Update for 8/31/23
New review today for Smooth Moves by Andrew Neal, otherwise known as Meeting Comics #28.
Neal, Andrew – Smooth Moves
If you’ve been hanging around the Meeting Comics universe (this is #28, just for the record) just in case Val ever hooked up with Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen, well, I guess this will be your last issue. It went kind of like I pictured it, even though I never pictured it before I saw his face on the cover. When last we visited with these fine folks we saw the end of the marriage/cheating drama (as much as such things ever really end) and Val was about to take a new position and was moving out of her old place. Specifically the strips this time around deal with informing the staff of OnlyGreg of all the new changes, Val and Tori move into Don’s guest house (displacing Ron), Kevin and Thomas (and their new girlfriends) try to move back into Kevin’s old place and finally discover what’s been going on there, and Kevin has one awkward conversation with Tina. But wait, there’s more! That Dr. Manhattan strip was one of several unrelated gag strips (sorry, Val and Dr. Manhattan hooking up is apparently not “canon”) including using an angry dog for cucking, large print erotica, meeting in the middle on renaming problematic buildings with catastrophic results, a job interview, and the terrible truth behind why there are so many women hooking up in the world of Meeting Comics. He also includes 320 Shades of Greg, a mini that I have somehow not reviewed (one of those “I know I have a copy around here somewhere” comics), but that one is too sexy for me to talk about. Let’s just say that it involves ice cream and very few clothes, OK? So yes, another solid issue from Andrew. With the promise of a divorce party in the next issue, which is a heck of a teaser. $6
Update for 8/29/23
It’s another comic that hasn’t been around these parts for over a decade, this time the triumphant return of Zoonbats (Chapter 1) by Giles O’Dell!
O’Dell, Giles – Zoonbats Chapter 1
So this should be a fun experiment, at least for me. Giles is returning to the world of Zoonbats for the first time in ages; I reviewed the first couple of issues of his series around 2010. Odd, I thought I had reviewed more of them, as I had at least half a dozen issues. Anyway! He rereleased the whole thing in new editions, the first covering issues #1-4, with three additional volumes out so far. Since I already reviewed half of this edition back in the day, I figured it would be interesting to review it again, then read my old review just to see if my opinions remained the same/just how often I repeat myself. My guess is that it’s plenty, but I’ll reveal the answer at the end. So! This new edition does look gorgeous. Giles has extensive notes in the back explaining the changes he’s made and what brought him back (mostly the lettering and he never really gave up on the story, respectively), and while he says he hasn’t touched up the art, I’d swear it looks even better this time around. This is the story of Wayne, who’s hitchhiking around the country, and his friends Toast and Bloom. They made a robot giraffe that fled as soon as they completed it, and it seems to have a specific destination in mind. So they make plans to meet up with Wayne in the middle, as he’s closer to where the giraffe is headed. This issue covers Wayne wandering for a bit before finally meeting up with an old friend who can offer him a ride. This old friend then tells Wayne a story of his time as a truck driver detailing when he was attacked by a roving gang of bandits, how all seemed lost and how he got out of it by spoilers. Yeah, it’s a big part of the overall story, so it’s going to be left a mystery here. We also briefly check in with Toast and Bloom on their journey, but they don’t intersect with Wayne yet. This issue is mostly about doing some work building up this world (Giles has a map of the areas and he gets pretty specific in the notes about what each area is like), and as such does a solid job of hooking readers in to try and figure out what’s happening here. So yeah, I’d say it’s an intriguing start and I’m curious what happens next. Now let’s check the old reviews! Looks like the review for #1 is way earlier than I thought, maybe even 2002ish, as I mentioned working on the website for “several months.” Then the review for the second issue was 2010, apparently done when I was revisiting old comics for reviews. The art is exactly the same (I compared an old sample image to the new book in front of me), so I was wrong on that. And he was telling the truth, which I had no reason to doubt. So I look like a dummy in real time. Not exactly a new experience for me. But I liked it overall then too, so that hasn’t changed. One odd thing: I can’t find anywhere that sells these new editions. You can go to his website and read each issue online for free, so there’s that, but if you want physical copies I guess check with Giles. Which makes the price an absolute mystery, so I’ll spin the random price wheel… $15.
Update for 8/23/23
New review today for the return of Noah Snograss, with Untamed Highway #1. Not the Untamed Highway #1 that I reviewed almost two decades ago, but a new one.
Snodgrass, Noah – Untamed Highway #1
Website (Instagram)
Is this the longest gap between reviews in Optical Sloth history? I reviewed Untamed Highway #2 (yes, he started the numbering over without changing the title, but if the big publishers can do it, so can he) back in May of 2005. So outside of being yet another reminder that I have to find a spare several months to go back and put dates on all the old reviews, I’m obviously not going to remember a thing from that series, so keep that in mind. Here, I’m going to crawl all the way up my own behind and paste my favorite quote from one of my old reviews for this series: The art to me looks like what would happen if Hunt Emerson and Peter Bagge somehow had a baby who eventually grew up and renounced all ties to his fathers. Gosh, I was insightful 18 years ago! All downhill from there, sadly. So what’s happening in this issue? There’s no recap of any kind, which is a shame, but maybe he made the decision not to mention anything that happened previously to start things in a new direction. Or maybe this occurs directly after the last issue which, again, has long since left my brain. Anyway, we have a brain in a jar (with a googly eye that needs reattached) with an assistant named Mortimer. They’re both waiting for their doctor friend to return so that this brain can get put into a human body. Well, the doctor returns with bad news: there’s a cadaver shortage. Things get a little tense after that, but it’s a little tough to carry through on threats when you’re a brain in a jar. There’s also a short story afterwards about the guy in a gorilla mask that I referenced in a previous review, who is apparently a hitman. Again again, memory bad, my apologies. He does have his previous three issues for sale on his Etsy page, so you can catch up if this all sounds intriguing. Taken in a vacuum, this is still a solid issue, with lots of unanswered questions about who these people are and what’s they’re up to in general. I’m curious to see where he takes things next, but if I have to wait another 18 years to find out I’m going to be even more hazy in that review… $5
Update for 8/21/23
OK, I’m back. It was a busier election than you’d think, considering how stupid the issue was. I even had a block of time carved out last weekend to post some reviews, but I made the fatal mistake of taking a “quick” nap. Four hours later, my day was shot, so here are some reviews instead. New review today for the final (at least for now) volume of The Lighthouse in the City by Karl Christian Krumpholz!
Krumpholz, Karl Christian – The Lighthouse in the City Volume 11
The Lighthouse in the City Volume 11
The sample image below is for everybody who has a cat that got just a little too curious about the shower/bath that their owner was taken, resulting in a trail of wetness going through the house in a panicked fashion. Seems to be a thing that every cat needs to figure out for themselves. Oh hi, it’s time for a new volume of Karl’s autobiographical series! This one cover September 2022 through the end of the year, and (no spoilers, but kind of a spoiler, I suppose) this is the last volume he’s going to be doing for a while. Completely understandable, and he’s lasted longer than most who attempt the daily diary strip. I’m curious to see what he does with this new bounty of free time. So what’s this particular volume about, you ask? There are of course several adventures with Oola (both real and imagined), some strips about his time at a few conventions, more tragedy in his personal life (he was on a rough string of losing friends and family members for a while), observations from his walks around the neighborhood, getting through a rough cold (and still making comics through it), and so very much more. Which seems like a copout on the part of a “professional” reviewer, but the man has over 130 pages of strips in here and I’m not going to bloodlessly boil them down to their essences. This is the 11th volume, after all. The man is a hell of a storyteller (and an artist; the level of detail in these strips considering that they’re produced daily is staggering), so I’m guessing that you’re already on board for his comics at this point. If not, it would probably be kind of funny if you jumped on with the final volume of this three year journey. He was nice enough to send me his earlier volumes (that I hadn’t reviewed) a while back, so maybe I’ll review a couple of those randomly while I wait to see what he comes up with next. Will it be odd to talk about those, especially the BO (Before Oola) days? Yeah, probably. We’ll see. Meanwhile, this is yet another solid entry in this series, which you should be checking out already. $12
Update for 8/2/23
New review today for Town & County #3 by Alex Nall, and a little advance notice for once: chances are there won’t be any reviews next week, as yet another election season is going to keep me working on things other than comics. So, if you live in Ohio and would prefer that you ever have a chance to question a decision from this state legislature again, I’d strongly advise voting “no” on the only issue on the August ballot. Unless you think they’re likely to get every decision right from now on, in which case do what you’d like. I should be back next week with more reviews, but this is also a solid chance for y’all to send along any review comics that you’ve been sitting on.
Nall, Alex – Town and County #3
Sometimes I wonder: do the details of these ongoing series (where I’m reading individual issues months or even years apart) fade out of my head because I read so many of these comics for reviews or fun that it’s impossible to keep them all straight, or is it because my brain is chock full of holes at this point in my life? Until we can find other test subjects who have been reviewing comics for 22+ years, I guess I’ll never know. Anyway, my point is that when #4 comes out in this series, it will be just about time for me to read the whole shebang again. So, now that I’ve warned you that my specifics on some of these characters are becoming hazy, what’s going on this time around? Things start off with a brief check-in with our favorite housekeeper, then we get a longer story about Lyle Downe and the time when he moved out of his parent’s house at 19 and into an apartment with a married couple. He had a big room but no bed, started to feel like he was getting to know his roommates and settling in to a good routine, when things started changing. First gradually, then quickly, and finally we catch up to him in the current day. We check back in with Suzy as she ruminates on the many bits of religious imagery around the house she’s currently cleaning, then we flash back to the absolutely sweet way that Sherm and Suzy got together (they knew each other vaguely in high school but rarely interacted). Finally we once again get several single page stories from Don’s perspective, which I’m leaving up to the readers to discover, as there’s a whole lot going on there and it does occasionally get grim. And, since it’s meant to depict a life, warts and all, that sort of thing is bound to happen. There are a few other shorties in here too (Alex is always going to give you plenty of story for your money), and once again I’m struck by the idea that this is going to be something genuinely special when it’s all said and done. I mean, unless the Avengers show in the next issue and completely change the vibe of the whole thing… $8
Update for 7/31/23
New review today for You Don’t Get There From Here #58 by Carrie McNinch. Yep, that number is accurate. That’s a lot of comics, but don’t fret, new comics creators! You can get there too!
McNinch, Carrie – You Don’t Get There From Here #58
You Don’t Get There From Here #58
This time around it’s all about Carrie’s trip to Japan in early 2019, so roughly a year before all travel got shut down over covid. Specifically she spent a lot of time in Hiroshima, which obviously conjures up all sorts of mental images, but there’s a lot of beauty there now, along with some seriously mixed emotions from all the reminders of the atomic bombing. As usual, Carrie’s comics are incredibly detailed and we see all sorts of aspects of tucked away areas of Japan that people wouldn’t normally see. Also, she ate a whole lot of ice cream on her trip. No shame at all, as that’s what a vacation is for, and if I was surrounded by that many interesting and exotic flavors I would have done the same thing. Without getting too far into specifics, other things covered in this comic are her efforts to get herself around in an unfamiliar area (luckily she had a solid guide for this), her ongoing quest to document the various types of manhole covers that she saw, getting over the cold that she got on the flight over and finally getting ready for the trip home. This part was a little depressing, as she had successfully put more than a few worries out of her head for her vacation, but the reality of her impending return pushed them all back to the forefront. I’m hoping it all worked out (the fact that it’s over 4 years since the events depicted in this issue and she’s still making comics is a good sign), but that’s one of the perils of reading diary comics. The creator is basically never going to catch up to now, although it looks like you can get pretty close if you subscribe to her Patreon. It’s another solid issue, and this time around you can vicariously take a trip to Japan. For free! Well, for the few bucks it takes to buy her comic, to be specific…
Update for 7/27/23
New review today for Nod Away Volume 2 by Joshua W. Cotter, and I’m curious about something. Does this website have any juice at all? By that I mean that Joshua is going to need money to complete all 7 volumes of this series, and since it has the potential to be a high water mark for comics, it surely would be great if that happened. So if I put up a link to his fundraiser, are there any people reading this who could spare even $5 or $10 for the man? I’ll check it in a few weeks and see if that needle has budged. It’s always possible that I’ve been shouting into the void for 22 (!) years, I am well aware of that…
Cotter, Joshua W. – Nod Away Volume 2
(Sorry about that crappy scan, but I don’t want to break the spine of this book to get a better one. Too much information!) So you know that thing I said (and other, smarter people have been saying it too) about how this might end up being one of the better comics series ever after it’s all said and done? Well, after two volumes, I have to say that that instinct was correct. Once again, I say that you, person reading this who loves comics, should buy this right away, knowing as little as possible about it. Once again, if you need more convincing, I’ll try to hit some of the high points without ruining too much. Things start off with the squiggly lines that were so prevalent in the first volume (and which get a lot more context this time around) zooming in to a busy airport. This isn’t particularly relevant to the story, but it helps to know what kind of an artist Joshua is. A whole lot of people would show a vaguely busy scene with the main characters in focus and just leave everybody else in the image as blurry faces. Not this man; everybody has an expressive face, you can tell from the posture and expressions of these people exactly what they’re each going through at that moment, and there are instantly recognizable clues that tie back to the first volume (signs of the innernet). Again, not particularly relevant to the overall story, but it was impressive enough to stop me in my tracks. Then we see that this plane is in the air during the events at the end of the first volume, meaning everybody gets that awful feedback from the innernet at the same time, which is not at all a good thing to happen on an aircraft. From there we’re taken back in time to see a young bearded dude who looks a bit like the mystery man from the last volume, but in this case he’s living in a big city. His marriage has fallen apart and he meets a young French woman who’s intense but irresistible to him, and she’ll also be pretty damned familiar to everybody who read the last book. They both go about their lives, we get a few more of the silent flashes to the bearded man trying to navigate a strange land, and eventually our hero ends up on his family farm after his dad passes away unexpectedly. He gets into this sudden change in his lifestyle, but eventually Eva (the French lady) comes for a visit, which is when he gets a clearer picture of the mental issues she’s going through. It’s probably appropriate for a trigger warning here, because it’s some pretty brutal stuff, and it somehow manages to escalate throughout the book as he’s increasingly unable to help her. Eventually he’s offered an experimental treatment to help and, since he can’t afford anything else, he gives in. The rest of the book is them both dealing with the consequences of this decision before eventually getting back to the events at the end of the last volume. Again, it’s riveting stuff, and this is definitely one of those series where I’ll be reading each volume again for every new one that comes out, because they’re both packed with tiny details. Is it a bad sign if those squiggly lines have started making an audible sound in my head when I see them on the page? Yeah, I imagine it it. Anyway, I can’t recommend this book highly enough, and if you have a few bucks to help him on his way to 7 volumes, just throw $5 or $10 bucks at the guy, would you? The world needs this entire series in it. $30
Update for 7/25/23
Sorry about the unplanned week off, but things are getting busy at work again with this ridiculous August election coming up. If you live in Ohio and think maybe the state legislature will ever make a mistake again, meaning you’d like the chance to correct it at the ballot box with 50% + 1 of the vote rather than 60% of the vote, you should vote “no” on the only issue on the ballot. You’ll be in and out in no time, and early voting is happening now. Oh, and there’s a new review today for Santos Sisters #4 by Greg and Fake Petre. Probably should have mentioned that first, but this election is bugging me. I hide it well, I know…
Petre, Greg & Fake – Santos Sisters #4
I confess, although I think Greg and Fake have this business figured out by now, the pessimist in me wonders with every issue whether or not they can keep up this pace. Funny, innovative, and never the same thing twice, all while using the same characters? With every issue? Well, this issue is probably the best one yet, so maybe I should cut it out with the doubts, huh? Once again, the big picture stuff (the stories) are engrossing and hilarious, and once again there are enough little touches that make it feel like these comics would get even better with repeat readings (“Robert Liefeldteeth” got a legit chuckle out of me). There are a few stories again this time around, and while overall we maybe get less of the actual Santos Sisters than ever before, the bits we see of them shed a whole lot of light on their lives outside of the costumes. First up is the story of a gang of car thieves, meaning we get several scenes of innovative ways to steal cars before the Santos Sisters finally get involved. That one is “to be continued,” but since the next issue is coming out literally a few weeks after this review, it seems like a safe bet that they’ll wrap things up. Next is the story of Antz-Man, which is appropriately horrific, considering the subject matter. Odd how Marvel never digs into this aspect of ants for their movies! Finally the ladies are just trying to get a burger (and working through an early morning hangover) when they find out that the president is visiting their preferred burger joint. Does everything go smoothly for our heroes, and can they just get a burger in peace? Well, there wouldn’t be much of a story if that happened, now would there? I feel like I should frame an issue of this series to point to for the few remaining humans who still judge books by their covers. Sure, this might seem like a standard super hero comic to a casual observer of covers, but there are at least a few hints on this cover that should make anybody question that assumption. Like I said, the next issue is coming out very soon, and they have a Halloween special coming out shortly after that. I’m assuming these two still find time to sleep, but three cheers for keeping up this pace. The world needs more Santos Sisters! $5
Update for 7/13/23
New review today for the last of the SPX previews (for now?): Shadow Hills by Sean Ford. Three out of three were amazing, so if you’re on the fence about trying to make the show, I’ve given you at least three solid reasons…
Ford, Sean – Shadow Hills
Shadow Hills (you can buy the book through this link when it comes out in September 2023)
What’s that you say, Secret Acres? You have a sneak preview of a book coming out at SPX this year from the guy who made Only Skin, one of my favorite small press series of the last decade or so? Why yes, I am interested in reading it! Getting this book also made me realize that I probably never did read the ending for that series, since I got it issue by issue, but that’s a me problem. As for Shadow Hills, there’s a whole lot going on in this one, with a wide cast of characters. Things start off with a young boy walking through a wasteland, until finally passing out after he sees a nearby town. A young girl finds him and brings him home to help him, discovering that he can’t (or won’t) talk. We also learn her name, which is a clue I missed the first time around (even though it’s clearly meant to be obvious, making me a dummy), so keep an eye out. From there we jump to today (as “today” is usually defined in books), as a young woman named Anne goes through town and meets several of the residents. One other resident is missing, and towards the end of the first chapter we see her trying to make her way back to town as a mysterious black goo is enveloping her, seemingly from the inside out. From there the cops get involved, we meet several more townspeople, occasionally flash back again to Dana and the mysterious silent boy, and the menace of the goo steadily ramps up. That’s one thing that Sean has done spectacularly well here: the pacing. We get plenty of time with the town, seeing how it’s supposed to run in an average day, before things start spinning out of control. We learn about years old rivalries, best friends, what happens to Anne and her mother after her sister disappears as a child, along with the slow but steady drumbeat of a feeling that there’s just not going to be a way to solve this problem. Do they manage it? Well, the answer to that is a long time coming, and you’re not going to hear it from me. This book is a terrifying masterpiece, and yet another chance to wish that I had a pile of money that I could give to artists like Sean so they could spend as much time as they wanted making art like this. Or whatever they’d like, really, but you get my meaning. I don’t do ratings for my reviews, but this one gets my super duper fantabulous ranking, and you know what that means! …it means you should check it out when it comes out. Obviously! $23.95
Update for 7/11/23
New review today for Odd Clods #2 by Steve Steiner, and hey, if you’re in Ohio, early voting starts today for that sneaky August election that Republicans snuck in to try to override the November election before it even happens. Vote accordingly!
Steiner, Steve – Odd Clods #2
More newspaper mayhem from Steve, who really might have found his niche with this format. That’s odd to say about somebody whose work I’ve been enjoying for quite a few years now, but the oversized format really lets him show off his artwork, and the ability to print this in full color makes the whole thing gorgeous. If you’re new to the world of Odd Clods, these issues are collections of short pieces, using a variety of subjects. There’s actually a continuing story in this one (starting with the sample page), dealing with a giant lizard monster that keeps attacking a fried chicken restaurant and the increasingly desperate lengths the owner goes to to try and keep his chicken safe. Other subjects include Ninja Human Resources (it’s trickier than you’d think!), the grand bee joust (and all of the dangers that would be associated with such a thing), the eternal struggle between mittens and gloves (and the ultimate sacrifice one side must make to keep their people safe), a fricking hilarious guided tour through a rich people habitat with their various eccentricities joyfully mocked, the options on day one for every new president, being intrigued by an offer that sure sounded creepy at the time, and the pros and cons of using the old timey computer game Oregon Trail (or Pioneer Wagon here) to brainwash the youth, and one other strip that I’m leaving just for you. Yeah, I’m a mensch like that. I think this is the last of his newspaper comics that I grabbed at the last con, and after reviewing each of them I have to say that a solid rule of thumb is that if you see Steve at a convention, you can’t go wrong with any of them. Give the man his $10 and get ready to laugh!
