Optical Sloth

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Flame-Broiled #9

I’ve been very nice to this series overall, mostly because I like the sheer sense of fun that comes with these books, but I do have one technical complaint that’s been bugging me: line up your copies! Seriously half the pages have their tops chopped off, which doesn’t always matter but sometimes cuts off words and mostly just looks bad. It’s #9 (which is impressive by itself), that’s a problem that should be worked out by now. I do this out of love! This issue is a stand-alone story about Pope-land, a theme park made from the Vatican. A guy in a panda suit and a man named Raplh go there for the fabulous rides and Ralph ends up on the “Confession Booth Confession” show, which makes him instantly famous, causing him to lose interest in his old friends. But in all the confusion with the new fame, Raplh forgets to confess his sins and ends up in hell! More thrills after that, of course, including the panda guy following his friend into hell, but I don’t want to give it all away. Another fun issue, especially if you enjoy poking fun at the pope. Contact info is up there, it’s probably still $1…

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Flame-Broiled #8 Now Available! $2

Here’s the end of the horror series, and it’s the end of my pile o’ Flame-Broiled comics, expect for the 3-D issue, so get to work on a new story! Matt watches the ultimate horror movie in this one and gets taken away for his “perversions”. Another good issue, although I’m pretty sure now that this movie he’s talking about isn’t real, which is a damned shame, at least judging by his description. I’ve said so many nice things about this series, here’s something critical: that back page is almost illegible. Seriously, if I didn’t already know their website and e-mail address, I’d have no idea what the back said. This whole three issue story is great if you ever liked horror movies, as it really goes through the societal stereotypes along with why exactly people like gory movies so much. Contact info is way up there, and there’s a website listed on the back page, but I can’t get it to come up. If I get a working link, you’ll be the first to know!

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Flame-Broiled #7 Now Available! $2

The story of Matt’s infatuation with horror films continues, although I only learned of one new movie that I’d like to see and apparently it’s impossible to find, in a completely selfish little aside. Also, we finally get to see Nick, and there’s a mini revolt about the writer vs. the artist. Not much of one, though, and here’s hoping that they stay together for awhile, as these are consistently at least good and sometimes great. Not sure how old he was in this (it says it’s the second year of elementary school, but I don’t see how he could have gotten all these movies if he was in second grade), but it looks like he always looked exactly the same. Good stuff again, and there’s more to come next issue, as he finally watches the movie that was almost impossible to find. Contact info is up there, send him some money and get the whole lot of these, if you want my opinion…

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Flame-Broiled #4 Now Available! $2

The saga of meeting Harvey Pekar continues, as Nick and Matt work up the nerve to call Harvey in this issue. There’s a bit more to it than that, but that’s the gist of it. Will they ever actually see him? Who knows? I’m still liking the issues, although it’s hard to say what anyone would think of this comic if they only saw this issue. Worth checking out, although it might be best to get the whole saga here so you can have a sense of closure…

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Flame-Broiled #6 Now Available! $2

You know, I’m really enjoying digging through all the books from one creative team. It’s great for showing the progression of their skills, that’s for sure. This one, as the cover may suggest, is all about Matt and his life-long obsession with horror movies. As someone who shares that obsession more than a little bit, it was great to see his reaction to some of the classics (and suggestions for a few new horror movies). The lettering is fine this time around, the art is getting better all the time (a lot more backgrounds in this one), and I’m starting to feel like I know Matt a little bit, which is a sign of a great auto-bio comic in my book. Good stuff all around, and there’s even a reference to Harvey Pekar, as the saga will not die! $1, check it out, as I know there are at least a few of you out there who appreciate a good horror flick…

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Flame-Broiled #5 Now Available! $2

Finally, the last issue of the Harvey Pekar saga! Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed it, but I’m looking forward to seeing what else these two can do. In this one they finally meet Harvey, but spend most of the time feeling guilty for bothering the poor guy. He was sick and miserable and all they were doing was pestering Harvey about comics. There was a lot of great stuff in here with Matt documenting all of this self-doubts and trying to figure out just what he was doing there. The best issue of the “trilogy”, and it even helps explore Matt’s personality so you have more of a clue for future issues. I think you should get all three of these and see what these two are capable of. Contact info is up there, $1! By the way, I’ll throw in one tiny complaint, just so this isn’t all praise: work on the lettering. It’s neat enough, sure, but sometimes it’s dark enough to read and sometimes it’s tough. A minor, minor thing, like I said, but why screw up the easy stuff?

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Flame-Broiled #3 Now Available! $2

Imagine my surprise, upon finding Matt at SPACE, to see that he had 6 new comics out. 6! Sure, you could argue that a lot of the art is simplistic so it shouldn’t take that long to put an issue together, but I’m still impressed. He also said that he thinks things get a lot better by #8, so I’ll review one a week until I find out. Anyway, this one is about Matt eventually meeting Harvey Pekar. I say “eventually” because Harvey isn’t in this issue even a little bit. Instead, Matt discovers American Splendor, talks to Joyce Brabner (Harvey’s wife) on the phone, and talks about his phone phobia, which is strange, because I have the exact same thing. Not a paralyzing fear or anything… ah, read it to see what I mean. I’m still not blown away by the art, but the writing is fantastic and the art is more than good enough to serve the simple stories that are happening so far. If he decides to write about, say, all the different types of sea life in exact detail, he might be in trouble. Until then, these two are doing just fine. Contact info is up there, let’s say it’s $2, but I’m just guessing…

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Flame-Broiled #2 Now Available! $2

See, this is why it’s always better to read more than one issue of a series. This one is a whole bunch better than the first one. The first story is about a typical day for Matt (I’m guessing because he’s the writer). Kind of dull at first, but he eventually gets locked out of his parents house and his reactions are just so honest and heartfelt that it’s impossible to do anything but like it. The next story is about a conversation with someone at a garage sale about adult trading cards. Where they might have come from, what they might have been used for (they were pretty tame), that sort of thing. Interesting stuff. The last story is about how Matt and Nick met, which is kind of self-indulgent but still kind of funny. I got the impression that they knew how silly it was to put the story of them meeting in their comic. All in all I’d say that this was a definite improvement over the first one, a good sign indeed. Contact info is above, check it out if you don’t believe me…

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Flame-Broiled #1 Now Available! $1.50

I’ve mentioned before that some autobiographical stories are better left untold. The first half of this book, about the author buying comics as a kid and his problem when he forgot to use a coupon that would have given him $5 back on his purchase, is a prime example. It’s slightly entertaining, that’s about it. The drawing is kind of messy too, with some things not shaded and the guy with a beard barely looking human at all. Not a bad story, just nothing that anybody really needed to see. Obviously this is a judgment call on my part, so feel free to ignore me. The second part, about a boy with no head, was better. Still kind of dopey, but the art was crisper and it was an interesting story. If you see it around, eh, I could take it or leave it, but it’s far from terrible. E-mail the writer or the artist, they do have another book available as well…