Peter Maddalena « Optical Sloth

Mejias, John (editor) – Paping #10

April 24, 2010

WebsiteÂ (down as of 4/2/10, no other info)

I wish this scanner did this series justice. The flowers, title and the drawing that all look kind of purplish are really a vibrant silver color. This one is another anthology and it’s all about these cartoonist’s relationships with their fathers. Lots of good stuff in here with a wide variety of styles. Zak Smith shows the difference between a romantic description of his father and a real description, John tells a story about teaching and learning why students are the way they are, Drew Gold recounts how his Dad took out credit cards in his name and rang up some serious debt, Shawn Cheng has a wordless story about family life, Peter Maddalena has a horrible story about some kittens, Meredith Gaydosh talks about depression and a wonderful summer, and Andy Bodor talks about him not being an arsonist. OK, so it’s not all about fathers, but that seems to be the general theme. It’s $4, it has a gorgeous cover and some good stuff in the middle, contact info is up there.

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Posted by Kevin

Mejias, John (editor) – Paping #8

April 24, 2010

WebsiteÂ (down as of 4/2/10, no other info)

Paping #8

Here’s a thoughtful anthology from New York. Included in here are: John Mejias, Andy Bodor, Peter Maddalena, Meredith Gaydosh, Zak Smith, Drew Gold, Sean McCarthy, and Jeff Lewis. There’s a nice variety of stuff in here. Mostly quiet, introspective pieces with a few louder ones thrown in. By “loud” I mean the sci-fi piece by Jeff Lewis about the liberation of the rocks and Octopus Girl by Zak Smith. Other than that there’s making the perfect pop song, being pimped out by your Mom while she’s in withdrawal, the different kinds of art class, and a warning of the apocalypse. A nice, balanced collection, the only real problem I had with it was that my copy was awfully dark, meaning that some of the dialogue was lost in the murk. Probably a problem with the copy machine more than anything, but I thought I’d throw something negative in. E-mail the man, there are back issues around too, if you like this one.