New review today for The Amazing Camel Toe by Claire Duplan. Was this another accidental international week, as Andrew is in Australia and Claire is in France? Yep, looks like it…
Duplan, Claire – The Amazing Camel Toe
June 29, 2023
Can I just say that if I was giving out awards for best title, that one would win running away? This is somehow Claire’s first graphic novel, despite it feeling like it comes from somebody who’s been doing this for years and is completely assured in their own skills. The story itself bounces back and forth from the life of Constance (a young illustrator who’s beyond fed up at the countless attacks, big and small, suffered by women every day) and the hero of the comic she just started, Camel Toe. This hero has the power to make every man who harasses a woman picture that woman as their mother, which is a spectacularly appropriate punishment. Constance, meanwhile, feels better about herself and the world the further she gets into the stories of Camel Toe, but those stories are starting to freak out some of the companies that had been hiring her for illustration jobs. Her long term boyfriend, despite being generally supportive, also has trouble having her back on the subject, which really leaves Constance feeling alone in this struggle. If your “preachy” sense is going off right now, and you’re afraid that you’d be in for a humorless diatribe if you read this, I’m hoping the sample page alone will be enough to convince you otherwise. That story goes on for several more pages, and would solve a whole lot of harassment issues if it was implemented as a law. The Camel Toe stories are consistently funny (this is one of those books where I could have used several pages as sample pages, if that wasn’t, you know, unethical), and everybody at least knows somebody like Constance, assuming you’re not a lot like her yourself. I also think this deserves mentioning: the slogan for Camel Toe is “defender of gals and fucker of the patriarchy.” Why is she watering her plants with period blood on the cover? Sorry friends, you’ll have to read the book to solve that mystery. I’m scratching the surface on the details here, granted, but this is something that everybody should read and discover for themselves. Here’s hoping we see a lot more out of Claire, because this is one hell of a debut. $25 ($10 for the pdf)
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 6/27/23
June 27, 2023New review today for Mole #9 by Andrew Pilkington. Comb your hair!
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Posted by Kevin
Pilkington, Andrew – Mole #9
June 27, 2023
In case you’re curious what “trichotillomania” means, but you’re not curious enough to Google it, it refers to a disorder that compels people to pull out their own hair. It’s also a pretty solid hint about where the comic is going. This is the first issue of Mole that I’ve read where it’s all just one big story (granted, I’ve only read about 1/3 of these), and it works pretty damned well. Things start off with the horrific scene of a young woman cowering on the bathroom floor, blood everywhere, with an unseen man holding a bloody hairbrush. From there we flash back to how this all happened, and it all started at a drunken party. Two friends were trying to set another friend (Jimmy) up with the only lady at their party (Samantha), but they’d been trying for awhile and couldn’t get him to make a move. So after she passed out they decided to play a little prank on Jimmy, and things gradually spiraled out of control from there. She called him the next morning to hang out, but little did she know that Jimmy could not say no to… the hair. Vague enough for you? Good. It’s rare to see a genuinely new concept that still feels like it’s heading to one inescapable conclusion, even if it’s a conclusion you’ve never considered, but Andrew nails that feeling here. Yes, I may have made up that whole concept, but it’s true nonetheless. Some of his other books are definitely funnier than this one, but there are still laughs to be had here, and this is really more of a horror comic anyway. In my opinion, as the guy who guesses wrong about this stuff all the time, but you should know that by now. Anybody with any insecurities about your hair, give this one a shot. You’ll see that you could always have it worse! $10
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 6/21/23
June 21, 2023New review today for Satan’s Kingdom by Robert Sergel, which isn’t out quite yet, so I guess this is more of a preview. See, I’m not always ridiculously late on reviews! Just most of the time…
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Posted by Kevin
Sergel, Robert – Satan’s Kingdom
June 21, 2023
Every once in a while, I can still manage to get a review up in a timely fashion. This time it’s maybe a little too timely, as this book is debuting at SPX in a few months, but consider this a general joyful noise that a new Robert Sergel book is coming out soon. Prepare yourselves! This takes my general reluctance to use spoilers to whole new levels, but I’ll ramble as best as I know how, OK? Oh, and a gentle reminder: if you don’t already have Space and Bald Knobber, his two previous books, maybe rectify that before the new one comes out? You won’t be disappointed. Like those books, this a collection of shorter stories, several of which have already appeared either in his own comic (Eschew) or different anthologies. But there are also a few new ones, so there’s something here for everybody. First up is the title story, Satan’s Kingdom, and boy howdy is this one going to be tricky. It starts off with a man taking an impromptu drive because he heard a podcast about a place called Satan’s Kingdom. He’s underwhelmed, but things take a serious turn when he finds a body. From there he notices that the body looks awfully familiar, followed by a man coming out of the forest who also looks awfully familiar, and what follows is a terrifyingly unnerving, mostly wordless chase. Other stories deal with various Spite houses (if you’re not familiar, and I wasn’t, these are oddly shaped houses that were built purely to mess with somebody and are still around today as oddities), childhood memories from the brother of Napoleon and his chance encounter with something else entirely, a casual tale of an uncle doing some babysitting (no, of course it doesn’t stay casual, but this one will remain a mystery), having a conversation with one of those “activate your power” type motivational speaker and taking his message to its logical conclusion, a male initiation ceremony from a tribe that’s now extinct, and Shit Photographer. I’d like you to take your best guess on that last one, and you can see for yourselves how close you got to it in a few months. All of his stories have this background of unrealized dread, where you’re just waiting for the other shoe to drop, that’s difficult to quantify without showing you several more pages, or maybe a full story or two. I’m always thrilled to see a new book from this man, and he’s that rare kind of talent that still manages to surpass himself every time. This might be his best work, or maybe I just think that because it’s been a few years since I read his other books. Still, it’s absolutely worth checking out. $20
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 6/19/23
June 19, 2023Happy Juneteenth everybody! New review for That Comic Smell #2 by David Robertson and several of his friends.
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Posted by Kevin
Robertson, David (editor) – That Comic Smell #2
June 19, 2023
It’s another fantabulous anthology comic from David and friends, and once again it seems like this one must have slipped to the bottom of one of my perilous piles of review comics, as it looks like he’s already hard at work on #3. Eh, it’s timeless anyway, right? Granted, I don’t see it for sale on his website, but let’s just move on. I’m sure that contacting the man will end up with you getting a copy of it. The list of contributors on the back inside cover is incomplete (and/or he uses nicknames), so if I missed a name and you know it, send me an email and I’ll add a tag with their name. Seems minor, I know, but you’d be amazed what you can find here if you click on various names in those tags. Anyway, there’s a comic here, and it’s a pretty damned good one. Sure, there’s the occasional “meh” story, as is the case for every anthology ever, but they’re few and far between. Stories include a fully fictionalized account of Jeff Lynne explaining Xanadu by David (that sentence will need explaining to most of you, but trust me, it’s a funny story), Loki “helping” a young girl who saved his pet my Mike Sedakat, an absolutely hilarious parody of the “Taken” movies by David (unless it’s a faithful retelling, as I haven’t seen any of them, and if that’s the case I have to see all those movies immediately), letting the intern loose on the advice column questions by ? (see, this is why I prefer artist’s names to be on their pages in anthologies, or at least clearly marked somewhere), a more than slightly trippy bit on how we all perceive colors by another ?, how Muhammad Ali was thrown out of the British Magic Circle by yet another mystery artist, and an owl and a cat in outer space by David. Several other shorties too that I’m not mentioning because I like surprises, of course. There’s one story that’s a little problematic, depending on where you fall on the “how often should we be talking about Kobe Bryant, considering the whole rape thing” spectrum. If you’re interested in a faithful retelling of his various accomplishments by a guy who was actual friends with Kobe from a young age (Nando), then there’s a lot to like about the piece. If you think, like I do, that you have to at least mention the rape thing in a story about his life, it’s maybe a little lacking. Oh, why did I save that for last? Who wants to end a review of an overwhelmingly funny/insightful anthology with something like that? My apologies. Yes, David still knows what he’s doing with this anthology/comics business, and yes, you should absolutely check this out.
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 6/8/23
June 8, 2023New review today for the return of an old favorite: Nod Away Volume 1 by Joshua W. Cotter! And I rarely put links in this section, but he’s trying to raise enough funds to help him complete his projected 7 volumes of this series, so if you’re the type who’s willing and able to help out a one-of-a-kind comics creator like Joshua, donate here, won’t you?
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Posted by Kevin
Cotter, Joshua W. – Nod Away Volume 1
June 8, 2023
Full disclosure time: I didn’t have any idea that Joshua was working on this series until I saw a depressing Twitter thread about it. His second volume (which I’ll be reviewing toot sweet after the ending of this one) came out right around the time the pandemic started, which severely impacted his ability to promote it, to the extent that it sold something like 4 copies. Not a typo, sadly. I remembered his work from Skyscrapers of the Midwest, a fantastic series I reviewed in the early days of the website, and bought copies of the first two volumes of this series immediately. Quick spoiler-free review: you should too! Or at least the first one, because that’s all I’ve read so far. If you read his stuff back in the day, or if you’ve kept up with his career better than I have, go into this as blind as possible. For the rest of you, I’ll talk some specifics. Things start off abstract, with a series of words turning into sentences, jumbles and finally a person. It’s an unnamed dude that we follow sporadically throughout the book, but the specifics of his purpose are left a mystery. Unless I missed something, which is always and forever a possibility in my reviews. The bulk of the story deals with something called an innernet, which I originally thought was a play on the regular internet, but it’s so much more. A certain percentage (I think it was around 60%) of the population is able to get an implant that lets them keep constantly connected to what is basically a hive mind. The specifics are vague at first, but eventually (keep in mind what I said about spoilers; you can always stop now) we learn that it’s hosted by a young girl who’s kept under constant supervision. Once that comes out the group redoubles their efforts to find a more humane and universal method for keeping people connected, which is when their troubles begin. But that’s towards the end of the book, so I’m keeping that vague. Before then we spend most of our time with Dr. McCabe, a woman who’s taken a job on what is rather casually revealed to be the space station that houses the young woman who hosts the innernet. Dr. McCabe is trying to keep up a long distance relationship, so we gradually watch that fall apart as she tries to keep up with her work. There are bureaucratic troubles galore, we see her get to know the rest of the staff, and things stay more or less calm (with a steady undercurrent of menace) until their big attempt to activate another way to host the innernet. The southern general who speaks at that thing, by the way, is one of my new favorite characters in comics, and I hope we end up getting more of this man that I would never want to meet in real life. I can’t emphasize enough how full of plot and potential this thing is, despite being compellingly readable throughout. Joshua is planning 7 volumes, and from what I’ve seen I can already say that the comics world would be a poorer place if he doesn’t make it. Buy his book, it’s your duty as a comics fan! If that doesn’t work, he’s also doing a fundraiser so he can get through 7 volumes, and he’s only about 1/3 of the way to his goal as of this review, so at least throw some money at the guy. $25
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 6/6/23
June 6, 2023New review today for Barfology #1, an anthology (I think) edited by Marino Yinug and featuring a gaggle of cartoonists. Or is it a murder?
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Posted by Kevin
Yinug, Marino (Editor) & Various Artists – Barfology #1
June 6, 2023Website (Twitter)
So every once in a while I do one of these “here are some basics that I’m putting out there as a public service announcement” kind of reviews. I’ll get to the contents, obviously, but I’ve been doing this for 22ish years by now (I know, I can’t believe it either) and see the same basic errors pop up often enough that I figure they deserve a reminder every now and then. What’s the trouble with this anthology? Well, they do put a table of contents in the back, which is something some anthologies forget altogether, so they get points for that. But they forget to list the page numbers on the actual pages, so if, say, I’m trying to figure out which piece Lily Reyes or Brian Kennedy did, I have to go back and manually count the pages. That’s something I don’t have much patience for as a reviewer, so I can’t imagine the average reader has much more, especially in an anthology like this where several of the art styles are fairly similar. Basically in anthologies: ideally put the artist’s name somewhere highly visible on the page, if not you really need page numbers. OK, lecture over, and remember that it’s coming from a place of love. What’s this one about? As you may have guessed from the cover, wacky mayhem plays a big part in it. Several of the styles are very reminiscent of Ren & Stimpy (one piece even has them in it), so if you’re at all familiar you have a baseline. But it does wander on several occasions, giving it variety, which is the trickiest thing to manage for anthologies. Stories in here include an ice cream pun, finding the perfect way to defeat (legally not) Skeletor, trying everything to get lettuce out of your teeth, overthinking an outfit before going out, going too mainstream with music, giving too much to a beggar, making up a story about getting beat up to cover something embarrassing, a contemplative moment spotting somebody in the gym, and several more silent panels and gags. It’s pretty engaging overall, with a few low spots, as is almost always the case for anthologies. There’s also a QR code on the back with a link to their first animated show, which was also pretty funny. Check it out if you’re in the mood for mayhem! $10
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 6/2/23
June 2, 2023It’s the triumphant return of Carrie McNinch! New review today for You Can’t Get There From Here #57. She might catch up to King Cat yet!
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Posted by Kevin
McNinch, Carrie, You Don’t Get There From Here #57
June 2, 2023
You Don’t Get There From Here #57
Note: the link in the comic title is actually to her Patreon, as I don’t see a simple way to order her comics online. Get in touch with her and offer her some cash, I reckon you’ll wind up with some comics. So hey, it’s the return of Carrie! Not that she went anywhere, I just haven’t reviewed an issue of her series for 20 issues or so. Once again, I plead with a benevolent billionaire to give me enough money to hire an assistant, so that I have any chance at all of keeping up with all mini comics series in the world. So what’s she been up to in the interim? Well, things haven’t been going great in her life. These strips are all from early 2019, just for context. She talks a few times in these strips about putting the finishing touches on #48, which means she’s really been cranking these out. She’s obviously dealing with some severe depression in several of these strips, so keep in that mind if it’s triggering. She’s back living with her mom, has two sick cats she’s trying to keep alive through various medicines and methods, can’t seem to get a job she likes (and usually ends up cat or dog sitting) and at one point even ends up getting home and biting into what’s actually a beef burrito. For somebody who’s been a vegetarian as long as she has, believe me, that’s devastating. About halfway through the comic, just when it seems like she’s at her lowest, it’s time for a long planned trip to Japan. This really picks her spirits up, even though she does manage to get a cold on the long flight. She wanders from place to place and seems to have a fantastic time, culminating in the Penis Festival that’s mentioned below. Do the statues and decorations get even more outlandish as it goes on? Reader, you know they do. As always, her comics are a treat, although I do hope her luck has picked up a bit over the last few years. No price listed, but she was talking about the harsh reality that she’s have to raise her prices soon, so maybe $5.
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 5/21/23
May 31, 2023New review today for Santos Sisters #3 by Greg and Fake Petre, and is the accidental theme this week reviewing comics from series that have gone at least 4 issues (and in the next case, several dozen more)? Sure looks like it!
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Posted by Kevin
Petre, Greg & Fake – Santos Sisters #3
May 31, 2023
It’s more fun with those lovable Santos Sisters, who are in serious danger of becoming bit characters in their own comic. Not that that’s always a bad thing; in this case it’s mostly because the background characters are clearly demanding more time on the page. This one has a few different stories in it. First up is one about Crazy Eightball dealing with an ex in a less than rational manner. Hey, her name has “crazy” in it! Todd (everybody remembers Todd from past issues) had apparently complimented her outfit, which led her to believe that he was complimenting her, which all ends up in a brawl at the local Oliver Garden. Then there’s the tale of the football players who were kicked off the team for steroids, their plan for revenge, and a real life demonstration on how the Santos Sisters use their swords for weapons without ending up just murdering everybody. There’s also silent (and all-ages!) piece about getting outskated and then getting even, and finally a trip to the zoo that ends in a massive animal breakout and a brief fracas with that dude on the cover who’s holding a sword and barely wearing any clothes. Another funny issue with, like I said, a cast of characters who’s rapidly taking things over. Issue #4 just came out (which prompted this review; keeping up with all of the comics in the world is a tough business), and #5 is also coming soon, so now’s the perfect time to get yourself a pile of their comics. $5
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 5/29/23
May 29, 2023New review today for Eyeland #10 by Nick Forker. Don’t be alarmed by the issue jump in reviews, but I do explain everything in it.
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Posted by Kevin
Forker, Nick – Eyeland #10
May 29, 2023
I’m breaking one of my usual “rules” to review #10 long before I review #3-9. Why would I do such a thing? Well, Eyeland isn’t (at least so far) a linear story, and I needed some help in deciding whether or not to go back and review the rest of the series. So after reading the latest issue, my conclusion is… yeah, maybe, if I have time! Riveting stuff, I know. So what’s this comic about? Nick was going through a move in New York while he was trying to put this issue together, which was going to make sticking to his monthly schedule difficult, to say the least. So he pulled together various sketchbook pages and stories about his experiences together to meet his deadline. I’m always and forever impressed with anybody who keeps up a monthly schedule (Dave Sim, for all of his MANY other faults, kept it up for decades, which actually may not be the best endorsement for the schedule considering what happened to his brain, so never mind), but it looks like he’s dialed it back a bit since, as there’s only one new issue out so far in 2023. My mind is clearly all over the place for this one, so let’s finally just get to the comic, shall we? There are several short pieces (anywhere from a panel to a couple of pages) about every aspect of moving, and since we’ve all been there to some degree, there’s some relatable and funny stuff in here. Also he said he’s moved 30 times in New York City, which maybe earns this man some sort of medal? He also talks about finally giving up coffee, giving up on screens for books, and finally ends up with a piece about how he’s done standing in his own way and is going to “take the path of liberation for all beings.” But a lot more complicated and nuanced than that, as I’m trying to summarize rather than plagiarize. It’s probably required reading if you’re ever planning on moving to New York, and even if you’re not there’s still plenty to like in here, as always. Aw, what the heck. I’ll review #3 in a few weeks and see where that takes me. $5
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 5/25/23
May 25, 2023Meeting Comics are back! New review today for Gone Ghost: A Val Cannon Mystery by Andrew Neal.
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Posted by Kevin
Neal, Andrew – Gone Ghost: A Val Cannon Mystery
May 25, 2023
Gone Ghost: A Val Cannon Mystery
Should Meeting Comics change into nothing but Val solving mysteries? I mean, I like the rest of the cast too much to wish for that to happen completely (this comic flashes back to 1996, so only one other member of the modern crew is still around), but I certainly wouldn’t mind if it became a regular thing. This is set a few months after the events of Val’s last mystery (Where the Rent Went), and it’s at a Halloween party, which is a setting that’s always just full of possibilities. The mystery itself takes several pages to get going, but before that we get the joy of seeing Val’s roommates set boundaries with her (the five of them want Val all to themselves; she had been going outside the house for sex and agrees to go “steady” with them only) and an incident with a raccoon in an attic. It also nicely sets up an issue-long problem, one that is rare for a sex machine like Val: she’s blocked from sex at every turn, by an increasingly ridiculous series of events, in the funniest bit of the comic. Eventually we find out (through a cop stopping by her Halloween party) that there’s a missing woman and he’s hoping she can help out, since she’s famous from her last successful solving of a mystery. As always, this issue is packed with details, from the various costumes sprinkled throughout (some time sensitive to the 90’s, some not) to the fun of trying to spot the missing woman in the background. Here’s as close to a spoiler as I’ll get: she was at the party all along! Andrew was also nice enough to send along his “making of” zine for this issue, and if you’re interested in his process, I can’t recommend it enough. Bits that didn’t fit, his artistic process, a comic from him in 1996 about a story that took place at the house that inspired Val’s old house with all the roommates, just a fascinating pile of information. If you’re wondering if I’m recommending this, it should be obvious by now, but yeah, it’s not like Andrew suddenly lost his touch since the last issue. And it’s self-contained, so you don’t have to read all the older issues of Meeting Comics (even though you should, assuming you like to laugh). Maybe get Val’s two mystery issues, and if you like those, branch off from there to the rest of the series. $7
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Posted by Kevin
