Monthly Archives: April 2010
Update for 4/30/10
New review for Everything Dies #1 by Box Brown. No, it’s not as depressing as it sounds.
Update for 4/29/10
New review for a book that’s long overdue: the collected edition of Curio Cabinet by John Brodowski. The world needed this book, and the good folks at Secret Acres were nice enough to make it happen.
Update for 4/28/10
I hope that trip down memory lane was at least mildly amusing/informative for everybody. I also didn’t quite finish it, so Sunday there’s going to be a much smaller version of all that going on with the few hundred entries I didn’t get to, then I’ll set up the main page to reflect the last dozen or so new reviews in case anybody missed anything. New reviews in the meantime, starting with Bad Energy by Aaron Norhanian today. What does everybody think of the new look? The fact that reviews have been broken down into individual comics instead of giant pages for each artist? How about the fact that I now have permission from over 100 small press comics folks for me to use my copies of their comics in this rental idea? I’m curious to hear it.
Metzler, Matthew & Workman, Lonnie – Exit Only #1
Exit Only #1
In my eternal wishy-washiness, I always go back and forth on the mini comics: which is better, one big story per comic or a bunch of little ones? Both have their advantages, sure, but I’ve finally settled on one thing (today, anyway). I’m a big fan, with work that is new to me, of the multiple story format. It allows a much better chance to get a real feel for the talent of the people involved, instead of letting everything ride on one big story. This one has a few different stories, some funny, some not so much. First there’s an intro page, in which we get to see the writer (Matthew) as a bum and the artist (Lonnie) as an alien, and we get a brief intro of everybody else in here. The first big story here deals with life working at a gas station, talking shit to the neighboring gas station and making fun of fat people. It’s funnier than it sounds, trust me, but they go a bit overboard on the fat people. Hey, it’s America, we’ll all get to that stage, unless our hearts explode first. Next up are a few short pieces with the most useless character in the book, a mostly naked cat lady. Mostly naked, you might be saying. That doesn’t sound so bad. In theory, sure, but they milk this of any potential comedic value in three short pages. Not too many places left to go from there, and I have this cynical, sad feeling that she’ll be a money making sensation for these two in five years. Then we get to the highlight of the comic, in which the friend of a young woman lets her have it for dragging her out to be with a pair of musicians when it’s not exactly like said young women would need any help getting into their pants. Following all this is a series of short pieces (one each by Brian Cattapan and Pelcher also), mostly landing on the “funny” side of that great, subjective cosmic scale. All told it’s worth a look if you appreciate juvenile humor with some genuinely funny bits thrown in. $2
Mericle, Charise – Color Right
This book is ten years old. Wouldn’t know it by looking at it and it’s still in print from Top Shelf, so don’t worry about it. It’s the tale of an artist and his dealing with a very fickle public. He achieves momentary fame and fortune through his excessive use of phthalogyanine green on various paintings and has to deal with everyone getting sick of the gimmick at the same time. I don’t know if this is about an experience of the author or just invented, but it certainly rings true. Artists are always looking for the next big thing and art critics (the few that I’ve read, anyway) have a notoriously short memory. Charise did some interesting stuff with the panels too. There’s only one per page, and the panel is surrounded by either dialogue about what’s going on or various symbols that have meaning for the panel. It’s done well and worth a couple of bucks. Website!
Meden, Jure – A Whirlpool of Terror and Tension
A Whirlpool of Terror and Tension
Wow. I unknowingly saved the best of this Mini Burger stuff for last. I mixed them up when I got them and I’ve been reading them randomly ever since, and this one just happened to be on the bottom of the pile. Before I start the specific praise, let me just say that this guy has everything that it takes to be a major talent in the field. In five years (assuming that his work gets any support over here, and it would be a damned shame if it didn’t) we could easily be mentioning him in the same sentence as Dan Clowes, Chris Ware and the Hernandez Bros. as uncontested masters of the modern age of comics. If all that talk seems a little flowery I apologize, but I was really blown away by this.
The story? It’s about a man who meets the woman of his dreams when he could have done anything else that night besides going to the movies. The panel placement on the first page alone clued me in that this guy knew what he was doing. The two pages where he illustrates falling in love with a total stranger are the most perfect example of that I’ve seen. The confusion, exhilaration, fear, nervousness, calm, and panic are just perfect. The only thing I don’t get is that he was supposed to be seeing Henry Fool and that certainly wasn’t the movie. Ah, the movie. In a mostly visual medium he simply wrote the story on the movie screen while the two of them watched it, unmoving, from their seats. This is a totally unique comic experience and it’s just a mini comic! I can’t imagine what this guy could do with the graphic novel format. Not that I’m knocking mini comics at all, it’s just that this level of complexity is rarely realized. E-mail the guy, have him send you anything he can. Pay whatever he asks. It’s worth it.
Chris Staros over at Top Shelf told me that although the Mini Burger set isn’t available on the web page, you can still order it through their online catalog. Just go to the ordering page, click on #4 at the bottom (additional comments) and write in that you want the Mini Burger set for $19.95. They have it in stock, they just haven’t updated the site in a while. From what I’ve read, it’s worth it. There might be two bad ones in this bunch and a couple of mediocre ones, but the good ones are good in ways that you don’t usually see in this country.
Meaney, Patrick – Division Shadow #1
Division Shadow #1 (art by Nicolas Colacitti, Carlos Devizia & Marcelo Carmona, and Shawn Decker) Now Available! $1.50
I know, that’s a whole bunch of artists to list for a single comic. The idea is (and I think it’s a good one in theory but we’ll see how it plays out) that each of them is doing the work for one of the three main characters in the book. I would love it if there was some way to know who did what (even something as unobtrusive as initials at the bottom of an artist’s page), but you can’t have everything. This is the first issue of a projected six issue mini series and Patrick swears that it’s going to come out monthly until it’s done. Three cheers for that idea. As for the story, there’s a whole bunch going on here, so I’ll try and hit some of the important points. There’s a squadron of government agents who kill a large group of people who seem to have access to a drug that lets them live forever, an old man who has a heart attack (or some sort of medical emergency), a woman who’s trying to rescue people in the re-zoned Middle East (guessing this is all set in the future), and a kidnapped baby. These people were all getting distinct personalities by the end of the first issue, which is usually a good sign. Except the baby, but that does seem like it’s going to have some future significance. An intriguing first issue, although it’s always tough to say how these things are going to turn out. Here’s hoping they keep to their schedule so it doesn’t take too long to find out…
McShane, James – James McShane Selected Comics 2003-2008
James McShane Selected Comics 2003-2008
Any Kramer’s Ergot readers out there? Of course there are, there are only so many decent anthologies in the world and you’re reading this website. There aren’t that many degrees of separation in the small press comics world. If you are, you’ve heard of James McShane before. If you’re like me and have enjoyed Kramer’s Ergot but have a terrible memory, well, it’ll basically be new to you. This is a selection of “bests”, with a few familiar themes repeating. The non-repeating stuff involves a mundane day out with a friend, a very handy guide on how to do book or zine binding yourself, and an extended (mostly silent) day called Peck. James seems to have invented a new form of diary strip (or at least used one I’d never heard of) where he draws his day in 10 minute increments. There are three of these pieces in here, and you could make a strong argument that that’s too many in a collection of only his best comics. It’s fascinating at first, then painfully mundane, then more than just a bit repetitive. Also I don’t think it takes 20 minutes to shave, or if it does I’ve been doing it wrong for years. Still, it is an interesting concept, one that I hope other artists pick up on after seeing this. Finally there are a few strips with The Sleepy Creatures, mostly formless pets that seem to do nothing but sleep. I’m curious how these strips first appeared, as the repetition of the title throughout the story doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for something that was released all at once. There’s not a whole lot to the creatures (as they mostly only sleep), but the interactions between their owners and their eventual disillusionment with the creatures is fascinating. All told it’s not a bad pile of strips, I was apparently just looking for something with more “zazz” today, so don’t mind my grumpiness. There’s nothing wrong with something that deals with the mundane as well as this does. $5
McNutt, Pat – The Bizzare Expeditions of Makaveli Hammertoe
The Bizzare Expeditions of Makaveli Hammertoe
Damn you Pat McNutt, you’ve forced me to use a spelling error on purpose! OK, so “bizarre” may be a hard word to spell, but there is something called dictionary.com, you know. A minor thing, made less important by the fact that the inside of the book is wonderful. It’s about half comic and half character sketches, and if you look at that sample you can see why. That second panel alone must have taken him about a week to draw. This seems to be projected as a series in which Makaveli wanders around in space, having adventures and reporting back to his boss. In this episode Makaveli is looking for organic material in space but is having trouble finding a place to land. When he does finally land, things don’t go smoothly, of course, or why would you have a comic? There’s an excellent twist ending, the art is as gorgeous as can be, and the writing doesn’t do a thing to hurt the whole package. A little more focus and maybe a long term plan and this series could be something great. $3
McMurray, Mark – Dumb Jersey White Boy #3
Dumb Jersey White Boy #3
If something has already been printed but you’ve never seen it, it’s as good as new to you, right? That’s my situation with this comic. Apparently everything in here has been reprinted in various places (a collection of rejected EXPO 2000 comics and True Life Funnies), but it’s all new to me. Mark says that most of these stories were originally “letters” to his brother living in Germany, and they all deal with his generally cranky and occasionally pitiable father. Everything except the sampled page is done is a loose sketchbook style, lettering and all, so if you only love comics for the neatness of their appearance you’ll want to move along. When it comes purely to the stories, however, he doesn’t pull any punches when talking about his father. Stories in here include a time when Mark’s parents were fighting (before they apparently divorced), Mark trying to visit when his father was recovering from surgery and eventually leaving because he couldn’t stand all the bitching, and a brief piece about dog vomit. On second thought that first story looks great too, so only the middle parts of the book are sketchbook style. Also included in here are actual sketchbook pages, so if you were looking for as realistic a portrayal as possible of his father, here it is. This is a buck, and his intro talking about later projects has me intrigued enough to see what else he’s come up with recently…
McHenry, Tom – The Novelber Project
The Novelber Project
Huzzah for another excellent diary comic! Of course, it’s possible that it’s only excellent because it covers a very specific period of time for a very specific purpose: Tom wanted to write a 50,000 word novel over November of 2005. Lazy cartoonists take note: this man did a diary strip every day of the month, with most of them being pretty damned funny and a good chunk of them being artistically intricate, all while managing to finish that novel of his. No idea what happened with the novel, as I couldn’t find anything about it on the website, but luckily I could find scads of free comics, including pretty much everything in this book (look for “Novelber”). Subjects in here include a sick cat, poop, sex, drinking, Dr. Phil, Jeopardy, oysters, rain, pam jams, Beavis and Butthead, Katamari, and little feet. Oh, and the fact that he kept a running daily word total of his novel was a nice touch. As for the sample, sure, I could have picked a funnier one, as there were many funny moments in here, but I can never resist a good Katamari strip. This is probably $2 or $3, but if you’re cheap it’s all there on the website and you could put that money you saved to use buying something more recent from the man, as from this I’d say it’s a pretty safe bet for quality work…
McGovern, Bernie – An Army of Lovers Will Be Beaten Book One
An Army of Lovers Will Be Beaten Book One Now Available! $6
As always, three cheers for an absolutely wonderful title. This is the story Lieutenant Buckeley, a hero in the ongoing war between blue people and constellations in the night sky. Yep, not a typo. This is also one of the major limitations of the small press comics movement as a whole, as whenever there’s a story like this (where it would go a long way to show all those blue people) it would be wonderful to see it in color, it’s just that there’s no financial way to make it possible. Unless the artists were independently wealthy, I guess. Anyway, this first book (of a projected twelve) introduces us to the Lieutenant as he goes on furlough, wandering around a town and trying to avoid all the seamier places, like the local tavern and “El Lay”. He wanders off into an open field to get some rest… which also happens to be where most of those bombs aimed at the stars are landing. It’s a dreamy, surreal tale, punctuated by the relentless naivete of the main character and the fact that a llama ends up saving his life. It’s an interesting first book. I’m not completely sold on the whole thing yet, but I am curious to see what happens next, and that’s all you can ask for out of a first issue.
McGinty, Brad – Wysteria #1
Wysteria #1
There are comics where my main reaction is “I want to see what happens next before I even begin to figure out what I think about this”. Which is the biggest cop-out in the world when it comes to reviewing something, granted, so I try to avoid it. Still, that was my reaction to this, and I’m going to try to say something of substance about this regardless. This is the story of that runt chicken thing on the cover, who also happens to be bulimic. He has a quiet evening and falls asleep, at which point he is met by a couple of odd creatures who seem to push him to an overdose of some kind. Then a witch doctor goes into his mind to see what makes him tick, and that’s most of the rest of the issue right there. The great thing about these wordless comics is that that’s just my interpretation and I could be drastically, laughably wrong. No idea where it’s going from here, which is kind of why I want to wait to reserve judgment. This isn’t exactly a completely satisfactory comic on its own, but there are some thoroughly unique images in here, which isn’t a bad start for a series by any stretch of the imagination. Let’s say this is $2, here’s an website for Brad.
Mats!? – Asiaddict
Asiaddict Now Available! $15
If there’s one good thing about not having the money to travel, it’s that it gives you more free time to read travelogues like this one. OK, granted, it’s a pretty thin reward, but if I ever find myself in Laos, Thailand or Cambodia (or all three), I’ll have a pretty good idea of how to get by and what to see when I get there. Mats takes in all the local sights, describing little historical facts and local attractions while doing so, all while throwing in a few observations. The book is structured so that each place or thing only gets a page or two, with text written like it’s by an overenthusiastic tour guide (I mean that in only the best way), with a series of vivid, colorful pictures to illustrate the more interesting places. And the random facts are, well, fascinating. Did you know that the native word for “Bangkok” is 168 letters long? Or how to get around any of these places effectively? Or, barring effectively, how about safely from place to place? This whole thing is smart and engaging, the packaging is gorgeous (you can see that cover) and Mats has an excellent grasp on when to let the photos and images speak for themselves rather than go into excessive explanations. If I ever head over to that part of the world, this thing is coming with me, that’s for sure. $15
Mason, Jeff (editor) – 9-11 Emergency Relief
I’ve been sitting here, trying to come at this from an objective angle, and I just can’t. Sorry. Too many of the events of that day day are still too close to me, even though I didn’t directly know anybody involved in this and I’ve never been to New York. My fear about this book, honestly, was that it would be too much. It would stir up too many memories, the stories of what happened to various comic artists that day would all have a kind of awful sameness: panic, searching for loved ones, wondering if it was the end of the world. I guess a lot of them do have that theme, because that’s what they were going through, but these artists are way too talented to leave it at that. There are individual touches everywhere, from Dean Haspiel having burning office papers blow in his window to Jenny Gonzalez seeing the day through a haze of psych medication, to Donna Barr being too hung over to really know what was going on, to everybody else. On a purely comic level, this book shows you the insides of a lot of comic people who hide behind being sarcastic, or weird, or just plain mean at times. This benefits the Red Cross and everybody you can think of from comics is here. There’s no reason in the world not to get this, unless those events are still too close to you, because this will bring it all back. It’s worth it for the internal dialogue Tom Hart has with Hutch Owens alone. Sadly, a lot of the things Hutch was cynically talking about have come true since then, as everybody in any kind of political office is using this tragedy to shove their own agenda through, and every big business is laying off all kinds of people after taking money from the government not to lay people off, and people don’t seem to care. Before I get to rambling too much about this and the state of the world, let me just say one last thing: God bless Peter Kuper for keeping some things in perspective.
Maslowe, Lisa – Catbox Room #3
Catbox Room #3
I’m going out on a limb a little bit with this one, so if anybody knows that this info is wrong, get in touch with me and I’ll fix it. Anyway, this is a good little book. It was done about 7 years ago, hence the confusion about her current whereabouts. It’s a big book for a mini, but there are only three stories in it. There’s a short one about a miniature village and two stories about different people either in love or trying to fall in love. I thought it was a bit dopey at first, honestly, until I realized that I was completely sucked into the characters and what was happening to them. Lots of things are talked about but nothing is examined all that deeply here, it’s more about the stories themselves than analyzing the motives of the characters. In the second story about Spring, for example, the main female character starts seeing a boy while still dating her long distance, long term boyfriend without much thought given to the reasons behind it. I’m not saying that this is a bad thing, as the book was still thoroughly entertaining, it’s just a surface view of the characters instead of looking around inside. If you’d like to get this book I’m pretty sure that you can send her $2 or so at: P.O. Box 170143, San Francisco, CA 94117. Or you can e-mail her through this website to see what else she has around, I saw something there called Northbound that I’d never seen before…
Masilamani, Rachel – RPM Comics #1
RPM Comics #1
Wow. I was looking through my oversized books today to try and find my Bomb Pop from Fawn Gehweiler (she’ll be up soon, probably tomorrow) and I saw this sitting there. Somehow, apparently, I had forgotten about this one when I was putting the page together. Let this be a lesson to all of you who think I’m some kind of authority on comics or something, because this book is amazing. Incredible even, especially if you consider the fact that this is her first book. Stories include her experiences donating blood, talking to her Grandma about a record player that her Grandpa invented to read fingerprints, and a character dealing with her “celebrity” teacher husband, among other things. What can I say, she’s a natural. She has a very soft pencil style for the art. I hope the sample shows up, as she doesn’t have a website and I don’t know of any other samples out there. Seriously though, this is $3 and it’s good all the way through. The only thing I didn’t thoroughly enjoy was the word game page, and even that was at least kind of interesting. Did I mention yet that you should buy this? Send her money or a check at: P.O. Box 50027 Baltimore, MD 21211.
Martinez, Gabe – Martin the Satanic Raccoon
Martin The Satanic Raccoon
What stands out in my mind from this one is the sheer gratuitousness of the violence. If you think that’s a bad thing, stay away. If you’re like me and are capable of having some fun with this kind of stuff, you can probably get a laugh or two out of this. This is a collection of the best of (according to him) his college stuff, and some of it’s pretty funny. Some of it isn’t, but, for Christ’s sake, he was in college. It’s hard to bitch too much about the fact that everything he chose from his college days wasn’t brilliant. I don’t get why that raccoon is there at all though. All he does is smirk and scratch himself while the author tells about much more interesting things, such as “mung”, the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying a whole bunch. I’m not going to tell you what it is to spare you some nightmares. Hey, if you’re that curious, go ahead and e-mail the guy. I’m sure he has some copies of this laying around, and I know he has at least one more issue out. Anyway, he goes on to give some of the more interesting quotes from the Bible, a nasty prank for a public bathroom, Kiss babies, how to get money out of animal rights activists, and greatest failed suicide attempts, among other things. He seems to like serial killers a little too much, but he was young and I’m sure he got past all that. Here’s a sample strip for your perusal. This should tell you all you need to know about whether or not you’ll like this.
Mardou – Manhole #2
Manhole #2
This is one of those giant magazine sized comics, in case you were frightened by the $4 price tag. There’s one big story here and a couple of little ones, about finding postcards and old photos at a book store and building a history for someone you’ve never met, and a piece on the back cover asking people what they’re currently reading. The bulk of the book, however, deals with one thing: cheating. In a relationship, that is. Mardou has been seeing her boyfriend for years and starts a snail mail correspondence with an aspiring writer. They share all kinds of intimacies until they’re both convinced that they’re seeing each other as they really are and that they’re perfect for each other, long term significant others be damned. This isn’t something that’s done casually, Mardou at least is torn up about it and goes over it from lots of different angles. Maybe she doesn’t make the choice that a lot of people would have made, but who can really say unless they’re put in that spot? Either way, the art is gorgeous and I’m always up for reading about morally complex (and possibly just flat out wrong) situations like this. My only problem here is the ending, which is sort of an art housey “the road is opening up before me and I can’t see where it leads” kind of thing. This rarely bothered me in actual art houses or in most comics, so it leads me to conclude that the problem is with me and not so much the comic. What can I say, I’m getting older and I want my stories to have nice, neat conclusions, dammit! Christ, if I’m slowly turning into a Republican I hope somebody out there is kind enough to put me out of my misery. Oh yeah, in terms of the actual comic, it’s well worth checking out, don’t mind me meandering over here… $4
Marder, Larry – Beanworld Book One
I don’t know about you guys, but I forgot how good this series was. That’s what happens when there isn’t a new book for three years or so. If there’s anybody out there who doesn’t know what this series is all about, go to the website and read all about it. Trust me, it’s a lot easier than me trying to explain it. Anyway, it’s probably the most fully realized fantasy world around, at least that I’ve seen. He’s taken characters pulled completely from his brain over the course of his life and transformed them into a simple, efficient society. Everything has a purpose and a place in life, and there are always things to be done to bring order to their world. I have to tell you, when and if I do have kids, this is going to be one of the first things that I show them. This should go down as one of the better myths of our generation. It would if anybody read comics, anyway… There should be 50 of these books, but so far there are only 4. This one has the story of how the food chain became more efficient, how the beans helped their enemies to ensure the future of their species, and how the useless items in the four layers became useful after all. If all this sounds silly and frivolous, lighten up. This is fantasy at its very best and everyone should read at least one book of this. Some of you will hate it, sure, but for the rest of you (and for me) it’s a completely unique, priceless experience.
