getting hit on by morons, the story of their old dog, somebody selling double yolk eggs door to door, trying to remember the name of a very odd food item, the artificial water flower, the upkeep of gardens, a restaurant conversation, a comet and how it ruined the world for a young boy, a true monster, and one longer piece that is too beautiful for me to even say anything about it. Take that as a cop-out if you’d like. Like I said, this sure seems out of print to me. Maybe you could have a little more luck in your digging, but all I could find were the two issues…
Comments Off on Zervakis, Jenny – Super Growths Sampler #1-6 | Reviews | Tagged: Jenny Zervakis, Strange Growths, Super Growths | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Bio (sort of)
E-mail
Muck Duch
A rare comic from Jeff! This is a cute little comic. Some of the perspective is messed up, but I liked the story. Aliens come down to earth and apparently (it’s a wordless comic) decide that they need to capture someone. They narrow the search down and throw a net over a man as he leaves a liquor store, and hijinx ensue. Without giving anything away (and this won’t make any sense to you until you read it anyway) I love how the end is in the morning instead of at night. Altogether it’s a wonderful little story of running away from things and dancing. It’s probably a buck, send it there and see what happens! Or just send him a letter to see if he’s still there, you should really check out his zines anyway if you haven’t yet…
Comments Off on Zenick, Jeff – Muck Duch | Reviews | Tagged: Jeff Zenick, Muck Duch | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Bio (sort of)
E-mail
Portion of Existence
I first heard about Jeff through a glowing review in the Spit and a Half catalog about 5 years ago. He refers to his books as “mini-zines”, and that’s as good a name as any. They’re usually about 4/5 diary-style writing and the other fifth is drawings he makes of the people and places around him. He basically travels all over the place, riding his bike from town to town and telling about the places he goes and the people he meets. Quiet, simple stuff, this issue is about trying to live on the kitchen floor of his drunk schizophrenic friend, getting thrown in jail for 20 days for pot, working a couple of odd jobs and generally questioning a lot of things about the world. Getting any one of these books is a treat. They’re always written about the most mundane things but they never fail to be fascinating. Send him a couple of bucks and a stamp and ask him for his latest, won’t you? Here’s his address, for sure, as of 6/11/03: 7312 Hollis St. Tallahassee, FL 32312. Or e-mail him, but I think he’d get back to you quicker if you just sent him some money or comics in the mail…
Comments Off on Zenick, Jeff – Portion of Existence | Reviews | Tagged: Jeff Zenick, Portion of Existence | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website
Tuesday
and Thursday
See? Sometimes it’s the right thing to do to wait for an
artist to develop a little bit. I was probably a bit harsh in
the last review too. I did have legitimate complaints about
it, it’s just that hindsight is always 20/20… Anyway, this
book. It’s the story of a man on his days off and what he does
with them. Along the way we meet his shrew of a wife and his
drunken friends, and we learn about his kleptomania. The only
problem I had in this book was the ending, and that was only because
it seemed like an easy solution to the story. Maybe not, maybe
I’m being too hard on it, but it doesn’t really matter because I
loved the rest of it. His characters have gained levels since
Dream Big Dreams, the dialogue has improved when it was already
pretty damned good, even the art has stepped up a notch or two.
This is a thoroughly engaging read from start to finish and his
subtle but dead-on take on male-female relations is one of the
truest things I’ve read in some time. Spend $8.95, check it
out. I don’t see it anywhere online currently, but you can
always ask Fantagraphics
if they have it. Or you could just mail the man direct at:
75-05 217 St. Bayside, NY 11364.
Comments Off on Zaben, Andrew – Tuesday and Thursday | Reviews | Tagged: Andrew Zaben, Tuesday and Thursday | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website
Dream Big Dreams
Enough already. I’ve given this book every chance that I can,
and I’m afraid that the bad things outweigh the good. I read
it a couple of times before this. Didn’t like it the first time,
found more to like the second time around and now, trying to read it
the third time, I just can’t do it. What problems do I have
with it? Well, the art, for starters. Technically, it’s
fine, if a little bland. Still, I shouldn’t have a problem
distinguishing characters the third time through, and I could still
barely tell them apart. I don’t care for most of the dialogue
either. It feels stilted and contrived most of the time.
So why did I read it two and a half times if I hated it so much?
It’s not like I’ve heard any buzz about it at all, so there’s no
standard that I keep expecting it to hit. It has some really
great concepts and plot ideas. The idea of the little hole in
the wall bar (one of the true places left in the world for actual
conversation about politics and important topics) being franchised
out is a great idea. That’s the strongest part of the book,
even if I still don’t like some of the dialogue. If any of you
are still reading this after my initial rant, I think this guy has a
voice. He didn’t have it with this book, not by a long shot,
but I’m hoping that this was a learning experience for him. I
think Fantagraphics is
putting out another book by him in a couple of months (which is
where you can get this one, if you’re curious. Just go to the
page and type in his name once you get to the catalog), and I hope
to have enough money to give it a shot, because I’m curious.
Here’s that art I was talking about.
Comments Off on Zaben, Andrew – Dream Big Dreams | Reviews | Tagged: Andrew Zaben, Dream Big Dreams | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
E-mail
Typewriter #6
There are some reviews that just write themselves. Look, I’ll give you the part of the lineup (that way part of it is still a mystery!) for the anthology, OK? Neil Fitzpatrick, Souther Salazar, Josh Simmons, Paul Hornschemeier, Marc Bell, Dylan Williams, and Scott Mills. The idea here is that everybody picks up after everybody else, in whatever manner they see fit. For example, Dylan Williams has a short story about a man in a bar, complaining about music, until he sees “Me and My Demon Speeder are Gonna Win This Race” written on the bathroom wall. Marc Bell picks up right there, with a character that only Marc Bell could draw, in a race, on something that looks like a demon speeder. Some of the transitions are smooth, some of them aren’t, but this book is a tremendous experiment regardless. Yes, I know it’s been done before, but this book is $10 and hefty, so it’s nice to see it being done on a larger scale. My only beef is that the pages aren’t marked, so it’s hard at times to tell what artist is drawing certain pages. Still, a minor thing, and something that could probably be remedied with a trip around my website, looking at samples from everybody in it, if only I wasn’t so damned lazy. Here’s hoping the contact info above is correct, it’s the only address I have…
Comments Off on Youngblood, David (editor) – Typewriter #6 | Reviews | Tagged: David Youngblood, Dylan Williams, Josh Simmons, Marc Bell, Neil Fitzpatrick, Paul Hornschemeier, Scott Mills, Souther Salazar, Typewriter | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
E-mail
Typewriter #4
Before I get started, let me make one thing completely clear: this book is beautifully done. I don’t know if you can tell from that scan or not, but the cover was completely hand-sewn for each issue, with a different pattern on each cover. The toughest part about buying it was deciding which cover I liked the most. David couldn’t even tell me how long it took to put an issue together because he said it was a process that had many steps. That’s dedication, folks. I should also mention that his girlfriend (?) Nami Biggs designed it. Anyway, the actual comic. It’s good stuff, an anthology with a couple familiar names and a couple of unfamiliar ones. Really, if the pages were all blank I’d still say that you should buy this for the cover alone, but the stories range from good to great. I think I might have misjudged Dylan Williams too, if the one issue I read was a tiny part of a much greater whole like this story suggests. Hey, I’ll change my opinion when I read more of them, OK? David’s story is the longest in this volume and is projected to be much longer. It’s good so far, but I like seeing the whole thing with stories like that. Other names include Chris Wright, Scott McKibben, Jonathon Russell, Michael Bonfiglio, Michael Hall, Carrie Golus. and Lance Simmons. Contact info for all is included and, seriously, get a copy of this. You won’t regret it. E-mail David, I’ve heard that #5 is out now too.
Comments Off on Youngblood, David (editor) – Typewriter #4 | Reviews | Tagged: Carris Golus, Chris Wright, David Youngblood, Dylan Williams, Jonathon Russell, Lance Simmons, Michael Bonfiglio, Michael Hall, Nami Biggs, Scott McKibben, Typewriter | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website
The Comics Interpreter Volume 2 #3
Why is this listed as quite possibly the last issue of this series? Is there really nobody out there who wants to find out about random small press people that you’ve probably never heard of? Is it blind, slavish devotion to The Comics Journal to the exclusion of every other magazine about comics? Whatever the case, it’s a damned shame that Robert is struggling to get to #4 of this series when he’s doing such a great job with this. #3 of this series has interview with David Rees, James Jean and Tak Toyoshima. He has a lengthy essay about whatever happened to the Moore/Sienkowitz project Big Numbers, reviews of a few comics and a special section dedicated to piling on that dipshit we have for President. In other words, a solid issue dealing with people I’ve never heard of and with more than a few comic strips. I don’t know what I can tell you about this, folks. It’s always kind of odd reviewing, um, a reviewer. I don’t agree with him on everything he writes (which is a good thing in my book), but I always find my position challenged by the way he tackles an argument or a particular comic. If you like this site because you like finding hidden gems in the comics world, you should do yourself a favor and check out this magazine. Any issue, from what I’ve seen, has all kinds of great stuff in it. And, of course, there’s the stuff that I don’t much care about, but it’s a 64 page magazine. I don’t mind “not getting” a few pages, and neither should you. Sorry if this review came off as even more of a rant than usual, but I think Robert should be given a chance to keep going with this magazine, as I want to see what it’s like 10 years from now. Check it out, contact info is up there…
Comments Off on Young, Robert – The Comics Interpreter Volume 2 #3 | Reviews | Tagged: David Rees, James Jean, Robert Young, Tak Toyoshima, The Comics Interpreter | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website
The Comics Interpreter Volume 2 #2 Now Available! $5
Comments Off on Young, Robert – The Comics Interpreter Volume 2 #2 | Reviews | Tagged: Robert Young, The Comics Interpreter | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website
The Comics Interpreter Volume 2 #1 Now Available! $5
It’s things like this that make me wonder if I’m wasting my time writing reviews. I have fun rambling about comics, sure, and I like to think that I’m at least giving enough information away about something to make people interested in a book, but the way this guy writes reviews… He’s informative, funny, and intelligent without crossing that “Comic’s Journal” line of being overwhelmingly pretentious at times. Granted, it’s still not a magazine that any random person could pick up on my coffee table and enjoy, but it’s impossible to make a magazine about comics that fits that criteria. Looks like this issue finally got printed, which is great news, and it’s $6. In here are plenty of reviews that put the words on these pages to shame and two hugely entertaining interviews, especially when you consider that I knew nothing at all about Hans Rickheit and Paul Pope before this. There’s also a section where readers weigh in on the most interesting person in comics, and did I mention the reviews? Check this out, give those people at Fantagraphics some competition!
Comments Off on Young, Robert – The Comics Interpreter Volume 2 #1 | Reviews | Tagged: Hans Rickheit, Paul Pope, Robert Young, The Comics Interpreter | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website
The Comics Interpreter #6 Now Available! $4.95
You know, I wasn’t sure if I should give this its own page or not. It’s not an issue of whether or not it deserved it, because I enjoyed both of these. It was just because it isn’t a comic, it’s a zine about comics. Then I remembered that my decisions only have to make sense to me, so here it is. This one has an interview with both of the Hernandez Bros, which is worth the price of admission right there. The rest of the issue is a tribute to them, with all sorts of people commenting on their place in comics and what the Bros’ contributions to the field have meant to them. And, while I never really got into him, there’s also an interview with Jamie Delano. You might be better off going with #5 if you’re shooting for more of an overview of mini comics, as the theme for this issue is pretty specific. As for the actual layout of the zine, there are a couple of things that I could nitpick about, but I just don’t see any reason to. If he keeps this up we might get a viable alternative to The Comics Journal after all. Well done, and everybody out there should send him money so he keeps it up. We’d all be a lot better off if this zine does well… Visit his page, e-mail him or send money or free stuff to: TCI 5820 N. Murray Ave. Ste. D-12, Charleston, SC 29406.
Comments Off on Young, Robert – The Comics Interpreter #6 | Reviews | Tagged: Hernandez Bros, Robert Young, The Comics Interpreter | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website
The Comics Interpreter #5
Reviews, interviews (Brian Ralph, Jef Czekaj and the Bipolar Twins), essays, and what appears to be a genuine love for the medium. How can you go wrong?
Comments Off on Young, Robert – The Comics Interpreter #5 | Reviews | Tagged: Brian Ralph, Jef Czekaj, Robert Young, The Comics Interpreter | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website
Francis #2
I could have sworn that I got more than one issue of this… Anyway, this is the story of a very confused young man dealing with his emerging sexuality. He thinks that he’s gay until a female friend goes down on him at a party, then he’s all kinds of confused. There’s not much in the way of introspection here. It’s a pretty straight-forward story of a boy cheating on his boyfriend and most of the story is spent while intoxicated in some way. I liked the art, but it did look a little rushed at times. Maybe the messy lettering contributed to that, I don’t know, but the story was short and fascinating. Send the man an e-mail, I think it would be better to have the whole 3 issue series but this one is self-contained. Oh, and the pages are pink like the cover (all three were different colors), I just didn’t want to give me scanner a chance to screw things up…
Comments Off on Young, Jason – Francis #2 | Reviews | Tagged: Francis, Jason Young | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website
The Paramour Maiden
Note: this may be the same guy as the other Jason Young listed on this site, but with no way to confirm that, they both get their own pages for now. As for the comic, this is relatively small mini, tightly compacted into an even smaller mini. Which is all well and good most of the time, provided you don’t try to adventurous panel layout that Jason does while also melding conversations that go up and down when they’re really going the traditional left to right. Take a look at the sample, you’ll see what I mean. It’s a needless distraction is all I’m saying, as the story itself is more than good enough to hold your attention. It has a mad scientist (two of them, actually, but mad in different ways), a cowboy overseer who doesn’t take “guff”, a genetically engineered mermaid and countless giant monsters. What’s not to love already? The giant monsters come to get the new monster, the mermaid, which completely derails the other plot with the other mad scientist and the overseer. Giant monsters do have a way of making one forget about the little things though. Worth a look, if you don’t mind panel styles that don’t make much sense. Oh, and if you don’t mind sending money snail mail. Get an e-mail account my good man!
Comments Off on Young, Jason – The Paramour Maiden | Reviews | Tagged: Jason Young, The Paramour Maiden | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website
Veggie Dog Saturn #2
I’ve read many, many comics over the years, but this one might just win the prize for having the title and cover image have as little as possible to do with the contents. Not that that’s a bad thing, as this is a thoroughly terrific story about Jason’s one and only night as a limo driver, and that does happen to be a great cover, just thought I should point that out. Jason has only ever worked one job in his life, at a comic store (the lucky bastard… or wait, maybe not so much), and when he gets the chance to drive a limo around for a night, well, why not? Things go well for the first half of the night, Jason is having an excellent time, making money, getting paid to do homework, and then decides to end the night at a Steak and Shake. This leads to a group of teenagers offering him money to drive them around for a few hours, and what could possibly go wrong with that? It’s impressive that it works as a heartwarming little tale about kids scrounging enough money together for a prom limo AND as a rowdy misadventure involving a group of assholes. Most comics would go with one or the other, but Jason takes the whole mini and really makes it work. I know, in this modern age, that people may not like not having an e-mail address to click on, but he has a few other quality books available too, you know. Send a few bucks in the mail, the old fashioned way, and get some decent comics. $2
Comments Off on Young, Jason – Veggie Dog Saturn #2 | Reviews | Tagged: Jason Young, Veggie Dog Saturn | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
