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Baxter, Derek & Canini, Brian – 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
Corby, Bob (editor) – Oh, Comics! #20
Oh, Comics! #20
Hello comics anthology! What sort of mixed bag do you have for me today? Before I get into it I should point out (in case I haven’t already) that I love that title, as it could be taken in so many ways. I prefer to take it as an exclamation of alarm, but am also happy accepting it in the context of some lovable scamp accidentally knocking over a flower vase. The subject of this one is “Air” (which should maybe have been mentioned on the cover somewhere, but in hindsight it’s hard not to think of air when you’re looking at that cover by Max Ink), and stories include a silent tale of an overly inquisitive space ghost (not THE Space Ghost) by Bianca Alu-Marr and Steve Peters, a hilarious parody of the 50’s style alarmist propaganda videos by Derek Baxter and Brian Canini (probably the highlight of the anthology), Pam Bliss proving that she can draw the difference between a husky and a wolf, a gloomy but accurate (and gorgeous) tale of an astronaut trying to fix a satellite and the consequences of it by D. Skite, Canada Keck’s tale of getting on a plane and getting a one-way ticket to anywhere, two short poems/pieces by Matt Levin about the subject matter, Michael M. Carroll’s tale of some issues between the elements of his Accidentals, Bob Corby’s piece on space cops and their search for an illegal passenger, and a Robert Gavila tale from 2004 about giant lizards. I saw the ending of that one coming, but I am also a gigantic dork with way too much knowledge of such things. There are also a couple of Cornelia pieces by Kel Crum and one story by Steven Myers that I didn’t mention because it is not for me. The two lady hero characters are called She-Eagle (seriously) and First Lady, and the whole thing is meant in earnest, and it is just not something that I enjoyed. But hey, to each their own. It’s a nicely varied pile of stories, and there are quite a few of them for that tiny $5 price tag.
Canini, Brian – Drunken Cat Comics Anniversary
Drunken Cat Comics Anniversary
This is a special for the 11 year anniversary of Brian’s assorted comics, and I just have one question: where the hell is the Ruffians story? There are updates for a few of his older comics (otherwise known as “new stories”), but Ruffians, which was far and away his longest series, is nowhere to be found. Boo! Ah well, I can still judge the rest of the book on its merits. Our “host” for this comic is the drunken cat from the name who, if memory serves (and it probably doesn’t), has never really gotten this much face time before. The cat introduces us to the new stories and does make a passing reference to Ruffians, so at least it isn’t completely disregarded. New stories in here include Satan’s high school reunion (in which we catch up with Satan after he was introduced in Brian’s first comic 11 years ago), Fall Back (in which our hero goes back in time to try to recapture his perfect past love) and Big Metal Robots (in which… aw, the title tells you everything you need to know). Satan’s story had more than a few funny bits, the time traveling story managed to be a bit heartbreaking, and the story about robots sure did have robots punching and kicking big monsters. Kind of a waste of time for most of it, but the ending made it all worthwhile. The drunken cat shenanigans were also pretty funny, although that probably would not have been the case if the comic had gone on for much longer. 11 years is a damned long time in small press comics and, even though I haven’t seen much new from the guy in the last few years (which may well be entirely my fault), Brian has managed to amass a decent pile of comics over his time. Here’s to 11 more years, and to his getting back to work on Ruffians. Or, if he’s not going to get back to it, he should at least have the decency to put out a mini comic where all of the characters in that series get taken out in as many gruesome ways as is humanly possible. $4
Canini, Brian – The Satan Spectacular
The Satan Spectacular
The problem with dopey humor is that sometimes it becomes too dopey. The book doesn’t have much of a leg to stand on when the humor falls flat, and that’s what a lot of this book does. Basically it’s an excuse to put Satan in a variety of odd positions (going swimming, clubbing, and telling a story to children). Derek Baxter wrote a couple of the stories, so I can’t put all the blame/credit on Brian this time. Still, there were a few good moments, particularly in the clubbing story. Not that the other two comics were masterpieces of modern literature or anything, but this one was just kind of dull and some of the punchline jokes fell completely flat. Add that to the fact that it’s $2.95 and shoddily put together and you should probably just stay away. Look, check out his other stuff, if you love it, you know where to get this one. The other ones are cheaper though, so it makes more sense to try them first.
Canini, Brian – The Adventures of Plungerboy #2
The Adventures of Plungerboy #2
More of the same, meaning more of my chuckling to myself at random bits of silliness involving superhero and supervillain parodies. Hey, I didn’t think I would find it funny either, but there you go. I do have to point out, though, that his cover isn’t centered. It’s possible to screw up on the centering once or twice in the actual comic and get away with it, but on the cover? Come on, that’s just plain lazy. Still $1 and, like I said, it made me smile.
Canini, Brian – The Adventures of Plungerboy #1
The Adventures of Plungerboy #1
This book has a lot of things that I hate about mini comics. Misspellings, invented grammar, poor xeroxing skills with words disappearing off the page with alarming frequency… and I still thought it was kind of funny at times. That says a lot. There’s not much here that exactly sets the world on fire. The story is your typical superhero parody stuff, but Brian has a dopey, simplistic approach to humor and it’s hard not to at least smile at how stupid some of the jokes are. Not sure if that’s what he was going for, but there are some genuine laughs in this too. Check out his website, there are enough samples there for you to find out whether or not you want to send him a few bucks for some comics. These are $1 a piece, and it’s up to #4 according to his site.
Canini, Brian – The Adventures of Plungerboy #4
The Adventures of Plungerboy #4
This is pretty much in the same vein as the other two issues that I read, but it does start with a really great funeral. No, I’m not going to tell you why it’s so great, but trust me on this one. It’s hard not to like a book that has characters named Kitty Cat Man, Lactose Intolerant Man, and Man Man. Granted, you can still find the same lazy grammar and spelling, but what’s more important: funny or technically sound? OK, granted, it should have both of them, but what are you going to do? Most of this issue is about the funeral and a fight scene, but there’s also plenty of background noise about a continuing plot of some kind involving a whole bunch of supervillains and the Mayor sticking up for the superheroes. This is a buck, same as the other issues, and it’s worth checking out. Contact info is somewhere on the page, I’m sure you can find it without too much trouble…
