April 23, 2010
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Dolltopia
Who out there ever wanted to throw off the shackles of oppression that were holding your dolls down? You know, back when you were kids and they were all so set in their roles, whatever they were? This is all about a couple of dolls (Kitty Ballerina and G.I. Joe) who are sick of their roles, so Kitty decides to leave her assigned husband and Joe wants to throw off his crappy clothes and get a kilt. Joe knows about a place for runaway dolls called Dolltopia, and they run off to check out this strange new world. There they find a world of new possibilities, as well as a doctor who does work on articulating elbows and facial expressions (although, and I’m probably a horrible person for even thinking this, no mention of new genitalia). Kitty and Joe eventually decide that they want to conduct a raid on the doll factory in the hopes of setting more dolls free before they’re forced into conformity, and any more information is going to ruin the whole book. Obviously things are happening here on many levels, as this is also an indictment of the blind conformity of so many people in the world, but it also works just as a straight up adventure stories with a couple of dolls. The artwork is suitably weird and creepy for the subject matter, and it’s an all around good time for anybody who’s ever had these sorts of thoughts about the rigid “lives” that these dolls were supposed to live. $2
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Americanjism Book One
Do you want the good news or the bad news first? I’ll be positive to start. Joe’s art has improved by leaps and bounds since the days of Lechery (oh that long year or so ago). The sheer level of detail that he puts into the panels is tremendous and he should be commended. The rest of it, I’m afraid, is at least partially negative. His lettering is either OK or terrible, with everything crammed together into a tiny fraction of his drawn word balloons. There’s not much of a story in this book that I can detect, but if you find abortions, incest and constant cumshots funny, you’ll think this book is hilarious. Basically it’s six chapters of fucking, with an occasional insightful comment on the human condition thrown in. Still, that’s not the point here. At least I don’t think it’s the point, as it something of a mystery to me. If nothing shocks you anymore, check this out and test that theory. If you’re just looking for a quiet read, stay away. Not sure if I could recommend this to anybody I know, but everybody has their own tastes, right? The print job is great too, this book is $10 and pretty big. Here’s a website!
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Lechery #4
Want a simple concept for a “dirty” comic book? OK. The wife (?) of one of the main characters, Don, decides to play a joke on him, but can’t think of what to do. A little friend pops up and tells her what to do, providing that he can have sex with her daughter. I shouldn’t tell you what the joke is because I already spoiled about half the book, but it’s kind of funny in a simplistic sort of way. Look, everybody who knows about Gibous knows by now that what you’re getting here is short, offensive, regularly scheduled and usually entertaining comics. If you have a problem with that, go elsewhere. If you think it’s fascinating to watch all this stuff come out like I do, stick around. I’m sure there’ll be another one of their books on my page in another month or so…
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Lechery #3
You know, this one is downright tame compared to some of the other “explicit” books from Gibous. It’s pretty funny, and incredibly short, like always. The father of the fat man-child gets killed and has to deal with the afterlife. If you’re looking for a moral there, you’re reading the wrong book. I don’t know where he’s going with this, if anywhere, but it’s odd and it made me chuckle. What more can you ask for? Contact info is above, it’s probably a couple of bucks…
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Lechery #2
You can say one thing for sure about these Gibous folks: they do not mind showing fucking in their comics. Hey, more power to them. Way too many people are scared of sex in this world and it’s things like this that’ll make it seem a little more healthy to some of those religious nuts out there. Oh wait, that’ll never happen. Anyway, this comic is pretty stupid. A fat girl with pig tails gets raped by a demon after eating some mushrooms. I know, that’s against my policy of saying much about the comic, but I’m still exhausted from moving all day and that might be why I’m not as cheery as usual. I like the art a lot, I can say that for it. All he needs is a story and he’s good to go. Unless, of course, he’s content to draw fat girls screwing, in which case he’s doing a great job. Have I mentioned yet how short these Gibous books are? Good. Anyway, it’s worth a look if you just want to be slightly offended or amused, otherwise give him time to work the kinks out. He’ll be great, it’ll just take a few more issues like this to get there… Contact the man at: Gibous Productions 16 Payne Avenue Sag Harbor, NY 11963.
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Animal Stew
Unless you mostly hate animals, it’ll be tough not to find something to like in this one. It’s a collection of one page strips from the Small Press Syndicate newsletter, and which eventually found their way into various alternative newspapers, about various animals and/or the people involved with them doing strange things. You have remote controlled rats, giant cockroaches as pets, bugs breathing, the tiniest dog in the world, premasticated dog food, a dolphin going AWOL, termite flatulence, and more than a few other odd animal related stories. There’s something that I didn’t know in about half the stories here, which is always a good thing. Of course, if you have no interest in learning odd facts about animals you’ll probably hate this, but if that’s true why would you still be reading this review? Good clean fun to be had here and it’s only a buck…
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Coexistence
This was one of those cases where the cover made it worth a shot all by itself. That’s one creepy image, and the inside doesn’t let up much from there. A Vicar comes home from a day at church to find the devil sitting in his kitchen. The devil says that he’s merely there to sit and that he won’t try to talk to the Vicar or convince him of anything, he will merely sit. The Vicar, of course, is confused by this, because the devil is always up to something, and the rest of the issue is spent finding out just what that something is. Oh, and I should mention that this is based on a short story by Slawomir Mrozek, for all you literary types out there (it’s not a name I recognize). Matt manages to pack a constant sense of dread throughout this mini. There’s not a speck of white in this outside of eyes and clouds, the rest is shades of grey and black. Great stuff and there’s even a message involved. And did I mention that it’s only $.50?
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Xoc #1
OK, you can see the cover. Are you one of the tiny amount of people in the world who aren’t intrigued, or do you immediately want to know more? It made me read it as soon as it got here, and seeing as how most things go into my “random review grab pile” as soon as they get here, that’s no small feat. This was also nominated for an Ignatz award, and if it didn’t win it either got robbed or somebody else made an even better mini comic, which is a hard thing to imagine. This is the story, more or less, of Xoc, a great white shark. Matt takes great care with his facts here, noting the sharks migrating when they notice a change in the magnetic pull of the Earth and the position of the sun. Granted, he could be making those up and I’d never know, but based on the level of detail in the rest of the book I feel secure saying he got it right. The story opens with a group of sea lions arguing (they’re the only group in the comic to talk, oddly) about how they’re going to get more food and whether or not they should move off their current patch of land. A brash young sea lion declares that they need to move now after seeing what he thinks are fish, and leaps into the ocean. He makes it to another small patch of land, but is only saved from being eaten by the other sea lions that follow his lead and attract the attention of Xoc. The blood from his first kill brings other sharks, and a feeding frenzy commences. While the survivors huddle together and plot their next move, Xoc and the other sharks feel the pull and move out of the area, coming across some deep sea creatures and other things that generally end up in the bottom of the ocean. This is a genuinely magnificent comic, something that is rarer than you probably think. Granted, I feel like a bit of a dork for even using the word “magnificent”, but it sums it up perfectly. The art is perfect, with all kinds of little details and some serious realism, and the writing is slowly starting to tell the story of Xoc. Heck, I was nervous watching the sea lions swim to the other bit of land, and that’s saying a lot from somebody as jaded as me. It’s well worth checking out, here’s hoping that Matt has an epic in him with this story. $2
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Big Deal #6
Who out there has been dying to see a continuing story from Patrick? Granted, I was mostly OK with his random weekly strips, as they were consistently hilarious, but I have to admit that I was slightly curious as to how he would handle an “epic” story. Well, this is 7 years old and I think he could probably do a better job of it now, but there’s still plenty of funny in here. As you can see from the cover, this is all “Haul Ass to New York”, about an artist cowboy from Athens who heads to New York to make it big. Also included at various points on the trip are his horse, a giant robot, a giant monster (and shame on you if you can’t see those two getting together), Joseph Beuys, Zorro, Captain Zap, and a musical finale that THE MAN wouldn’t let you see. I’m a bigger fan of his weekly strips, frankly, but there’s something to be said for a story that goes almost completely off the rails and is out of control. It might seem a little aimless, but it sure is a fun ride. Also Patrick has little comments on certain strips, as he knows full well that this probably isn’t his best work, and those do plenty to liven things up. It’s $2, contact info is up there and then further up there…
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Big Deal #3
Almost two years after I first saw his work, I was finally able to get ahold of more strips from Patrick. They didn’t make me laugh as the first batch though. Maybe he stopped taking drugs, or maybe he started taking them, I don’t know. If you think that is some sort of negative review, maybe you should scroll up and read my review of his other book. I still laughed out loud several times while I was reading this, but I didn’t crap my pants or anything like the last time. Was I supposed to mention that? Anyway, if you like laughing, well, you’re probably too happy to be reading small press comics, but buy this if you do. Monsters, bake sales, irony, the farmer’s daughter, J.D. Salinger, the liberal media, and tiny porn. That’s what some of the strips are about this time, although monsters are in a bunch of them. Also, if he was ranking the Jack Kirby monsters in order of coolness, then Fin Fang Foom has to come first. The other ones are just sound effects applied to monsters. To understand what I’m talking about, order the book!
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
Website
Big Deal Comics and Stories
Ah, I can only hope that all the comics I got from FLUKE are this good. This looks like it was done for a local newspaper or something, as all the strips are the same basic format. If you’ve ever seen a weekly strip in a paper you know that they’re kind of hit or miss. Some weeks are funny, some are OK, and some just stink. Well, none of these are that bad and, granted, there are some that are kind of “eh”, but the funny ones are incredible. Strips that I didn’t put up here (because I didn’t want to put up the whole book) include a hillbilly yeti, Pants Man, an angry butterfly, a werewolf hand projector, Tom Selleck, and more monsters than you can shake a stick at, whatever that means. Looks, here’s one sample, and if you don’t laugh at this, don’t send this guy any money. Fair enough?
Still here? OK, I’ll make a deal with you. I normally don’t put up this many samples, but I had a hard time narrowing it down to three, let alone less than that. Obviously, I can’t see you here, but if you look at the rest of the samples you should really send the guy money so he doesn’t get pissed off at me or anything. I don’t have an address yet, but I’m working on it, OK? I did manage to find his e-mail address though, so you can ask him what you can buy. He had two books there with the same title, so you should ask him for the one that was all sideways. A little bit better than the other one, mostly because it didn’t have as many songs. Unless songs are your thing, in which case you should get the other one. Or get them both, as they’re only $2 each. On with the funny!
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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This Comic Book Must Be Destroyed #0
OK, first things first, this comic is a part of Shiot Crock #11, done by many of the fine folks over at The Comics Journal message board. Not sure how much this costs as a package (haven’t been able to find it on the message board yet but will post it when I do), and I’ve decided to review it comic by comic instead of in one big clump, mostly because having a grab bag of comics that I can reach into each day without knowing what I’m going to get is one of my favorite things in the world. OK, now onto the actual comic. This is mostly a parody of Seth, Chester Brown and Joe Matt, and it’s mostly hiliarious too. Useless to you if you somehow don’t know who those people are, but incredibly funny if you do. Some of those facial expressions were just spot on, very well done. The Joe Matt character wants a rare comic and volunteers his friends to help him out, and they end up… ah, why ruin it, you already know if you’re interested or not, and if you are you’d probably like to see what happens for yourself. It’s funny and nails these people on some pretty easy things, what more do you need to know? Oh, and here’s that message board, in case you want to check out who else is in this thing and/or just want to talk about comics…
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Foxes and Grapes #1
I’ve read and liked a few anthropmorphic comics in my day. Omaha the Cat Dancer and Hepcats come to mind immediately, but the field kind of narrows after that. This one is about a family of foxes who are living in a normal neighborhood. No one knows who they are or why they got there, but they’re the only family of foxes living in the U.S. Makes me wonder how there’s ever going to be another family of foxes, but I digress. The story in this one is just the youngest son wandering around imagining things, which isn’t as bad as it sounds. At least it’s a different idea, sort of. His art has improved over the years (I got a copy of an older book of his at SPACE too), but there are still a few side looks at things that are a bit off. He needs to work on his lettering too. If you’re going to spend that much time on the art (and some of the cross hatching tells me that he spent a long time on it), then why rush the lettering? Overall, not a bad book. I’m curious to see where it’s going, but I probably won’t order any more unless I see him at another con. Go to his website to see what’s up, e-mail him, or just go ahead and send him a couple of dollars at: 3800 Woodmere Way Bloomington, IN 4740 (I’m guessing that he forgot a number here, I’ll find out what it is when I can).
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Jennifer Daydreamer #11
Wow. There are going to be certain comics on this page that I’m just going to have to recommend that you read without giving too much away. Any issue of Jennifer Daydreamer is always packed with symbolism, things that you’re going to miss on the first way through, and deceptively simple artwork. I’m not sure what she’s using for the backgrounds in here, chalk or crayons maybe, but it creates a mood all its own. Let’s see what should I tell you… there’s a boy named Oliver in a rabbit costume (I think). There’s twins, Eva and Anna, and it’s known that whichever one marries first will live while the other one will sicken and die. I could go into some little things that happen in this issue and offer my two cents about what means what, talk about the eternal struggle of life, duality of man, all that crap. The bottom line is that every issue of this mini that I’ve seen is thought-provoking and leaves me with a slightly uneasy feeling about the universe and my place in it. If that isn’t unadulterated praise for a comic then I don’t know what is.
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Oliver
Three cheers for Top Shelf! Jennifer deserves to be seen on a larger scale than her mini comics. For those of you who don’t know, Jennifer does one of the more surreal and dream-like comics out there. It usually takes me a couple of reads just to make sure that I’m getting all of what’s going on, but it’s an effort that’s richly rewarded. There’s a world that’s inhabited by all sorts of beings. Angels, children, clowns, flowers. Maybe they’re not beings, or maybe they are. What does it all mean? What the voices doing? Ah, I’m just trying to get you interested. If you’re interested in comics that you have to think about to figure out, here you are. Hey look, a website!
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Guitar Solo
This is the first new comic I’ve seen from Mike in far too long, as he’s working on a graphic novel called Freddie and Me. This is apparently a bridge between the two halves of the book, so maybe the whole thing makes more sense in context. The first half of the comic was tremendous, among the best stuff Mike as ever done. It’s all about memory, self, how other people see the world, and a brief snapshot of growing up as an outsider (literally, as he came here from England around 5th grade). Really fascinating ideas on the concept of existence, how we hold onto the important memories and how this sets us apart from every other form of life. If his graphic novel is based around this, I’m sold. The second part of the mini, however, is a conversation between Freddie Mercury and Brian May about their last album and it’s a jarring transition. Again, it might all make perfect sense in the context of the graphic novel, but as a stand alone mini it seemed sudden. Freddie and Me is about Mike’s life in general and his lifelong obsession with Queen specifically, so I get the need to have Freddie Mercury in there somewhere, but what was the conversation based on? A recorded conversation? Gossip and hearsay? Eh, it’s a minor quibble, as the first half was phenomenally good, I just hope it all makes sense in the big picture. $2 or so, as the comics keep me guessing about pricing these days…
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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All Dave Comics
This is a collection of Mike’s strips from a college newspaper, and I should mention something for the uninitiated: I don’t like strips. It colors my opinions on reviews, as you might imagine. Even with the strips that I like (This Modern World and K Chronicles, to name a couple) I get annoyed over the obligatory “punchline”. Mike says in the intro that he made this strip intentionally “PG” because everybody else at the college paper was doing shock strips and he just thought that was too easy, so he wanted to do a family strip. It’s funny at times but overall it didn’t do much for me. The bulk of the comic is strips about the main character going back to college at the age of 24 and the wackiness that ensues. Like I said, a few good strips and somebody who wasn’t as biased as me could like this a lot more, but give me Gabagool and Cabaret any day…
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Gabagool #6 Now Available! $3
The conclusion to the Hedonism saga! It seems bigger than the other issues too, although it’s entirely possible that I’m making that up. Will any of the guys “get lucky”? Hm, I was going to put a whole list of questions there, but that sure seems like the main one. Oh, and how many dicks are there in this book, anyway? How about boobs? Vaginas? I should probably mention that a fair amount of time is spent at a nude beach. This is the best issue yet, which is saying a lot, and you could probably even figure out what was going on in the rest of the series if you just picked this one up, but why not check out the whole thing? Do you think I’ve been lying to you this whole time about which series are really great? I’m hurt and offended, and now this whole storyline is available through my website, so what’s your excuse? This is all topped off by another great rant from Cousin Lenny who, I’m told by the creators, is a very real person. It’s the perfect funny comic. Contact info is all over this page (which is getting huge, but that’s just because they keep putting out quality comics), check out Mike’s site for more samples!
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Dirtbag #9
Wistful sadness, thy name is Dirtbag. In this one, Dave talks about cheerleaders, being stuck on a bus, leaving it all behind, being all alone in a supermarket late at night, first love, Halloween, being too ugly to go to school, Metal Heads, drinking, ping pong sex, movies about women in prison, being totally def, the older girl, and the arcade. You know, this might be my most blatantly informative review yet, so let me ramble for a minute. I try to save Dave’s books for the quiet moments. Not necessarily the real quiet moments, but whenever everything is too much and it all needs to just stop for a bit. He lets me remove myself from the world and peek into it with a whole new perspective, and I can’t imagine a better thing than that.
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Posted by Kevin
April 23, 2010
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Gabagool #5 Now Available! $3
There’s one thing about this series that never occurred to me: is Cousin Lenny a real person? I mean, who’s ever seen him? Of course, if you wanted to use that criteria, how does anybody know that I’m a real person? Dude, this is blowing my mind, I’d better get back to the comic. You guys are all reading this series by now, right? Good. That’ll make this easy. This issue picks up with part 2 of the “Hedonism” story, and now everybody is in Jamaica, looking for drugs and women. It never ceases to amaze me how these two can put together an issue where not much of anything happens and still have it be incredibly entertaining. Yes, that really is the only synopsis you get from me for the main part of the book, as you should all be reading this anyway and I don’t want to bore you. The second part, drawn by Tony Consiglio, is all about a mysterious person who’s crapping in the classrooms at school. As for Cousin Lenny, if I said that he was getting soft in the last review, I take it back in this one. He remains one of the consistent highlights in a book that is full of great stuff all the time. Check it out, get the back issues, make these two rich and famous! But not too rich and famous, otherwise they’ll stop putting the goods out on such a regular basis.
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Posted by Kevin
