April 26, 2010
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The Secret Voice #1
Damn you Zack Soto! Don’t you know that naming your new, fancypants comic the same as your old mini just confuses people like me? Well, the difference here (besides completely different content) is that this one is $4.95, looks fantastic and is published by somebody other than Zack. He says inside this here comic that he’s always wanted to do a regular comic series and he seems serious, so let me just say: please don’t be kidding. Everybody seems to want to do a regular series and then they peter out after 1-6 issues. Once you get past that point it seems like the series continues, but I’m not going to hold my breath waiting for this to come out three times a year. Nothing against Zack personally, but why get so attached when there’s such constant disappointment in the comic world? I really hope he does keep it up though, because if this issue is any indication he could have some great stuff in him. The bulk of this issue is about Dr. Galapagos, a pretty straightforward superhero type (although Zack says there’s more to him than that that we’ll see in later issues). He needs the severed hand of a troll king for… something. Mayhem and action a’plenty, and there are certainly worse things in the world than that. Then there’s the story of a shipwrecked man who finds a hole in the middle of the ocean that sure seemed familiar. Maybe from an anthology? Either way, good stuff. Also it looks like he’s setting up a whole Secret Voice universe of characters, and he uses Smog Emperor in this one to get a Game Boy back from some bullies. He also puts in an origin story for a few of the characters, which is a great idea. It looks, from everything in here, like Zack is serious about this and he’s in it for the long haul. He has a main feature, he’s creating characters for the other features and he seems to genuinely want to keep this going for years to come. Good luck to him and kudos on starting it, I just hope that I’ll be rambling about #15 of this series in five years.
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Posted by Kevin
April 26, 2010
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The Secret Voice #1
This is a short book with two pretty simple stories. One is about a Galactus-like creature coming down to Earth to methodically destroy it, and the other is about the reactions of one person to the inevitability of his destruction. I’d heard a lot about Zack, but this issue was (and he admitted this in the start of the book) a bit rushed. The back page tells of two other books that equal around 200 pages, so I’d love to see something a bit bigger so I could have an accurate judgment of his stuff. As for this one, I liked it. He’s been around doing comics for awhile and this was a good short book. There’s probably a bunch more stuff on his website, so it’s going to have to go on my “Ill buy this one of these days” list, at least until I see him at some convention or other. Check out his stuff, he looks talented to me…
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Posted by Kevin
April 26, 2010
Website
Starfish
I can’t find any indication on this issue that this is anything other than a stand-alone story, although I believe it is technically illegal to end a story like they did and then never follow up on it. Looking at the cover, you can probably tell that this story is about a post-apocalyptic world. Yes, that is often a cliche and a sign that the story is going to be completely predictable, but that’s not the case here. Seven anorexic patients are sent to an underwater lab for treatment, along with a doctor and some staff, when a nuclear bomb hits their city. They realize that they have to stay underwater for at least a year, but discover that their food supply will only last them less than half that time. So, the doctor comes up with an experimental drug called Starfish, and I’m not going to give anything else away. It was an interesting concept, but it seemed more than a little bit condensed at 12 pages, especially if this is all there is to the story. Leigh Gallagher is apparently an artist on a Vertigo title called “The Witching” and the artwork here is pretty incredible. It’s $1.50, you can check out the website or send an e-mail, whatever floats your boat.
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Posted by Kevin
April 26, 2010
Website
The Red Stiletto
It’s hard to avoid getting a little nostalgic as you get older (kids, trust me on this one). The farther away you get from childhood, the more you romanticize the whole time period, whitewashing the bad parts and honing in on the good. Marc does an excellent job here of going back to the past but leaving it as it was, not as he wished it would be. Um, in this fictional story. This is the tale of an old friend reaching out after being out of touch for many years and the wave of memories the reconnection brings up to the surface. Hey, this could be a true story, I just kind of doubt it and it really doesn’t matter for the sake of the story. The main character (forever unseen) gets a letter in the mail from his old childhood friend containing an elaborate picture he had drawn when he was 5. This sets off a retelling of the life story of his friend: how they had been inseparable as children, how her father had killed himself, how she had drifted away from him in high school and had never responded to his attempts to reconnect. Good luck reading this without thinking of your own times gone by; in my book that means Marc has succeeded in this comic. The only thing that was a little odd to me was the timing and inclusion of a short story towards the end of the comic. I get it, the returning friend’s father had killed himself and his family was shocked to discover that he was actually a prolific (and unpublished) writer, and the friend was taking the time to read a story on the flight back. It’s a decent little story, just an odd choice to break up the comic with 8 pages of text right at the end. Still, a minor quibble. If you’re the one person in the world who has never felt nostalgic you can probably skip this, for everybody else this is well worth a look. $4
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Posted by Kevin
April 26, 2010
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25 Cent Funny
It’s the origin story of Phillip! Oops, looks like I read the two shorties (this one is 4 pages as well) out of order. This is the story of how exactly Phillip came to leave Shannon’s school in the third grade and, oddly enough, this one also deals a bit with boobs. It also makes me wonder a whole bunch about who Phillip grew up to be, assuming, as always, that he’s a real person and not just a construct for the story. Either way, he’s a great character. This goes into (brief) detail about Phillip going cuckoo bananas to try to fit in, or possibly just to get by. We learn that Phillip was a Wonder Woman fanatic, and there’s no way in the world I’m ruining the punchline to this one. Again, what’s not to like about a funny 25 cent comic?
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Posted by Kevin
April 26, 2010
Website
Phillip!
Now come on, isn’t that just about the best cover you’ve ever seen? It’s even better once you read the story and it’s really not even meant to be salacious. OK, it’s meant to be slightly salacious, granted. But this is the story of a boy named Phillip, who gets in trouble in third grade and doesn’t come back to the school of the narrator (presumably Shannon) until sixth grade. At that time this perennial troublemaker hasn’t had much of a change of heart of his previous ways and now he’s dealing with the onset of puberty. I don’t want to give the whole thing away, as this is only a 4 page shortie (and you’re already seeing half of it in samples) but it’s funny and only a quarter, so who can beat that?
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Posted by Kevin
April 26, 2010
Website
Brush and Pen
I do love the random comics, and this one was more random than most. It’s all about a brush, a pen and a sharpie, so far at least The brush and the pen are married (as you might be able to guess from the cover) and the sharpie is a horny friend of the pen from work. Not sure what exactly work is, but it’s at an office, and it doesn’t really matter at the moment. This issue is mostly a conversation between the pen and the sharpie, another one between the brush and the pen, and, well, the brush and the pen having sex. So if you were ever curious what a brush and a pen having sex would look like (and who hasn’t been?), then look no further. I should also mention that the characters were drawn with their respective items, like the pen being drawn with a pen, the sharpie with a sharpie, etc It’s a fun little story, but the man wanted impartial criticism, so here I come to pile on some negativity! There were almost no backgrounds here, so these already odd characters seemed to be living in a vacuum Slightly unsettling, to say the least And some of the word balloons had some serious run-on sentences that could have used some punctuation, and yes, I’m aware of the irony of me complaining about run-on sentences. Overall it was a pretty good book though, especially good if it was a first effort. Removing them from the void would do wonders for it though. $3
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Posted by Kevin
April 26, 2010
Website
Asymmetrical Opossum
I’m going to need to develop a new format specifically for Shannon’s books. A cover sample and one sample from inside the comic is fine for most things, but when the comic is only four pages long it almost feels like stealing. This is the story of an opossum who was born with eyes and ears of different sizes. Naturally, this causes resentment and anger in the locals, who immediately try to kill the poor thing. This leads to an elaborate revenge plan from the opossum, and yes this is a lot to pack into such a tiny comic, especially when you consider that the cover is one of the four pages. Shannon also manages to find the time to make fun of Republicans (or morons of all stripes, it depends on your perspective) and make a moral point or two. Good clean fun, probably not more than $.50, and, for whatever it’s worth, it’s a 12 hour comic.
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Posted by Kevin
April 26, 2010
Website
Shannon Smith is Addicted to Distraction
Generally speaking I’m against throwing your own name in your comic title, but if you’re going to go all the way like Shannon did and also picture yourself bursting through the cover, I say more power to the man. This is a collection of odds and ends, so naturally some pieces are going to better than others. Things start off slow with a baffling story of a man who runs into an all-powerful Jimmy Hendrix and gets taken to heaven with a bunch of naked ladies who preach nothing but love. Oddly, the guy can’t wait to get out of there, but seems to have gotten something from the whole experience. Then there a few one page autobio pieces, at least a couple of which I’ve already seen in his other minis, but the piece sampled below was new to me and nicely reflects the struggle to ever find a copy of The Comic’s Journal. The heart of the book is up next, and 24 hour comics folk take note: Shannon has blasted you all out of the water. He decided to do a one page comic every hour of Super Bowl Sunday, starting at 8am and ending around midnight. It’s especially impressive because the guy is a Steeler’s fan and he still took time out of the day to make a comic. Granted, the art is about as simple as you can get, and I got a lot more out of reading this hourly strip that I just about ever have by reading most daily diary comics. The hourly format really gave him time to dig into the small details. There’s waking up, dealing with a nagging headache, cleaning up cat puke, picking up toys for his kids, making unhealthy food for the big day, playing with toys with his kids, and finally watching the game. If that sounds like too much detail for you, you’re clearly not a fan of autobio. You can’t get much more “day in the life” than this. Finally there’s a pile of sketches in the back of the comic, mostly stuff he’s sent to people who’ve mailed in over the years. I particularly enjoyed Ant Man fighting an ant over a twinkie, but maybe Wonder Woman using her lasso the make the Invisible confess her true love would be more your thing. It’s a pretty nice pile of comic any way you look at it, and well worth checking out. It’s $4, and if that’s too rich for your blood at the moment there are always all the cheap, cheap minis listed below this to convince you. $4
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Posted by Kevin
April 26, 2010
Website
Website with more comics
Un Petit Carnet de Voyage II: Hiroshima, Miyagima & Saijo
Generally speaking, I’m a big fan of travel diary comics. The artist goes to some place that I’ve (almost always) never been to, and I’m all for the occasional vicarious trip to a strange land. The thing is that often, when you’re sketching out what you’re seeing and putting your thoughts down in a travel diary, things can turn out sloppy as hell, and it’s best to clean it up a bit before putting a comic out. Ryan’s art isn’t the problem here at all; the sketchy, casual feel is perfect for this sort of thing. The trouble comes up when I can’t read whatever the hell it is he’s trying to say. His handwriting (and I can feel my glass house crumbling around me as I type this) is awful. It has a tendency to clump, making it appear that he’s throwing a cursive word or two in among the printing, which just makes the whole thing tougher to interpret, which is tough enough when you’re reading about a foreign place and most of your mooring are already gone. So, to make a long point just a little bit shorter: proceed with caution. I’ve gone at such length because it’s a damned shame. I’ve long wondered just what Hiroshima is like these days, what with us utterly destroying it 64 years ago and all. Here’s what I took from this comic: the impressive state of the trains, how polite everybody is with their fractured Japanese, the variety of foods, the awkward karaoke, the majesty of the trees, the architecture, the many wandering cats, how even the bums are nicer than here, the Atom Bomb Dome, and the horrific dog monsters. Clearly I still got a lot out of this comic, it’s that trying to read it may make you a little crazy. Check out his Two Eyes of the Beautiful first, then make your way back to this one. Or just check bits of this out on his website and see for yourself… $5
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Posted by Kevin
April 26, 2010
Website
Website with more comics
Two Eyes of the Beautiful
One more reason to love working on this website: a couple of days ago I reviewed a fairly bad anime-style comic and said that, generally speaking, I wasn’t a big fan of that sort of thing. Anime in comics, that is. Of course, manga can often be a completely different thing, as this issue is tremendous. Well, except for a few printing problems, or actually just the one that makes some of the pages darker than they need to be. There’s only one place where the lettering becomes illegible, and then only briefly, so it’s not that big of a deal. Just figured I’d start things off with a complaint. This is the story of a young movie star who has a horrible flesh-eating disease. Her only concern is saving her beauty, and she’s very clear that she’ll do anything to accomplish this. An extremely shady doctor tells her to leave public life entirely, move to a remote location with her young daughter and await further instructions. The world, naturally, notices her disappearance but eventually concludes that they must be dead. Her daughter has been having trouble adjusting (as it’s hard to make friends when your mother is terrified of being recognized) but does make friends with a young girl from the local orphanage. Finally, there’s a phone call from the doctor: they need a healthy, beautiful young girl that they can use for any purpose they wish. Once again I’m in danger of telling the whole story here, and that ain’t right. The rest of the issue deals with a mad struggle and authority figures and their reaction to fame, or I’m reading too much into it. One thing: there is a second issue coming, correct?  Because if this is just a one-shot I have a serious problem with the way this thing ended. Assuming this is part of a larger series, I can’t recommend it enough. It’s creepy in a big way, and there’s still the big overriding mystery of how exactly they plan on making the movie star beautiful again. If this is the only issue… well, that’s just mean. No price, and the man sent it from Japan, so I have no idea of the exchange rate. Isn’t $3 a good guess? I think so. It’s probably correct, give or take a dollar.
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Posted by Kevin
April 26, 2010
Website
Shuck Comics #3
The obligatory “origin issue”, done with a bit of a twist. See, with most origin issues we have some idea of what’s going on with the main character. I guess we know a little about Shuck, but most of it has to do with his search for his wife and that he watched souls for a while. The website has an issue listing (future, of course) up to 12, so they have a lot to tell us yet about this whole thing. Beautiful to look at and intelligently written, you can’t ask for much more out of a comic. I wasn’t sure what to expect out of this series and I wasn’t sure at all that I was going to like it from the descriptions, but I was completely won over. Seek this out, enjoy, and then sell these first issues on eBay for a zillion dollars in 5 years when these two are incredibly rich and famous. All the contact info you’ll need is on their website too, so just go there is you have any other questions.
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Posted by Kevin
April 26, 2010
Website
Shuck Comics #2
This is the best one in the bunch, at least so far. Shuck has to deal with what’s happening with his old job of watching over souls when they all escape from the creature that was supposed to replace him. If this all sounds too gothic or weird for some of you, it’s really not. It has its own view of things, and this guy is confident that he’s going to be around for a while because he only reveals a few tiny things per issue, but this could be read and enjoyed by just about everybody. What is it these days, 5 issues and then you put them into a graphic novel? If and when he does that, I’ll be at the head of the line telling you all to get it. This is the kind of stuff that’s better in one sitting, but still enough of an ongoing series that you’re not annoyed waiting a month between issues. Yes, you read that right, this book has started off monthly. I don’t know if they can keep up that kind of pace, as it’s been known to make people crazy and I wouldn’t mind having a late issue or two as long as the quality is the same when it does come out. Still, it’s an admirable goal, and at least possible with two people working on it.
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Posted by Kevin
April 26, 2010
Website
Shuck Comics #1
For those of you who wonder if it’s better to send me one comic in your series or a whole bundle of them, take note (and no, this isn’t just a sneaky way for me to get free comics, although I do like free comics…). The review for this series was going to be positive with an “if” thrown in before I got about halfway through the second issue. See, there’s a certain style of talking that is used in these comics that, at first glance, is annoying as all hell. To me, anyway. About halfway through the second issue I realized that I wasn’t even noticing it anymore, and after I was done with the third one I was enjoying it quite a bit. You’ll see what I mean when you read the samples, or go to his website and read all the samples there. This issue is about Halloween and the preparations this goat-headed main character does to entertain the dead people who are going to be eating at his house. No intro, no idea who these people are or what’s going on, and that’s just fine. A funny, unique issue. I don’t know where this guy (and his incredible artist, Tania Menesse) came from, but I’m sure glad they did.
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Posted by Kevin
April 26, 2010
Website
Fool’s Errand #1
When I got Paul’s other book, I asked him which two issues I should get to sample his stuff. He said to get this one and the one directly above this. Speaking purely in terms of art, I can see why, as the quality has taken a tremendous leap upwards here. As far as the story goes, helpful summary on the inside cover notwithstanding, I have very little idea of what’s going on here. See, #1 of Exit at the Axis was the first part of an 8 part series. This series starts another story arc, AFTER the other series has ended, which leaves a lot of catching up to do. I spent most of the issue trying to figure out who everybody was, honestly, so I don’t have much in the way of constructive criticism to offer. What these two #1’s have done is make me intensely curious about what came before. Contact info is up there and it’s my opinion that this guy is well worth checking out… but I’d really recommend getting a few issues in a row.
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Posted by Kevin
April 26, 2010
Website
Exit at the Axis #1
OK, I have very little idea of what’s going on here. It’s the first issue of an 8 issue series, so Paul assumes that people are going to be around for the whole thing. It’s nice to have that much confidence in your abilities, but I picked this up at SPX in kind of a “sampling” mode, trying to get as much stuff as possible from as many different people as possible. That being said, all I have to go on is the first issue, so I’ll do my best. The art is Dave Sim all the way, with a little less polish. Not to say that to bring the man down, it’s just that Dave had 20 years to perfect his style and Paul probably hasn’t had as long. He uses the long conversation style of putting the pictures on the inner side of the pages and the dialogue on the outer edges, as well as intricate backgrounds (although I guess that’s more Gerhard’s style than Dave’s). The story is about a man, Johnny Shallow (yes, I’m hoping there’s some reason for that stupid name too), who’s in love with a girl who I think is just a friend to him. He spends time around Christmas trying to get to see her early, while he’s being stalked by a mysterious man with a gun. Throw in an economics reporter and you have a story that’ll probably make a lot more sense a few issues from now. Still, it shows some serious potential. I’d probably check out a graphic novel of this, if such a thing existed. It’s $2.50, contact info is up there.
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Posted by Kevin
April 26, 2010
Website
Odd Job Rod #1
This is an OK little book. The theory here is that Odd Job Rod is a guy who comes when called and helps out, no matter the situation. These are mostly one or two page strips with a gag leading up to a punchline of some kind, leading me to wonder whether this was a weekly strip or something. It’s funny at times and downright stupid at others, as is that case with most weekly strips. The highlight is probably the two-pager that’s set up with a man who gives a garbled three name cry for help, which leads a bunch of three name “heroes” to come and offer their assistance. It looks good, it’s fairly detailed stuff, and it looks from the back page like he has a vast backlog of stuff to choose from. I’d be curious to see what other stuff he has out there, whether it’s more humor or serious stuff. Hey, I might have more of it here, my strategy for picking books to review is to grab randomly in the pile of stuff I got from SPX, so who knows? I’ll keep the site posted, as always. Check out his website or just send him an e-mail if you’re sufficiently curious…
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Posted by Kevin
April 26, 2010
Website
Salvager Kain #5
Hey look, a multi-part storyline! Technically I think that’s what you call a “series”, which is what this already is, but who am I to quibble? In this issue Kain runs into a couple of adventurers (and their intern) after he makes it to the caverns. After seeing the massacre that they’ve committed (and being quickly disabused of the notion that the creatures attacked the adventurers first), Kain starts trying to figure a way out of his situation, which is helped immensely by the fact that the main adventurer is insane. It’s another solid issue, and while very little happens on the “moving the story forward” end of things, the dialogue between everybody involved is brilliant, and who could blame them for massacring such an obviously dangerous band of creatures as we can see in the sample? On top of all this (which, I feel compelled to mention, is available for free and in color through the link at the top of the page), there’s a fantastic recap to the story from the bees in the last issue, and a epilogue of sorts from Paul where he tells us all about himself. As of this moment (12/5/09) there are only two new pages from the next issue up at his website, but seeing this issue in full color is thoroughly impressive, and the couple of pages available already show that Kain is thoroughly tired of being kicked around. Check it out and see for yourself, this issue is $3.
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Posted by Kevin
April 26, 2010
Website
Salvager Kain #4
OK, before I get to the actual issue, you should know that it ends on just a bit of a cliffhanger. I mention that because Paul has decided to make this into a web comic to reduce the wait between issues and to make it full color, to which I say: huzzah! This is one of those comics that screams out for full color. How he’s going to manage printing that once he gets an issue together (and he says he’s going to keep putting out regular issues) is beyond me, but more power to the man. And the comic? Isn’t it obvious from the above reviews that I’m hooked? If you’re looking for an unbiased observer, that man isn’t me. Still, I like to think I’d call something a pile of crap if it was a pile of crap, previous biases be damned. And this… is not a pile of crap. Kain is looking for a river, which should lead to a waterfall, which should lead to a tunnel. Naturally, this task isn’t going to as easy as all that. Along the way he meets up with a particularly hungry creature, the bees on the cover and a rightly pissed off fish. This issue is, if anything, a transition issue, which makes the fact that I can go right to the man’s website and pick up the story that much sweeter. It’s rare for something to already be “I can’t miss an issue” at #4, but here it is. Paul also says that these early issues won’t be web comics, so you’ll have to get the old fashioned printed edition to read them. If he keeps up the story like he has, that means you’re going to want to get the early bits before they go out of print. $3
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Posted by Kevin
April 26, 2010
Website
Salvager Kain #3
More pieces to the puzzle are revealed in this issue, and Paul is smart enough to start off with a recap for those poor souls who only managed to find this issue. It always amazes me that more creators don’t throw a synopsis into the start of their series, especially when keeping tabs on what came before is so crucial to understanding what’s happening now. In this issue we get to see just what “Kain” means, how the bartering society operates, and what happened to all the women who managed to survive. Intrigue, betrayal, treachery… all by a character that still only has the vaguest idea of what’s going on. The art is still tremendous (seriously, Paul must chain himself to his drawing table to keep up this rate of productivity), the story is still fascinating, and the pace is just about perfect. I think the man may be onto something. $3
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Posted by Kevin
