Monthly Archives: December 2011
Update for 12/30/11
New review for Nibble #6 by Tom Cherry. Sorry about the lack of updates recently, but I did explain myself a bit in the review down there. Or if you’re reading this in the future the review is probably no longer directly under this, so forget I said anything. Short version: I’m sick, so leave me alone. Happy 2012!
Cherry, Tom – Nibble #6
Nibble #6
A bit of an explanation will be required for this one. I’ve been sick as the proverbial dog since getting back from the holidays, with my head feeling like it’s been wrapped in gauze and thrown down a mountain. What this means in a practical sense is that I’ve been looking at a few comics that have been coming in and, while some of them look quite good, they’re also far too complex for me to talk about with any kind of coherence while I’m in this kind of state (even if this review ends up seeming coherent, it’s taking forever to write, mostly because my body just isn’t in working order at the moment). Anyway, along comes a few Tom Cherry comics, which are always short and to the point, so I picked one of them for the last review of 2011. Too much information? Quite possibly, but what are you going to do? This comic is about the boasting of a small rock. Seriously, you can see it starting on that cover image, then the sample image is of the next page so you can see that it keeps up. And that is the illustration for a good chunk of this book, so without a couple of pages there at the end this could have been done in a few minutes. As for the story, this boasting does not go unnoticed (either by someone actually hearing it or just the cruel universe in general), things change and there’s a genuinely funny final line. The end. Like I said, this is as much complexity as my brain is capable of handling at the moment, so your opinion may vary if you’re not hopped up on cold medicine, but I thought it was funny. $.25
Update for 12/22/11
New review for Vortex #1 by William Cardini aka Mark Hensel. Will there be another review tomorrow before I head out for Christmas? It’s entirely possible. Or not. Tune in to see! Or not “tune in” really, but you know, internet it up and see!
Cardini, William aka Hensel, Mark – Vortex #1
Vortex
You know, generally speaking pseudonyms make more sense when your real name is a secret, not when you list both names in every publication. Hey, whatever works for him is fine with me. Mark’s work has occasionally baffled me in the past (and long time readers know that I usually mean that in a good way), but this one made perfect sense to me. Whether that should be worrying or a good sign I’ll leave up to you. Things start off with a big old cosmic figure who is searching for a “tranz force” and notices a signal coming from an uninhabited planet. He/she/it goes down to the surface and meets a life form. This life form slowly (over the course of pages) reveals that this was a trap set for the original life form, as they knew that it would come to investigate the tranz force sooner or later. A brief battle ensues, the original entity is cut in half, and that’s when things start to get interesting. Mark has a nice intro in this comic that explains this universe a bit, but it’s best to read such a thing for yourself instead of having me summarize it. The battle of these two creatures was suitably majestic , which also gave the reader the sense that we were seeing a fraction of everything that was happening. I also liked his choice to take as many pages as he did showing this battle, as something between two cosmic beings like this should be big and dramatic. I always hated how some Marvel comics would have some big cosmic entity like Galactus getting punched out, as if that was the extent of something that could happen in a battle with a guy who ate planets. Ah, I’m wandering now, but if you liked any of Mark’s previous comics then you’re sure to love this, and if you never gave them a chance then this is as coherent a starting point as you’re likely to find. $5
Update for 12/20/11
New review for La Petite Mort by Russell Ihrig, which should do more than anything to get you in the Christmas spirit.
Ihrig, Russell – La Petite Mort
La Petite Mort
Just when you think that there is no possible way to find anything original to say in the zombie genre, somebody always comes along and proves me wrong. I’m not even sure if it’s accurate to call these undead people zombies in the usual sense of the word, but I’m getting ahead of myself. This mini is told from the perspective of various people who saw a strange phenomenon start off first-hand. Um, and that may be an unfortunate choice of phrase. Anyway, it all started with an EMT who came across a drunk driver. He died on the way to the hospital, but after he died he looked at her and started masturbating. After he died. Then we get stories from other people with the same experience, in both male and female dead people, with the scientific world being flummoxed. I say that these aren’t the usual zombies because they had no interest in eating people, they were only interested in masturbation. Well, science started studying the problem and they eventually stumbled into a solution, and what a fantastic solution it was. I’ll say no more, as it’s up to all you good folks who aren’t afraid of a picture of a penis to buy this comic in support, but I’ll be damned if Russell didn’t handle it perfectly. I haven’t seen his name before (that I know of, it all tends to be a bit of blur around here), but this comic is professional as can be. If he’s just getting started everybody should give him a burst of encouragement, and if he’s done a few comics that I just haven’t seen then he also deserves further encouragement. Give him your $2 either way is what I’m saying. Also, if you really hurry this would make a fantastic stocking stuffer for any overly religious relatives that are bugging you excessively around the holidays…
Update for 12/19/11
New review today for Optik Noize #2 by Matthew McDaniel. Sorry about the missed review on Friday, but it’s holiday season time and like much of the rest of the U.S., updates will probably be sporadic for the next couple of weeks. Mostly still on schedule if all goes well, but don’t be shocked if you don’t see an update for a few days here and there.
McDaniel, Matthew – Optik Noize #2
Optik Noize #2
Ah, one of the genuine perks of this website: I get to see talented comic folks mature throughout the years. Well, that wasn’t the plan originally, but as I’m still doing this 10+ years after I started it is now one of the perks. Matthew did a series of minis a few years back that were mostly fun, all-ages science stuff. The cover has improved and the art is noticeably better and in full color, but it remains full of fun, all-ages science stuff. This time around our hero has developed a mind enhancement machine and has used it on his dog and a rat to prove that it worked. It’s still too untested to use on a human, so naturally his nemesis overhears it (with a complicated spy device, it’s not like his nemesis was in the room with him or anything) and schemes to use it on himself. Shenanigans occur, hostages are taken and an over-sized brain gets thrown into the mix. Matthew has also been much more creative with his panel layouts this time around, as I remember them being pretty standard for most of his minis and they’re all over the place (in a good way) for this one. His stuff wasn’t bad to begin with, but he’s made a leap forward with this one. If you’re a fan of grim and gritty realism then you should probably pass, but this is perfect for the kids or people who like a little scientific mayhem in their comics. $3.50 and that website is still pretty bare, but I’m sure that he’ll get it updated in no time. Right?
Update for 12/15/11
New review today for Fear of Failure #1 by Thom Ferrier, which I think got lost in the shuffle for an undetermined amount of time, so my apologies.
Ferrier, Thom – Fear of Failure #1
Fear of Failure #1
I don’t know what other comics Thom has done, but he displays some serious mastery of the craft here. The action starts with a scene from the end of the book, which has been done before, sure. But the rest of the book reads like a story that you’re fast-forwarding through on your DVD player, with the action becoming larger and more prominent when the reader needs to slow down and everything being depicted through a series of tiny descriptive panels when you’re fine just skipping ahead a bit. It adds up to the impression that you’re being guided through a story by a guy who knows exactly what he wants you to see, and that sort of thing is always a good sign to me. Anyway, this is all about Dr. Lois Pritchard, a psychiatrist (?), and her daily happenings. Things start off with her confronting a mystery person (who is revealed at the end), then we get a detailed description of this section of the town. Next we get to know Dr. Pritchard a bit and the rest of the book is her dealing with her co-workers (one who is trying and failing to get rid of a large cluster of cats that howl outside his window, and the other a religious nutbag), her family, her patients and her own life. Along the way we get these panel clusters that I mentioned before that show bits of her life flashing by until we get to the meatier stuff. As a little bonus we also get a story on the history of fainting in Thom’s family (at least I think it’s autobiographical) and how it has affected him since. I pretty much loved it, and you can read it for free at his website at the moment (along with some of #2) if you’re curious. You should probably buy it if you do love it, as the guy has to make a living and buying books from people is always an excellent motivator for them to keep going. The price is roughly $6, but this is a hefty thing.
Beckmeyer, Drew – Everything Unseen Parts 4 & 5
Everything Unseen Parts 4 & 5
There are two reasons for me to reread a book after reading it the first time. There’s the obvious reason of needing to get a better handle on the book, as maybe later bits helped clarify earlier bits. Then there’s a general sense of “what the fuck.” This book manages to take the best elements of both of those choices and it made the reread a significantly improved experience. I haven’t read the first issue of this series (which collects the first three parts of this series), and it’s always tricky to pick up any story in the middle, not to mention one that does so much to fuck with your head. I was able to figure out that our hero is trapped in a desert and was only able to leave through “cosmic intervention.” He fights a local god and wins, so he gets to basically steer that god for the rest of the issue (while also being influenced by that god). The sample page I used is the process of the two of them joining together, which admittedly isn’t the best representation of the series (there’s usually more talking), but it’s such a fantastic page that I couldn’t help myself. They get acquainted with one another, our hero eventually wants out (and deals this god a pretty much mortal blow in the process), and is able to escape with the help of the girl that got him free in the first place. Along the way there are several conversations that I couldn’t hope to encapsulate here, but I will say that this is set in a far future time and there are a few tantalizing references to current events and technology. This is all in part 4, by the way. The only trouble I had with this part is that he used pencils for the lettering, but that’s purely an aesthetic problem, as it’s not like he left unerased pencil lines over the place. It was as neat a use of a pencil for lettering as it could possibly be. And the writing carries you effortlessly along this world that should be a complete mess to the reader, so the minor quibbles about aesthetics end up going nowhere. So how about part 5? Our hero is on the run, with the chapter starting with a long bit of text about the history of running, why humans ever bothered with it (when they often just found themselves back where they started a run) and how our hero would have handled it if he was alive when it was popular. From there the chase is on with some “people” who want our hero back/want to punish him for his role in hurting that god from the last part. It also gets way crazier than the previous part, which is really saying something, but it’s best for you to find that out for yourself. And if you’re annoyed by the cliffhanger, there’s also a brief interlude that shows us what happens next after part 5. This one got off to a rocky start for me on my first read through, but after sticking with it for a bit the whole thing opened up for me and everything made perfect sense. Which, come to think of it, probably should have been more alarming than it was. So to sum up, as I rambled even more than usual this time (which, for new readers, is a good sign for the book itself): panel layouts that tweak any “rules” for such things whenever he feels it necessary, chunks of text and dialogues that scream out for multiple readings in the hopes of getting all the nuggets out of them, and an oddly compelling if sometimes mind-boggling story. Sounds like plenty to me. The website for Revival House Press (the publishers of this book, which is hefty in case I haven’t mentioned that yet) appears to be down, but check with Drew directly for a copy. $11
Update for 12/13/11
New review for The Gag Rag by Jeff Lok. I have mentioned a few times that you should probably place any Christmas orders from here soon, right? I’ll pay the extra shipping to get it there for the holidays, but at some point next week that will no longer be feasible.
Lok, Jeff – The Gag Rag
The Gag Rag
Even if you’re one of those humorless types that doesn’t care for laughter, I think everybody would have to agree that Jeff puts together some impressive covers. My scanner really doesn’t do this one justice, as those colors fly right off the page and smack you in the mouth. In the best possible way, of course. A cover can only take you so far, so how about the comic? Well, I just finished reading it and I’m not completely sure that I didn’t dream some of it, despite the fact that I never fell asleep while reading it. That sounds like a recommendation to me, but to each their own. Things start off with a table of contents that only a dork like me could love: each page is listed with its spelled out representation. Yes, I really do appreciate such things. When we get to the actual comics there are a few pages of “ads” for a strange product called Neocream, a couple of short and mostly amusing one panel gag strips, and finally we get to meet a couple that has just been stranded at sea. Get used to these two, as you’ll be seeing a lot of them as the comic goes on. First it’s for the humorous maximum person requirements for the inflatable island, then it’s their reaction when they open a box of sharks, and finally how they deal with having a baby and having one of the inhabitants end up being allergic to coconuts (the only food available). We see them later in an extended gag sequence involving a series of possible rescues, but I’ve said too much. Other stories include God mixing together the universe (with outtakes!), God meeting dogs and cats, God going for a joyride (and answering questions from the audience), and God ending up at a Wal-Mart. Finally there’s a piece about Walt Disney and his crew, which you will especially enjoy if you know some of the mistreated artists from that time period. There’s also the opening and ending strips, but I’ll leave those as a total surprise so that you didn’t have some idea of everything that was coming. It’s a pile of funny, and people who enjoy such things should seek it out and give Jeff some cash. No price listed, as that would make things too easy, but I’m guessing at least $5 for this hefty thing.
Update for 12/12/11
New review for The Christmas Dream by Chris Uphues, in which I begin and end the holiday festivities for this website.
Uphues, Chris – The Christmas Dream
The Christmas Dream
Please note: this will be the extent of any Christmas celebration for this website. To me it just gets more and more obnoxious every year, which probably has something to do with me getting further and further away from an age where I knew that I’d be getting some really great stuff. These days it means seeing some family that I rarely see, sure, but it also means that going to any stores or the post office is a miserable ordeal. So with that bit of holiday cheer in mind, how about this comic? It’s a tiny mini, but I was immediately intrigued by the image of a heart that has clearly been beaten severely on the cover. Or so I thought. This comic is actually the story of a sentient heart that is trying to figure out the inner workings of the human mind. After discovering that it doesn’t know much about the subject, it goes into space (?), where it eventually was covered in ice and snow before finding a great truth of the universe, which I’m not going to give away for free here. Sure, it doesn’t make a ton of sense, but I liked the writing anyway, and that last panel was wonderful. Chris seems to be attempting to build an empire of cute heart thingies with giant eyeballs, and more power to him if he can get it to work. His other comics might be too sweet for some of you to bear, but not this particular comic. No price listed on his website, I’d have to guess a buck or two.
Update for 12/8/11
New review for Life is Good #7 by Steve Seck. I always forget to mention these types of things, but I do have a few auctions up on eBay that might be of interest to you folks. There’s:
My lot of 100 random small press comics with the bidding starting at a measly $10,
My set of original Optic Nerve mini comics (with a ludicrous starting bid because hey, why not try for it?)
And finally a set of 100 random Marvel comics, that may or may not interest you, but hey, it’s the holidays and maybe you have little ones or relatives that would like a cheap pile of random comics (bidding starting at $15)
Seck, Steve – Life is Good #7
Life is Good #7
Is this the end for our heroes? I can’t explain that any more without giving away way too much, but this issue ended with a few big things wrapped up and no clear direction moving forward. Which would be fine; this comic has been fun but I wouldn’t mind seeing Steve branch out a bit. Then again, he invested so much time in these characters that I am a little curious to see what he’d do next. Mr. Decisive, that’s me. So how about the specifics of this one? Things start with a very thorough recap (I have just enough of an ego to think that maybe my incessant pestering on this issue is getting through to a few people which, if true, will have made it all worthwhile), then Brownie has a chat with the Sewer Gator about the direction of his comic (which the Sewer Gator stole and published without Brownie knowing about it). Meanwhile, Charles is eating himself to death in his effort to stop littering and Dr. Peace Rock has a plan to pin everything on Charles (and get back in the good graces of Unity). This wouldn’t sound all that strange if it wasn’t for the cast of characters, but there are no actual humans in this comic and even the background characters are odd enough to make you sit up and take note. Anyway, things come to the confrontation that has been coming for issues now, but I can’t really talk about that, so you’ll just have to read it to see what happens. Or if you haven’t read the rest of the series then I guess you don’t have to read it to see what happens, but I think the whole thing is worth a look. Hey, come to think of it, now it’s about the perfect size for a collected edition, and it’s a finite story to boot. I’ve stumbled across his master plan! In case I didn’t talk about the specifics enough this time around (I do have a tendency to ramble about ancillary things), his art has only gotten better and has moved up to “pretty damned good,” and I’d even say that the plotting has gotten tighter. The writing was never bad, but it’s remained entertaining all the way through, and who can ask for more? $4
Update for 12/7/11
New review for Beast Begat Beast by James Stanton, and my arch-nemesis Tuesday did me in yesterday again, so sorry about the lack of a review. Curse you Tuesday!
Stanton, James – Beast Begat Beast
Beast Begat Beast
Have you ever wondered what a sea serpent zoning commission would look like? No? That’s odd, neither have I. Well, lucky for us James has thought of this and then put it into a comic. The story here is that this commission regulates where sea monsters get to live in the sea and assigns them territory. Things go smoothly for 800 years or so, but finally two monsters get together and have a baby, so its territory must be established. The sheer variety of the monsters keeps things interesting, but even so it probably goes on for a few pages too long. There are also four very strange pages dealing with the Barnacle Brothers and their conversations. If you love barnacles, that story is for you. So as a package this is OK, and moves up to pretty good depending on your love for different types of monsters. I loved the fact that he has a table of contents with page numbers for the two stories, but then mentions that there are no page numbers on the actual pages anyway. Yes, I am exactly enough of a dork to get a good laugh out of something like that. It’s been a few years since I’ve seen a book from James and it looks like he has a good selection of new comics available, and he was nice enough to send a few of them along so I can get a better handle on his new stuff. Oh, and in case it wasn’t clear, there are several funny bits in here, it’s just that I thought the main story dragged a bit. Just one man’s opinion, as always. $5
