Diana Tamblyn « Optical Sloth

Tamblyn, Diana – Writer’s Block

April 26, 2010

Writer’s Block Now Available! $3

This is the last of the three books that Diana sent me, and this one makes it a clean sweep. They all have something to offer. My only problem is that the main problem with the book (I don’t think I’m giving anything away here by saying that the main character has writer’s block) gets resolved a bit too quickly and neatly. Can’t really go into more detail about that without giving the whole thing away, as it’s fairly tiny, so you’ll have to take my word for it. The story is about a man who has a wildly successful first novel but finds himself unable to come up with anything for a new novel, despite the fact that he’s already spent his advance. Anybody who writes at all can find plenty to relate to in this one. The art’s tremendous, as always, contact info is above and it’s $3.

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Posted by Kevin

Tamblyn, Diana – Duty Must Be Done

April 26, 2010

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Duty Must Be Done Now Available! $2

It figures that Time named SPX 2002 as one of the years ten best graphic novels and I thought it was the probably the worst of the bunch. Of course, who knows what other nine books they put on the list? Yes, I know they were probably all great. Why am I bringing this up? Well, besides my innate tendency to ramble aimlessly, this mini is a story from said anthology. It was one of the stronger pieces in the book, but that’s not why I had a problem with the book. This book is about Frederick Banting, the man mostly responsible for insulin and a tireless scientist who just wanted to be an artist. He’s apparently something of a national hero in Canada, and for good reason. Here’s another book from Diana that I liked, mostly because her artwork is tremendous. She obviously takes a lot of care in making everything look just right, although I did have a problem with her depiction of the plane crash. Not that I’ve ever seen a really great plane crash in a comic, but her three panels were pretty bad. First a nervous pilot, then a plane in the snow, then (what looked like, although I knew from the context that it wasn’t) a peacefully sleeping pilot. Still, a minor gripe, it’s just one of those odd things this brain of mine retains while writing a review. Contact info is up there, it’s $2.

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Posted by Kevin

Tamblyn, Diana – That Thing You Fall Into

April 26, 2010

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That Thing You Fall Into

Never, ever tell me that your book was nominated for an Ignatz for best mini! Seriously people, it’s just a good rule of thumb. That way it’s OK for me to not necessarily agree with the nomination and not look like a doofus, or for me to love it and look like a genius. Or maybe it doesn’t make any difference, but I’m having a hard time just reviewing the comic. Deep breath… ah. Anyway, this is a mini about a relationship and trying to figure out where it’s going. Any more from me and I’ll be giving stuff away, so I’ll avoid it. The art is fantastic. She’s a cross-hatching machine, and the sheer amount of time she gives to the backgrounds makes this a pleasure to look at (take note, lazy no-background people). The story is good too. It’s simple and understated, which is necessary for such a short book. Was it one of the best minis of last year? Hell, I don’t know. My initial instinct was no, but then I certainly couldn’t name 4 that were much better. If this sounds like I’m at all down on the book, I’m not, don’t get me wrong. Stupid significantly raised expectations. Check out her website or send her an e-mail, she sent me some other comics too that I’ll be getting to in the weeks to come, meaning I’ll know a lot more about her style very soon. P.S.: In case you couldn’t tell, my scanner made the sample look like crap. Surprise!