May 11, 2016
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The House in the Wood Part One
This will be an odd review to write, because it’s for an interactive comic. Granted, comics are printed, so it’s hard to interact with them, but these were all originally panels on Cailey’s website and readers were invited on the path that the character should take. Which is a great idea; I’ve seen “choose your own adventure” comics, but for this comic it looks like the other possible path that could have been taken for each panel was simply never written and drawn. Or maybe they were, which would be an interesting comparison if a collected edition was ever put together. Anyway, this is the story of somebody who arrives to a creepy house around midnight. Oh, and each page is told in the form of a rhyme, which I should mention. From there our heroine sees a staircase heading up and also hears whispering off to the side. The readers chose the whispers, which led down a hallway filled with mirrors. The option was then either to respond to the whispers or follow a set of footprints, and the readers then chose the footprints. See what I mean? Three pages in and it could have already veered off into a few different directions. This book collects the first 19 installments, and it looks like that was the last of them according to her Tumblr page. Or she’s taking a break? She clearly is juggling a few different projects, so it might be a good idea to check in on this later. Either way, this is a fascinating concept that was done really well, so check it out and think about what you would have picked!
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Posted by Kevin
May 11, 2016
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Theth
I rarely outsource my reviews, but the comparison by Robert Clough Gary Panter and the Kirbyesque energy of the comic on the back cover blurb was too good not to pass along. Succinct too, but I’m going to go ahead and write a bunch of words about this comic regardless. This is set in 1980, right when John Lennon was assassinated. On a surface level it’s about a kid (who is always in a full spacesuit) who sneaks out to the corner store to read comics when he says he’s going to the library, but is mostly forced to read them in the store because he doesn’t have the money to buy them. Along the way we see him in school, trying desperately to entertain himself while he’s bored, using a unique method of knocking on the inside of his desk while his head is laid down on top of it. His mom can’t seem to stand him, most of his classmates make fun of him (his name is actually Seth but they all call him Theth, hence the title), and the store owners are growing increasingly impatient with him doing nothing but reading in their store all the time. But under the surface there’s all kinds of stuff going on, and it’s damned near impossible to encapsulate here, which is where the Kirby/Panter comparisons become helpful. Every panel is packed with detail, but it’s a dirty, immediate kind of detail, which lends everything a slightly grimy tone. You can read this as a straight up tale of some awkward family and school days, all leading up to ______ (no spoilers as always), but this is one of those comics where it’s worth your time to go back through it again and just look at the artwork. I’m doing that now and catching more than a few things in the background that I missed initially. Josh got an impressive list of people to write blurbs on the back of this book, and it’s easy to see why they love his work so much. If you’ve never heard of him until now, you should absolutely fix that and check out some of his books. $10
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Josh Bayer, Retrofit, Theth | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 10, 2016
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The Experts #1
If there was an emoticon for a repulsed shudder, I think I’d leave that as the review for this comic. But that would be lazy, and my thoughts on it are a bit more complicated than that. And really, it would be be hard to look at that cover and not come away with that impression. As for the comic, this is either the first issue in a series or an act of cruelty, as it’s mostly questions with very few answers. We see things from the perspective of one of those creatures on the very first page, as it’s look at a dog on a pier. The dog seems calm enough until the creature makes a gesture, at which point it starts freaking out and scares the creature away. From there we meet the three inhabitants (outside of the dog) of what appears to be an underwater science facility of some kind. I don’t think that’s ever explicitly stated, it’s just the impression I came away with. See, mysteries everywhere. Anyway, Frankie has the head of a fish, Cheron recently had a finger bitten off by one of those creatures (and is dealing with the side effects of it), and an unnamed redhead. They’re researchers of some kind but have been without contact from any kind of leadership for a long time. They’re also starting to question what they’re doing there and dealing with odd lapses in memory. An incident towards the end of the book changes the fundamental dynamic, things change even further, and yeah I’m leaving all that vague on purpose. It’s intriguing, that’s for sure, and I very much look forward to finding some answers to all the questions that were raised in this issue. Unless this is the only issue that’s planned which, again, would be cruel. Those creatures are creepy on a visceral level, but they seem to make every effort to be friendly. At least outwardly. Agh, clearly this one is going to be in my head for a bit. Hard to think of a better recommendation than that. $5
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Posted by Kevin
May 10, 2016
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Sham Comics #1
I somehow ended up with two different comics from SPACE 2016 that featured old artwork from the 40’s or 50’s with new dialogue written over bits of it. The other one was mostly the same dialogue (and terrible, terrible artwork) with a few random “fucks” thrown in, meaning that it was more or less awful, so I didn’t bother to review it. Yes, I do sometimes follow the “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all” edict. Does that make me useless as a critic? Eh, probably. Anyway, this one was mostly a lot more inventive than that, meaning that it made me chuckle a few times with some really inventive substitutions. There were about a half a dozen satirized examples of those old full page ads from back in the day, including the famous one about the muscled dude telling you how to get muscled too and some real talk about how you get to be a comic book artist. Other stories featured the giant robot featured on the cover (in two stories; I’m guessing he was originally meant to be a hero but these two turned him into a sadistic murder machine without needing to change any artwork), how the comic came to be (told using old artwork, of course), a quick and fairly pointless werewolf story (which was readily acknowledged by the new authors) and the story of a horny astronaut who discovers a woman tied to a cactus and won’t take no for an answer. That last one was probably the funniest, as it did a great job of showing how she was playing sex games and not nearly as helpless as she appeared, leading the human to go on a rampage to “save” her. Oh, and there was a story with a crime-fighting duo where the kid member farted a lot, but there’s not much more to be said for that one. The fact that they still managed to get a laugh or two out of me on that story says a lot. I guess whether or not this comic is right for you depends on how much you’d like to see older pulpy artwork made funny. Like I said, it can go horribly wrong, but this one got it mostly right. $5
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Daryll Collins, Sham Comics, Tim Fuller | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 9, 2016
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The True Adventures of JepComix #5
I’m going to post the letter that came with this as a sample image because it’s perfect and more humans should see it. As for the comic itself, yeah, that was pretty great too. Stories include an overheard conversation at a beach in Cuba (always a good sign when at least one of the overheard parties is drunk), coming up with a motto for keeping your nose clean, debating whether or not “Indian summer” is an offensive term, an adorable page of the way he sees his love (or the fictional character sees his or her love), and Jesus having an honest conversation with is Dad in between stanzas of “Jesus Christ Superstar” on exactly what good it would do for him to get crucified in practical terms. The biggest story in here is about the librarian of the forest, a creature that he gets to follow him and learning things about humans, food, and what guards their food. It also has a fairly ingenious way to steal bread if you’re trying to do that while keeping your hands free, so bread thieves, take note! This is a funny and charming mix of stories, and you’d have to be a real curmudgeon to not at least get a laugh or two out of this. Check it out!
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Posted by Kevin
May 9, 2016
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Batman Is Lost In A Woods
Is it “the woods” or “a woods”? And why does it bother me either way? These questions have nothing to do with the content of the comic, but there they are anyway. This is the story of Batman, lost in the… “a” woods. He’s gone off in search of his missing wife, but eventually ditched most of his expensive gear and had to make due by himself, just some guy alone and roughing it. We get some brief recaps of how he got there, what the other people in his life were thinking about his disappearance, and his obviously unhappy home life. As we dig deeper into the whole thing it’s obvious that nothing is quite what it seemed, and I am once again trapped by my rule of no spoilers. The descent into confusion and/or madness was fascinating the whole way through, some familiar (and close to familiar) faces show up, and some haunting truths about relationships and the thought of dating as you get older come out. I hope DC has better things to do than to sue this guy, because this story would have made a much better movie than the last crappy one they put out. Future people, this review was written in 5/16, so you figure out which crappy movie I mean, because I’m sure there are more to come! I don’t know if I’d recommend this to anybody who takes Batman seriously, but I would recommend it to anybody who it looking to see life through the lens of a guy clinging to a failing relationship long after he should have given up. Also he’s Batman.
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Batman Is Lost In A Woods, California Clap, David Enos | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 5, 2016
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Space: An Eschew Collection
Every time I think I have a handle on the small press comics world, I get a book from somebody who has been doing amazing work for years that I’ve never heard of. Nope, I am never going to be current on everybody I should be watching, but that’s no reason to stop trying, right? This is a collection of stories from Robert, some longer and some shorter. My favorite was probably the 13 pages of bad experience involving water (I’d be amazed if you didn’t relate to at least one of them; with all 13 I wonder if he ever swims at this point), but there was so much good stuff in here that it’s hard to pick just one story. Subjects include ignoring an ongoing problem while working on a crossword puzzle, his first kiss and the aftermath, getting a dead squirrel dumped on his car hood while driving, the saga of his favorite sweatshirt and how hard it was to find a replacement, Nintendo and its connection to an old childhood injury (and another injury that came from his complaining about said injury), the results of watching a yoga video on his computer, physical reminders of an ex-girlfriend, trying immersion therapy to help him get over his fear of crowds/dancing, whether or not Thoreau was a phony, and learning about and meeting an uncle who was always the black sheep of the family (mostly because he was an illustrator). There are at least a dozen other short pieces too, but why tell you about everything? All of these stories share a vague sense of unease about the world, or maybe a reluctant acceptance of his place in it. Anybody reading it will know what I mean, but it’s hard to dig into it without sounding like a phony, and anybody who has read this site for any length of time knows I don’t do that “deep critical analysis” thing. Leave that to the professionals, says I. Anyway, this is a thoroughly thought-provoking and engaging book, while still managing to make me laugh on more than a few occasions. It’s definitely worth a look, especially if you’re like me and had somehow managed to miss Robert for this long. That only leaves more new stuff for you to discover, as this book is huge. $15
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Eschew, Robert Sergel, Secret Acres, Space | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 5, 2016
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1944
I’ll confess, I didn’t think there were any angles to WWII yet to be uncovered, but I was wrong about that. The time frame of this one should be obvious from the title, and this is set in Karelia, an area of Northern Europe. Bombings were a regular occurrence back then (something most Americans can probably barely even comprehend), but meanwhile the citizens were trying to lead some semblance of a normal life. Or, at the very least, they were forced to deal with normal life going on around them, like what’s depicted in this comic. An alarm is sounded, the inhabitants of an area (including a barn that had obviously been hit before) were given two minutes to leave… and this was impossible because there was a cow giving birth. The people were confronted with a few options at that point, none of them good, but they went with the most human option and helped the cow. Still, the idea of traveling on the run with a baby calf wasn’t a good one, so they were once again confronted with a few options, and that’s where I’ll leave the story for the rest of you. There’s tragedy in the smallest things, and the image of the cow that I initially thought was amusing on the back cover turned out to be anything but. It’s a great but heart-wrenching story, all told in scratchy black and white that emphasized the feel of the whole area being under a constant cloud of greasy smoke. $4
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: 1944, Hanneriina Moisseinen, Mini Kus | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 4, 2016
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The Electric Team #2
Parents who are reading this, you must love comics or you wouldn’t be here, right? Maybe you’ve already figured this out, but what’s the best way to get your kids interested in comics at a young age? Why not help them write the comic that you’re putting out together? That’s the case here, and don’t fret, it’s a solid story even for non-parents like me. And frankly, Abigail’s art on page 4 (she drew one of the characters, but it made sense in the context of the comic) is better than what I could do already. If you’re curious, the whole family did the story, Leighton did the script, and Samantha did the art (except for page 4). So what about that story? We start off with a flashback to the character on the cover from when he was a kid, and how he dreamed of growing up and becoming a hero. We then switch back to his modern day perspective, and how being a hero in real life isn’t as great as he thought it would be. From there we meet the whole crew of adventurers and get a little insight into where at least a few of them came from, although I don’t think it was ever made clear where exactly they were headed. Or it was made clear in the first issue, but I only got the second issue at SPACE this year, so that’s on me. It’s an eclectic bunch, and we see them run into some creepy (but somehow still cute) pandas with bat wings along with what looks to be the big villain of the piece. I’m curious about that team, how they all came together and how they’re going to get out of their current jam, which I think means that the comic was successful. And how could you not support a comic made entirely by a family? That’s just a wonderful thing. Check it out, help make sure this kid retains her current love of comics! $4
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Abigail Connor, Leighton Connor, Samantha Albert, The Electric Team | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 4, 2016
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Comic Con
And here I thought this was going to be one of those comics by an artist that was sold at a convention, with a story about past conventions, to me while I was attending a convention. I can’t believe I made it through SPACE this year without getting one of those, as they are a tradition, but the review pile is getting slim and none have showed up yet. Anyway, that’s irrelevant to the actual contents of this mini, which is a fairly adorable story about two snakes who are trying to decide on the best possible costume for a comic convention. Since it’s 8 pages (with the front and back cover) and since each page is one panel long, I don’t think I should say much more about it than that. Yes, I even believe in no spoilers for 8 page mini comics. What can I say, I liked the punchline. So yeah, I liked it. And Evette sells all kinds of things at her website outside of comics, including some jewelry and badges. Even a Beemo badge, which I would buy if I wasn’t a grown man and could get away with such things. But don’t let that stop you!
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Posted by Kevin
May 3, 2016
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Laid to the Bone
Well, for once the internet has mostly failed me. I’ve been trying to figure out if this comic is part of a series (Mike and Kevin work on a strip called “Truth Dart”), and these look like some of the same characters based on the few strips I’ve found online, but I still can’t tell for sure. So how about I treat it like any old comic off the street and not a research project? That’s worked for me so far, more or less. This is the story of two people who I assumed were dating for the bulk of the comic but I later learned I was completely wrong on that one. Um, spoiler alert, unless that’s already established in the strips, in which case never mind. Things start off with the two of them at a party and the lady asks the dude to spit in her mouth to cheer her up. They do, everybody sees it, and a new party game is born! From there we see them hanging out, mostly in her apartment, mostly drunk, and spending endless amounts of time together, which also includes burning each other with cigarettes. The dude half has a crush, because this is how these things work in the real world, but is resigned to being friend after a decade of that being the case. “Resigned” is maybe too strong a word; the guy seems content with the situation as it is. From there we get a sudden shift to the perspective of the lady as she tries on old swimsuits and wonder why her body seems to be wasting away. There’s some sadness in both halves, but what I mostly came away with was the story of two people who were bored alone but happy together, even if neither one of them seemed to fully understand that. The full page panels and the sparse text also make it feel a bit like a visual poem. I’m not seeing any samples online but it is available to buy, so maybe check out a few of their strips and then take a chance on this comic. $5
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Kevin Eckert, Laid to the Bone, Mike Burridge | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 3, 2016
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Cocosoco
Here’s a sometimes surreal collection of stories by Mooney, translated into English by her husband (who did a really solid job, especially on the baby talk, as it’s often hard to tell what they’re trying to convey in comics form). Things start off with a silent piece about a young girl who looks to be exploring the things that make her a girl, starting with an open porn magazine and leading her to a covered bed, where she sees a pine cone that is actually a tiny fairy in hiding. The perspective shifts down to the fairy, who is stripped by the young girl, out of curiosity I guess? From there the fairy does some self-renovation, a fisherman finds the results of this experiment and has a good laugh with his wife about it later in the day. Next up is a shorter piece about racing to or from the past, how dreams as a child can reappear to you as an adult with no warning, and what can be seen and what’s just assumed about time passing. Yeah, maybe I’m making it sound lofty, but there are some big ideas in that story and I didn’t want to gloss over them. Finally there’s some whimsy, as we see a two hour stretch of a Monday morning shown basically from the perspective of a 2 year old (ish; still in diapers anyway) child. This is where her husband nails the dialogue, or maybe she’s familiar enough with the baby talk to do it herself, but either way it’s dead on. The little terrors, the little joys, the pooping and peeing in inappropriate places, and the joy that’s taken from damned near everything in the world from that perspective is on clear display. It’s an eclectic mix of stories, but they all come together to form a compelling comic. $5
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Big Ugly Robot, Cocosoco, Mooney Tomomi | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 2, 2016
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Vagabond Comics #2
The theme for this anthology is foods (and drinks, technically), which is maybe obvious from the cover, at least until you examine more closely what exactly is in that jello. First up (by Sequoia Bostick) is a story about the joys and obvious effects of drinking too much coffee, told so lovingly that it was impossible not to enjoy. Unless you hate coffee, I guess, but if that’s the case then how do you get through the day? No, seriously, I really want to know. Next up (by Clare Holat) is the confession of a former pie blogger, and she was nice enough to use an actual pie recipe if you’re interested in baking a pie. Zach Sabatino has the next piece, about the quest for the mythical Starburger and the lengths that people will go to to get it. Julia Simmons follows that up by showing us the horrors of a vegetable and fruit platter from the perspective of the sole surviving member. And if plants really do have a rudimentary intelligence like recent science (that I may or may not have read correctly) suggest, good luck vegetarians! Luke Grabber then has one of the longer pieces in the book, an extended story about the quest of a young man to get just one bite of candy out of the candy bar of a stranger. Lindsey Bryan follows with the shortest story in the book, a literal tale about her ability to make a mean burger. Fabienne Duteau is next with the efforts of a vampire and her friends to make a soup of some kind, helped along by using some potions. Possibly these were anime characters that I didn’t recognize, or possibly they were Fabienne’s own characters, in which case never mind; it’s just that I didn’t know their story. Anyway, it turns out that using potions in making food can get a bit tricky, but I should say no more than that. Finally there’s a tale (by Salem Powell) about the workaday life of a pigeon and his family. I’ll confess that this one didn’t do a lot for me, but then again maybe I’m still suffering flashbacks from recently watching that awful HBO show “Animals,” the one about the pigeons in particular. Either way, it’s just my opinion, and I’m often wrong. Overall it’s still a solid mix of stories, and this comic was nicely put together in every possible way. $10
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Amalia Degirolamo, Clare Holat, Fabienne Duteau, Julia Simmons, Lindsey Bryan, Luke Graber, Salem Powell, Sequoia Bostick, Vagabond Comics, Zach Sabatino | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
May 2, 2016
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Never Stop Drinking
Huzzah, a book of (mostly) single panel strips! Yeah, I go back and forth on the concept, but I always like them when they’re funny, and the bulk of these are funny. Sometimes I missed the references (there’s an recurring gag with what the characters of “Doug” are up to today, but I don’t know what that was so the humor was lost on me), but overall this is a really solid bunch of strips. I don’t fully get the mechanics of having a writer and an artist for single panel strips, but then again these were mostly done in bars, so I’m probably overthinking it. Subjects include a recurring gag where a kid eats from a different type of cereal every day (the joke is in the title of the cereal and his reactions), where all those barrels came from in Donkey Kong, a better ending for Lost, the Crest Cavity fighters taking care of some prisoners, recurring strips of the inner monologue of a dumb dog, Hammy Sagar, trying to avoid a nemesis, the descent into madness of a piece of ravioli, the good of a cure of all the diseases after looking at actual people for a bit, Sue Storm as a stripper, and the master plan of Aquaman. And all kinds of other subjects, as this book is packed, but what’s the fun of me spoiling the subjects of strips when they’re mostly only a panel long? I won’t be a party to that madness. This is also in full color, so the strips look great (drunkenness aside), and a number of them have beer rings (I’m assuming) like the dog image you see on the cover. Authentic! But yeah, if you’re a fan of funny things then there’s plenty for you to enjoy in here. $17
Leave a Comment » | Reviews | Tagged: Brian Canini, Derek Baxter, Never Stop Drinking | Permalink
Posted by Kevin
