Froh, Kelly – Slither #1

April 23, 2010

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Slither #1 Now Available! $1

And here I thought these Slithers were going to be something of a straight line in the life of Kelly. Turns out that there are plenty of surprises still to come in issues 2-5, as #6 (the one reviewed first, for anybody who’s reading this, not looking inside my head and is a bit confused) appears to come directly after #1, at least chronologically. This issue details Kelly’s return to college after about ten years away, her living with two stoners (never, ever rent a house unseen), trying to make friends in Vancouver, a spider with a vendetta, and a few throwaway pages at the end with senior pictures. It’s always tough to say, when checking out the early work of somebody you like, whether that work is going to be painful, watching them learn as they go. Kelly has the storytelling figured out right off the bat (although the art does get better as she goes) and I’m really looking forward to filling in the blanks in this series in the coming weeks. $1

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Posted by Kevin

Froh, Kelly – The Cheapest S.O.B.’s

April 23, 2010

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The Cheapest S.O.B.’s Now Available! $1

I’d have a hard time listing all the reasons I still read comics, a general sense of masochism having to be one of them, or at least it feels like that on days or weeks when there’s nothing good to be read. But then there are times like this, when I read something that I’ve never seen in a comic: a woman tearing her still-living grandparents to pieces for being unbelievably cheap. Kelly makes it clear in her intro that she’s gone through stages of calling them frugal or thrifty, but that it’s simply impossible to give them any more credit at this point, and then she proceeds to thoroughly document why she’s right. And boy, they do not come out looking good in here. I sampled the most disgusting example of their cheapness, but she also throws in the fact that they reuse Christmas cards, steal vegetables from community gardens, dig through dumpsters instead of going to thrift stores, read old papers discarded from a retirement home, and attend cancer survivor picnics just for the free food. Like it or not, there’s probably at least something in here for everybody to relate to about some relative or another. I loved it, but maybe that’s because all my grandparents are dead and I had no guilt about laughing through this. Some of you more sensitive souls might have a harder time. $1

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Posted by Kevin

Froh, Kelly – Meet Erin (Stewbrew #2)

April 23, 2010

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Stewbrew #2: Meet Erin

Again, to make this all perfectly clear: Meet Erin is half of a collected two parts called Stewbrew #2, the second half being Coot’s Day by Max Clotfelter, and the whole thing is available from Max for $3. That being said, if Kelly and Max ever decided to combine these two real people into some sort of a fictionalized “date”, well, I would have to think that hilarity would ensue, even if the two would never speak in real life. This one is all about Erin, a woman that Kelly met while working in retail, and the sheer ridiculousness she brought to every day. From a fakey accent to reading Ann Coulter in public to seemingly everything she said, the woman was more than interesting enough to warrant a mini comic. We also get to see her briefly as an actual human, a sobering moment, but one which doesn’t last long. Great stuff, I have to say I like this even better than the other half of Stewbrew, mostly for the sheer level of dirt we get in this one. $3

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Posted by Kevin

Froh, Kelly – The Five Year Itch of Dorothy Barry

April 23, 2010

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The Five Year Itch of Dorothy Barry

People have occasionally asked me over the years how I pick what I’m going to review on any given day, and it’s a simple formula: I keep a literal pile of comics, with the ones sent in the mail at the top (as they get precedence over the ones I buy), and sort of reach in and grab a random one. In the case of this comic, I’ve been moving all week, have no idea where much of anything is (and my “pile” is scattered through various boxes), but this comic fell out of a pile of old bills, and voila! Internet magic! This is the story of a resident at an assisted-living home where Kelly works, with the names changed to protect everybody, who flips out every five years, invariably causing her to get kicked out of wherever she’s living at the time. Kelly paints a great picture of the chaos that comes over the whole establishment as Dorothy starts to think that she’s actually the one in charge of everything, ending with a black eye for an employee and cops getting involved. Great stuff from Kelly as always, and my advice to her, which I’m sure she already knows: there are probably plenty of stories to be had from that job. I worked for a few years as a night watchman at a home for… is “mentally challenged” the right word now? Anyway, while there are lots of dull days, the ones that aren’t dull are certainly memorable. No price, but let’s say $2.

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Posted by Kevin

Froh, Kelly – I’ve Been Forced To Get To Know You

April 23, 2010

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I’ve Been Forced To Get To Know You

Nobody, but nobody captures the awkwardness of dating as well as Kelly does.  She manages to make it hilarious and insightful while not being afraid to show to throw in any awkward truths about herself.  This is an older mini, and it’s clear that her technical abilities have grown by leaps and bounds since this came out.  Still, it’s impossible not to love this little thing.  Kelly, after a long time being single, watches a lot of tv and ends up identifying with Drew Carey and hopes to find a boyfriend in that mold.  She briefly meets a guy on New Year’s Eve, has what she thinks is a “moment” with him, but he ends up leaving with his friends before midnight.  She admirably decides not to let it go and puts one of those “I saw you” ads in the local paper.  He sees it and they eventually get together for a date… and that’s where the real awkwardness begins.  The only thing they really end up having in common is their mutual interest in making art, which ends up making the night much longer than it otherwise would have been.  Things eventually get mildly heated, they end up back at her place, and I’m about to tell you the whole story here, and nobody likes that.  Let’s just say it’s not as salacious as I’m making it out to be.  I’m hopelessly biased towards Kelly’s comics at this point, so of course I’m going to love this one.  If you have to have your comics with excellent technical proficiency, maybe you should start with some of the later Slithers and then work your way back to this.  If you like heartfelt awkwardness in all forms, it’s hard to go wrong here.  $1

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Posted by Kevin

Froh, Kelly – Debbie’s Story

April 23, 2010

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Debbie’s Story

Be honest now: how many of you have taken the time to get to know the real stories of your relatives?  I have various assorted stories for different relatives, but I have only rarely gotten the real “whole story”.   The Debbie mentioned on the cover is Kelly’s aunt, and Kelly takes the time to question where the current version of the woman came from and gives us the story in lovely mini comic format.  Debbie is, at present, essentially a stunt double for her mom: same basic attitude, same interests, and they talk on the phone every day.  Back in the day, however, she ran with a gang (well, the small town version of a gang from 40 years ago or so) and hung out with a local scumbag until her parents sent her away to the National Guard.  That’s right, that was her punishment.  Still, where a lot of people would take that punishment as a hint to never come back or to make their own way in the world, she chose to return to her hometown, marry one of the losers from the local gang and have a couple of kids.  She also got a job cleaning (alongside her mom) and has settled into a quiet, uneventful life.  It’s the personal family bits in here that make this special though, as Kelly gets inside information from family members to make this a more complete portrait.  It’s not going to come as a shock to any regular readers that I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but it really is fascinating.  I can even see Kelly still being able to enjoy family dinners after this, as things never get TOO personal, although I can see that being a subjective judgment.   Check it out, then go down the rest of this huge page and think about sending her a chunk of change so she’ll send you a pile of comics.  No price, so… $2?

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Posted by Kevin

Clotfelter, Max – Stewbrew #3 (with Kelly Froh)

April 23, 2010

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Stewbrew #3 (half Max, half Kelly Froh)

Ah, television. Good luck finding an American from the ages of five to forty five who can’t relate to memories of television. Max and Kelly team up here to do one page stories (Kelly on the left side and Max on the right) detailing their previous, constant television watching, how patterns change over the years and what television taught them, often due to the fact that in a lot of crucial areas they didn’t learn a whole lot from their parents. There are embarrassing stories a’plenty here, with Max talking about his first time masturbating (without really knowing what he was doing but I’ll leave out the gory details until you see the comic), being forced to play sports instead of watching tv, wanting to learn the theme song from MASH, being too attached to children’s programming, finally getting his own personal space to watch tv, going into tv withdrawal at camp, a hilarious (in hindsight) couple of injuries resulting in a Vietnam flashback dream, finally relating to his Dad because of Beavis and Butthead, watching porn with his Mom taking a bath in the next room, and a detailed listing of his high school tv watching routine. Kelly has her fair share of embarrassing stories as well, involving her first “boyfriend”, running away from home when the tv is taken away, a living warning against doing drugs, being really creeped out by the “sent to hell” episode of Fantasy Island, four tv people who made her feel funny “down there”, Showtime porn, and her late night viewing habits. Another solid effort from these two, and unless you grew up Amish, I’m sure you can relate to damn near everything in here. $3

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Posted by Kevin

Clotfelter, Max – Stewbrew #2: Coot’s Day

April 23, 2010

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Stewbrew #2: Coot’s Day

Just to make sure this is perfectly clear: this mini, along with “Meet Erin” by Kelly Froh, come bundled together as Stewbrew #2 for a measly $3. So now that the technicalities have been established, how’s the comic? Well, it’s based on a day in the life of a man named Cooter, so how on earth could it be bad? And yes, there is a real man named Cooter, unless Max is lying shamelessly in his intro. We get to see Cooter wake up, watch high school girls, get high, get drunk, watch Star Wars, smoke, and everything in between that makes up his day. It’s a very quick read, as it’s mostly wordless except for the caption at the top of each panel, but it’s funny and gorgeous, which are two things that are pretty much necessary for a good comic. The second half of this should be up tomorrow (4/3/07), so you can decide if it’s worth your $3, but this is certainly a good start.

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Posted by Kevin

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