Canini, Brian – Plastic People #13-15

August 1, 2024

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Plastic People #13-15

I accidentally read through #15-17 first, so I’m going to do my level best not to let loose with any spoilers for those last two issues in this review. Let’s watch how this old clunker of a brain does with that task together, OK? I actually thought that #15-17 worked seamlessly as a chunk of the overall story (same characters, same focus), but that’s not what I’m talking about here. #13 is mostly a dinner conversation with Gabe (one of the cops) and his friends, sharing theories about the killer and just generally chatting. A fairly casual issue, until you get to the very end of it. This is where my “no spoilers” policy on individual issues kind of falls apart, because #14 starts off with a jogger discovering the body from the end of the last issue, and this victim was also at Gabe’s dinner from the previous issue. Most of this issue is spent with the cops going through some theories and trying to knock down obvious dead ends, and then Gabe is called to the scene. In a rage, he decides to make a statement to the killer through the assembled media, which goes about as well as you’d expect, considering the fact that he just found his friend murdered. #15 is all about the consequences of that press statement, further theories about the victims and how they may or may not be connected… and a mysterious phone call. Too many spoilers? Eh, these multiple issue reviews are tough. The overall point is that this storyline is humming right along, which is a thing that definitely continues for the next two issues as well. It feels like one of those stories where the clues of who the killer might be are all here and it’ll end up being an “oh, of course” moment when he or she is revealed, but who knows? I’m still invested in the mystery, which I’d call solid work out of Brian after 15 issues. Check it out, although I’m obviously recommend an earlier compendium to start out, what with how numbering systems work and all. $4.99 (or $1.99 per issue)


Canini, Brian – Applewood Canyon #9-11

June 25, 2024

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Applewood Canyon #9-11

Good lord, am I actually caught up on one of his series? The last issue in his online store is #11, so unless he’s running behind on updating his store, I just might be current with this one. …I feel like I just wished a new issue into existence. Anyway! I’m still doing the clump reviews for his shorter books (he also sent along some graphic novels, and those will obviously be done one by one, probably before the heat death of the universe), at this point mostly in the hopes that I can also get caught up with Plastic People one of these days. So what’s happening this time around? #9 starts with our heroes (???) getting back into Applewood Canyon the hard way. They’re starting to wonder if the place is really so bad (after they commit just a few murders to get in), but the last page gives them something to work with in that department. #10 has the crew eventually working up the nerve to try to get out of town, but them meeting one of the, uh, “colorful” locals gives them second thoughts about the plan. #11 is a break in the action, as we get some details about the neighboring town (Coconut Valley), using the same method that Brian used way back in the first issue of a narrative voiceover. The cracks in the happy facade are a little clearer here than they were in that issue, but we also know a whole lot more about what’s going on, so that’s as it should be. The man always keeps me guessing, and this series is no exception. 11 issues is plenty to dig into, so give it a shot why don’t you? $1.99 (per issue)


Canini, Brian – Plastic People #10-12

May 27, 2024

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Plastic People #10-12

I’ve been promising/threatening to do this for awhile now, and the day is here: it’s a combo review! Honestly, it’s mostly the reviewer equivalent of self defense, as Brian is too prolific for me to keep up with otherwise, and even after this chunk I’m still a good 8 issues behind. These actually are all grouped around a single event, the first murders in 20 years, that happened last time around. Or was it #8? Recently, anyway. #10 starts off with a press conference assuring the public that everything is fine, followed quickly by a peek into the actual investigation and the obvious conclusion that everything is not at all fine. There’s a missing ear, and a trail of teeth, and oh hey, love is in the air! Brush up on your latin before reading the last panel, as I think I got the gist of it, but Google translate may become involved if this keeps up. In #11 the investigators of the murder try to interrogate a former detective, who has some hard feelings about being pushed out of his job decades ago after all murders stopped. The attempt to keep the worst of this from the public also goes up in smoke, as the killer sends a letter (and an ear) to a local news station directly. #12 is all about the aftermath of that event, as we hear reactions from some citizens before checking back in with Gabriel, who’s having all kinds of thoughts and regrets. Yes, I’ll stay that vague, thank you very much. It already feels weird talking about most of the previous issues all in a clump like this. The story is moving along nicely, and I’m going to try to get to the next set sooner rather than later to see how things progress. If you’re new to this whole thing, grab a few issues, see what you think! Or heck, just grab these three to start. Sure, it’s bizarre to start a series by reading issues #10-12, but don’t let the man tell you what to do! $4.99


Canini, Brian – Plastic People #9

February 19, 2024

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Plastic People #9

If you’re wondering why it’s taken me this long to get back to reviewing the series, I’d somehow managed to lose a few review issues that Brian sent me, so the plan was to take stock and then buy those issues the next time I saw him at a con. But lo, what was lost is now found! In a drawer. In the kitchen. <cough> Not much of a dramatic reveal, I guess, but I can at least get the reviews back on track now, and after this one I’ll be switching to a “multiple issues reviewed at once” format, because that’s probably the best way to read this series. Boy howdy, that was a whole lot of gibberish. Anyway, if you need a refresher, go back to the old reviews (or issues, obviously), but this one starts with our first long look into a… plastic surgery church? I’m not sure that it was ever named, unless it’s in one of the older issues and I’ve forgotten it. We get a deeply creepy sermon (and call and response) from the pulpit, then the detectives take the “priest” aside to ask him some questions about the murdered girl. We get a lot of information in this issue, although it’s tough to say if we’re any closer to solving the mystery, and things end up with a major update on the celebrity who was attacked at the end of the last issue. It’s still compelling as a story, and he’s up to #20 as of this writing with no signs of slowing down. Grab yourself a few of the compendiums to catch up, why don’t you? Or the single issues are $2 if you just want to dip a toe in.


Canini, Brian – Airbag #2

October 10, 2023

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Airbag #2

All of the Caniniacs out there (fan name subject to change, but I like it) are probably wondering why Brian occasionally puts out big old books like this, full of different types of stories, if he already has a few different ongoing series with a variety of different subjects. Why not make a few more minis? Well, because it wouldn’t work nearly as well to have interconnected stories in a variety of minis where the similarities wouldn’t be nearly as clear, now would it? Now that that imaginary strawman has been handily defeated, I can go on with the review. This is a collection of several stories, with comedy, despair and heartbreak (seriously, the first long story was devastating) all wrapped up into one bundle that still somehow works beautifully. Things start off with the “invention” of comics back in 1925 and the all too predictable reaction of the hoity toity types of the time. This picks up again later, but next we get the story of a woman who’s tasked with clearing out her father’s home after he passes away. Their relationship wasn’t all that close, especially after the divorce, but she learns a lot about the guy by digging through what he thought was meaningful enough to keep, which all leads up to the moment that explains a whole lot of his attitude towards her wanting to become an artist. From there we get an explanation of how a forgotten comics artist gets rediscovered before moving on to a comics convention, and am I ever thrilled that “DeForgian” is a descriptor that’s being used out in the world. If you know, you know, and if you don’t, read some comics by Michael DeForge. Yes, any of them. Anyway, the artist at the convention gets sick of it, find a “magic” pen and gets dragged into a magical comics land. There’s all kinds of things going on in here, as the artist takes a real spiritual journey, but this is one that’s best left to the reader to discover completely unspoiled. Finally it all wraps in the Billy Ireland museum in Columbus, as the forgotten comics are finally collected. OR ARE THEY? Yup, a mystery. That back page comic is also a winner, and a nice little dig at the newspaper business. So yes, if you’re just curious about Brian’s work, it’s probably more economical to get a few minis. But if you’re looking for something that’s complete in one volume with some serious variety to boot, this would be an excellent place to get started on his comics. I’m talking to the newbies, as I’m assuming everybody who already reads his stuff either already has this or is now ordering it now that you know it exists… $10


Canini, Brain – Blirps #4

July 3, 2023

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Blirps #4

A peek behind the curtain: I was planning on getting back into Plastic People, as it’s a bad idea to get too far behind in any series Brian is doing, but I seem to have a gap between #9-12. I’ll get it sorted (CXC in Columbus is only a few months away, after all), but it’s not like I ever have a shortage of his books to review. Blirps is more self-contained than his other series, or at least it seems that way after reading #2 and #4. It’s a series of four panel strips, and in this issue each strip starts off with an insecurity of the main character as they try to work their way through it. Subjects include indecisiveness, false hope, trying to put yourself out there, standing out in a crowd, self-doubt, going out on a limb, and getting way too far into your own head. And a couple more, which I leave (as always) for the reader to discover. Honestly, at this point I’m a bigger fan of his ongoing series or his autobiographical work, but the benefits of somebody like him putting out so many quality comics is that I could end up flipping that opinion with a few more issues of this series. It has its moments, is what I’m saying, and if you’d like a flavor of Brian’s work without diving in to a series, this is your best bet for fiction (and Slice of Life is probably your best bet for autobio comics). Or, like I always say, just send him a pile of money and ask him for a grab bag of comics. One of these days I should probably ask Brian if anybody has ever actually done that… $1.99


Canini, Brian – Airbag #1

April 25, 2023

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Airbag #1

Good news, people who read Brian’s comics! He’s settled on a title for his various short pieces that don’t fit anywhere else, and it’s Airbag. Probably it’s for the best. I’ve been rereading (and getting caught up on the ones I hadn’t read) Love and Rockets after reading the 40th anniversary collection, and there was a point after a few series with different names where they went back to calling their comics Love and Rockets. People just didn’t pick up the other series as much for whatever reason. Sure, to comics folks like you and me it would seem like seeing their name on a comic (or Brian’s name, to try and tie all this together) would be enough, but apparently there actually are casual independent comics fans. And these shorter, more personal and serious comics of his should not get lost in the shuffle. There are a few laughs to be found here, sure, but mostly these pack a harder punch than his lighter fare. Things start off with a quiet piece about a son meeting his estranged father for lunch, which reaches a boil of resentment slowly but surely. Next is a story about a breakup, how it causes the man (Mark) to reevaluate his life, but offers no easy answers as to how somebody can break out of a rut like that. Finally there’s a group of kids who sneak into a frat party in college to get some free booze and a conversation happens along the way that changes the whole dynamic. It also started with an unanswered phone call on 9/11 before flashing back to the party, and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out the connection. As always, blame a sleepy reviewer before blaming the artist in a situation like this, and either way it’s not like it blew up the story or anything. Finally there’s a wraparound piece which is grimly comedic, but I’ll leave that one up to you. I’ll just say that it involves that Bluto-esque dude on the cover and leave it at that. There’s also some encouragement from some of the best comics names around on his letters page, just in case you were clinging to the idea Brian was still your little comics secret. Here’s hoping Brian has enough stories to make these Airbag comics a fairly regular thing. Based on his insanely productive ability to produce comics so far, I’d bet on him for sure. $6


Canini, Brian – Glimpses of Life #8

February 22, 2023

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Glimpses of Life #8

In this issue, Brian reveals the secret of how he’s been able to stay so productive while working a day job and having two kids (three by the time this issue is done. Spoilers!). I’ve got some bad news for the procrastinators out there who think it simply can’t be done: his secret is to work on comics whenever he can, panel by panel when necessary. So if you were hoping for the one neat trick to make it all simple, my apologies. This is a collection of autobio strips for February 2021, so two years ago as of this writing. Brian and his wife Amy are awaiting the imminent arrival of their third child, so this issue is mostly all about the few complications that came up and the general effect on their lives. Stories specifically deal with Brian driving a practice run to the hospital (to make things less stressful when she’s in labor), trying to have quiet time at home to work on comics, reckoning with the knowledge that the new baby is going to take up most of his free time and trying to plan accordingly, fun with their cat and dog, a few scares with early contractions, having a baby shower basically online because of covid, sending the kids and the pets to their assigned destinations when the moment came (this all seemed spectacularly organized to me, so kudos to them), and drama with his parents not contacting them for months up until just about the single most inconvenient moment. Everything went fine with the baby, so don’t worry about him sneaking a tragedy into this comic. Unrelated, but since his baby was born a few months before I adopted my cat Miles, technically it’s a human name that I stole for use as a cat name. Unintentional, but linear time remains hard to beat. I keep wanting to say “pregnant pause” but it seems so cliche, but screw it: this comic is the pregnant pause in his life while waiting for the inevitable to happen. They’re both a little on edge throughout, for good reason, but it’s a tenser read than I’m used to with his autobio stuff. Still worth a look, obviously, so give it a shot why don’t you? Especially if you have small children or have a kid on the way. Lots of good tips/lived experiences in here for people in that position. $6


Canini, Brian – Applewood Canyon #6-8

November 21, 2022

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Applewood Canyon #6-8

Well, it’s official: Brian broke the website. His productivity did it, specifically, and it’s not like he held a gun to my head so I’d review his books a few at a time. Still, this might have to be the norm for a few of his series. When you last saw me talking about Applewood Canyon, I was assuming that that was it for the series and that it had wrapped up in fairly confusing fashion after five issues. I was wrong, which is a thing that happens on a regular basis, and Brian was nice enough to give me the next few issues at CXC in Columbus last month. So, breaking this down by issues, #6 had the escape of our “heroes” (probably need to come up with a better descriptor for casual murderers and a dummy) through the sewer system along with some narration that described what they were all going through, #7 showed them the horrifying truth about Coconut Valley, and #8 had their new plan after being denied entry back into Applewood Canyon. I can instantly see that my problem with spoilers is going to be a big deal while covering a few issues at a time, so let’s just say that any review with more than one issue involved is going to have at least a few spoilers. I liked their trip through the sewer, as we learned a lot more about the characters through an issue of conversation and narration. I would have liked to have learned more about Coconut Valley in the seventh issue, but I get why he’s trying to keep it vague for the time being. And #8 was great for showing just how diabolical this crew could be, with some mayhem sure to follow in future issues. I’m no longer making guesses for how long this series will last, but I am enjoying the ride.

$1.99 (per issue)


Canini, Brian – Applewood Canyon #5

July 19, 2022

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Applewood Canyon #5

It’s the grand finale for the series, as our “heroes” still have to figure out some way to get the dead body out of town. There’s the north entrance, which is guarded 24 hours a day, so that’s out. And the south entrance is a literal minefield. What can they do? Obviously I’m not going to tell you, as it would be a gargantuan dick move to wait until now to spoil the ending. It’s always tricky when I can’t get into such things, so I’ll just say that I thought the ending was… fine, I guess? It solved their central problem, but it also felt like the ending just kind of happened and that was that. Which, granted, is how endings work, and you can throw this whole review away if there are further issues planned. Honestly, it’s probably one of those things where I was anticipating a zig and Brian instead zagged. Who can’t relate to that! I also thought we were going to get into further detail about the nature of the town (what kind of town has guards at one end and a minefield at the other?), but that never happened. Which I get in one sense, as that probably would have required a whole other series. And since Brian is a comics making machine, there’s every chance that he has such a series in mind or is already working on said series. Overall this was still a really fun and/or disturbing series and I think that fans of his work should definitely check it out. $1.99


Canini, Brian – Applewood Canyon #4

June 28, 2022

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Applewood Canyon #4

It’s the penultimate (a word I just don’t get to use often enough) issue of this short series, and when we last left our heroes (?) they were bagging up a body and starting to take it away. The issue ended with a flashlight being shone on them, so in this issue we naturally see who was holding the light. It turns out it was… a small child. With a surprisingly quick grasp of the situation, to the point where it’s hard not to instantly wonder what else is going on with this kid. The rest of the issue deals with her making an offer to the two of them, their response to said offer and what happens once they try to take the body out of town (a town which we were previously told was locked down at night). So! Lots to wrap up in the final issue, and only 8 scant pages to do it. This one has gone a long ways from the faux documentary style of that first issue, that’s for sure, but I’ll make the prediction now that we’ll be left with many more questions than answers. I could very well be wrong, but I probably won’t be (this time). Mainly because I want to know the life story of that kid, and there’s just not enough time to deal with that while wrapping up the main plot. Either way, it’s been a blast of a series, and a pretty cheap one to get all the issues, in terms of Brian Canini series, anyway. $1.99


Canini, Brian – Applewood Canyon #3

May 24, 2022

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Applewood Canyon #3

One of these days I really need to tally up these reviews to see who I’ve reviewed the most over the 21 (!) years I’ve been at this. If Brian isn’t the winner, he’s got to be in the top 10. Of course, him putting out comics at a ridiculous pace like this doesn’t hurt his chances. It’s the middle issue of this series (assuming there aren’t more to come, but there haven’t been new issues since I started these series reviews), so this was bound to be when things got serious. I’m assuming you’re either caught up or aren’t going to get caught up on this series (which you should; some damned odd vibes in this one), but this one picks up right where the last issue left off, with the murder of the narrator after he stumbled across a grisly scene. How does a narrated comic continue after the murder of the narrator, you may wonder? The sample image will clear that one up for you. It also tells you exactly where this comic is headed, as Mr. Johnston and a reluctant Floyd try to come up with a good plan to get rid of the body. I’ve previously mentioned that these comics are shorties (8 pages each), so I can’t say much more without the dreaded spoilers showing up. I will say that it ends on another cliffhanger, so maybe I’ll give in to temptation and just review the final two issues next week. Or maybe I won’t. I’m mercurial! Anyway, I’m enjoying this series quite a bit, and unlike the saga that Plastic People is turning out to be, this one is a quick five issues. Much easier on the wallet, you cheapskates you (says the guy who usually gets free review copies). So yeah, check it out! $2


Canini, Brian – Applewood Canyon #2

April 11, 2022

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Applewood Canyon #2

The creepy tension from the first issue continues here, overlaid with that wholesome narrator telling an unseen audience about the charms of this town. If you didn’t read the review (or the comic) of the first issue that might be a little confusing, but who would just jump in at the second issue? In the previous issue we saw a bit of the town, and this time around we focus on one house in particular. Our narrator checks the door and, as it’s such a trusting town, finds it unlocked. We get a brief tour, have the residents of the house explained based on a large family portrait, and are suddenly distracted by a loud noise coming from downstairs. Any more than that and I’m well into spoiler territory, which is a constant concern anyway while reviewing 8 page mini comics. Maybe I can get away with saying this: it’s going to be extremely tricky to continue the unseen narrator action going into the third issue. But that’s fine! Two issues in and I’m completely hooked on the mystery, and Brian is doing an excellent job of ratcheting up the tension. Some of the asides are also brilliant; after getting detailed bios of two of the people in that family portrait, we land on the third one and the only piece of information the narrator is willing to dole out is “deceased.” Raises a whole lot of questions, huh? I’d recommend this series pretty highly so far, and since Brian is the man of a thousand comics series, I’ll even go ahead and say that you should start with this one. I suppose it could still fall apart, but it’s certainly off to one hell of a start. $2


Canini, Brian – Applewood Canyon #1

March 22, 2022

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Applewood Canyon #1

Here’s another intriguing start to a series from Brian, the Cal Ripken of comics! Uh-oh, an extremely dated reference. See kids, Cal Ripken is famous mostly for his streak of consecutive baseball games played in a row, which I think was way over 2,000. Google has just told me 2,632, which is insane. Anyway, my point is that Brian has been making comics for a whole lot of years, and in that time he has produced a whole lot of comics. OK fine, so it’s a flawed analogy! I was shooting for a compliment. This follows Brian’s usual (?) format of an eight page mini, and as a first issue the whole point is to get the reader hooked on what might happen next. He succeeded on that front, as I’m very curious. This issue is done like an olde timey tourist commercial for why somebody should visit a town, but it’s peppered with imagery that adeptly disrupts any sense of comfort you might have with this seemingly quaint little burb. As it’s a shortie, it’s tough to say much about it without ruining something for the reader, but putting a panel of a 30 foot high wall (with “expertly equipped guard towers”) in between a panel showing quaint stone walkways and a serene dog park was an excellent way to bat away any expectations I already had going for how the series might develop. This “commercial” ran for the whole comic, so we got to meet a few characters and even learned about a rival town, so I think everything is set up quite nicely for future issues. Brian being Brian, he already sent me the first 5 issues of the series, so I’ll be able to check for myself very soon. And I still have to go back to Plastic People and see how that’s going, but that’s more a note for myself than part of the review, so please ignore this last sentence if you’re not me. Check it out, get in on the ground floor! $2


Canini, Brian – Glimpses of Life #7

October 12, 2021

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Glimpses of Life #7

For anybody who’s brand new to the website (welcome!) and are just wondering if this particular comic is worth reading, yes, it absolutely is, especially if you’re a fan of autobio comics. Brian has been doing this for roughly a couple of decades now, has damn near mastered the areas of the artform he’s working in, and is prolific to a degree that honestly has me wondering if there are secretly two of him out there. But I wanted to get into a general problem with autobio comics, and this one is an excellent opportunity to bring it up. This is a collection of his journal comics from January of 2021, so if you’re reading this in the distant future, let’s just say that things were extremely screwed up in America at the time. This comic mostly covers the attempted coup (and the fallout) in Washington, the impending arrival of Brian’s third child, and the troubles that Brian and his wife (Amy) are having with his parents. It’s this third subject that I want to talk about, because after reading this comic… I have no idea what the problem is with Brian’s parents. Oh, I know that they’re distant to him (after five months they didn’t ask even once how Amy or the baby was doing), I know that the problem seems to stem from his sister moving back to Columbus two years earlier, and that every attempt to mend fences seem to be coming from Brian’s side. But… what happened? Did they split over politics, as is happening to all kinds of families? Did his sister burn down his house? If your response to these questions is “that’s way too personal a thing to be asking,” well, fair enough! One way I never would have asked about this is if it was never in the comic. That’s the thing about autobio comics: you can’t go halfway. Joe Matt back in the day (I’m really dating myself with this one, as he hasn’t made a comic in at least a decade) blew up chunks of his life with his autobio. He put out some brilliant comics for awhile, but you’d have to ask him if it was worth it. Maybe Brian addressed the origins of the problem in a previous comic and I’m either forgetting it or never read it, but a brief synopsis would have done wonders. Maybe his parents have a legitimate grievance? Maybe Brian and his family are really going above and beyond by even trying to mend fences? The point is that in a truly open journal comic, I wouldn’t have to ask the question. I’m just left with the impression that his parents are assholes, which may or may not be fair to anybody involved. Still, all in all there’s a few great strips in here, and the attempts to patch things up are fascinating. I just think there’s a glaring hole that the reader is missing and that it would probably bug more people than just me. $6


Canini, Brian – Plastic People #8

August 3, 2021

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Plastic People #8

It’s an eventful issue of Plastic People! As always, if you haven’t been reading this then number eight is an odd place to get started, but maybe your thing is to read reviews out of order of books you haven’t read. Who am I to judge? This time around we get an interview with the ex of the murdered woman and a better sense of what exactly was going on in her life when she was killed. The back half of the comic deals with a big old movie star going about his daily business, ending on one heck of a cliffhanger. Is Brian building up to something or is he making it up as he goes along? My money is on the first option, based on his past series like Ruffians. And based on the fact that he’s up to #15 of this series on his website, so he might actually be done with it for all I know. Check out one of those beefier 3 issue compilations, that’ll give you a chance to read a chunk of the story at once. Or get the single issues like this one for $2. You do you!


Canini, Brian – Four Stories

July 12, 2021

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Four Stories

Four stories? In an eight page comic? Who would have thought that such a thing was possible? Granted, two of the stories are only a single page, but it’s still impressive. This is a really solid mini, and it even ends with a nice little update to the first story, which features a grimly realistic tale of a fish slowly developing the ability to walk on land and what happens to him when he gets there. All on one page! Next up is the meat of the comic, a tale about the hidden costs of dining out at a seriously upscale restaurant, which is a little too close to real life, and something that’s probably coming (if it’s not already here; I haven’t dined at a super fancy restaurant since before the pandemic, so I’m a bit behind the times). Next up we get the juxtaposition of a letter home from an aspiring star in Hollywood to the actuality of what she’s going through. And finally there’s a good old fashioned gag strip about how quickly time can pass you by and make you seem completely out of touch. As somebody who still has trouble grasping why it’s so terrible to use a period to end a sentence in a text message, boy howdy can I ever relate. It just means the sentence is done, not that I’m yelling at you! Ugh, kids today. Well, since those last two sentences aged me twenty years, I’d better wrap things up. This one has variety, a couple of surprisingly dense stories (especially considering the format), and a few laughs. All for a measly $2!


Canini, Brian – Plastic People #7

May 11, 2021

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Plastic People #7

(I’m going to assume that everybody reading has at least a passing familiarity with the events of the previous issues)

This time around we finally get to spend some time with the family of the murdered woman, and can I just say that this format is finally growing on me as a way to tell this story? Sure, you’re only getting a fragment of the big picture each time, but it’s a self-contained fragment, and it’s clearly building towards something. This one starts off with an ad for a new action movie (called Terror Stopper, and I’m astounded that nobody has used that title until now. It tells the whole story!), and then we briefly meet the family who’s waiting to identify the body. They meet the detectives, but even when they see the body they’re not sure. One of the drawbacks of living in a society full of people who all get the same plastic surgery, I guess. Once again it’s tough to review one of these shorties without giving too much away, so I’ll just say that what does identify the body (and how the mother instantly recognized it) was not what I would have guessed, and her brother has a one track mind with what’s really important. With this issue I’m halfway caught up to what’s out there already (I just saw #14 listed on his website) and thoroughly hooked. I’ll also point out that the compendiums put together three issues at a time if this pace is just too slow for you, so maybe consider going that route? $2


Canini, Brian – Plastic People #6

January 18, 2021

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Plastic People #6

Would it be cheating if I started reviewing these issues two at a time. It feels like cheating. But what would I be cheating, exactly? Ah, the deep questions that go on in the mind of a reviewer who’s several issues behind of a series that comes out faster than I can review. In this issue we see a few folks waiting outside to get into a club, and while they’re waiting we get a few more bits of insight into what’s going on in this beauty-obsessed world. It’s all so that they can have a fun night out dancing, while a few interpersonal dramas play out along the way. We get a definite sense of the importance of plastic surgeons in this world and, as you can see by the sample image, nudists. That seems like that something that’ll pop up again in the future, but we just get a few hints this time around. It’s another solid issue, and there are relatively cheap ways for you to get caught up on Brian’s website if you’re so inclined. Meanwhile, I might check in with the comics elders to see about that double reviewing thing… $2


Canini, Brian – Plastic People #5

December 11, 2020

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Plastic People #5

Some good news for those of you who like their comics in bigger installments: Brian has been selling compendiums of three issues each on his website. So instead of an 8 page installment, you get a 24 page installment and even save a buck! Wow, did that ever sound like a commercial. But hey, I’m enjoying this, and we live in an age of instant gratification, so I get it if reading this story in 8 page bites isn’t enough. Wasn’t there a comic here to review? This time around we see the reaction of the big corporation to the news of the murder of their model. It’s about as awful and soulless as you might expect: they need to be reminded of who this person was, desperately cast around for some reason why it might not be murder (because they thought they had that issue solved decades ago), and of course the best possible way to spin it. It’s gross, but it’s also a thoroughly realistic imagining of how this world would handle a problem like this. Somehow Brian is managing to stay roughly 10 issues ahead of me, as he’s up to #14 as of this review, but there’s only one of me over here! Maybe if that benevolent billionaire ever comes around and hands me a sack of cash I could hire somebody just to review his books… $2