Pohl, Martin – Sportsbar, NY Part V

June 3, 2025

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Sportsbar, NY Part V

I mentioned last time around that #4 was a good issue for new readers to jump in, but after reading this one it sure looks like Martin is wrapping this series up and moving on to something else. Or not! There’s not really a big overarching story to wrap up, but that was just the sense I got by the end of it. And boy howdy, have I ever been wrong about this sort of thing plenty of times. Anyway! This is a mammoth 60 pages, so if you’re a fan of Martin’s work, you’re probably never going to get more of it in one chunk like this. Unless there’s an eventual collected edition, I guess. The through line, as you might have guessed from that cover, is that there’s a sheep out there with a gun killing people (and animals). He starts off with a frog that’s just trying to count sheep to get to sleep, goes on more than a bit of a killing spree from there, and then gets his storyline wrapped up by the end of the comic. What else is happening in here? It starts off with a recap that has nothing to do with what’s come before which, in the absence a real recap (an impossibility for this series, honestly), is my favorite kind of “recap”. From there we get a wide range of conversations with a cat and a mouse, the new show that’s sweeping the nation (“Two Suicidal Frogs”), a few brief appearances by the rabbits, back to the pigeons, a kid with an unconvincing case to be turned into a cyborg, an encounter with a killer dog (and Depression Wolf), a beaver at an office job, several strips about library patrons that sure feel like they’re inspired by real events, and all of our heroes coming together by the end, with several of them ending up dead (which is why I think the series might be over). Oh, and there’s also a back page with nothing to do with the comic, and Martin explains the reasoning behind that in hilarious fashion. It’s a behemoth of a book, and probably overall the best work he’s done so far. $10


Pohl, Martin – Sportsbar, NY Part IV

December 11, 2024

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Sportsbar, NY Part IV

Well, last time around for these reviews I was utterly unable to find a good link to buy Martin’s comics, and I’ve at least solved that this time around. And they’re all in print, so go get caught up why don’t you? If not, or if you’re waiting to be convinced, this is probably the first issue of the series where you don’t need a lot of knowledge of the previous issues to follow along. The pigeons, for example, are completely gone this time around, but if this is your first issue, you won’t miss them a bit. The art seems a bit, um, looser at the beginning, but it’s generally a minimalist type of comic anyway. What’s happening with the story? One of our bunny heroes is having all kinds of trouble with depression (well, specifically the Depression Wolf), the bunnies are also having relationship problems, and the two brothers seem to have lost their time machine. Which is the bare bones explanation of things, as the depression angle covers a good chunk of the comic (involving mental and physical therapy), and it could be argued that the therapy ends up hurting both of the bunnies in the end. We also get a grimly hilarious bit throughout the second half dealing with job interviews, with a depressingly accurate version of the low key humiliation involved with pretty much all of them. Funny stuff here and there again, a safe place for new readers to jump in, and it looks like the next issue is double sized, which Martin was kind enough to send my way. $5


Pohl, Martin – Sportsbar, New York Part II

December 14, 2020

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Sportsbar, New York Part II

The saga continues! OK, maybe not a saga, but a story, certainly. Well, probably. I mean, it follows a linear progression of event, more or less, although the ending kind of… eh, you know what? Unless you read it you won’t get it. This time around we spend most of our time with the two rabbits, as they take acid, get away for awhile and then get even further away as they’re sent into space. This evolves (devolves?) into a series of gags about the instruction manual for the ship, which you may or may not find amusing, I don’t know the kind of stuff that makes you laugh. Also included are a few strips about our other characters and their attempts to prevent (or induce) suicide, based on their feelings on irreparable innocence. There’s also a series of probably fake quotes, and another introduction by a fictional CEO who is not the same fictional CEO as the first issue. It’s a pile of weirdness, that’s for sure, but I got a kick out of it. Probably $5 like the last one, but it’s not listed in his store yet for some reason…


Pohl, Martin – Sportsbar, New York Part 1

August 13, 2019

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Sportsbar, New York Part 1

18 years into this reviewing gig and I can still get baffled by a comic. It’s what keeps me going, folks! Long time readers should know by now that “baffled” is not synonymous with “disgusted;” it’s much more likely to mean “delighted but confused.” This one starts off with a long introduction that is damned clever and funny. Takes the reader on quite a journey before even getting to the comic. That’s after a table of contents that I almost used as the sample page because of its sheer absurdity: chapter 1 is on page 1, chapter 2 is on page 2, all the way to chapter 28 on page 28. And both the pages and the chapters are numbered on every page! Boggles the mind. Anyway! This is a series of single page strips, which built up into a decent narrative when all was said and done. Initially it seemed like it would be a series of mildly amusing punchlines, but then things got weird. Our heroes, theoretically, are two rabbits who have some anger (and boredom) issues. They watch a show called Two Morbid Pigeons (which is basically like watching themselves on television), suspect that they’re being watched by some agency (and they’re right), and sometimes there are humans involved. In their own strips, that is. Unless the rabbits have become human? Nah, I’m probably overthinking it. It won me over by the end, that’s for sure. $5