Website (where you can buy the comic)
Vortex #2
Ack, this is one of those times when I wish I knew more about the creator, and there’s no website to be found. Which makes perfect sense if you read the comic and start to get a sense of his opinions on the vast wasteland that is large chunks of the internet, but this comic reads like something put out by a professional with a couple of decades in the business. Which leads me to conclude that “Donny Robinson” is either a fake name or this man has the best sketch books of any artist in the world. This is a collection of short stories with a variety of different themes, and each one of them looks incredible. It starts off with an introduction explaining how Donny was first driven to draw by his inability to get a dream car in his head accurately on paper, and calls his comics “psychological run-off.” Which is a pretty apt description for a lot of comics, I think. Also on that page is a listing of the tools that he used to make the comic (which might come in handy for some of you young, impressionable creator types), aliens, a flamethrower, a joking skeleton, a biplane, some rooftop protesters and a hippie with no pants. The man doesn’t leave a single space of this comic bare, is what I’m saying. Oh, and if you’re offended by marijuana use: run away! Keep that precious mind of yours safe from all drug talk for a bit longer. The cover price is $4.20, which should be a bit of a giveaway. Anyway, stories in here include a stunt driver with a habit of smoking up before his stunts, a fantastic EC comics style story about a man who goes to an old army friend to patch up a bullet hole as he makes his escape and his inevitable comeuppance, Fred and Barney smoking pot, his thoughts on the internet, theories about being stoned and experimenting to make sure about it, the last excesses in a world of conformity, Sally Saturn, the world on too much cough syrup, and an adaptation of a song by Townes Van Zandt that I completely loved. There’s also the sample page (it always makes me happy when comics actually tackle current political events, as it happens so rarely) and a two page centerfold that has to be seen to be believed. There’s the merry-go-round with spiders and centipedes riding it, the medieval heroine on a skateboard, and a worm (wearing headphones) fishing inside of a cracked egg. And probably a few hundred other images, which all kind of somehow work together. Dexter Cockburn has been putting out a whole bunch of adult comics under his “Comix Company” banner, but there’s no nudity in here to scare anybody away. Just a lot of drug use and some minor acts of violence. So read it, as maybe that way we’ll get more comics from this mystery man. $4.20
Posted by Kevin 
