Optical Sloth

New review for Life in the Slow Lane by Mary Golding.  I’m reorganizing things starting tomorrow at 6am and continuing with a new comic every three minutes until it’s done.  So at 6 you’ll see one comic, 6:03 a different comic, 6:06 another comic, and so on, probably until Tuesday but possibly even longer than that.  So there will be no new reviews for the next few days, technically, but everybody you see will have recently checked contact info, which means new and working websites for dozens of these folks that you’ve probably never seen.  That and unless you’ve come here every single day for the last 9 years, a good chunk of these people will be new to you.  Oh, and I’m still trying for the fundraiser, but have shortened my pitch: I need money for the convention this weekend or, barring that, to help me out with rent at the end of the month from spending too much money on comics.  Won’t you please help out by buying comics?

New review for Do-It-Yourself Screenprinting by John Isaacson.  I promised some names of people who are willing to let me use their books for the comics rental service (coming soon!) and, as I’m asking alphabetically, thought I’d start with the A-C crowd and then go from there: Nick Abadzis, Lonnie Allen, Chris Anderson, Dan Archer, Pat Aulisio, Liz Baillie, Lauren Barnett, Nate Beaty, Marek Bennett, David Beyer Jr., Josh Blair, Gareth Brookes, Mark Burrier, Angel Busque, William Cardini/Mark Hensel, Edgar Castro, Isaac Cates, Brian Cattapan, Robyn Chapman, Joe Chiapetta and Ryan Claytor.  If you’re in that part of the alphabet, make comics and haven’t heard from me, it’s either because I couldn’t find your contact info, haven’t gotten to you yet or I simply don’t have any of your comics.  Get in touch with me if you’d like to be a part of this!  And now, because I still have bills to pay, here’s my fundraiser pitch.  I did mention that I’m starting up a special project here in a couple of days to streamline things a bit, didn’t I?  More details tomorrow.  And seriously, order your comics today or tomorrow and I’ll actually have that money to spend at SPACE this weekend.

FUNDRAISER!  When I quit my job I cashed in my retirement monies on the ludicrous idea that I could eventually make a living off the comics rental idea.  Well, that combined with selling comics combined with an odd job or two.  Anyway, I don’t get that check until the end of this month at the very earliest and SPACE is happening in Columbus April 24th and 25th.  I’d love to go and stock up on the minis (as well as talk to a bunch of you people in person about the concept of a comics rental service) but, as I don’t live there any more, it’s going to take cash for gas, cash for a place to stay (although I’m thinking a couch somewhere is possible), and cash for comics, as only about half of you cheapskates give me free review copies.  So how does this fundraiser work?  I’ll be doing a new review every day until the end of the month.  The best way to send me money is also the way that’s best for you: order comics.  I get the cash until I pay back the comics creators (which will happen when I get my big check), you get the comics and everybody wins.  If you already own every comic in the store or don’t think you want any more but still appreciate what I’ve been doing here for almost nine (!) years, you could just give me a few bucks.  I have a paypal account connected to my main e-mail address (and will put a “donate” button up later today or tomorrow) and seriously, every little bit helps.  I’m shooting for $500, which is probably wildly optimistic.  Or if you’d prefer to have your money go for something tangible and are intrigued by the idea of being able to rent comics, how about a down payment?  I’m hoping to get that officially started by May 1st and am still contacting people for permission to use their books, but even if the rest of them say no I have enough of a selection already to make it worth your while to try out for at least a month.  Monthly fees are going to be $22 (that number could still move up or down once I get things started and see how much it’s going to cost) and, depending on how quickly you read the comics you’re renting, it should be possible to get 3-4 shipments to you in a month pretty easily.  Well, it will if you live in the U.S., I have no idea how to make this worthwhile for people in other countries.  So if you donate $22 now just make a note in the subject line that you’d like it to be a down payment on the rentals and I can send you a list of comics that are already available.  As this is going to be first come first serve, the sooner you sign up for this the more likely you are to get the exact books you want.  I’m only going to have one copy of most of these comics to start (I’ll order more copies if this is at all successful), so it’ll help a lot to be one of the first people to sign up.  Of course, it’s also possible that you’ll sign up later and be the first to choose certain other books, as I’m going to have more than a few oldies available too.  The bottom line is that I need your help from now until the end of the month, although this is one of those rare fundraisers where you get good stuff for your money: comics.

Happy gun nuts/crazy militia day!  Have you hugged your racist/homophobic birther relative today?  New review for Shaman Thunder by William Cardini (aka Mark Hensel) & Josh Burggraf.  I’m posting the fundraiser thing again, and I would put up the “donate now” button but I don’t know how.  OK?  I can’t seem to figure it out.  So now that that’s out as an option for the moment, I guess the only way to support the site is to buy a pile of comics, preferably in the next couple of days so I can be sure of my ability to make SPACE this weekend.  Won’t you please help me out and give yourself the gift of comics?

FUNDRAISER!  When I quit my job I cashed in my retirement monies on the ludicrous idea that I could eventually make a living off the comics rental idea.  Well, that combined with selling comics combined with an odd job or two.  Anyway, I don’t get that check until the end of this month at the very earliest and SPACE is happening in Columbus April 24th and 25th.  I’d love to go and stock up on the minis (as well as talk to a bunch of you people in person about the concept of a comics rental service) but, as I don’t live there any more, it’s going to take cash for gas, cash for a place to stay (although I’m thinking a couch somewhere is possible), and cash for comics, as only about half of you cheapskates give me free review copies.  So how does this fundraiser work?  I’ll be doing a new review every day until the end of the month.  The best way to send me money is also the way that’s best for you: order comics.  I get the cash until I pay back the comics creators (which will happen when I get my big check), you get the comics and everybody wins.  If you already own every comic in the store or don’t think you want any more but still appreciate what I’ve been doing here for almost nine (!) years, you could just give me a few bucks.  I have a paypal account connected to my main e-mail address (and will put a “donate” button up later today or tomorrow) and seriously, every little bit helps.  I’m shooting for $500, which is probably wildly optimistic.  Or if you’d prefer to have your money go for something tangible and are intrigued by the idea of being able to rent comics, how about a down payment?  I’m hoping to get that officially started by May 1st and am still contacting people for permission to use their books, but even if the rest of them say no I have enough of a selection already to make it worth your while to try out for at least a month.  Monthly fees are going to be $22 (that number could still move up or down once I get things started and see how much it’s going to cost) and, depending on how quickly you read the comics you’re renting, it should be possible to get 3-4 shipments to you in a month pretty easily.  Well, it will if you live in the U.S., I have no idea how to make this worthwhile for people in other countries.  So if you donate $22 now just make a note in the subject line that you’d like it to be a down payment on the rentals and I can send you a list of comics that are already available.  As this is going to be first come first serve, the sooner you sign up for this the more likely you are to get the exact books you want.  I’m only going to have one copy of most of these comics to start (I’ll order more copies if this is at all successful), so it’ll help a lot to be one of the first people to sign up.  Of course, it’s also possible that you’ll sign up later and be the first to choose certain other books, as I’m going to have more than a few oldies available too.  The bottom line is that I need your help from now until the end of the month, although this is one of those rare fundraisers where you get good stuff for your money: comics.

New review for My Brain Hurts Volume 2 by Liz Baillie, and I’m going to post that fundraiser ramble again.  If you’d like to be a part of this comics rental idea of mine and haven’t been contacted yet (currently working my way through the H’s, but it’s tough finding working e-mail addresses for some of you people), send me an e-mail!  Everyone is welcome.

FUNDRAISER!  When I quit my job I cashed in my retirement monies on the ludicrous idea that I could eventually make a living off the comics rental idea.  Well, that combined with selling comics combined with an odd job or two.  Anyway, I don’t get that check until the end of this month at the very earliest and SPACE is happening in Columbus April 24th and 25th.  I’d love to go and stock up on the minis (as well as talk to a bunch of you people in person about the concept of a comics rental service) but, as I don’t live there any more, it’s going to take cash for gas, cash for a place to stay (although I’m thinking a couch somewhere is possible), and cash for comics, as only about half of you cheapskates give me free review copies.  So how does this fundraiser work?  I’ll be doing a new review every day until the end of the month.  The best way to send me money is also the way that’s best for you: order comics.  I get the cash until I pay back the comics creators (which will happen when I get my big check), you get the comics and everybody wins.  If you already own every comic in the store or don’t think you want any more but still appreciate what I’ve been doing here for almost nine (!) years, you could just give me a few bucks.  I have a paypal account connected to my main e-mail address (and will put a “donate” button up later today or tomorrow) and seriously, every little bit helps.  I’m shooting for $500, which is probably wildly optimistic.  Or if you’d prefer to have your money go for something tangible and are intrigued by the idea of being able to rent comics, how about a down payment?  I’m hoping to get that officially started by May 1st and am still contacting people for permission to use their books, but even if the rest of them say no I have enough of a selection already to make it worth your while to try out for at least a month.  Monthly fees are going to be $22 (that number could still move up or down once I get things started and see how much it’s going to cost) and, depending on how quickly you read the comics you’re renting, it should be possible to get 3-4 shipments to you in a month pretty easily.  Well, it will if you live in the U.S., I have no idea how to make this worthwhile for people in other countries.  So if you donate $22 now just make a note in the subject line that you’d like it to be a down payment on the rentals and I can send you a list of comics that are already available.  As this is going to be first come first serve, the sooner you sign up for this the more likely you are to get the exact books you want.  I’m only going to have one copy of most of these comics to start (I’ll order more copies if this is at all successful), so it’ll help a lot to be one of the first people to sign up.  Of course, it’s also possible that you’ll sign up later and be the first to choose certain other books, as I’m going to have more than a few oldies available too.  The bottom line is that I need your help from now until the end of the month, although this is one of those rare fundraisers where you get good stuff for your money: comics.

New review for Rashy Rabbit #6: A Rabbit in King Arthur’s Food Court by Josh Latta.  I spoke too soon on that fundraiser, as a couple of decent orders yesterday have me thinking this might be possible after all.  One of the guys ordered an entire run of a few different series on sale here, which I think is an excellent idea.  What’s better than reading a quality small press series all in a row like that?  So: fundraiser is still on, I keep getting more and more names for this rental idea of mine (I’ll start listing names on Monday) and yeah, with a little help from you guys I may be able to get to SPACE next weekend yet.

FUNDRAISER!  When I quit my job I cashed in my retirement monies on the ludicrous idea that I could eventually make a living off the comics rental idea.  Well, that combined with selling comics combined with an odd job or two.  Anyway, I don’t get that check until the end of this month at the very earliest and SPACE is happening in Columbus April 24th and 25th.  I’d love to go and stock up on the minis (as well as talk to a bunch of you people in person about the concept of a comics rental service) but, as I don’t live there any more, it’s going to take cash for gas, cash for a place to stay (although I’m thinking a couch somewhere is possible), and cash for comics, as only about half of you cheapskates give me free review copies.  So how does this fundraiser work?  I’ll be doing a new review every day until the end of the month.  The best way to send me money is also the way that’s best for you: order comics.  I get the cash until I pay back the comics creators (which will happen when I get my big check), you get the comics and everybody wins.  If you already own every comic in the store or don’t think you want any more but still appreciate what I’ve been doing here for almost nine (!) years, you could just give me a few bucks.  I have a paypal account connected to my main e-mail address (and will put a “donate” button up later today or tomorrow) and seriously, every little bit helps.  I’m shooting for $500, which is probably wildly optimistic.  Or if you’d prefer to have your money go for something tangible and are intrigued by the idea of being able to rent comics, how about a down payment?  I’m hoping to get that officially started by May 1st and am still contacting people for permission to use their books, but even if the rest of them say no I have enough of a selection already to make it worth your while to try out for at least a month.  Monthly fees are going to be $22 (that number could still move up or down once I get things started and see how much it’s going to cost) and, depending on how quickly you read the comics you’re renting, it should be possible to get 3-4 shipments to you in a month pretty easily.  Well, it will if you live in the U.S., I have no idea how to make this worthwhile for people in other countries.  So if you donate $22 now just make a note in the subject line that you’d like it to be a down payment on the rentals and I can send you a list of comics that are already available.  As this is going to be first come first serve, the sooner you sign up for this the more likely you are to get the exact books you want.  I’m only going to have one copy of most of these comics to start (I’ll order more copies if this is at all successful), so it’ll help a lot to be one of the first people to sign up.  Of course, it’s also possible that you’ll sign up later and be the first to choose certain other books, as I’m going to have more than a few oldies available too.  The bottom line is that I need your help from now until the end of the month, although this is one of those rare fundraisers where you get good stuff for your money: comics.

New review for Nart… Again by Jim Siergey.  That fundraiser of mine is off to a bleak start, but on the plus side I got 14 more people to agree to participate in the comics rental service, and I only made it through the B’s in my e-mails yesterday.  No doubt about it, it looks promising.  If all goes well over the weekend I’ll be able to start listing the people involved, so maybe you can make a more informed decision about whether or not you’d like to give it a shot.  I’m even contemplating a cheaper option to rent (you’ll get less comics but also have to pay less in monthly fees), but am not sure so far if I want to add more variables before it even gets off the ground.  As always, I’m open to opinions and suggestions, so send me an e-mail if you have some, won’t you?
And it’s that time again: FUNDRAISER!  When I quit my job I cashed in my retirement monies on the ludicrous idea that I could eventually make a living off the comics rental idea.  Well, that combined with selling comics combined with an odd job or two.  Anyway, I don’t get that check until the end of this month at the very earliest and SPACE is happening in Columbus April 24th and 25th.  I’d love to go and stock up on the minis (as well as talk to a bunch of you people in person about the concept of a comics rental service) but, as I don’t live there any more, it’s going to take cash for gas, cash for a place to stay (although I’m thinking a couch somewhere is possible), and cash for comics, as only about half of you cheapskates give me free review copies.  So how does this fundraiser work?  I’ll be doing a new review every day until the end of the month.  The best way to send me money is also the way that’s best for you: order comics.  I get the cash until I pay back the comics creators (which will happen when I get my big check), you get the comics and everybody wins.  If you already own every comic in the store or don’t think you want any more but still appreciate what I’ve been doing here for almost nine (!) years, you could just give me a few bucks.  I have a paypal account connected to my main e-mail address (and will put a “donate” button up later today or tomorrow) and seriously, every little bit helps.  I’m shooting for $500, which is probably wildly optimistic.  Or if you’d prefer to have your money go for something tangible and are intrigued by the idea of being able to rent comics, how about a down payment?  I’m hoping to get that officially started by May 1st and am still contacting people for permission to use their books, but even if the rest of them say no I have enough of a selection already to make it worth your while to try out for at least a month.  Monthly fees are going to be $22 (that number could still move up or down once I get things started and see how much it’s going to cost) and, depending on how quickly you read the comics you’re renting, it should be possible to get 3-4 shipments to you in a month pretty easily.  Well, it will if you live in the U.S., I have no idea how to make this worthwhile for people in other countries.  So if you donate $22 now just make a note in the subject line that you’d like it to be a down payment on the rentals and I can send you a list of comics that are already available.  As this is going to be first come first serve, the sooner you sign up for this the more likely you are to get the exact books you want.  I’m only going to have one copy of most of these comics to start (I’ll order more copies if this is at all successful), so it’ll help a lot to be one of the first people to sign up.  Of course, it’s also possible that you’ll sign up later and be the first to choose certain other books, as I’m going to have more than a few oldies available too.  The bottom line is that I need your help from now until the end of the month, although this is one of those rare fundraisers where you get good stuff for your money: comics.

SCROLL DOWN FOR COMICS, I RAMBLE BECAUSE I CARE

New review for Life of Vice #1 by Robin Enrico, and I mentioned that pretty much everything I review from now on (assuming I can afford to go to SPACE) is going to be new comics, right?  Good.  I keep forgetting to mention this too, so even though it makes no sense it’ll go here: the Lauren Barnett comic I reviewed a few weeks back is really $4, not $5.50.  Please assuage my guilt at this error by buying a copy from her, won’t you?  And I’m going to keep putting this fundraiser info at the top of the page until it either works or it doesn’t, and I’ll know that by the end of the month.  Oh, and I wanted to let you all in on part of the big project I’ve been working on: a week from today, I am going to start putting comics in individual entries instead of all in big clumps by author.  I was going to do it all at once but then figured hey, why not make a show out of it?  So starting on 4/22 at 6:00am, every comic I’ve ever reviewed is going to appear in its new format, with a new one coming every three minutes (and this is mostly alphabetical).  I’ve gone back and rechecked all the website addresses (and updated a whole bunch of them) and fixed a bunch of image errors, so everything should be vastly improved.  This is going to go on until at least the next Tuesday (not quite finished yet), although I didn’t schedule any updates on Sunday, as I know a good chunk of you use the site to kill time at work.  This should also make everything easier for my rental project, which is clearly where all this is leading, right?

And it’s that time again: FUNDRAISER!  When I quit my job I cashed in my retirement monies on the ludicrous idea that I could eventually make a living off the comics rental idea.  Well, that combined with selling comics combined with an odd job or two.  Anyway, I don’t get that check until the end of this month at the very earliest and SPACE is happening in Columbus April 24th and 25th.  I’d love to go and stock up on the minis (as well as talk to a bunch of you people in person about the concept of a comics rental service) but, as I don’t live there any more, it’s going to take cash for gas, cash for a place to stay (although I’m thinking a couch somewhere is possible), and cash for comics, as only about half of you cheapskates give me free review copies.  So how does this fundraiser work?  I’ll be doing a new review every day until the end of the month.  The best way to send me money is also the way that’s best for you: order comics.  I get the cash until I pay back the comics creators (which will happen when I get my big check), you get the comics and everybody wins.  If you already own every comic in the store or don’t think you want any more but still appreciate what I’ve been doing here for almost nine (!) years, you could just give me a few bucks.  I have a paypal account connected to my main e-mail address (and will put a “donate” button up later today or tomorrow) and seriously, every little bit helps.  I’m shooting for $500, which is probably wildly optimistic.  Or if you’d prefer to have your money go for something tangible and are intrigued by the idea of being able to rent comics, how about a down payment?  I’m hoping to get that officially started by May 1st and am still contacting people for permission to use their books, but even if the rest of them say no I have enough of a selection already to make it worth your while to try out for at least a month.  Monthly fees are going to be $22 (that number could still move up or down once I get things started and see how much it’s going to cost) and, depending on how quickly you read the comics you’re renting, it should be possible to get 3-4 shipments to you in a month pretty easily.  Well, it will if you live in the U.S., I have no idea how to make this worthwhile for people in other countries.  So if you donate $22 now just make a note in the subject line that you’d like it to be a down payment on the rentals and I can send you a list of comics that are already available.  As this is going to be first come first serve, the sooner you sign up for this the more likely you are to get the exact books you want.  I’m only going to have one copy of most of these comics to start (I’ll order more copies if this is at all successful), so it’ll help a lot to be one of the first people to sign up.  Of course, it’s also possible that you’ll sign up later and be the first to choose certain other books, as I’m going to have more than a few oldies available too.  The bottom line is that I need your help from now until the end of the month, although this is one of those rare fundraisers where you get good stuff for your money: comics.

Finally managed to find the first three issues of Only Skin by Sean Ford (in the very last box to be unpacked, naturally), so there’s a new review down there for Only Skin #5.  And it’s that time again: fundraiser!  When I quit my job I cashed in my retirement monies on the ludicrous idea that I could eventually make a living off the comics rental idea.  Well, that combined with selling comics combined with an odd job or two.  Anyway, I don’t get that check until the end of this month at the very earliest and SPACE is happening in Columbus April 24th and 25th.  I’d love to go and stock up on the minis (as well as talk to a bunch of you people in person about the concept of a comics rental service) but, as I don’t live there any more, it’s going to take cash for gas, cash for a place to stay (although I’m thinking a couch somewhere is possible), and cash for comics, as only about half of you cheapskates give me free review copies.  So how does this fundraiser work?  I’ll be doing a new review every day until the end of the month.  The best way to send me money is also the way that’s best for you: order comics.  I get the cash until I pay back the comics creators (which will happen when I get my big check), you get the comics and everybody wins.  If you already own every comic in the store or don’t think you want any more but still appreciate what I’ve been doing here for almost nine (!) years, you could just give me a few bucks.  I have a paypal account connected to my main e-mail address (and will put a “donate” button up later today or tomorrow) and seriously, every little bit helps.  I’m shooting for $500, which is probably wildly optimistic.  Or if you’d prefer to have your money go for something tangible and are intrigued by the idea of being able to rent comics, how about a down payment?  I’m hoping to get that officially started by May 1st and am still contacting people for permission to use their books, but even if the rest of them say no I have enough of a selection already to make it worth your while to try out for at least a month.  Monthly fees are going to be $22 (that number could still move up or down once I get things started and see how much it’s going to cost) and, depending on how quickly you read the comics you’re renting, it should be possible to get 3-4 shipments to you in a month pretty easily.  Well, it will if you live in the U.S., I have no idea how to make this worthwhile for people in other countries.  So if you donate $22 now just make a note in the subject line that you’d like it to be a down payment on the rentals and I can send you a list of comics that are already available.  As this is going to be first come first serve, the sooner you sign up for this the more likely you are to get the exact books you want.  I’m only going to have one copy of most of these comics to start (I’ll order more copies if this is at all successful), so it’ll help a lot to be one of the first people to sign up.  Of course, it’s also possible that you’ll sign up later and be the first to choose certain other books, as I’m going to have more than a few oldies available too.  The bottom line is that I need your help from now until the end of the month, although this is one of those rare fundraisers where you get good stuff for your money: comics.

Finally more or less settled in at the new place (yes, that address on the sidebar is correct), so I’m back with new reviews: BFF (Brainfag Forever) by Nate Beaty.  Yes, I know I promised an Only Skin review, but apparently I haven’t unpacked the box with those earlier issues yet, and I’m sticking with my pledge to review it once I get a chance to read the older issues first.  As for the site, yes, there are still going to be big changes starting on the 22nd and yes, I will start providing more details soon.  I’m trying to build up suspense over here…

So I was all set to review the fifth issue of Only Skin from Sean Ford, but as I was reading it I realized that a lot of little things had left my brain.  That’s the result of only reading the issues when they came out.  Instead of my usual half-assed review where I blab on about how I wished I remembered all the pertinent information to write an informed review, I’m going to wait until I make it down to Champaign (I move tomorrow), and am going to read the whole series again before committing to write a review with my full ass on Monday.  All information will be fresh, which will help.  In the meantime, that’s it until Monday, as moving is taking over my life and I don’t get internet until Sunday.  Happy weekend everybody!

New review for Milkshake Club by Mary Golding, another new mini, and that should be the norm again from now on (I think).  Here’s the schedule for the week, in case you were curious: I move on Friday (and if you happen to live in Champaign and have furniture or other items you’d like to get rid of, send me an e-mail) and get internet service on Sunday.  So probably another review or two, then things should be back to normal on Monday, then I start to get into more detail on the changes coming soon.  Hey, I’m excited about them anyway…

New review (yes, new) for Robot 13 #2 by Thomas Hall and Daniel Bradford.  I think I finally have the scanner problem figured out (thanks to the most patient computer expert/helper person on the planet), although the scans for this one are a little awkward.  Should be smooth as silk by tomorrow though.  I am moving on Friday, so if you have comics to send, hold up until next week, OK?  I’ll try to have only the most minimal of interruptions to the reviews…

I managed to find a comic that was already scanned without a review, so there is a new review for today after all!  This one is for Zoonbats #2 by Giles O’Dell, a comic that may or may not still be in print, but the guy still has a functioning website with that name, which is a hopeful sign.  I hope to have time to really dig into the new computer over the weekend and get this scanning issue worked out, otherwise there’ll be a few more of these random reviews coming.  Like that hasn’t been the case for the better part of the last few months anyway…