New review today for The Cruising Diaries by Brontez Purnell and Janelle Hessig. And hey, the big yearly Top Shelf sale is going on now! All kinds of stuff on sale, even more stuff for $3 or $1. That’s right, a buck for some really great stuff! And I’ll just come right out and say it: if you don’t own The Years Have Pants by Eddie Campbell (on sale now!), then you’re a terrible person.
Update for 9/10/14
September 10, 2014
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 9/8/14
September 8, 2014New review today for Pratfall, edited by Rob Kirby and featuring all kinds of ridiculously talented comics artists. Not that I’m biased or anything…
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Posted by Kevin
Kirby, Rob (editor) – Pratfall
September 8, 2014
Pratfall
Has the theme of falling on your face/ass/other ever been the subject of a comics anthology before? I can’t think of one, but it’s such a natural fit. This naturally made me think of various falls in my life, and I kept coming back to one what wasn’t really a fall and also wasn’t me. I was walking with a couple of friends on an icy road years ago. One of these friends is 6’6”, and my other friend and I noticed him start to slide. This is one of those moments when time slows down, but after the fact we would both swear that he had fallen far enough backwards for the back of his head to slide on the ground, but he somehow more or less kept his balance and never did completely fall. Not sure even today if that’s a good story or a “you had to be there” story, but it’s notable that I still remember it maybe 15 years later. Anyway! The point of that story is that it’s impossible to read this comic without thinking of pratfalls you know and love, and Rob has assembled quite a talented bunch here to tell their stories. There’s Carrie McNinch’s story of getting her thumb slammed in the door (and her mother driving away with said thumb stuck in the door), Becky Hawkins and her amazing collection of bruises and cuts (not the mention her ridiculously unlucky landing spot), Aron Nels Steinke almost knocking his eye out, Tessa Brunton’s spectacular rolling fall, John Porcellino’s skateboarding mess, Jason Viola’s trip to Russia and the impression he must have left with some of those people, Noah Van Sciver and his preventative precautions taken to prevent ever being hurt again, Cara Bean’s skiing “mishap”, MariNaomi’s bowling injury (yes, it is possible), the cat of Gabrielle Gamboa taking her eyebrow, Tony Breed getting away with one, Max Clotfelter getting seriously punched, and the causes of Rob Kirby’s various scars from waiting tables. With a list of talent like that I doubt that I have to do much convincing, so just do yourself a favor and pick this up. Then, if you haven’t already, work your way back through the older comics of these folks. You deserve it! $5
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 9/4/14
September 4, 2014Work has been a madhouse this week, but I couldn’t skip the weekly review of Tarn, this time for Tarn #2: Pigboss by Sam Spina.
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Posted by Kevin
Spina, Sam – Tarn #2: Pigboss
September 4, 2014
Tarn #2: Pigboss
Oh, so THAT’S what Tarn is. Not that I have any idea of the larger significance of it, or how it ties in to all of these comics, but at least this issue mentions Tarn. Oh hi, did you not read the first issue and/or the review for the first issue? Well, in that case this might be a little confusing to you, even if this issue features an entirely different cast of characters from the first issue. This time around it’s Pigboss, who is filming the final scenes for some kind of action movie. He’s more than a little bit of an asshole, and he says his catchphrase whether or not the cameras are rolling. Still, things are going pretty well for him, except the occasional minor annoyance like not having the right food at the craft services, until he gets a letter from the head of the movie studio. This letter does not go over well at all with Pigboss, and it’s clear that a confrontation of some kind is in the cards. I’m still thoroughly enjoying this series, which is not a shock, as I’ve loved everything else Sam has done. It’s probably a bit early for me to tell you to go ahead and buy this whole series when I’ve only read the first two issues, but eh, what the hell, buy the whole series. It’s only $5, and unless Sam’s brain fell out along the way I feel confident in saying that it’ll be worth it in the end. $1 ($5 for the set)
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 8/31/14
August 31, 2014And you probably thought that I gave up on posting those last two reviews for the month, but I snuck them in on a Sunday instead. New reviews today for Time and Money by Pam Bliss and Memoirs of a Muse #3: Egypt by Gail Kern.
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Posted by Kevin
Bliss, Pam – Time and Money
August 31, 2014
Time and Money
I sometimes wish that more people listed the circumstances that led to the creation of their comics. This one, for example, was made over the course of two days, live on her blog, based on an idea from Jeff Lilly. Not that that has affected the quality, but I do get curious about such things. Then again, “created over the course of two years in fits and starts, then put into a closet for six months, then taken out and reworked, then published” would get pretty old as a description. Oh hello cynicism, and a good morning to you! Anyway, this one is a fairly simple tale of Ms. Ginsberg getting prodded into a quest by a walking piggy bank. They need payment to get into a tower, she refuses to use her obvious resource., but they reach another solution and see the result of their quest. Yeah, this all has to be pretty vague, as it’s a damned short comic and I don’t want to give it all away. It plays a little with perceptions and what your brain absorbs of your surroundings, with a nice little touch of mystery about reality thrown in at the end. Or maybe I’m reading too much into it and it’s really about where that hat came from. $1
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Posted by Kevin
Kern, Gail – Memoirs of a Muse #3: Egypt
August 31, 2014
Memoirs of a Muse #3: Epygt
I may be dealing with an expectations problem here. These occur when I think/wish that a story was going in a different direction, but it turns out that the writer/artist had other ideas. This is entirely on me, as I’m the one passively consuming the comic while the artist is the one actively making it, but I wanted to make it clear right away that most of the problems I had with this book come from that, and through no fault of the artist. Now that that disclaimer is out of the way, I thought this was going to be a set of detailed examples of ancient Egyptian art, how it came about and who made it. Instead Gail is mostly focused on getting her muse back to Enoch. Which makes sense, as that’s the story she has been telling all along, so never mind me. Things start off with the muse getting to Egypt, and the muse helps her host gain some recognition for her skills. Once she is done there we get to see those ancient artifacts that I was so interested in, with my only complaint being that we see them too briefly. From there I don’t want to give too much away, but we do get to see some mummy action before it’s all said and done. Aesthetically I do have a few complaints, as the blacks from some of the art occasionally made text practically illegible. This issue also wins the prize for “most spelling errors in the series,” which is not a good prize to have. Not that it’s out of control, as it was still a relative few, but as it’s never been easier to make sure you’re spelling words correctly, my willingness to let stuff like that slide has been going downhill for years. It would also have helped if her asterisk system had been explained (or numbered as footnotes), as the information she was trying to direct the reader to is all piled up in the back, with no reference for which is which in case you lost track/missed an asterisk or two. All that being said, I’m still thoroughly enjoying the adventures of this muse through time. Weird, right? You’d think all those complaints would lead to a bad review, which is a testament to Gail’s abilities as a storyteller. If you’re interested in art and where it comes from (and chances are that you are if you’re reading this) then this remains a fascinating series to watch unfold.
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 8/28/14
August 28, 2014Two new reviews today, for Tran #1 by Sam Spina and Coldheat Special #10 by William Cardini. Two more reviews to go until I reach my monthly goal! After which it’ll be roughly 20 reviews every month like it used to be and I’ll stop keeping track of it again. Although if you have new comics out there and you would like me to ramble about them, please send them to the address on the right, as my review pile is getting a bit thin again…
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Posted by Kevin
Cardini, William – Coldheat Special #10
August 28, 2014
Coldheat Special #10
It’s been too long since I’ve gotten a chance to read a William Cardini fever dream (otherwise known as a “comic”). As always, it’s hard to talk too much about it without giving too much away, but luckily it’s impossible to give away how you’re going to feel looking at those visuals, so in that way it’s impossible to spoil. The gist of this seems to be the story of a man on a quest to kill a minotaur. Or maybe he’s just trying to get through a maze and the minotaur is a guard? Anyway, even that isn’t clear on the first page (clearly getting ahead of myself), as the first thing we see is an enigmatic creature with three eyes shifting into a large spider. From there we join our hero as he tries to track down the minotaur, until he eventually finds the already deceased creature. Which would be the end of things in a normal comic, but in this case our hero sees something wriggling around in the belly of the minotaur, and that’s when things really get rolling. This is jsut a touch less abstract than some of William’s other comics, but don’t worry, the last three pages will satisfy any cravings you have in that regard. And for the people who genuinely wonder about such things, I saw no indication that there were 9 previous issues of this series, but it’s still listed as a #10. Check it out, see what that spider thing is all about! $5
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Posted by Kevin
Spina, Sam – Tarn #1: Mr. Futtts
August 28, 2014
OK, new policy: I’ll be reviewing the remaining four issues of this series every Thursday until it’s done. Hell, I may convince myself to review them all today before I finish writing this review. Can Sam Spina do no wrong? It certainly seems that way. This is the story of Mr. Futtts. What’s his deal? He eats butts. So simple, yet so beautiful. Things start off a little rough, as Mr. Futtts is trying to psyche himself up to some unknown task. We soon learn that he’s a substitute teacher for the day, and his only duty is to get the kids to read. We also quickly learn that he has a criminal record for previously eating butts, so this job looks like a last chance for him. He takes over the class, panicked, trying to reason with himself, but things quickly fall apart from there. And then he sees an old lady, butt in the air, tending to her garden… and that’s where I have to stop talking about the story, as this is a wee little comic, after all. What does Tarn mean? Why do the other issues seem to have brand new characters in them? How does all of this come together into a series, or does it? These are all questions to be answered later, starting next week. In the meantime, if this was the only comic of this series, or indeed the only comic that Sam had ever made (luckily for us that is not the case), I’d still tell you to read it an enjoy. So do it! $5 (for the whole set of five books)
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 8/27/14
August 27, 2014It occurred to me that a holiday weekend is coming up, so (if all goes according to plan) there are going to a be a bunch of reviews over the next few days. Today there are reviews for The True Adventures of Jep Comix #4 by Jep, Dodo Comics #4 by Grant Thomas and The Bojeffries Saga by Alan Moore & Steve Parkhouse.
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Posted by Kevin
Moore, Alan & Parkhouse, Steve – The Bojeffries Saga
August 27, 2014Website (for Alan Moore’s wiki page)
There’s no way I’m going to be able to talk about this one without giving out a little bit of personal history, so bear with me. Back in my youth, I had terrible taste in comics, sticking mostly with garbage Marvel superheroes. So did most of you, if you’re being honest about it. Or maybe not, as it’s never been easier to find quality comics than it is now. Anyway, eventually I started to grow out of it and look for other, better comics to take their place (giving up on comics altogether wasn’t really a consideration). I knew that THE books to get were The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen, so I got them both and loved them. This led me to look for more from both authors, so I was able to get a few random old issues of Daredevil by Frank Miller and The Bojeffries Saga by Alan Moore. In hindsight this was damned odd, as he certainly had more popular and better known books out there, but I lived in a very small town and took what I could get. I’m not going to be able to get through this review without a fair amount of hyperbole, but it’s safe to say that that book influenced my sense of humor in a big way. I didn’t get the accents (Moore writes his characters in this book with heavy, thick accents that you practically have to sound out to understand), and I didn’t get a number of the references. But I could tell that it was funny, and the more universal bits made me laugh right away, so I researched the bits that I didn’t understand, which made those a whole lot funnier, until finally there was a solid decade there when I would have called it my favorite comic, even above the books that led me to it. That was longer than I intended, but you get the idea: an objective review of this comic is impossible, so what you’re getting is a subjective review, impressions that I have now after reading this again for the first time in a decade (ish) after reading it maybe a dozen times in the past. My first impression was amazement at how short the stories seem now. It seemed like every page (and damned near every panel) was crucially important at the time. But then the funny started to come at me, and large chunks of this haven’t aged a day. The opening story with the rentman was a fantastic introduction to the cast of characters, and him constantly coming up with titles to the story of his life in his head while doing his job had me laughing out loud constantly. Raoul’s Night Out, the batfishing story (and that closing line to it!), every single thing said by Ginda, the slapstick comedy of Festus dying over and over again, there’s just so much here that hasn’t aged a day. Outside of a reference or two, that is, but that’s inescapable. Finally there’s a new 24 page story to bring everybody up to date on the family, and just in case this is your first introduction to them, I won’t spoil a single bit of it. Sometimes new stories in old collections feel tacked on, but that is not the case here, as it just makes the whole thing more complete. I recommend a lot of comics, but even 20 years after seeing this for the first time, there isn’t a single comic out there that I would recommend more highly than this one. Buy it, read it, make your life better instantly. $15
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Posted by Kevin
Jep – The True Adventures of Jep Comix #4
August 27, 2014
The True Adventures of Jep Comix
Huzzah for mini comics full of random stories! That may seem an odd thing to huzzah about, but I am easily overjoyed. Apparently the name of the author is also Jep, or maybe jep, or maybe JEP, or maybe Mister Jep. Initials? Secret code? His website doesn’t clarify it, but it’s also not like it’s a big deal. Anyway, there are a wide range of stories in this one, and I’ll save the best one for last. Runners-up in this unofficial contest of “best story in comic” deal with the simple joys of playing Altered Beast with a friend at a Dairy Queen (and recalling a question about religion in class that I’ve still never heard a good answer to), being paranoid while walking in a park, filling your basement up with water for better baths (and the humorlessness of Catholics), drawing an odd line at sharing a glass with your significant other, a stranger in a bathroom going by sound to tell you that you have a fake bladder, and learning guitar. And finally, there’s Roger. The story, and also the person, I guess. Jep had a gay couple living next door to him, and he knew them both casually. By “knew” I mean “knew their first names and said hello to on the street.” As far as he was concerned, that was more or less the end of it. Then Jep got married (to his girlfriend) and ran into Roger in a grocery store. Everyone else had been congratulating Jep once he shared the news, but the reaction from Roger was odd. He confessed to having a crush on Jep and asked Jep what he (Roger) was supposed to do now. The two pages that show the thought processes that went through Jep’s head here are priceless, and I’ll say no more about the story so you can discover it all for yourself. I will only add that sometimes there are no good answers, and guilt doesn’t help anybody. Anyway, check it out for yourself, you’ll love it. No idea on the price, as he doesn’t have one listed on the comic or his website (where you can find all kinds of stories for free), but I’ll guess $4.
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Posted by Kevin
Thomas, Grant – Dodo Comics #4
August 27, 2014
Dodo Comics #4
I don’t know how people with kids have any time to make comics (I have no kids and barely have the time to review comics), but Grant seems to be making it work. Granted, he says he makes comics “before daybreak, on weekends and while his children nap,” but he’s managed to maintain a pretty high level with his work. He also included another comic that I’ll be getting to soon, which makes him more prolific than lots of comics creators who don’t have kids. Now that I have shamed those people for the lazy folks (who don’t know how good they have it) that they are, how about the contents of the book? Three stories in this one. The first is the story of how the raven and the loon got their colors, and kudos to him for picking two birds with black and white tones for a black and white comic book. Next is his attempt to find the meaningful thing between things, and his conclusion strikes me as more than a bit autobiographical, but maybe I’m reading too much into it. Finally there’s the story of a man who kept a stone in his mouth for three years to teach himself silence, and a quick history of some of the interactions he had during that time. The art for each story is unique and distinctive for the story being told (and I didn’t even notice the family of birds growing for that third story until just now), and it’s just a thoroughly engaging comic from top to bottom. His letter lists it as $4 while the cover lists it as $3, so just stick with the higher price and know that if you’re wrong, at least you gave an extra dollar to a small press artist.
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 8/26/14
August 26, 2014Time for a mad dash to the finish to get those 20 reviews posted this month (no, I haven’t forgotten and/or given up): reviews today for R.E.H. by Brian John Mitchell & Andrew White and Slaves of the Megapode #2 by Rob Jackson.
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Posted by Kevin
Jackson, Rob – Slaves of the Megapode #2
August 26, 2014
Slaves of the Megapode #2
“It’s all fun and games until someone is crucified.” You know, sometimes I think I should start these reviews with a quote from the comic, or at least I should when a comic has as many quotable lines as this one. The second issue starts off a little bit after the events of the last one, with our two heroes waking up, unable to be sure about which parts of what they just saw was a dream and what was real. After a conversation about the night in question they eventually find a good place to get a little bit of sleep, where they once again see the Megapode in their dreams. One of them is woken up by a woman who claims to have inside knowledge of it, but she’ll only tell him what is really going on when his cravings get too great to control. He’s already tasted the fruit of this thing, so in theory it’s only a matter of time until the succumbs to it. The rest of the issue has an armed confrontation on the road, the two heroes infiltrating the Megapode cult (and getting exposed to some gas), trying to convince his Roman army that they really should investigate further despite them possibly imagining it all because of the gas, and an ending that I did not see coming at all. Should set things up nicely for the final issue, which I’ll most likely be reviewing next week if all goes according to plan on my end. Which rarely happens, but I live in hope. Either way, this series is another winner from Rob, and when you buy this be on the lookout for the winged penis statue. Yes, it’s in there.
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Posted by Kevin
Mitchell, Brian John & White, Andrew – R.E.H. #7
August 26, 2014
R.E.H. #7
Out of all the various series that Brian writes, this is the one that makes the least sense to me. Granted, that is mostly my fault, as I have #5 and #7 of the series and that’s just guaranteeing that I won’t know what’s going on, but I feel compelled to point that out before I get started. As a stand-alone issue this is fascinating, and it has a good message for people in general. It’s all about the meaning of names, where names come from and how you should try to live up to your name if you know what it means. There’s also a bit about how he’s not sure if he could ever picture himself getting married, but he could see himself with a son. See, here’s where I get confused: I’m not sure if this is Brian narrating a tale, or Brian speaking in the hypothetical voice or Robert E. Howard. Oh yeah, I should have also pointed that out up front: “R.E.H.” stands for Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan and a long time pulp writer. Anyway, the content of the comic is still well worth checking out (Andrew White does his part to make things feel a bit hazy and indistinct, which makes me think that this is all meant to be a fictional memoir by Howard), and it did compel me to check and see what my name means. Apparently mine means gentle, handsome and beautiful. That is absurdly complimentary, but I’ll take it. $1
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Posted by Kevin
Update for 8/21/14
August 21, 2014New review today for Loud Comix #3 by Jamie Vayda and a gaggle of writers. 5 is considered a gaggle, right?
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Posted by Kevin
Vayda, Jamie (and various writers) – Loud Comix #3
August 21, 2014
This comic is reminding me more and more of Real Stuff, a Fantagraphics series written by Dennis Eichorn in the early 90’s and featuring art from damned near anybody who was anybody in the independent comics scene. Kids, ask your parents, but if you can find that series, do it. The big difference is that Dennis wrote everything while getting Julie Doucet, Jim Woodring, Peter Bagge and everybody else to illustrate it, while Loud Comix is all drawn by Jamie Vayda but written by various writers, but with a loose theme: they were all in bands of some kind, and they all have a damned interesting/messed up story to tell. This one starts off with “The Time I Shit My Pants at a Motorhead Show” by Alan King. Granted, that title tells you a lot of what you need to know, but the story itself digs into how it happened, what happened after, and how it played into Alan’s plan to finally ask a lady Motorhead fan (who went to all the shows like him) on a date. “Cocaine Fueled” by Eric Perfect is a delightful reminder of the dangers of paranoia combined with a loaded weapon, especially an unfamiliar weapon where you’re not completely clear on the pressure needed to pull the trigger. “Satan’s Fantastic Knockers” by Joel Rivers is all about a desperate search for proof of Satanism when the Joel made the whole thing up to get a chance to see said knockers, but I’m not ruining that one for you and it all makes sense if you read it. Other stories include a couple of short pieces called “Roxy & Molly” (dealing with hookers chatting about their pimp and black history month) and a short snippet of a story that’s going to be continued in the next issue. In this one there was only time to see what looks like quite a provocation of biker gang, so it’ll by fun to see how all that shakes out. These comics have been pretty damned entertaining so far and Jamie seems to be keeping to a fairly regular schedule. Those regular schedules are generally easier to keep if people buy his comics, so you should do that and enjoy them. Unless profanity scares you, in which case I don’t know why you’re on this website or reading small press comics, but I’m not the boss of you. $6
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Posted by Kevin
