April 27, 2010
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Veggie Dog Saturn #1
Fans of reviews done in chronological order must have a hell of a time with this site. On this page alone I reviewed #2 first, then another comic, then #1, which made me realize (through matching e-mail addresses) that both Jason Young’s on this site really were the same person. Any of you antiquated thinkers assuming that reading something top to bottom will make any sense as a whole better find some other website. So how about this comic? I’m glad that I read #2 first, as this one was OK, but #2 was where the man had me thoroughly engaged for the whole story. It’s mostly because of subject matter, as this one is all about Jason getting over a failed relationship and trying to start another one up after months of zero interest. The end of the relationship seems to be a mutual thing, but unfortunately he had met his ex through a mutual friend, so she remains a part of the picture. As for his new love interest, it turns out that she has an excellent reason to not want to be dating him, but it takes him quite a while to find that reason out. Jason could have used a bigger comic here, frankly, as this is the sort of story that cries out for a range of facial expressions. He chose story over expressiveness, so while the backgrounds and people still look great, it’s damned near impossible to read faces. An odd complaint, granted, but it’s all I have this time around. It’s a good story, all too familiar to anybody who has had an ex stick around the social group after a breakup and to anybody who ever wanted to start dating again with someone who just wasn’t into them that way. Oof, what an awkward sentence. Well, that’s why they pay me the big bucks… $2
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Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website
You Want To Know How I Make Comics?!!?
If your answer to that question is “not really”, then I guess you can stop reading this right now and save yourself a buck or so when you see this in a comic store. It’s actually probably less than a buck, as it’s tiny and all black and white, but I’m just guessing here. It’s a pretty straight forward answer to the question he poses, with a few (self-admitted) lame jokes thrown in. This is mostly only for fan’s of David’s work, although I do love the image he uses of himself to pick up his comics. What can I say, it’s only 6 pages long and there just isn’t that much to say about it…
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Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website
David Yoder’s Big Book of Non-Sequitur Funnies Volume 1
As is usually the case when I’m curious about somebody’s work, that curiousity is satisfied when they decide to send me a bunch of their comics. That’s right, there’s this and two more coming in the near future, so I get a much more well-rounded picture of the guy, which always gets a “huzzah” out of me. So how about his comic? This, as you can probably tell by the cover, is a bunch of one or two page stories, or you could probably more accurately call them “jokes”. As most of them are funny, that fits pretty well. Many questions are answered here, such as why do dogs smell each other, why do people look better when you’re drunk, why do paper cuts hurt so much, and why do some things taste like chicken. If you have no interest in these questions, well, that’s half the book right there. Other than that you have a tense trip to a teacher’s party, church, a ghost, pirates and heavy beans. A hodge podge, but mostly a good one. This is probably a buck or two, but you can check that website up at the top of the page for that information and probably a few other things as well…
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Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website
Lou Season #2
Where the last issue was about Lou and his hardships at school, this one is about his new best friend the gerbil, the girl he likes getting mixed signals about just how much Lou likes the gerbil, and the bully finally getting his. The story, such as it was set up in the first issue, pretty much flies off the rails here, but who cares? There’s a savage beating, a puffy gerbil and a heartwarmning ending, apparently to the whole story. It still looks great and it’s still pretty funny, so I don’t have anything to complain about here. If there was some serious buildup in the first issue here that was ignored it would be one thing, but this was never all that serious to begin with. Still no price, so I’m going to say that this one is $87. Oh, don’t forget the linked website at the top of the page, with probably the best web address in the universe.
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Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website
Lou Season #1
Ah, the wonders of elementary school. Combine that with the fact that the lead character here is a walking, talking duck, and you have all kinds of awkwardness. I don’t know much about Lou, except for the fact that he’s having a hard time getting into school, and that’s fine, it’s irrelevant to the story. This is all about Lou dealing with bullies, not noticing a girl and declaring the class gerbil as his new best friend. No way in the world is this his first comic (the art is way too polished and impressive), so I’m automatically curious about what else he’s done, as this one was just a blast all the way through. You can’t go wrong with a fun comic that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Here’s an e-mail address for more info, and oh these FLUKE people and their utter lack of cover prices. Oh well. Let’s call it $3 and call it a day.
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Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website
The Wang: Who’s Your Daddy?
OK, I officially really like this series. It’s all about the adventures of Eugene Wang, professional doormat, in case you didn’t read the review up there and/or can’t be bothered to look at it now. He get’s taken advantage of by his mother, his ex-girlfriend, and a random woman he runs into in the grocery store. As you may be able to tell from that title, a good chunk of this is about Eugene’s quest to find his dad, which isn’t a quest so much as it an attempt to get his mother to give him any information about the guy. All that being said, this is one great comic. It’s funny pretty much all the way through, the art is terrific and Stan manages to make even the most ridiculous situations (like Eugene’s ex breaking up with his mother and being expected to be the go-between for both of them) seem plausible, and did I mention that I laughed out loud a few times reading this? That’s far too rare in the world, seeing as how I read comics on a daily basis. Check out the links for more about the guy, but that’s two great graphic novels in a row, which I consider to be a great sign of things to come. $9.95
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Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website
1 Block Down (with Kieran Carew) Now Available! $2.95
How can something be in my store for almost three years without my reading it? However it happened, there’s some fun to had here in this giant sized “mini” comic. First up is a movie review duo, dubbed 40/40, as the reviewers drink 40’s and review movies. Kids, ask your parents what that means, if your parents only drink the cheap stuff. The reviewers are a regular old black man and another man who dresses and speaks like Yoda, apparently all the time. They go into it about The Phantom Menace, with the guy dressed as Yoda (Frank) defending the movie and the other reviewer (Lavar) crapping all over it. “Too many puppets” indeed. Next up is the story of a watching people, women and men, from their balcony, giving them all nicknames based after snacks. It’s funnier than it sounds, but it does drag on a bit. Then there’s the highlight of the comic, the “true life” story of Gojeera, a monster who had his moments in the limelight before eventually falling into drugs and porn. There’s some seriously funny stuff in that one, worth the price of admission alone. All told it’s a pretty solid comic by Stan and Kieran. Maybe not as consistently funny as The Wang, but still worth a look.
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Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website
Interview with the Superhero
I was hoping this would decide me one way or the other on what I thought about Stan’s work, but unfortunately it’s tiny and I need much more info than this to overcome my wishy-washy ways. It’s basically an interview with the main superhero that seems to be in most of his work, and apparently he’s had work as a number of different superheroes over the years, which I like as a concept. The idea of the other applicants wearing knee pads was kind of a silly joke, but to each his own. There’s a short conversation here about his time as Lactic Acid Man and that’s about it. I’m sure it all makes sense in the greater scheme of things in his superhero universe. Contact info is still up there, I’d recommend something a little meatier for your first try with his stuff, but this one isn’t bad.
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Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website
Only Chaos
Other comics have come before this one with this character, but all I can comment on are the things I see here. That’s obvious, I know, it’s just there as a disclaimer. Anyway, this is the story of Eugene Wang, who’s apparently recently out from under the thumb of both his girlfriend and his mother. He picks up a zombie mostly because he knows that his mother and girlfriend wouldn’t want him to, and hijinx ensue. There’s more to it than that, sure, and there’s a really cliched ending, but why ruin it? What this book is really about is fighting with zombies, and that’s done really well. Stan has a really frantic, cartoonish drawing style that’s just perfect for this, and you can tell that he’s been dying to have some excuse to draw zombies. Not much in the way of plot, but the dialogue is funny and the action scenes are entertaining, so what more do you want from a comic? Check out the website, why don’t you?
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Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website
Legba
From what I can tell, a lot of the best work being done in comics these days is coming from Georgia. What up with that? Is it something in the water? An active support group for creators? Coincidence? Whatever the case, it’s become almost like a “Top Shelf” guarantee of quality. This book, for example, is tremendous. It says there are three short stories but, with the intermissions and all, reads much less coherently than that, and that’s a good thing. The first story, Rum Rug, is about an, um, man (I don’t know what these creatures are, but let’s just call them “men” now for lack of a better term) who is absolutely wallowing in despair. At his lowest, he is hit by a man who is looking to get with the main character’s ex-fiancee. I sampled the first intermission because it’s one of the funniest things I’ve seen, so I won’t waste time talking about it. The second story… ah, why try to describe it when I can give a quote: “LOOK! My heart has been fisted too!” Then there’s another intermission, followed by Merciful Gift, which is mostly about art and the failure of people to interpret it correctly. Or that’s what I got out of it, along with many, many other things, as I did with everything here. Look, the guy is a poet. I got something out of some random, unconnected sentences when I went through this again because this book was obviously done over time with a lot of love. I think this is one of the oddest, funniest, most unique books that I’ve read from SPX so far. It’s $3 and something that people should read, so send the man an e-mail and see what else he has around too, OK?
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Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website
Ink Weed Now Available! $16
If there’s one thing I can complain about in regards to doing this site (and even this is probably a bit of a stretch), it’s the fact that great comics can fly right by me and I never seek out anything else from that artist. You can see from the review below that I loved the mini I saw from Chris, but that was at least 5 years ago and I haven’t seen a thing he’s done since. It’s odd that I would follow people I liked more closely before I had this website than I do now. Somebody should really speak to management here and get that fixed. I’m going on about it because this book is a thing of brilliance, another one of those books that should be on the bookshelf of everyone who loves comics. From the consistently rich and textured art to the sheer poetry involved in the writing of damned near every panel, you’re not going to find a more completely rewarding comics experience. This is a collection of short pieces, most likely former mini comic, and plenty of original art in between the stories and at the end of the book. First up is The Unmerciful Gift, in which an aging artist paints masterpieces that only he can see while never quite understanding why it’s happening. Next up is Tapestry, and another old man watches the stars and lives his life with an attractive young assistant. Ach! Even in generalizing these things to a ridiculous degree, I feel like I’m giving away too much. Other stories in here involve smoking out of a “toilet bowl”, an attempt at reconciliation going as wrong as it possibly could, a senile sea demon unexpectedly finding love, and quite possibly the best story of drunkenness and the consequences that I’ve ever seen (and yes, I am aware that there are many contenders for the title). It’s all wrapped up with a few short pieces, an excerpt from a new book (?), and a series of new individual pieces. The truly haunting parts of this book are best left out of a review, but believe me, they’re there. That image in the bedroom, the tiny gun, what Simon is driving at… It combines to make pretty much a perfect comic. If you haven’t seen his work yet, this really needs to be picked up toot-sweet. $16
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Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
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Flesh Angels
Well, the first one back is certainly a unique book. James sent this to me from Germany, apparently it will be available in the U.S. soon in a different format (you can still get this one on his website though). That’s a good thing because this one, while fascinating, is a bit hard to follow. It seems to be the ramblings of a man who is compelled to do horrible things, but who and why are a mystery. James says that it will soon be a continuing story and all will be explained, so I guess I’ll accept that. Frankly, the art style isn’t for me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s exceptional, and I can see how this was a series of paintings before he turned it into a comic. People who like Heavy Metal or things like that will love this, and probably many other people. Maybe I’m just easily grossed out. It’s worth a closer look and, despite my protests, I plan on getting the first issue or so of the continuing series. He describes it on his site as a combination of Heironymous Bosch and Image comics. I’d agree with Bosch but not the Image part, unless he has something planned for the series that I’m not picking up on. The bottom line of all this is that this book is worth a look. Here’s what you’re getting yourself in for:
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Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
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These Things Happen #3 (written by Lou Anders)
You know what I like in comics? Attention to detail. Well, and a whole bunch of other things, but that goes a long way. This comic is basically about a talk show and all the people involved with it, even though the story wanders over to mad scientists and Mr. T occasionally. And it’s a colorful cast of characters. There’s the host of the show, who doesn’t talk when he’s off camera because he’s not getting paid for it; the new producer, who doesn’t have a face; and all the stagehands, one of whom has a fascinating theory about Fonzie as a shaman. What I like about it is how one of them can be wandering down the hall and hear a snippet of a conversation, then an issue later we can go back to them seamlessly and see what they were talking about while other things were going on. The art’s fantastic, the dialogue is witty and real and the story is funny as hell. What’s not funny about a mad scientist who’s grafting human heads onto the bodies of emus in an attempt to take over the world? Check out this site, as it has “e-comics”, whatever that means (these kids today and their newfangled technology, I swear), or go to the other site that’s linked up there. Check it out, it’s worth it!
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Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Blog?
Where Hats Go
I had a feeling that this guy had some amazing stories in him (go ahead, look at my review for Noe-Fie #6) and he proved me to be a genius with this one. This one is perfect in just about every way, folks. If the people who give out the comics awards have any sense at all you’re going to be hearing about this book a lot when they pass out the awards at SPX. It’s a wordless tale, but with a twist: the word balloons have pictures in them. It might not seem like much, but it contributes to the unique feel of the book. There’s a little boy who loses the hat that his grandfather gives him in a gust of wind, and the rest of the book is spent with him trying to find his hat. Probably doesn’t sound like much fun, I know, but trust me when I say this is one of the best things that I’ve read all year (I would say the best thing but then I remembered the Abe book from Glenn Dakin). There’s more to the story too, of course, but that’s all you’re getting out me. It’s cheap and it’s great, so just buy it. The one thing I’m always afraid of with the wordless comics is that it’s over before you know it, so it can be hard to justify spending $8 or more on them. Don’t worry, this one takes a while to get through and you’re going to want to linger over the amazing art in this thing anyway.
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Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Blog?
Lowjinx #4
God bless Lowjinx. I don’t know if anybody has ever come up with the concept for this book before, but it’s about time. In case you can’t read the cover, it’s an anthology of childhood drawing from some of the best small press cartoonists around. Included here are James Kochalka, Sam Henderson, Ivan Brunetti, Nick Bertozzi, Greg Cook, Tony Consiglio, Jordan Crane, Pete Sickman-Garner, Jesse Fuchs, Megan Kelso, Alex Robinson, Kevin Scalzo, Tom Spurgeon, Eric Reynolds, Steve Weissman, and, of course, Kurt Wolfgang. Once again, with this book, it’s probably not going to appeal to many people who don’t already know the work of those cartoonists. But for those people, this is absolutely priceless. It’s $6, if you like the work of these people go to the Top Shelf website and beg them to sell you a copy. OK, I should tell you a little bit about it first, even though if that list of names didn’t sell you, I don’t know what I could possibly say to convince you. Eric Reynolds (is he even on my page yet?) had a mostly text story about the Fantastic Four that’s hilarious, Sam Henderson hasn’t changed much over the years except now he swears more, Nick Bertozzi has a great story about a dog who’s learning to roller disco, and Tony Consiglio… aw, just buy it. I don’t want to ruin anything else for you, and everything in here is fascinating when compared to their later work. Don’t believe me? Fine, look at this:
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Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Blog?
Lowjinx #2: Understanding the Horrible Truth About Reinventing Mini Comics
If this was a perfect world, anybody who bought any mini comic ever would get a free copy if this book with their purchase. Yes, it’s that good. There’s one page that doesn’t do much for the book, but it doesn’t do much to take away from it either. Everything else is golden. I didn’t know much about Kurt Wolfgang before I saw this book (he’s the editor and contributed two pieces, “What the Fuck is a Mini Comic” and “My ‘Career’ in Comics”) and I still don’t really, but reading his pieces did inspire me to go to his website and order some of his other stuff. The new issue of Lowjinx is out and it has everybody who is anybody in it. If you’re wondering about the wisdom of making a comic about comics, well, he addresses that in the intro, so worry no more. The comic basically makes fun of Scott McCloud and James Kochalka and talks about trying to be taken seriously around your family and friends while drawing comics for a living. Jef Czekaj apes the Kochalka drawing style in his piece and pretty much nails the guy. Throw in Sam Henderson, Tony Consiglio , Dave Kiersh and Johnny Ryan and you have yourself a hell of a book. I can’t wait for #3 to get here…
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Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Blog?
Noe-Fie #6
Another case of me digging through the vault to post about somebody I think you should look at, but it’s OK this time because this is still in print. I still think that his anthology Lowjinx #2 is one of the best minis ever, even if it is a bit too “comics insider” for some people. He’s still doing that in this issue, bitching about comics to people who are reading his comic, so it seems kind of like a waste of time to me. My only complaint about his style though, really. I like his art a lot. He accuses himself (in his comic) about being too obsessive to leave any blank spaces, but I think it works. There are all kinds of little stories in this one too, and most of them are funny. He’s somebody that everybody should keep an eye on. Maybe not this coming year (or maybe, I’m just guessing here and I’m no expert), but he’ll do something big one of these years, mark my words. He just has too much talent not to. Pick up some of these (don’t start with this one unless you feel like reading about the state of modern comics three years ago, although there is enough good stuff in it to make it worth getting) and see what you think. He did a wordless comic too recently, I’ll let you know what that one’s all about when I get around to getting a copy. Until then, go to his webpage (down as of 7/26/07) and buy all kinds of stuff.
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Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website
Sap #6
Well, that alien invasion you’ve been waiting for (if you read the last issue that is, and if you don’t count the benign aliens that have already invaded) happens here. Worms all over the place, people getting all kinds of goofy with all the sap that’s laying around… mayhem galore. And, strangely, very little about the characters who seemed so central to the last issue, or at least they seem central to a brain that hasn’t read the last issue in a couple of years. Dan Zettwoch also did a backup story for this one, basically a public service ad about the dangers of sap, and Ted May is the one who put this issue together, so we at least know that he has great friends in the comic business. Good stuff again, although this one is desperately lacking the synopsis that made the last issue so easy to pick up and follow…
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Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website
Sap #5
OK, right off the bat it should be obvoius that this series has a pretty hefty collection of characters. Mostly slackers of some kind of another and a few different species of aliens. The story here is that there are aliens growing underground, causing massive earthquakes all over the place, and it’s only going to get worse. The earth is doomed, in other words. Meanwhile there’s a hallucinogenic substance that comes from the alien underground that making the rounds through the group of friends and the aliens are trying to remain undiscovered. I’m still only scratching the surface of what’s going on here, as there’s quite a backstory on the first page (always a good idea, especially when there hasn’t been an issue of this for 4 years or so), but I’m curious to see what I missed, and what happens next. In other words, a job well done. The art and the writing are both great, so here’s hoping #6 comes out before the next presidential election. It’s only $2 for a pretty big book, send the man an e-mail at wormcomix@aol.com.
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Posted by Kevin
April 27, 2010
Website
S.P.B: Rise!
It’s been fun watching Tom grow as an artist through the years, even if I had to play catch-up on the progress starting a few years ago. This issue has it all in one place though, as the main story here is a perfect example of his frenetic, crazed artwork at its best, and the backup story (actually an earlier version of the main story), shows his artwork as a bit more “by the numbers”, although still showing signs of future brilliance. The story here is that a young man gets his head bitten off by the family dog and makes a deal with the devil to come back to life. In the original story it’s a pretty simple concept, in the new version we get to see a lot more of the area in which this young man lives and bits of his family. The sample below should tell you everything you need to know about his artwork, but there are really few artists working today whose style is more definitively their own than this. Well worth checking out, and if you were looking for a good starting point for his work, this one is perfect. $4
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Posted by Kevin
