April 22, 2010
Website
Shuteye #3: Night and Day Now Available! $4
I’ve known about Sarah’s work for right around a year now, and it already makes my day when I get a new comic from her in the mail. This is the story of a young couple who seem to completely love each other, but have to deal with roommates and their families not approving of their relationship for different reasons. They decide to take a long camping trip to get away from it all, and end up stumbling across a house in the middle of nowhere, and any more than that gives the whole thing away. This may (emphasis on the “may” here, as I like most of her stuff) be the best comic that Sarah has done yet. She sets up the difficulties of the relationship beautifully and deals with the awful truth of that house as honestly as possible. She also points out in the letter that came with this something I hadn’t picked up on, that the end of every Shuteye focuses in on one person dreaming and that person carries on over to the next issue. Missed that one completely, probably because I’ve been reading these things months apart. Anyway, it looks gorgeous and has a great story. What more do you need? And I’m going to guess that this one is $4 too…
Comments Off on Becan, Sarah – Shuteye #3: Night and Day | 
Reviews | Tagged: Night and Day, Sarah Becan, Shuteye | 
Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Shuteye #2: The Liar Now Available! $4
OK, I’m officially impressed. Look, I’ve been doing this site for almost five years now and reading minis for twice as long as that (or so), so seeing something that’s genuinely different from the usual is always a thrill. This one is about a boy who’s always travelling (and drunk, apparently) and his desire to fit in somewhere, anywhere… but also his inability to be honest to those around him or even to himself. In the end we’re left wondering what of what we’ve just read is real and what isn’t, but she manages to pull that off without ever seeming like a cliche hollywoodish twist ending. And if you think I’m telling you too much you may be right, but she says it right on the back of the comic so it can’t be too much of a secret. It’s probably still a bit too early to say for sure, but so far Sarah seems like a new, unique voice in the world of small press comics, and another one of those is always a good thing in my book.
Comments Off on Becan, Sarah – Shuteye #2: The Liar | Reviews | Tagged: Sarah Becan, Shuteye, The Liar | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Shuteye #1: Vea Now Available! $4
This is the last of Sarah’s current list of books that I’m getting around to reviewing (just in case anybody comes here wondering how this all works chronologically, and it’s a horrible mess that way, so please don’t bother), and it’s another impressive effort. It’s about a man named Vea who deserts from a company of explorers in the Banda Oriental and his eventual time in an Indian camp. Vea spends a day with the Indians, only to wake up the next day to find that everybody has either vanished or changed significantly from the night before. This happens every day, no matter if he takes a wife the night before, fights in a battle, anything that happens is forgotten on a daily basis, to the point where Vea can’t even remember the life he had before the village. His story becomes a legend around his old group of explorers, although no one knows how much of it is real, if any of it, or what really happened to Vea. This is based on a story from David Becan and it’s a fascinating concept, although used in various forms in various other stories. It’s done extremely well here and this one, along with pretty much any of her other books, is well worth checking out. $4
Comments Off on Becan, Sarah – Shuteye #1: Vea | Reviews | Tagged: Sarah Becan, Shuteye, Vea | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Ouija Interviews #4: Mack, Agatha & Samantha Now Available! $4
I don’t know if Sarah takes these “conversations” down verbatim as she has them, uses snippets and turns them into a coherent story or just makes the whole thing up, but it hardly matters when the story is this good. The group finds Mack, who is sad, lost and looking for his mother. While they’re talking to him his sister Agatha comes into the conversation, and Mack says that he would be a lot happier if they could just find his mother. Mack asks them to find his sister Samantha, who might know more about the situation, and things get really odd from there. Yes, even more odd. This is a bit bigger than the other issues and it’s nothing short of a thoroughly entertaining read. If this was all taken verbatim from a ouija session that must have been one creepy session…
Comments Off on Becan, Sarah – Ouija Interviews #4: Mack, Agatha & Samantha | Reviews | Tagged: Mack Agatha & Samantha, Ouija Interviews, Sarah Becan | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Ouija Interview #3: Naomi Now Available! $3.50
Full disclosure here: I believe in Ouija boards working about as much as I believe in the average alien abduction. That is to say, not even a little unless I see proof of some kind. That being said, it didn’t matter one bit because this was a great story. A group of people “called” on the board (sorry, no idea what the term is) and were answered by a dead young girl named Naomi. She died horribly and misses the boy she had a crush on at the time, who either died with her or is still alive, as she hasn’t seen him. I have no idea of Sarah’s artistic ability from this because it’s just images of this dead girl in various poses, but she does a great job with the girl and the backgrounds, for whatever that’s worth I don’t think I’m adequately conveying what a blast this comic was, but it made me laugh a few times, and that’s always a good thing. I have no idea on price, but let’s say $3 at a guess, and the outside is creepily gorgeous.
Comments Off on Becan, Sarah – Ouija Interviews #3: Naomi | Reviews | Tagged: Naomi, Ouija Interviews, Sarah Becan | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Ouija Interviews #2: Chip Now Available! $3.50
It’s tough to pick a favorite out of these four issues (and that’s after Sarah had to win me over to begin with as I’m not a big fan of the ouija), but this one might take the cake. Am I allowed to have “co-favorites”? No, didn’t think so. This is the story of Chip, a sassy dead man who enjoys very much having sex and his current reincarnated life as a strawberry. Yes, both at the same time. He is also very interested in the interviewers asking deeper questions, then seems to take delight in making jokes of the answers. Chip does, however, give us the meaning of life, and it’s about as good an answer as I’ve seen anywhere else. This whole series (assuming that it’s over) is a blast and should win awards in the comics world. Hell, maybe it even has, as I don’t keep up on that sort of thing. Either way, check them out. These are some of those mythical books that you can show to people who don’t read comics and win them over, and we all know how hard those are to come by…
Comments Off on Becan, Sarah – Ouija Interviews #2: Chip | Reviews | Tagged: Chip, Ouija Interviews, Sarah Becan | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Ouija Interviews #1: Theo Wallis Now Available! $3.50
(To anybody reading these reviews in order, I read #3 first out of these). Sometimes when you go back to the early issues of a series you can see the rough patches that led to greater things. It’s a bit unfair to call this one a “rough patch” as it’s still entertaining and has a few great lines in it, but it’s obvious that this concept for a story grew from here to become the greatness that is #3 (even though, at this moment, I haven’t read #2 or 4 yet). There’s nothing overtly awful about this issue, it’s just that the questions stay pretty simple and there’s not a whole lot to latch onto. Guy is killed by jealous wife but regrets nothing, it doesn’t dig much deeper than that. Ok overall, and worth a look if you’ve read the other ones and want a whole set, but go for the later ones first.
Comments Off on Becan, Sarah – Ouija Interviews #1: Theo Wallis | Reviews | Tagged: Ouija Interviews, Sarah Becan, Theo Wallis | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
The Complete Ouija Interviews
Huzzah for the existence of a complete Ouija Interviews! In case you have any doubts about my lack of objectivity, there you go: I have none at all. The odd thing is that I think Ouija as a whole is one of the bigger absurdities of life, and have seen it debunked in enough ways and by enough people not to place any stock in at at all as a real thing. Still, these stories are a blast, and I’m never going to let a difference of opinion (or, well, fact) get in the way of my enjoyment of a good story. I’m going to go ahead and assume that everybody reading this has already read the four issues of Ouija Interviews (listed below, and they’re also for sale individually) and am instead going to answer the questions of everybody else reading this. Why, if I’ve already read the four issues, would I want to get a collection? Well, for one thing it’s gorgeous. That’s always a plus. There’s an introduction by her brother, going into a bit more detail of how these stories came into being. But the main thing is what all comics readers are after: more comics. If this was a DVD set this would be the special edition, as each of the four stories (reprinted here in full) has a shorter, unrelated piece after it. More ouija interviews, but these are short stories, sometimes focusing on a message that the “ghost” wanted to impart, sometimes sticking more with facts about the messenger. There’s also the fact that this is a measly $10, which is cheaper than getting the issues individually, so if you are one of the people who was waiting for an affordable collection before checking this out, now’s your chance. This was all made possible by a grant from the Xeric people, proving once again that they have a very good sense on who should be getting their money. Now if I could only convince them to pass some around for websites about small press comics… $10
Comments Off on Becan, Sarah – The Complete Ouija Interviews | Reviews | Tagged: Complete Ouija Interviews, Ouija, Sarah Becan | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Brainfag #6
Part of the problem of reading so many comics (right, like that’s anything to complain about) is that I have a really hard time remembering who did what sometimes. I knew Nathan Beaty’s name was familiar, but I didn’t realize that it was the same guy who did that incredible comic about relationships (look up there for the other review). That being said, it’s a good thing I didn’t remember that when I read this two-part issue, as I would have been expecting something totally different. I’m not sure what to make of this, which is a cop-out from a reviewer, I know, but there it is. Both parts of this story are wordless, and they’re basically moods (as Nathan says on the back) more than stories. The first part is just pictures of a town, with a man on a bike going about his day. The second is about underwater love, with kissing and mermaids and such. It was over and gone before I knew it, but the fact that the underwater bit was in my dream last night must mean something, right? An interesting concept, but I liked #5 better. Contact info is up there, it’s probably a buck or two…
Comments Off on Beaty, Nate – Brainfag #6 | Reviews | Tagged: Brainfag, Nate Beaty | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Brainfag #5
You know, what I really needed because of my forced absence from SPX was one really great comic. Lo and behold, here it is. This is the story of a relationship with warts and all. Beginning, middle, end, false restarts, and final end (?), this feels more real than most of these types of tales that I’ve read. Maybe it’s because my girlfriend just moved five hours away and I’m hyper-sensitive to the question of “What do we do now?”, who knows? All I know is that there’s a lot of truth in this fantastic little book and, if that’s not enough to convince you, his website has pretty much every issue of his comic and some other stuff he’s done online, so you can read it all for yourself and make your own opinion. It was therapy for me, plain and simple, and a wonderfully honest tale of how relationships don’t ever seem to end neatly. I liked the constant zipatone once I got used to it too. He also draws a mean cat, if anybody but me is fascinated by the cats of different artists. This one was $5 and actually distributed by Top Shelf, so it’s good to see that the rest of the comics world is getting wind of him too. Don’t worry, his other issues are cheaper and you can read them all for free if you want to anyway…
Comments Off on Beaty, Nate – Brainfag #5 | Reviews | Tagged: Brainfag, Nate Beaty | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
As Eavesdropped #2
Why is it that I only seem to be able to find Suzanne’s comics at SPACE? I get to the good Chicago stores once or twice a year, there’s a decent shop (Laughing Ogre) literally right down the street from me here in Columbus, and yet there seems to be only one place to get these books. Get on that, world! This one, obviously, is in the same vein as #1, again being a tiny little things of funny observed conversations. Plenty of things in here to highlight, I had to go with just the one sample or it would have ruined the whole book but other topics in here include an awkward conversation at a movie theater ticket office, office talk on the phone, a “cute” baby story and a particularly disturbing chat at the end of a comic convention. Good stuff as always, her website has a listing of all these things and a few bucks spent there would go a long way… $.50
Comments Off on Baumann, Suzanne – As Eavesdropped #2 | Reviews | Tagged: As Eavesdropped, Suzanne Baumann | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
As Eavesdropped #1
What a fantastic idea for a comic. Apparently Suzanne just wandered around and wrote down interesting conversations she heard. I don’t know if she sketched them out where she heard them or not, but it doesn’t really matter. When the only negative thing I have to say about a comic is that it was too short (and at $.50 and 8 pages, it really was too short), then you’re doing something right. I could read stuff like this for hours, unless these were just the best ones she had available and it’s so tiny to maintain the funny. Anyway, I like her loopy, whimsical style a lot and there are all sorts of comics on her website for you to sample her work, if you are so inclined.
Comments Off on Baumann, Suzanne – As Eavesdropped #1 | Reviews | Tagged: As Eavesdropped, Suzanne Baumann | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Damned Bunnies
Sorry about the cover scan. This one and Eli Bishop’s just got all psychodelic, which looks kind of neat, but it’s not how the cover really looks. It’s just plain yellow with these cool stains that look like blood all over it. Great job with the presentation, but how was the comic? Well, it’s the story of a woman who leaves her small town job at a newspaper to become an art critic in the big city. She doesn’t exactly get what she wants and I’ll leave the rest up to you. I didn’t think this was going much of anywhere for most of the issue, but the explanation from the artist was funny and well done. Solid artwork, good story, great ending (if a bit confusing in the continuity. So this happened after the reporter left town?), I’d say it’s what you’d call a good comic. The only problem is that this is from ’95 and I didn’t see anything from her since ’96. Here’s hoping that she’s still around trying new stuff. This is $3.50, e-mail her to see if she has anything else or send her money at: P.O. Box 12096 Hamtramck, MI 48212.
Comments Off on Baumann, Suzanne – Damned Bunnies | Reviews | Tagged: Damned Bunnies, Suzanne Baumann | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Fridge-Mag: The Early Years Now Available! $10
A whole pile of early minis from Suzanne.
Comments Off on Baumann, Suzanne – Fridge-Mag: The Early Years | Reviews | Tagged: Fridge-Mag, Suzanne Baumann | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Planet Peezo
So two aliens walk into a bar… The premise for this tiny, tiny (and free) mini is simple: two aliens are overheard in a bar, offering a toast to the planet Peezo. The waitress, confused (but oddly unfazed by serving aliens), asks if that’s their home world, but it turns out to be their name for Earth. A brief discussion follows on exactly why they’re drinking away from their planet, and if I tell you any more I’m going to spoil the whole tiny comic. Brief, free and with a decent punchline, what’s not to love? One more thing about Suzanne in general, in case you ever run into her at a con: she seems to be at SPACE every year, and every year she reliably seems to have at least a few new minis. This may not seem like such a big deal, but trust me, as somebody who’s gone to it every year for ages now, that plenty of people show up with the exact same comics they had the year before. Suzanne always takes the time to at least put something new out, and even if you get to her table at the point of the con where you’re completely broke (as has happened to me a few times), she invariably has a few free minis like this one lying around. So maybe some of you should think about rewarding good behavior by sending her a few bucks and asking for some comics? Or I do still have that Fridge-Mag collection of a whole bunch of her minis lying around…
Comments Off on Baumann, Suzanne – Planet Peezo | Reviews | Tagged: Planet Peezo, Suzanne Baumann | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
The Moldy Bagels
You know, I don’t think Suzanne is capable of making a mini comic that isn’t at least mildly amusing.  This is from 1998, proving that she keeps herself in some sort of cryogenic stasis when not attending cons, as she looks exactly the same as the first time I bought a few of her minis. This time around the story is about a young woman who wakes up and prepares to make a bagel. Sadly all of the bagels are moldy, she has a breakfast of cream cheese and runs off to the park to feed the bagels to the birds. The birds end up getting more than a little excited by the feast and end up inadvertently helping the woman out. This is almost a silent comic, with the few words coming (appropriately enough) like they were done in the old silent movies, with blocks of letters describing the action after every half dozen panels or so. It’s a really engaging way of telling the story and made me wonder why more people haven’t tried doing their silent comic like this. It’s worth checking out, although as always you’d probably be better off just sending her $5 and asking for a pile of minis. $1
Comments Off on Baumann, Suzanne – The Moldy Bagels | Reviews | Tagged: Suzanne Baumann, The Moldy Bagels | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Cleopatra’s Hats
Seriously, just how many tiny minis does Suzanne have? It’s more every time I see her at a convention and she’s been cranking these things out for at least the last ten years. This is another good one, and all she has time for this time around is an extended setup for a pretty decent joke. A young woman is trying out hats with a male friend, who can’t think of a non-offensive way to say that the hats are awful. They finally decide to ask the opinion of the cashier, and no, I’m not going to ruin the big joke of the book. In the meantime Suzanne manages to draw all kinds of hats, and she’s one of those wonderful artists who seem to spend more time on the backgrounds than some people do on their whole comics. Worth checking out, as most of these are, and I do still have that pile o’ minis available from her in the online store, you know. Just one set though, so if you snooze you will, in fact, lose. $.50
Comments Off on Baumann, Suzanne – Cleopatra’s Hats | Reviews | Tagged: Cleopatra's Hats, Suzanne Baumann | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Turtleneck Boy #3 (edited by Suzanne)
It’s probably not fair for me to keep reviewing Suzanne’s older comics, as she’s done better stuff since, but hey, these are still almost universally good. That makes it OK, right? This time around Suzanne gathered up some friends, fellow artists and people she passed in the street and asked them to illustrate a conversation in their head, either using Turtleneck Boy as a conversational companion or inventing somebody of their own. The only one of these people I’ve heard of is Mike Carroll (who can be found elsewhere on this site), who does a short but amusing piece about one of his Kernals being crammed into a turtleneck. Other than that there’s Carol Pond asking why people bother demonstrating against causes when it won’t change anything, Yul Tolbert talks about a privately financed mission to Mars, Gary Freeman messes with the concept and Paully Moonbeam (if that is his real name) discusses the origins of life while drawing a primitive but strangely enchanting pair of pants. Then there’s Suzanne, stealing the show with her bits, as she talks about the shape of clouds, tells an Oprah joke that flew right over my head (maybe it made sense in 2000) and has one other page that was so wonderful that it was automatically the sample. See for yourself! This is a measly $.50, and all I can do is hope that you people send her dollars every now and then for comics.
Comments Off on Baumann, Suzanne – Turtleneck Boy #3 | Reviews | Tagged: Suzanne Baumann, Turtleneck Boy | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Serious Workout
Here’s a tiny wordless mini from Suzanne, and for once I remembered to get more than a couple of her minis at SPACE so there should be a decent pile of her comics up here soon. As she’s a mini comics making machine, I’m not sure which ones of the pile are new and which ones have been around awhile (this one has a 2002 date on the back cover) but hey, if it’s new to me it must be new, right? This deals with a woman who has decided to start a workout video. The video, as most of them are, is hilarious, and she starts uncontrollably laughing and rolling on the floor. Her husband notices this, sees what she’s watching, and joins in on the fun. The baby wanders in as well, and the whole family is having a rollicking good time… except for the cat. As an aside, my favorite workout video moment: the instructor (OK, it was Tony Horton) commented on the triceps of one of his workout buddies as being “diamonds of gold”. Seriously, let that roll around in your brain for a while. Anyway, it’s another great mini from Suzanne, and for those of you who don’t necessarily scroll around these pages, scroll down a bit and check out the pile o’ minis she has for sale here. All kinds of minis hidden in that brown wrapper! $1
Comments Off on Baumann, Suzanne – Serious Workout | Reviews | Tagged: Serious Workout, Suzanne Baumann | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
April 22, 2010
Website
Backseat Drivers #2
Well, it’s official: this series is a blast. I played it cautious at SPACE this year and only got this this issue, and am now kicking myself for not getting the rest of the series. I did pick up the first issue of the character that absolutely dominates this series, the Cosmic Norseman. All the other characters don’t stand a chance against that moustache, that oar, and the fact that he has The Brotherhood of Celestial Foxez haplessly trying to kill him over the centuries. We get to learn more about damned near everybody else in this issue, which is essentially the group riding around in a cab, setting up camp in an alley and eventually, briefly, getting to meet the mad scientist who has everybody so worked up. We learn that Ruffian doesn’t know much of anything about anything, Doyle Lee at least partially raised Dr. Herman, and Rhodes and Molehill are still pretty much a mystery. Which is fine, as this is the point in a four issue series where Clint is still trying to hook people in, serve up a little intrigue, so you certainly can’t fault the guy for an excellent sense of timing. It might be awhile until I get to learn what happens in the next two issues (maybe as long as SPACE 2009, although I’m hoping I can get them before then) but the good news is that I did manage to pick up the first issue of his next series, dedicated solely to the Cosmic Norseman, which makes me very happy indeed.
Comments Off on Basinger, Clint – Backseat Drivers #2 | Reviews | Tagged: Backseat Drivers, Clint Basinger | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
