Update for 7/3/09

New review for Cyril in the False Lands by Jason Neuman, another in the delightful pile of comics I got recently from Poopsheet.

Neuman, Jason

Website

Cyril in the False Lands

It always makes me happy to discover someone who has a ready-made graphic novel just sitting out there, unpublished.  Of course, if also makes me happy when I found out about somebody when they do their very first comic and it’s amazing.  I guess I’m trying to say that I like comics, which is obvious by my running my website, which makes this whole intro pointless.  That, as they say, is why they pay me the big bucks.  The point is that Jason has a whole pile of minis of the adventures of Cyril and, judging from the quality of this issue, should think about putting them all together and putting them out there, if financially possible.  This is the continuing story of Cyril, who is a dead young boy wandering around the afterlife, trying to figure out what is happening to him and what is going on.  That’s the impression I get anyway; it’s clear that a lot has gone on before this issue.  Here’s the recap of the previous issue, you can know as much as I do: “Cyril came across a group of sperm ghosts that refused to believe that he wasn’t one of them.  After being chased by the sperm, the Ghost King came to Cyril’s rescue and gives Cyril vague hints about his hidden destiny.”  He does kind of look like a sperm ghost, doesn’t he?  Anyway, in this issue Cyril comes across the memories of a man with a dead family (or are they his memories?), almost gets eaten by a creature with an enticing diamond antennae, and is eventually arrested for “impersonating the dark master”.  While in prison he meets a professor who specializes in all the life forms that come to that land, and begins to learn a bit more about himself before he’s taken away to meet the dark master.  I won’t ruin the ending confrontation just in case you are able to find a copy of this (it came out in 2003 and I don’t see this specifically on his website), but it, along with the rest of the comic, did make me want to see what happens next.  And before this issue, which makes this a success.  I love how there are no panels, just full page spreads, as it really contributes to the feeling that he’s lost in an overwhelming world.  The art seems simple enough, but there’s a wide range of odd characters floating around, most seemingly with their own tasks and motivations.  It’s worth checking out if you can find it, if not there are other chapters in this story on his website.  No price, but due to the thickness I’ll guess $3.  Yes, I’m guessing the price of a mini based on heft…

Update for 7/2/09

New review for Crimson Cloak by Brad Dwyer, all the way down at the bottom of his growing page.

Dwyer, Brad

Website

Epic Tales of the Mundane #1

Brad certainly goes with truth and advertising here with that excellent title, although I think he sells himself a bit short with that sample image. Most of the stories in here are a bit more nuanced, although there is a bit of fecal humor if that’s your thing. This starts off a bit awkwardly with one page stories dealing with the tedium of work, brushing too hard, a dead ex and the medical effects of nicotine and caffeine, but Brad quickly builds a rhythm here once he gets to the longer pieces. In those he gets to tell us about the night before an extended period of abstinence (with more than a few of the gory details left to the imagination), crapping in a nasty toilet and having two car accidents happen right in front of him in a matter of days. It’s an interesting read, which is all you can ask for with these sorts of things, and Brad was nice enough to send a few more issues along, so I’ll be making a more informed opinion later. As for now, while there may not be a whole lot to separate it from most other autobio stuff, it’s done well and it’s cheap, with a bit of room for improvement. $1

Epic Tales of the Mundane #2

More mundane tales from Brad, and this time around he’s stuck to mostly longer pieces. He still throws in a few shorties to mix things up, dealing with a drinking problem (and it is a problem, just not what you’re probably thinking), a crazy Jesus freak, and standing in the wrong line at a gun show. The meat of the book is in the longer pieces though, the first one being a continuation of his story from the last issue about how he’s sure to die in a fiery car wreck. More odd coincidences occur but, as the guy is clearly still alive, it’s bound to have a bit of a anticlimactic ending. Not that I wish him ill or anything. The bulk of this issue deals with Brad and a couple of friends jumping a house-sitter, their varying recollections of the event and the revenge that the jumped guy swore on all three men. Brad is nice enough to show what happened when the guy ran across the three assailants later, so all the loose ends are nicely tied up. It’s a pretty interesting read, all told, the only real issue I have with it is that the recollections of the fight get a bit jumbled towards the end, and I’m still not entirely sure how it all “really” went down, assuming it’s a true story and all that. Quite possibly an error in reading comprehension on my end, but thought I should throw in at least one complaint. Still, $1 for this many stories is hard to pass up.

Epic Tales of the Mundane #3

Here it is, that epic tale he was talking about in the title. Only one story this time around, and it is epic, and it is mundane. This is the story of the last night of work for Brad at one of the major box stores (probably Wal-Mart, as it’s always Wal-Mart, but people seem to think that Wal-Mart scans tiny mini comics and never use their actual name). He gets woken up by his alarm at 8pm, gets invited to drink with his friends (as the fun is just starting for most of the waking world at that hour), gets accosted by not one but two homeless drunks on his way to work, and finally figures out what a colossal waste of time the job is. Not that most people don’t figure out that working at a giant box store is a waste of time, but eating and paying bills tends to obscure that fact, longer for some people than for others. It’s a great story, something that everybody who has worked nights (or a really shitty, hopeless job) can easily relate to. From his website it looks like he’s up to #5, and I’m really curious to see what he’s done lately, as he sure seems to be getting better with each issue. $1

Epic Tales of the Mundane #4

If I can put my cynical hat on here for a moment, web comics have been a tremendous boon to the mini comics artist. After all, if they haven’t put a book out for a few months (or, depending on who we’re talking about, a few years), it’s easy enough to take the internet content and cram it into a mini, right? Not that I’m taking Brad to task or anything, the guy already has 5 minis out (#5 will be up here in the near future). And it’s not that I’m saying it’s a bad thing, I often don’t dig around into the online content of the people I like, so the “web comix” books are usually new to me. Actually, I have no idea of the point I was trying to make there, but it’s best to leave all this rambling up to show the world how my brain “works”. This comic is, as indicated, mostly stuff Brad has made for his website. In his letter with the books he says he doesn’t think they work in this format, but I thought they were fine. Granted, I can’t remember seeing two panel comic strips before, and that’s mildly odd, but not a bad thing. It’s more of a diary strip type setup than anything, so instead of one or two mundane days over the course of a comic we’re treated to more like a month of mundane. Brad goes to shows, drinks, hangs out with his girlfriend, tries to work up the energy to go to work, and attends a literature class with a Trekkie. More than a few funny bits in here and the man keeps his books cheap ($1), so it’s definitely worth taking a look.

Epic Tales of the Mundane #5

Brad’s taking a break from telling epic tales of his life and uses this issue to tell the tale of Brandon Huigens.  Or, more accurately, Brandon uses this issue to tell that tale, as he is the listed writer.  Brandon tells his story from a small child through getting constantly harassed at school to joining the military to get away from everything (and from how he describes it, joining the military wasn’t a bad idea) to quitting the military and ending up back home.  Not much in the way or happy endings or life lessons here, which is fine with me, as I hate those damned things.  Brandon also uses the extra space to get into a bit of his history with his grandparents, veering almost into adorable territory for a minute, but hey, it’s a true story.  Good stuff all around, as it’s an interesting story and Brad does a great job with the art.  You can tell Brandon has a lot to learn about this mini comics business though, as the pros can whine about their unhappy childhood for issues and issues before running out of material and Brandon took care of the whole thing in a single issue.  Still only $1, still worth checking out.

Epic Tales of the Mundane #6

If I had to pick one thing that I liked about Brad’s comics (other than the fact that the worst stories in them were still at least consistently entertaining) it would be the fact that he seems determined to cram as much comic as possible into each mini container.  Between the random shorties and all the strips (taken from his website, and it looks like he puts up another one every few days or so) you’re going to have a hard time finding a mini with more content.  That wouldn’t make much difference if the content sucked though, and this time around: no sucking!  This starts with a wonderful tale of playing an intimidating biker bar, getting drunk to compensate for feeling out of place, and having the night end with a brawl… but not that brawl you would expect.  Next up is a long chunk of mostly three panels strips, and these are distinct from most three panel strips in that the vast majority of them are funny.  I know, I couldn’t believe it either.  That should ensure that these comics will never be published in a newspaper.  Topics include the perfect evening, giving in to the iPod, worrying about life, bitching on the phone, the joys of camping, vomiting cats, raking in the dough from comic sales, the anime cock block, new glasses, drinking to help others and shark attack videos.  The rest of the comic starts to tell the Brad Dwyer origin story, as his older brother reads comics to his before he can read for himself, he spends his early years trying to make his art look like comic art, and eventually ditches the glamorous cartoonist life for a band and all the fun of puberty.  This is only the first part of the story though, and we all know how it turns out in the end.  I’m still curious to see how he gets there though.  It’s hard to get more bang for your comic buck (literally, as they’re still $1).  Buy his stuff and make him slightly less poor!

Crimson Cloak

It’s times like this that I wish I had some sort of an organized filing system.  Or, frankly, an organized way to deal with submitted comics at all.  I really should get on that one of these days.  See, Brad sent this comic along with #6 of his regular series.  I love his regular series, as anybody who scrolls around this page will soon learn.  In the letter with the comics he mentioned… something about this comic.  I got them months ago, I have no idea what he said, and a dig through all the stuff on and around my desk did not reveal this letter.  What that means is that I have to review this comic as if I just found it in a store, or it just came all by itself without a letter, and that’s a shame.  Why?  Because this issue kind of sucks.  Granted, it’s OK for what it is, but a straight up superhero story just isn’t my thing these days.  This is the story of a scientist who is trying to develop an enlarging ray to help with world hunger.  The scientist’s assistant is actually a villain in disguise and he ratchets the ray up to full power, making a gigantic super pig.  After this villain is hilariously dispatched, the friend of the professor (secretly the Crimson Cloak, of course) spends the rest of the issue trying to defeat the pig.  It had a funny moment or two, but Brad mostly played it straight, and that included the use of an absolutely ridiculous amount of exclamation points.  There’s no reason to crap all over this, as I enjoy his other series and look forward to #7, but there’s not much in this issue that makes me want to recommend it to anybody else.  Pick up some of his other issues instead, you’ll love them.  As for this one, if you love superhero comics this might be for you.  As for price, I have no idea, as it’s not listed on his website, but let’s say $2.

Update for 7/1/09

New review for The Moth or the Flame by Joshua Ray Stephens, as I once again try to explain the unexplainable.

Stephens, Joshua Ray

Website

The Moth or the Flame

If you prefer your comics simple, I’ll warn you right now to move along.  If you, on the other hand, prefer to have to puzzle out your comics, knowing that you’ll still have questions at the end but that you will be richly visually rewarded for your troubles, this is worth a close look.  Joshua has an excellent introduction along those lines, essentially saying that the pretty pictures would probably be enough for some readers, but those who demand more would be richly rewarded.  This is the tale, more or less, of two lovers and how they eventually destroy each other.  A rich and successful playboy meets an ambitious lawyer at a party, they end up back at his place, but she disappears while he’s on a hunting expedition the next day.  And really, I can’t just leave it at “a hunting expedition”.  The playboy, Tempest McGillicutty (who looks like vaguely like Too Much Coffee Man, in the sense that he has what appears to be an opening with liquid at the top of his head) goes out with his hunting dog, which is wearing the skin of a sheep.  Tempest shoots an adorable creature who is frolicking by the water to lure an even bigger creature to eat the remains, which will let him suck the energy from this larger creature.  This whole sequence is bizarre enough to be an unsettling comic all by itself.  He returns to his house, finds his lover Tealeaf Wallowrose gone, and goes into a long funk.  He eventually learns that she had been called away on a project but couldn’t stop talking about him, they are reunited and spend two blissful years together.  Still, such a thing rarely lasts, odd happenings occur, a rite is required, and their love it turned into something much uglier.  Reading over this, it almost seems like a fairly common story, which does the whole graphic novel a disservice.  This is an utterly unique comics experience, with things hinted at going on below the surface that one read through will only begin to discover.  Every page is drawn and planned out seemingly to perfection, the troubles at the end seem to be inevitable in hindsight, and there’s so much happening on every level that you could practically pick your own moral lesson, if you need one of those.  This seems to be Joshua’s first comic (although there must be some minis out there, as this is a self-published hardcover graphic novel), and it’s things like this that keep the medium going strong.  Somebody will read this, get their own ideas, make their own utterly bizarre and unique comic, and the art form moves right along.  Why don’t you check it out and help that process?  $18

Update for 6/30/09

New review for Traffic & Weather by Rob Ullman, blah blah blah…

Ullman, Robert

Website

Traffic & Weather

Well, whatever else I can say about running this website for almost 8 years, it has succeeded in one of my more selfish goals: getting free comics from some of my favorite creators.  That’s right suckers, you all thought I was promoting small press work, trying to spread the word about all the talent out there, when all I was doing was secretly trying to find a way to stop paying for comics.  Once I break through to the fancypants at Fantagraphics and Drawn & Top Shelf my plan will be a complete success!  Ahem.  This comic reprints a weekly local strip Rob does (which you can find here), and these things should be much more common than they are.  Rob talks about his beloved Pittsburgh teams, his annoyances with traffic, buying crappy Christmas lights, the rising price of food versus the lowering price of gas, getting great seats at a Cub’s game, a broken caller I.D., cheap lousy haircuts, getting a bit too much into football games, a perfect day with the family, almost mowing the lawn for a lazy neighbor and finding out that his small child actually travels quite well.  It cheapens the strips to put them all in bullet point form like that, as Rob has always had a keen eye for pointing out the little things in life, and is probably at his best detailing these quiet little moments of family life.  Here’s hoping he keeps that weekly strip in an economy where many papers are slashing their comics section (often their cheapest and most viewed section, but nobody ever accused current newspaper executives of being good business people), as there’s some great stuff in this little collection.  I’m not seeing this on his website (but if he didn’t have any copies available he probably wouldn’t have sent one to me), but here’s guessing that it’s, oh, $2.50

Read the rest of this entry »

Update for 6/29/09

New review for The Monkey-Head Complaint by Sean Mac Roibin/John Robbins.

Robbins, John

Website

E-mail

The Monkey-Head Complaint

You know, there’s a downside to my usual method for reviewing these comics.  To the curious, here it is: I read the comic, go the computer and write a review.  Some days I take more time than others, but mostly it’s a pretty simple formula.  There is occasionally a comic like this one, however, where as I sit down to write it feels like the story is still blooming in my head and, in this case, increasingly making me uneasy.  Not in a bad way; for the story involved that means Sean/John succeeded admirably.  It’s just a solid hint that my usual instant reaction to these things is probably going to be lacking.  This is the story of (and I’m cribbing this from the back of the comic) a jaded couple, a contrary mother and her oddly troubled son.  The husband of the couple Frank, sees the son (Jack) out shoplifting a couple of times and, vaguely knowing the mother, decides to stop by and try to talk some sense into the lad.  Most of the story here is told by the couple sitting at a table and chatting, and the idea to have them tell the story in a smarmy and literary manner (while the husband briefly bitches about it) was brilliant.  Soon after this talk the mother ended up dead from a self-inflicted wound, or so everybody thought.  Frank decided that perhaps his visit set something off in the boy and he needed to find out if that was the case; meanwhile the wife is worried sick after not hearing back from her husband.  If this all seems vaguely creepy, Sean/John did a great job of making the story seem almost casual as I was reading it, even with a vague undercurrent of dread that was always around the corner.  Still, the tone of the conversation alone kept things light, which is how they managed to make everything that happens next even more shocking, while still managing to  make perfect sense in hindsight.   This doesn’t even mention the monkey-head, which is the sampled page anyway, so read it for yourself.  Hell, read the whole thing for yourself.  If we want comics as a whole to get smarter things like this are going to have to lead the way.  Subtle horror is damned hard to come by in comics, or anywhere else for that matter.  No price but John usually keeps these things cheap, so I’d guess $2-3.  Send extra money and just get a bunch of his comics to be on the safe side.

Read the rest of this entry »

Update for 6/28/09

New review for Yearbooks by Nicholas Breutzman, Shaun Feltz & Raighne Hogan, otherwise known as a good chunk of the Various Good Minnesotan crew.

Breutzman, Nicholas

Website

Yearbooks (with Shaun Feltz & Raighne Hogan)

Technically this should probably be on the Various Good Minnesotans page, but as it’s mostly the work of Nicholas (as artist and one of two writers), he gets his own page!  Besides, all those various folks from Minnesota are all going to be doing their own solo work soon, if they’re not already, so why not start giving them all their own pages now?  Before I even get into the story here, I have to say that the art is absolutely gorgeous.  Nicholas uses the silences of his characters beautifully to convey emotions that would take him pages of exposition and Raighne nails the drabness of high school while still managing the vibrancy of the students and the general high school art world.  As for the story, it’s the tale of a young high school student as he tries to navigate the hallways and avoid getting beat up, learn something from a wise art teacher (but one who’s reluctant to show his own work), and deal with his feelings, whatever they are, for an attractive female friend.  It’s all tied together by a dream Ryan as he imagines a younger class, all doing their bleak and honest art projects, which causes their teacher to turn into a literal moonbat.  In the meantime there’s Ryan trying to learn the basics from his art teacher while coming to the sudden realization that the guy, his expertise notwithstanding, is a bit of a creep.  No, I can’t say more without ruining the comic.  There are many books that go back to the high school years in sort of a perfunctory way, dealing with the actual events but without managing to capture the mood.  The whole art team does that beautifully here, as Ryan knows that minding his own business is not enough to avoid confrontations, his female friend struggles basically alone to grow up while being young, gorgeous and a loner, and the whole book beautifully illustrates that the only person you can count on in high school is yourself.  Another great comic from this crew, here’s hoping that they stick with their anthology while managing to put out great projects like this.  I wouldn’t have guessed Minnesota to be one of the places that could legitimately be called the future of comics, but if these people keep this up they might well get there.  $13

Update for 6/27/09

New review for The Red Stiletto by Marc Sobel, and does anybody have any ideas for a Optical Sloth birthday event?  I’m batting around a couple of ideas (this site turns 8 in a couple of months, you know), but will probably end up just casually mentioning it and moving on.  If anybody out there is enough of a dork to know the exact date when the site started, let me know, I’ll send you a free comic or something.  Bonus points if you also remember the original name of the site…

Sobel, Marc

Website

The Red Stiletto

It’s hard to avoid getting a little nostalgic as you get older (kids, trust me on this one).  The farther away you get from childhood, the more you romanticize the whole time period, whitewashing the bad parts and honing in on the good.  Marc does an excellent job here of going back to the past but leaving it as it was, not as he wished it would be.  Um, in this fictional story.  This is the tale of an old friend reaching out after being out of touch for many years and the wave of memories the reconnection brings up to the surface.  Hey, this could be a true story, I just kind of doubt it and it really doesn’t matter for the sake of the story.  The main character (forever unseen) gets a letter in the mail from his old childhood friend containing an elaborate picture he had drawn when he was 5.  This sets off a retelling of the life story of his friend: how they had been inseparable as children, how her father had killed himself, how she had drifted away from him in high school and had never responded to his attempts to reconnect.  Good luck reading this without thinking of your own times gone by; in my book that means Marc has succeeded in this comic.  The only thing that was a little odd to me was the timing and inclusion of a short story towards the end of the comic.  I get it, the returning friend’s father had killed himself and his family was shocked to discover that he was actually a prolific (and unpublished) writer, and the friend was taking the time to read a story on the flight back.  It’s a decent little story, just an odd choice to break up the comic with 8 pages of text right at the end.  Still, a minor quibble.  If you’re the one person in the world who has never felt nostalgic you can probably skip this, for everybody else this is well worth a look.  $4

Starfish

I can’t find any indication on this issue that this is anything other than a stand-alone story, although I believe it is technically illegal to end a story like they did and then never follow up on it. Looking at the cover, you can probably tell that this story is about a post-apocalyptic world. Yes, that is often a cliche and a sign that the story is going to be completely predictable, but that’s not the case here. Seven anorexic patients are sent to an underwater lab for treatment, along with a doctor and some staff, when a nuclear bomb hits their city. They realize that they have to stay underwater for at least a year, but discover that their food supply will only last them less than half that time. So, the doctor comes up with an experimental drug called Starfish, and I’m not going to give anything else away. It was an interesting concept, but it seemed more than a little bit condensed at 12 pages, especially if this is all there is to the story. Leigh Gallagher is apparently an artist on a Vertigo title called “The Witching” and the artwork here is pretty incredible. It’s $1.50, you can check out the website or send an e-mail, whatever floats your boat.

Update for 6/26/09

New review for Folk #3 by Tyler Stafford, one of my favorite new artists of the year, and I don’t care if he’s only considered “new” because I’d never seen his stuff before.

Stafford, Tyler

Website

Folk #2

What a fabulously inventive comic.  First off, let’s take a second to unpack that cover.  There’s a creature with one hand cut off sitting next to a chest (with the key sitting next to it) and a self-help book.  He’s watching what appears to be a miniature city coming from a larger city, or perhaps a ship.  Behind this creature is what appears to be a crying tree with something that looks like snails for brains and a happier puffy creature that’s looking over everything from behind a brick wall.  It doesn’t hurt a thing to be this impressed before you even crack open the comic.  Inside it only gets better, as Tyler tells two stories.  One is about another creature (no humans to be found here) and his pet, as they find a deer-like creature, wound it and attempt to hunt it down.  The creature runs into a more benevolent creature who decides that the hunter needs to know what it’s like to be the hunted, and hilarity ensues when he runs into his pet.  The last story sounds simple, at least until you get lost in the visuals.  A ship is almost out of fuel and lands on a planet with a healthy fuel source.  They refuel and eventually fly away.  See there, how I can make the most impressive things sounds boring?  The ship is comprised of a number of crystals, all seemingly able to move independently, and they have a complex mechanism for gathering the fuel rings from the planet.  Tyler even draws the intro to start his comic, the bit where he gives all his contact info and explains that although he wanted his book to come out earlier, he wanted to take his time to make a better book.  I have no idea what it would have looked like if he’d rushed, but it sure looks like he made the right call.  If you go to his website you’ll see that he already has more than a few minis under his belt, and this sure looks to me like the work of somebody who is putting it all together.  Seek out this book if you’re looking for something different, you won’t be disappointed.  $2.50

Folk #3

I asked in the review for #2 of this series what Tyler’s work would be like if he rushed, as his work when he took his time was amazing, so what does he do for #3?  A 24 hour comic.  I’m not claiming any sort of cause and effect there, I’m just happy to be able to compare the two approaches.  The conclusion?  This looks significantly better than any 24 hour comic should.  You can see from that cover that he put together a wide array of characters.  Granted, due to time constraints many of them don’t get time to do much but wander around, but points for visual inventiveness.  And I’m not sure if Tyler is aware of this (although he must be; he says this is his fourth 24 hour comic), but most people who go the 24 hour route are only able to succeed by skimping on the backgrounds.  Not the case with this issue, as there are all kinds of trees when they’re outside, bricks on the wall on the inside, a ridiculous number of buttons on a computer panel…this comic would be impressive on a visual level alone, but he also manages to throw in a fairly engaging story.  An alien is on the run, two other aliens are chasing after it and eventually manage to track it down.  They take it back to a cell with his compatriots, and they come up with an even more desperate plan of escape, as they’re left with no options.   I won’t spoil the ending, but I will say that it’s as visually impressive as the rest of the book, if not more so, and he even manages to pull out a nice surprising final panel.  The good news is that if Tyler is able to put out a book this great that’s done in 24 hours, he should have a hefty comics library available soon.  That’s how it works creatively, right?  Just sit them down and make them draw, and soon they’ll have a pile of flawless comics?  In any case, buy his comics.   This guy needs to keep making these things.  No price, but let’s say $2.50 like his last one.

Update for 6/25/09

New review for Redskin Rashy: Rashy Rabbit #5 by Josh Lotta, and I do believe that there’ll be new graphic novels up here over the weekend, for those of you who wonder about those sorts of things…

Latta, Josh

Website

Anxiety, Sleep Problems & Depression

You know, for a comic with a title like that, I would think there’d be a lot more angst, staring at the ceiling, those sorts of things. Don’t get me wrong, they’re in here, but the vast majority of this is about Rashy (the rabbit on the cover) and his girlfriend, Penny. They’ve only been on a few dates but Penny is taking things a lot more seriously than Rashy is willing to. He learns more about her life, she decides that she loves him, and it’s all downhill from there. All kinds of detail in this one, which is something that I love. Vibrant backgrounds all over the place (although the burners on the stove are hilarious, but that’s my only completely irrelevant nitpick), good dialogue all the way through, there’s not much to complain about here. This is $3, here’s a website, check it out!

Rashy Rabbit #3

I do believe, for all you obsessive compulsive collector type geeks out there, that the previous issue was actually Rashy Rabbit #1. Or this issue is really Anxiety, Sleep Problems & Depression #3. I have no idea which of these is right, which must be driving you compulsive types crazy, but you’ll have to live with it. Or go to his website and research it, if it makes you so crazy. Anyway, the comic. Rashy seems to be in a pretty crappy place in the world, as the comic starts with even a seedy massage parlor turning him away. Things seem to be looking up as he happens across a possible job (at a coffee shop) and an attractive pot dealer, who promises to “hook him up” later in the evening. Things fall apart in a hurry from there, of course, but half the fun is watching it all happen. There’s also a subplot with Rashy’s friend Morie who is trying desperately to get into the pants of a lesbian at work. The art is phenomenal again, with all sorts of little things happening in the backgrounds of panels (my favorite was the mama bird bringing back a used condom to feed her baby birds), making this one of those comics that rewards you for repeated readings. It’s a great read overall; you can just feel Rashy sinking deeper and deeper into the shit as the issue goes on. $3, stay away kiddies, here there be boobies…

Rashy Rabbit #4

You know, I’m starting to get the impression that things are never going to end well for Rashy. In this issue we get to see the hilarious fate of Morie after his quest for the lesbian, Rashy dealing with his stoner cousin (who seems to have effortless luck with the ladies, unlike Rashy), Rashy dealing with his mother, and Rashy being the nice friend who doesn’t take advantage of the drunk, seemingly interested female friend. Josh has this sad little world thoroughly nailed, and this could easily turn into something vast and rewarding over the next five years, with all sorts of subplots and twists and turns. …or he could drop it completely to focus on other things or because of a lack of free time from his “real” job, as seems to happen to most people. Either way, enjoy the funny while it’s around. $3

Redskin Rashy: Rashy Rabbit #5

Who needs a visible numbering system?  If people like this comic they’re going to get the new issues when they come out anyway, right?  Josh takes a big departure this time around by making most of the action in the comic take place outside, and outside the grid, with a group of “Indians” who are making their own way.  Rashy is saved from at least a beating from Benny by his friend Jimmy, who happens to stop by because he’s checking out the contents of a dumpster.  Jimmy lives off the grid and convinces Rashy to join him for a bit, they’re attacked by Indians and  spend the rest of the issue trying to figure out what happened to them, where they are and why they shouldn’t just stay there forever.  There’s mayhem, boobs, and some seriously funny lines, as is pretty much always the case for these Rashy Rabbit books.  This one didn’t strike me as being as funny as his previous issues, but I’m going to fail you completely by failing to point out a single reason why that’s the case.  Maybe because I can’t really relate to the outdoorsy stuff, even when told from the perspective of a creature that is obviously out of his depth?  Maybe so.  It’s still funny though, and there is character development, such as it is, between Rashy and his conversation with Mary.  There’s also random slapstick hilarity, if you’d prefer to stay far away from character development.  So what does all that rambling add up to?  Ambivalent, leaning towards liking a lot, possibly falling either way if I were to read it again.  In other words, it’s useless to you, the reader.  You’re welcome!  $4

Tripe #1

Wow, after the previous two issues on this page, this one ends up looking downright wholesome. It’s a collection of short pieces, not a coherent single story like his previous books. First up is a fairly dopey but good-natured piece about a traveling sno cone salesman, complete with a little dance number in the middle and an abrupt ending. Next up is the highlight of the piece, in which Frankenstein and his girlfriend are having an argument about her past history with the Wolfman. Well, she’s having an argument, Frankenstein is mostly groaning. Then there’s an absolutely adorable silent love story, involving a Ziggy-ish creature falling for a woman he sees while walking around, although it does get a little less adorable in a hurry. Finally there’s a piece about a man with an unhealthy competitive streak who’s unable to beat a mentally handicapped kid at bowling. There are moments of hilarity all over the place in the final three stories, only the first one here didn’t do much for me. Not a bad ratio for a $2 mini…

Update for 6/24/09

New review for Old Man Winter & Other Sordid Tales by J.T. Yost, and yes, it is a bit of a boring week (personally, not in terms of comics) around here, how could you tell?

Yost, J.T.

Website

Old Man Winter & Other Sordid Tales

It doesn’t hurt a comic one bit when I open up to the first page and think “Joe Sacco”.  Kids, ask your parents.  He did (does?) comics about distant parts of the world, often with a political tinge, and is one of that rare breed of “respected” comic artists.  Well, respected to people who don’t automatically disqualify comic artists, that is.  Anyway, the comparison quickly fades as it becomes clear that J. T. has his own unique style.  The first story in this comic, Old Man Winter, takes its time setting things up, and shows us an expansive world of full page panels.  With a lesser artist this would be called “filler”, but as every page is packed with background and the environment surrounding this man, you seamlessly get pulled into his world.  The old man’s wife has died recently, he’s more or less living out the remaining years by wandering around local shops and talking with his daughter.  J.T. does an excellent job of just showing the silence that follows the man wherever he goes with his huge panels, but still takes the time to focus in on the people he leaves behind and their reactions to his ways.  Frankly, not enough people do stories about the elderly and, as most of us are going to get there eventually (if we’re lucky?), it’s illuminating to see the world through their eyes.  Next up is All Is Forgiven, a silent piece about a scientist doing horrific tests to lab animals and his depression after his breakup.  Good luck coming away from that one without feeling bad that you’re part of the human race.  He follows this with a lighter piece about the dead time he spent as a child living in a small town and how he passed the time: by “logging”, with another friend, yet another childhood friend and his family.  Logging meant essentially that they would put a log somewhere on the car or near the house during the night to terrorize his friend’s family.  Trust me, I grew up in a small town and this makes perfect sense.  The pranks escalate until the cops are called in, and that’s usually the point where the pranks stop.  If you weren’t depressed enough from the previous story about animal testing wait until you read Road Trip.  It details two trips, side by side: a young child going to an amusement park and a young cow getting systematically taken apart at a slaughter house.  Oh, and the journey to the slaughter house, which is horrific enough in its own right.  J.T. doesn’t spare us the details and, as is always the case after reading stories like this, it makes me question my carnivorous ways.  Finally there’s a shorter piece detailing a young man joining the circus and their treatment of elephants, but the tininess of the panels blunts the impact a bit after seeing those other two pieces in exacting detail.  A couple of these pieces were in Young American Comics anthologies, so if you’ve followed all their stuff you’ve already read some of this, but this a powerful pile of stories lumped together.  You’ve got mortality, cruelty to animals (in a few different ways), and even the story of a harmless prank gone wrong.  It’s a bit bleak, but it’s impossible to deny the power of these stories and his art is phenomenal.  This is the part where I should get into linework and if I was a professional artist I’d be happy to, but from my amateur perspective all I can say is that everything was crystal clear (sometimes too clear) and volumes could be taken from a glance or smile.  This won the Xeric award this year if you can’t see it on the title, and it’s certainly one of the best things I’ve seen lately.  Check it out, you may learn something.  $6.95