Blog Archives
Taylor, Dan W. (editor) – Time Warp Comix #6
Time Warp Comix #6 Now Available! $.50
Dan has been cranking out the comics these days (“these days” being a little late on my end, as I lost track of this stack of his comics for an embarrassing amount of time after I moved last year). Sure, he’s the editor, so it’s not like he’s drawing every strip, but he still contributes regularly and I’ve heard enough horror stories about trying to get pages out of small press comics people for anthologies to still respect him plenty for his editor job. This is another solid pile of stories, from the same crew that usually contributes to these things. There’s Richard Krauss and his hilarious send-up of the daily diary strips that are all over the place, Andy Nukes with a bit of abstract art, John Howard telling us what he’s learned since his early days as an artist, D. Miller with a tale of thievery by the Campbells Soup people, and Jim Siergey with a few random thoughts that I can’t describe without ruining for you. And hey, it’s always a good sign when I laugh at the cover (by Dan, just in case that wasn’t clear). As always it’s worth a look, especially for that measly $.50 asking price.
Taylor, Dan W. – Pork Belly #1
Pork Belly #1 Now Available! $1
Sorry, let me just check to see if my head literally exploded from all the puns in one of the stories… nope, still attached. I generally have a problem with too many puns, or many at all really, but the piece in this one crossed right back over into being hilarious. No, I’m not sure how that happened and kids, you really shouldn’t try it at home. The story deals with two people who are showing each other sketches and making puns out of them. There’s “A horse, drawn buggy” and “Cow Bells,” but that pales in comparison to something being so asinine that it’s actually “asin-ten.” Seriously, kudos. Other stories include Chris Hoskin drawing two large boobs into something like an optical illusion, Dan retelling the (modern) story of a woman who was forced to breast feed the family hunting dogs because the husband had to send the wife’s family two cows to marry her in the first place and a pictorial representation of the theory “you are what you eat.” Boobs and more puns than you will usually see collected in one place, what’s not to love? As with most of Dan’s comics this one is 8 pages, but what an 8 pages. $1
Brinkmann, Tom – Pork Belly #4
Pork Belly #4
Technically this is part of Dan Taylor’s Pork Belly series, but as he doesn’t seem to have anything to do with this (other than publishing it), I won’t put his name in the subject line. Probably not even worth mentioning that, but I wanted to work Dan’s name in here somewhere. This is, as the cover indicates, an “All Brinkmann issue,” featuring eight images of varying levels of “what the hell?” I mean that in the best possible way. I generally think calling art “psychedelic” is a lazy way to describe it, but I’m at a loss as to how else I should describe this. The issue contains an image of a trippy clown face from 1970, a melting face, flying body parts and the sampled image. Everything else is up to you to figure out, as I have no idea, but I do know that it is invariably interesting as can be. If you like your comics to be a visual blast, step right up ladies and gents! If you like a thoughtful story that builds up to a satisfying conclusion, I’d say you have plenty of other options around this site… $1
Taylor, Dan W. – Unleashed
Unleashed
I had to use the back cover of this comic as a sample because all the inside pieces had nudity that offended my delicate sensibilities. Well, not mine, but it might offend a reader or two, and we can’t have that. There’s also the fact that I liked the back cover image, so make of that what you will. It’s all Dan this time around and it’s all for mature audiences, as he deals with the Kardashians (using an image that reminds me of a similar piece in National Lampoon from the 70′, and no I’m not quite that old but I did manage to find a pile of them from back when that magazine was funny), curse words and their shock value, a tapeworm joke, a clever pun on a Lady Gaga song, and a ribald song from his youth. Kids, if you’re looking for a secret way to look at boobs that your parents might not suspect, there are plenty of more revealing images on this very internet or on network tv. Adults, if you like a bit of funny that assumes that everybody reading it is a “mature” adult, I believe you will find at least a few stories in here that you will find amusing. All for a measly buck!
Taylor, Dan W. – Pork Belly #3
Pork Belly #3
One of these days I’m going to ask Dan at a con what exactly are the differences in his various anthology titles. Theoretically he could just put them all out under one title, or there are basic structural details I’m missing. As they’re pretty consistently entertaining it’s a bit of a moot point. No sense in me complaining about one of the few guys in the business who puts out comics on such a consistent basis. So how about the actual contents? Things get started with a delightfully disgusting piece by Kel Crum about the standards of bird vomit, Macedonio has a piece about “illegals” and who to really be worried about and a piece about ethnic birds, and Dan has mildly awful pun on the cover and two other pieces inside. Those two are fantastic, one dealing with a man shipping himself to save money on a trip and the eventual consequences and the piece I sampled below. Embiggen that sucker and be amazed at how the encroaching police state hits even little kids, then get mad and do something about it. I recommend watching some TV, like I’m one to talk about political activism. It’s another pile of great stories for a measly buck, so what exactly is stopping you?
Taylor, Dan W. (editor) – Pork Belly #2
Pork Belly #2
Ah, another tiny comic where I try to make it seem like I have something relevant away. Oops, gave away the game there. I may be able to squeeze a few good points out of this review, but no promises here. That has nothing to do with the quality of the comic (which was excellent, for what it’s worth), more about my own shortcomings, and this review isn’t about me, is it? There are three stories in this mini, and I didn’t pick Dan’s because it was the only one page strip. No, it was because it took me until almost when I started writing this review to get the joke, and anything that gets an honest chuckle out of me is definitely worth a sample. The other stories are The End Of Me by Meeah D’zasteur (about a worm, its life and wonderings about the mysteries of the universe, followed quickly by a brutal death) and Obsessive Compulsive Order by Macedonio Garcia (four silent pages of the various household items that are needed to keep OCD in check). I think Meeah’s use of the number 4 on one page and 5 on the other, compromising the background behind the four panel pages as they were repeated enough to cover the whole page, was an interesting choice fora background. Maybe not a good thing, but for somebody like me who is always complaining about the lack of backgrounds in comics, at least some effort was made. Of course, I was talking about the backgrounds IN the panels and not behind them in general, but why quibble? It’s another solid mini edited by Dan, and his master plan to get as many artists as possible out there into the comics world is proceeding nicely.
Taylor, Dan W. (editor) – Time Warp Comix #8
Time Warp Comix #8 Now Available! $.50
This comic immediately passed one important test for me, and probably only for me: it was tough to pick out only one sample to use, and for an 8 page book that ain’t bad. It’s a quick blast of a comic with nothing lasting more than a page, with the usual cast of characters. Artists, that is. There’s Richard Krauss with the sampled strip below (I just love that constantly widening perspective), Jim Siergey with the legally required strip with the bad puns, Bob Vojtko (how do you pronounce that name anyway? I’ll bet he’s long since tired of answering that question) has the dark side of the nursing home, and Bill Shut closes the book with a bizarrely wonderful drawing. Dan Taylor gets 4 pages, as he is the one who puts all this together, dealing with buying a comic he used to read as a kid and marveling at the technical changes, the realities of putting out a physical comic versus counting hits on a website, and another age joke at his expense.  It’s another solid, tiny, cheap collection of strips, so why won’t you buy it already? $.50
Krauss, Richard – Midnight Fiction 2008 Desk Calendar
Midnight Fiction 2008 Desk Calendar Now Available! $6
The contributors: Sean Azzopardi, Scott Ball, Hunt Emerson, Brad W. Foster, Allen Freeman, Richard Krauss, DC McNamara, John Porcellino, Bill Shut, Jim Siergey, Dan W. Taylor, Bob Vojtko, and Steve Willis. In case you’re wondering how this thing work, it’s beautiful in its simplicity. These are individual pages inside of a CD case, so all you have to do is flip the CD lid over backwards and you have an easy stand for your desk calendar. So instead of Dilbert or some other crap in your office cubicle, you can show the world how cool you really are with a calendar full of small press art. It starts with November of this year (2007), so you get a couple of bonus months with your calendar.
