Lopez, Fran – Fascination

March 13, 2025

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Fascination

When I started reviewing Fran’s comics, should I have done that thing I sometimes do where I review several comics from the same artist in the same week? Looking back and seeing how all of these stories seem to tie back to each other in ways great and small, and seeing as how I’m not currently seeing all of the connections because of time spent between reviews, I’d say yes! Still, we’re dealing with the brain that I have and the decisions that I’ve made, not what I retroactively wish had happened, so you’re getting a review for this particular comic with a warning to the reader: if you buy a few of Fran’s comics, do yourself a favor and read them all at once, eh? Anyway, as that cover suggests, there are two stories in this one. First up is the story of a young woman who had a famous catch phrase in a commercial years ago and is getting recognized on the street for it. The only trouble is that she can’t exactly recall filming the commercial, and if it only aired for a week decades ago, why are so many people coming up to her and shouting her catchphrase at her now? Next up is a story called Waiting, in which a mother has a lot of spare time as her newborn sits in an incubator. She talks to the baby about how she came about, and it involves a discovery from space (that looks suspiciously like a satellite from this planet), how she met the baby’s father at an event celebrating the discovery of the space item (and how the rest of their society had more or less moved on by then), and what eventually ended up happening with the father. It’s another solid addition to the world of Fran’s comics, and if and when Fran puts out another comic, assuming it’s set in this same shared universe, I’m going to go back and put the pieces together to see exactly how it all fits together. $6


Lopez, Fran – Still Making Your Diary Comics?

January 10, 2025

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Still Making Your Diary Comics?

Go ahead, admit it: you have a very specific idea of what this comic is going to be like. That’s OK! I did too. But Fran really takes this in a completely unexpected direction, and it ends up being all about that creature he’s holding on the cover. It starts off like you’ve seen these comics start out countless times, as the first strip is about Fran talking himself into doing diary strips again, then we get a few about mundane aspects of daily life, even hitting the “I’m bored” type of strip very early in the comic. Then he literally stumbles across this creature, seemingly on the edge of death, and they quickly have to decide what to do with it. From there they have to deal with what to feed it, what kind of diapers to get for it, and how to hide it from the neighbors, before finally deciding that they’ll need to get out of town entirely. It turns into an odd surviving in harsh conditions/raising a child comic (even though the child is an alien maybe) which, again, kudos. I did not see any of that coming. He also has thin pencil drawings on each page (in the space not filled in by the strip), and each of them end up telling their own story if you’re paying attention. This one was an unexpected blast, which is the kind of thing that makes this whole reviewing hobby of mine still seem fresh and worthwhile 23 years into it. I still have one more of his comics to review, but after two comics I think it’s safe to say that yes, you should check out his stuff, and at this point it’s probably safe to just do a random grab of whichever one looks most intriguing to you. $5


Lopez, Fran – Must Be a Happening

November 29, 2024

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Must Be a Happening

Oh, random comic review mailings. You’d think that after 23+ years of reviews that I’d be numb to them, but nope, every time I crack open a mailing with an unknown name on it, I’m still hopeful and delighted. Eh, don’t mind the corniness, I’m feeling sentimental for some reason. Fran was nice enough to send a few comics (and he has a few more available at his website), so you’ll be seeing more of his stuff here soon. I honestly liked one of the other titles better and was going to review that first, but that horse head on the cover sent out a siren song to me that could not be denied. Like it says on the cover, there are two stories in here. The first one is all about the horse head, and things start off with a local old man setting up a lawn chair near the horse head in the street. It’s art, not an actual horse head, so don’t get all grossed out. People come by, ask about the head, the old man does an admirable job of avoiding the subject, a dog makes its own opinion known, and we see a completely different side of the horse head when everybody goes to sleep. The other story deals with a space explorer who has to wait a thousand days to get any response to his messages, which leaves him a whole lot of time for his thoughts to wander and for any locals to check him out. I liked the diary style entries, as each was sent off as his own thoughts for the day, before things take a real turn that I’m not going to spoil here. The art was a vaguely sloppy but meticulous combination (I’m aware that that makes no sense) that had the effect of making everything seem to be constantly humming, not moving but vibrant. Kinda like the old Dr. Katz cartoon, which is only a reference for my fellow olds. Anyway, two great and completely different stories, well worth a look is what I say. $5