New review today for It’s Oola! by Karl Christian Krumpholz, meaning that CXC week is now two weeks long. It’ll end up being longer too, before it’s all said and done. What can I say, I’m terrible at math.
Krumpholz, Karl Christian – It’s Oola!
October 27, 2022
It’s Oola!
Less than a year in their household, and Oola already has her own comic. I see big things ahead for this cat! If you’re not familiar with Lighthouse in the City (Karl’s ongoing daily strip series), Oola came onto the scene in November of 2021, several months after both of the cats who had been with them for many years passed away. She made an instant and gigantic impact in their (the other half of “their” is Kelly, his partner) lives, so naturally Karl decided to put together this collection of strips where she was the star of the show. Is it technically kosher for me to review a book where I’ve probably already read half of the strips in other comics? Well, since I don’t have a boss, the only one to decide that is me, and my answer is: when it comes to cats, all rules go out the window. Reviewing something like this, as is the case with the vast majority of comics involving cats, my objectivity goes out the window, so if you’re looking for a detailed, erudite review about the linework and the meaning behind certain strips, move right along. What does that crazy cat get up to in here? Without giving too much away, there’s her introduction to the house, some odd leftover behaviors from her early life on the street, her Halloween cat arched back (the same thing my old cat, Sassafrasquatch (20 year mascot of this website), used to do), the futility of their trying to sleep when she wanted to play, her great escape, her SECOND great escape, what always happens when glass items on a mantle and a cat come together, and several strips based on great comics artists from when Karl was overdosing on comics with just himself and Oola in the house. I was also fascinated by the single image strip of her sitting on a hardcover collection of comics with one of those fabric bookmarks attached to the spine. Somehow she was just sitting there and NOT attacking the bookmark, so I can only assume that he was taking some artistic liberties with that strip. It’s a funny and adorable comic, what more do you want? Check it out already! Unless you hate cats, in which case I can’t believe you read this far into the review. Oh, one last note for Karl and Kelly: I noticed a small continuity error. In the first strip, while you two were discussing whether or not the time was right for another cat, you mentioned getting a pair of cats. But (as of this writing, anyway) you still just have the one cat. Any plans to rectify that? $6
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 10/25/22
October 25, 2022New review today for Wrestling and Mania Part One by Andrew Neal, so it’s technically still reviews from the CXC show a couple of weeks back. Nope, work hasn’t swallowed me up yet!
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Posted by Kevin
Neal, Andrew – Wrestling and Mania Part One
October 25, 2022
I finally got to meet Andrew at CXC this year (2022, future readers), and he was delightful. Not that that matters to y’all, but in the unlikely event that you were holding back on checking out his comics because of a previous terrible Andrew in your lives, this one seems nice. As for the comic, it’s about wrestling! And a spectacularly convoluted and manipulative plot that I’m not even going to get into a little bit, in the hopes that it catches you by surprise too. Except for the fact that now you’ll be looking out for a plot. Ah well. The internet porn company that employs roughly half the cast from the original Meeting Comics has decided to branch out into wrestling, but they have a small staff, so things start looking dicey when Laura breaks her ankle while practicing. Who could possibly take over such a job on short notice? Well, Thomas is on the staff, and his ex-wife did do a lot of superhero work, which also involves some extreme physical activity. But things have been tense between them, what with her leaving him for Kevin’s wife, and him ending up with his former nemesis. If you’ve been waiting for all of that to get resolved, this issue goes a long way towards making that happen. I don’t know if something like that could ever be fully resolved, but the involved parties spend some time talking to each other, and things certainly end up in a better spot than they were before that broken ankle changed everything. Other than that we have wrestling, horniness, Val, partying, and an alarming revelation about some lapsed medication and what it may mean for one of the relationships. Vague but enticing, that’s my goal. The big wrestling event is actually occurring in the next issue, which means I just might go back to my old ways and review it next week, as I’m really curious to see how that all plays out. Of course, since it’s the busiest time of the year at work, “next week” might end up being in a few weeks anyway. If you were nervous about this issue because you hate wrestling (you weirdo, give it a shot, it’s just a big goofy athletic soap opera), there are still lots of parts with the old Meeting Comics crew that you know and love. Try it out, if you aren’t already on board. $5
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 10/21/22
October 21, 2022New review today for Bird With Tits by Max Schaller! Public service announcement: regular readers of the website know that reviews tend to get a little scarce around here in the Fall of even numbered years, what with my job working in elections in Ohio and all. I’ll get some reviews in when I can, but it may be even more haphazard than usual for a few weeks. Also early voting has already started, so why don’t you do that in your area today?
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Posted by Kevin
Schaller, Max – Bird With Tits
October 21, 2022
Bird With Tits
Yes, of course this stood out to me at CXC this year! Look at that cover, that’s all kinds of wrong. Max graduated from CCAD here in Columbus this year (I just checked his resume on his website), so he’s had a few years to practice making comics. This one takes a while to get to the cover image, and there is actually a (fairly) reasonable explanation for it, as far as these types of things go. Things start out with our bird hero resting on a park bench, smoking a joint. A kid walks by, tosses a baseball over his shoulder in the general direction of the bird, which hits him square in the eye and causes him to drop his joint. This, naturally, calls for revenge, so he tries to ask another man in the park if he’s seen this kid, but notices that this man already has two black eyes (to his one from the baseball) and is talking to an ice cream sandwich. What I can only hope is a hallucination follows, and he wanders off to spot somebody else with marijuana in the distance. A brief conversation ensues, he smokes something that is very much not marijuana, and he’s immediately off on a psychedelic adventure that, yes, involves him growing breasts as a side effect. It’s a fun story, although if you’re looking for one of those grand morals to tie it all together you probably shouldn’t look in a comic called “Bird With Tits.” But it’s worth checking out, and hey, the guy is more or less just starting out in comics, so throw some encouragement his way! In the form of money. For his comics. $5
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 10/19/22
October 19, 2022New review for a returning star to the website: Caitlin Cass! I reviewed Postal Constituent: Zitkala-Sa/Gertrude Simmons Bonnin. Any errors in the order of the words or the actual title come from me alone.
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Posted by Kevin
Cass, Caitlin – Postal Constituent: Zitkala-Sa/Gertrude Simmons Bonnin
October 19, 2022
Postal Constituent: Zitkala-Sa/Gertrude Simmons Bonnin
It’s my first book from Caitlin in ages (finally got to meet her at CXC in Columbus this year) and I had completely forgotten how tricky some of these titles were. Which is a problem to exactly nobody outside of me, so I’ll stop talking about it. Postal Constituent was/is a series of small comics done by Caitlin over ten years; I’d highly recommend going to her website and looking at the display for her event in 2019 if you need more details. The short version is that she has done a whole lot of these over the years, and all the ones I’ve seen are meticulously researched (this one has a bibliography with 7 sources). This one is the story of Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, who gave herself the name Zitkala-Sa later in life. It recounts the peaceful portion of her childhood, how that ended abruptly when she left Indiana to go to school 700 miles away when she was 8, and her time training herself to be an effective public speaker. She was a big speaker in the fight for women getting the right to vote, using her story to bring a unique and often forgotten perspective to the proceedings. Apparently there’s still come controversy over her methods and intentions, which seems silly 100 years later, but people can get worked up about damned near anything. Including offhand remarks in reviews by a dummy like me, but that’s just a fun story I heard at CXC and completely unrelated to this comic. This is a fascinating read, with a real gut punch of a final line: “The fight to ensure native American voting rights continues to this day.” Spectacularly depressing that that’s still a problem, but she’s right. Check it out, learn some history before the country slides any further backwards when it comes to voting rights. I’m not seeing this listed on her website currently, but maybe just email her to ask about it. I bought it less than two weeks ago, so there are copies around somewhere…
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 10/17/22
October 17, 2022It’s CXC week at the website! Which should have happened last week, but things got out of hand in real life, so here it is. New review today for Lamp Quest by James Spencer!
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Posted by Kevin
Spencer, James – Lamp Quest
October 17, 2022
Lamp Quest
So, who out there played point and click text adventure games back in the day? That might not even be the correct term, but they were computer games mostly in the late 80’s and 90’s where you had to type in commands to solve a mystery or complete a task of some sort. My touchstone is Day of the Tentacle (with a few Spacequest games thrown in), so just look that one up if you’re still baffled. Anyway, this is an entirely too accurate recreation of the feeling of playing one of those games, and I mean that in the nicest possible sense. This one starts off with the main character sitting in a chair at home, with no obvious clues of what to do or where to go next. He enters “take lamp,” is informed by the omniscient and maddening narrator of all such games that he already owns the lamp, and then switches his command to “pick up lamp.” But the lamp is still connected to the cord, so he can only walk so far from his starting position. To continue the game he decides to drop the lamp, which has disastrous consequences. Does this story seem ridiculous? Welcome to the world of those games! Just imagine trying to figure out what was happening in those things with no internet around to help you. The character continues on to the haunting page I sampled below, and then he has to get to work on figuring out that mysterious door. Honestly, my only quibble with this comic is that it ends a bit abruptly. Unless it’s meant to convey the real life moment when you’d just stop playing a game like this out of sheer frustration, in which case it was perfectly done. If you’re familiar with this type of game you’re going to love this, although I can’t be held responsible for any feelings of gaming PTSD you get while reading it. If this type of game is an alien concept, give the comic a shot! You can see what life used to be like in the gaming world. Or just play the remastered Day of the Tentacle that’s currently on Playstation (and I think Steam). Try that sucker out and see how far you get without cheating. $5
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 10/6/22
October 6, 2022New review today for Mole #7 by Andrew Pilkington. One last heads up about Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, happening from October 6th through 9th. If you’re in Ohio, or near enough to drive, just take one look at that guest list and tell me it’s not worth the trip. My biggest challenge is always not to spend all my money at the Fantagraphics table, so this time around I’m going to try not to look at it at all. If you see a blond dude wandering around in (most likely) a Tortilla Comix or King Cat shirt, it’s me, so say hi! You’ll freak me right out, guaranteed.
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Posted by Kevin
Pilkington, Andrew – Mole #7
October 6, 2022
To the readers who are faint of heart and/or stomach: this one isn’t nearly as disgusting as the previous issue, so maybe this is where you should give Andrew’s stuff a shot? Spoilers for the end of the review where I say whether or not I like the comic, I guess. The bulk of this issue is once again the story of Moleboy, and he’s put together a quick and informative “previously on” section for new readers/people like me with short memories. All other small press comics creators with ongoing series, take note! In the last issue our hero had recently rescued some bird eggs with plans to put them in his own backyard and had been going around town making art in the sewer tunnels. This one starts off with him smoking pot with a friend and quickly realizing that he is hopelessly inexperienced compared to his friend when it comes to talking about the ladies. From there they go to a local convenience store but have the bad luck of running into a couple of cops who, sadly, have a keen enough sense of smell to tell what they’ve been up to recently. A quick conversation ends as these things usually do (with the cops searching their bags for little to no reason), and they’re both informed that they’ll be bringing tickets to their homes the following day. This means that their parents are going to find out, which is obviously a thing to be avoided. One set of parents find out, but one friend is able to phone the other one to give them a quick warning. But it turns out that this is happening at the worst possible time for a growing teenage boy! Oh, there’s also a spectacularly awkward scene at school where Moleboy is picked as the volunteer to work with a female self defense instructor, but that’s best left for you to discover. Also included are several short strips of varying degrees of funny, horrific and disgusting, but I’ll leave you to label them all according to your own personal preferences. I’m enjoying the series, but I’m also a well known weirdo. You know the drill: go to his website, check out some samples. $10
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 10/4/22
October 4, 2022New review today for the last of the current mini kus pile: La fleur au fusil by Pia-Melissa Laroche. You know, assuming I haven’t missed reviewing any of the mini kus books, I’m getting very close to reviewing 100 issues of the series. This is #110, and I started with #18, way back in the day. If that happens, obviously some sort of celebration is called for, but what? Hm…
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Posted by Kevin
Laroche, Pia-Melissa – La fleur au fusil
October 4, 2022
Long time readers of these mini kus reviews know that there are usually two reasons why I blow it in the reviews: it’s incomprehensible to me (most likely because of my stupid brain and not the creator of the comic) or it’s so short that there’s just not much to say. I mean, that’s assuming that I succeed in the other reviews, if such a thing could ever be said about a review. Anyway! This time around it’s the second of the two options. This is a silent comic that’s full of double page spreads, so when you’re already dealing with a mini comic that just doesn’t leave a lot of real estate to cover. Why don’t I start off by telling you that the French phrase that makes up the title means (according to the back of the comic) “you are confident and carefree.” However, the back of the comic may be trying to fool the reader, as Google translates it literally as “flower with gun.” Maybe both are correct, based on the comic itself. It’s the story of a young man who takes his bow and arrow and goes out hunting. Is killing the mark of success, or is it bringing back something that his (I’m assuming) lady love prefers? And what’s so great about arrows anyway? Huh, it turns out that there was a fair amount to talk about after all, and all without spoiling the story. 21 years in, I just might be starting to get the hang of this reviewing thing… $7.95
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 9/30/22
September 30, 2022New review today for Hell Hand and Other Stories (also known as Meeting Comics #23) by Andrew Neal. To be honest, it still feels odd to only review these sporadically instead of weekly.
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Posted by Kevin
Neal, Andrew – Hell Hand and Other Stories
September 30, 2022
Cat lovers, please know that my long haired gray cat just wrote a review of this comic, but I deleted it due to spacing issues and the lack of a single vowel. To any cat readers who were looking forwards to that, I do apologize. To the humans, hey look, it’s another issue of Meeting Comics! Number 23, to be exact, even though the series has outgrown putting that name on the cover. When’s the last time they were even in an office meeting, anyway? The ongoing problems of various characters are very much still ongoing, but this issue makes it seem like a few of them are on their way to getting resolved. Since it’s listed as five short stories (even though it still reads like an issue of Meeting Comics in a lot of ways), why don’t I review it by stories? First up is Hell Hand, in which Eloise tries to return the spell book they used in a previous issue. It comes as quite a shock to the proprietor that the spells actually work, so naturally he has to try one and I think you can see where this is going. Or can you? I don’t know how your mind works. Next up is Tina & Ellie’s Next Case, where they’re recruited by their old office to get their estranged husbands back into the office. A startling fact may make their decision for them! Next is Val’s First Kiss, and if you think I’m going to spill a single thing about that legendary happening you are you of your mind. Substandard Parents has the honor of being the penultimate story, which is a word I can rarely find a good reason to work into casual conversations. Kevin meets up with his mother to pick up his kid, but she has a lot of opinions about the direction she thinks his life is heading and boy howdy is he going to hear about them. Did I mention that she surprised him by also inviting Eloise? Because she very much did that. Finally there’s The Golden Clipper, in which we learn that Thomas wanted to be a barber back in the day, the reason why he quit, what his parents think of his new girlfriend and whether or not they have any suspicions of his alter ego. That’s a lot of comic! Anybody who’s not reading this series by now is just hurting themselves, so if that happens to be you: stop the hurting! $5
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 9/28/22
September 28, 2022New review today for The Sandstorm Party Planners by Steve Steiner, who’s going to be at Cartoon Crossroads in Columbus, Ohio from October 6th through 9th, along with the dude I’m reviewing tomorrow. Ooh, a cliffhanger!
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Posted by Kevin
Steiner, Steve – The Sandstorm Party Planners
September 28, 2022
It’s another one of Steve’s newspaper style comics, and this time there’s no unfolding required, as you just flip the very large pages as you go. Yep, this is a full service review website. There’s also only 50 copies of this printing, which seems low to me, but maybe that reflects my optimistic nature more than the reality of the business. This is told in the style of a documentary comic, and it’s all about what you see in the title, which are five creatures, always traveling in a group, who provide relief and entertainment to people who get caught in sandstorms in the American southwest. Each of the creatures has a function: The Shield provides shelter from the elements, The Filter gets the harmful particles out of the air, The Table does whatever a table can, The Host greets people and keeps the party moving (despite not saying any words in any known language), and The Entertainer puts on a show. Through the comic we see the legends of the creatures over the years, the help they’ve given travelers, and finally an opposing view that maybe their intentions were not benevolent after all. It’s an engaging and intriguing read throughout, to the point that I certainly wouldn’t mind reading more about these little guys, even if it was most likely a one-off idea to Steve. If this sounds intriguing to you too I’d get on ordering a copy, as there clearly aren’t many out in the world. If not, few comic artists are as prolific as Steve, so why don’t you just try one of the many other comics he has available at his website? $5
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 9/26/22
September 26, 2022New review today for Snake Meat #8 by Max Clotfelter. I mentioned at some point that August was the 21st anniversary of the website, right? If not, consider yourself notified. Maybe I’ll have a celebration of some kind next year…
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Posted by Kevin
Clotfelter, Max – Snake Meat #8
September 26, 2022
Just so you know: the link on the title doesn’t go to where you can buy this specific issue. But it does go to Max’s comics that Spit and a Half has available (23 as of this review, either his comics or comics where he’s a contributor), so if this issue still isn’t listed by the time you see this, maybe just buy another one of his comics. What about this one, you ask? Snake Meat is where he mostly does silent comics with a few “talkies” thrown in. It feels ridiculous to call the silent comics “sketches,” as there’s an insane level of detail to all of them (as the sample below proves), but if you’re in the market for a linear storyline, Snake Meat generally isn’t the place to go. If, however, you’re looking to be amazed/baffled/revolted/terrified, this is the series for you! As such, they’re tough on a simple country reviewer like me, so I’ll just say that one of his joke strips was a fairly straightforward gag, while the other was like if the writers and cast of Hee-Haw had been on whatever drugs they could find for several days and then decided to shoot an episode. I’ll leave it to you to figure out which one was which. Look, this dude has been around since the very earliest days of this website, so you know the drill by now. If you like his stuff, give it a shot. And if you’ve been reading reviews about him here for several years and still haven’t read his stuff? You should still give it a shot. I suppose only haters get a pass here… $3
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Posted by Kevin
