Monthly Archives: April 2012
Update for 4/30/12
Two updates today, for Ginger the Wonder Dog by Rob Kirby and Everythingness by Neil Fitzpatrick. And a note to some of you small press comic companies out there: my current address will always be listed prominently on my website. Luckily a couple of my old addresses house people who are more than willing to pass books along, but they would both appreciate it if they didn’t have to do so. Will I be able to keep the double reviews up all week? Eh, probably not. But maybe!
Kirby, Rob – Ginger the Wonder Dog
Ginger the Wonder Dog
A cautionary tale before I get started: there’s a fine line between packaging your comics so that they’ll be safe from the vagaries of postal workers and packing them too tightly for me to get at them without risk of damaging the books. You might not even be able to see it on the scan (I stopped quickly when I realized what was happening), but this book was so solidly packaged that I made a nice long tear along the top of it just trying to get the book out. I wish I had the perfect answer to give you on this one, but a good rule of thumb is to imagine what somebody would have to do to open a package as you are putting it together. Now that my scolding for the day is out of the way, who likes dogs? I’ve always been more of a cat person, but a few dogs in my life have definitely won me over in a big way and I totally understand the person who likes them more than cats. This is a collection of stories about Ginger, with a few guest artists coming in towards the end with their own interpretations of certain stories. Rob starts with a pictorial list of all of the dogs he’s had over the years with some brief commentary and ends with a list of all of his favorite dog stories in comics. He’s right, #38 of King Cat (which was apparently reprinted by Drawn & Quarterly a few years back if you’re interested, and you should be) was the greatest family dog story ever. Anyway, stories in here include Ginger’s awkward way of greeting new people, a day in the life of the “neighborhood patrol,” the inevitable meeting with a skunk, an adapted poem that sums up dog thoughts nicely, and a short list of pros and cons. The agree of adorableness in this book will vary based on your opinion of dogs, but even the biggest dog hater in the world would have to crack a smile at a few of these stories. Well worth a look for people of all pet dispositions and pretty much indispensable for dog lovers. As always, there’s a solid chunk of samples up at his website if you’re on the fence. No price listed though, so I’m going with $3 as my random guess.
Fitzpatrick, Neil – Everythingness
Everythingness
What if the quest for meaning was itself meaningless? And what if Neil decided to draw the whole thing? Chances are that this isn’t anywhere near what Neil was going for with this comic, but that’s what I’m taking out of it, dammit. It’s been a few years since I’ve seen one of his comics (for you whippersnappers out there, Neil has several issues of his “Neil Jam” series that have been coming out for many years now), and it’s clear that his art has tightened up a bit, and it’s not like it was terrible to begin with. The people characters look more like people, and even the Tots seem somehow streamlined. Which makes no sense, as they look like tiny animated teeth and it’s hard to streamline that design much, but that’s what this old defective brain of mine is telling me. So what’s this comic about? The description on the inside front cover sums it up pretty well: “The totality of existence… and beyond!” You get a sense of where things are headed when Neil steps out from behind the curtain to introduce the book (in comic form, not a written introduction) and gets into a discussion with god about who is more responsible for the comic, Neil or god. It’s pretty much impossible to argue with his conclusion either, so score one for Neil. Other stories include a magical moment between Willis and Ona (see past issues of Neil Jam if you’re having trouble with the character names, which he also kindly lists on the inside back cover), differences of opinion on what constitutes a magic bird or fish, god deciding to share his burden with his creations just for a moment, not being bound by expectations, who might be watching you, and finally a literal search for meaning. And hovering over all of these stories is the constant presence of Neil and god, popping up here and there to keep various characters on their toes. And the eyes. It’s not possible to talk about one of Neil’s comics without referring to those black, soul-stealing eyes of all of the characters. They’re mitigated a bit this time around by the smiles on some of the faces and general upbeat nature of much of the comic, but those eyes can get to you if you’re not careful. I defy anybody to read all of the Neil Jam comics in a row, then go outside and talk to real people. Those eyes will follow you. Um, I got off on a tangent there. I’ve been a fan of Neil’s for many years now and am thrilled to see him getting published, as to me that’s one more small step towards him becoming rich and successful at his comics, which means he’ll devote more time to them, which means those solid black eyes will slowly take over the world. Hey, we all have our own quest for meaning, you know… $5
Update for 4/27/12
New review today for Kekionga MiniWorks #34: Mailbox by Pam Bliss. Maybe I’ll try doing double reviews for a bit next week (provided that I don’t have a job yet), as I have quite a stack of comics to get through here. Happy weekend!
Bliss, Pam – Kekionga MiniWorks #34: Mailbox
Kekionga MiniWorks #34: Mailbox
All these years later, and I’m still torn: do I prefer using just the titles of each of Pam’s mini comics, or is it better to go with the “Kekionga MiniWorks” full title? The latter is definitely more impressive, as any mini comic that gets up to #34 is in a very select company, but I do enjoy the simplicity of her titles. This one features a hard-boiled version of Anubis (called Anpu here, and maybe there’s some history to explain that in a previous issue that I missed) investigating the disappearance of a mailbox. It quickly turns into an examination of society in general, as mailboxes are being removed to force people to use the mailbox outside of post offices, office hours at banks are being reduced to force people to bank online or by using ATMs, etc. If you are thrilled with every modern “convenience” and don’t understand the fuss about such things, it’s probably safe for you to skip this one. If you’re increasingly cranky about this state of affairs, you’ll get some joy out of watching them complain about all this for a bit, culminating in the delivery of an actual letter. As for the basics, Pam’s art is always gorgeous and this is a sweet little story. And who can resist a hard-boiled version of Anubis investigating a missing mailbox? $1
Update for 4/26/12
New review today for As Eavesdropped #3 by Suzanne Baumann. I have a clump of new comics that will soon be for sale here too, I just haven’t yet had the chance to get them all posted. I’m working on it…
Baumann, Suzanne – As Eavesdropped #3
As Eavesdropped #3
Ah, if only Suzanne was a comic making machine who could produce these things daily. I’ve enjoyed her comics for years, but these “As Eavesdropped” books are pure goodness and light. As the title implies, these are snippets of conversations that Suzanne hears while out and about, and even she rarely knows the larger context of these quotes. Which makes them even funnier! Once again, my biggest problem was limiting it to only one sample (and seeing as how these are 8 pages, it wouldn’t be at all fair of me to post more, as my only argument is “but I wanna!”), which is always a good sign in regards to the quality of a book. I’ll keep this as general as possible, but conversations overheard in this one include an awkward question about chickens, taking the name of a network too literally, having unimpeachable sources and Satan. There, that should be more than vague enough to pique your curiosity without giving too much away. One quick suggestion for Suzanne though: why not do one of these about your experiences at small press conventions? Granted, you may end up knowing the context for some of these conversations, but I’d think that those things would be a people watching bonanza. It already is for me and I’m actively wandering around at them, so if you’re stationary I’d think that it would be a gold mine. No price listed, but past issues of this were $.50, so…
Update for 4/25/12
New review today for The Life and Death of Mr. Burger by Derek Baxter. Has anybody else out there been unable to place an order from my store recently? I know that one order did go through (or I never would have gotten to SPACE) and another order did not, which makes no sense to me, as you’d think it would either be all or nothing. And everybody knows to just send me an e-mail if it doesn’t work, right? OK, good.
Baxter, Derek – The Life and Death of Mr. Burger
The Life and Death of Mr. Burger
Hamburgers! You know they’re always one bad day away from turning evil. Well, this particular hamburger is, anyway. Things start off with our hero missing his bus, which causes him to miss an important meeting, which causes him to get fired from his job. And, what with the economy still being terrible and all, he decides to dress up as a lady hamburger and attack his old office and workmates with a chainsaw. He ends up in prison for 18 years and finally gets out, but things have changed considerably since he went in. It’s better if I don’t get into too many spoilers from there, even though the title does kind of give things away. This is Derek’s first comic that I know of (not a “graphic novel” as he mentions on the inside cover though, unless that’s become an all-encompassing term for all comics and nobody told me about the rule change) and it’s funny as hell, which always helps. I’m not a big fan of the computer animation turned into a comic idea, as everything comes off as slightly blurred. A background or two after the first page probably wouldn’t have killed the guy either, as it often appeared that the characters were talking to each other in a vacuum. But hey, first comic = learning experience, right? And he got a lot right (that ghost garden panel especially was fantastic). It’s worth a look, especially if you like to see hamburgers on an extreme downward spiral. $3
Update for 4/24/12
New review today for Cornelia Cartoons #11 by Kel Crum, as the SPACE reviews begin. It seemed like another great show, but I got there very late and was scrambling a bit. That and being broke meant that I didn’t get as wide a range of books as I may have in the past, but believe you me, I’ll have plenty of new comics to talk about in the coming weeks. If I walked by your table and you recognized me but I didn’t recognize you, that’s just my terrible memory for names and faces and not me being a jerk. And since I usually only ask for review copies from people that I recognize, well…
Crum, Kel – Cornelia Cartoons #11
Cornelia Cartoons #11
Ah, the first of the random grabs from SPACE 2012. Random grabs for comics to review, that is, as I already have a few of Kel’s comics up here and I was actively looking for more of his work at the convention. This one is the first of two parts (which I believe is a first in this series, as there are usually a few shorter stories in each issue), and it deals with an interesting hypothetical discovery. A drug has been discovered that will “permanently remove all negative energies and self doubt.” Great, right? Not necessarily, especially if you take a step back and think of the many monied interests that would be affected. The drug companies are mad, the therapists are going out of business and there’s still the slight problem of a lack of overall testing on the drug and any possible side effects. So on the off chance that you bought past issues of this series and were wondering why it was mostly focused on a few characters (outside of the fact that it’s called “Cornelia Cartoons” and is mostly about Cornelia), well, this one is about the world in general and their reaction to this discovery. Mix in a fully automated therapist, a visit from a sleazy therapist that gets an old enemy drunk to trick her, a few belated ethical quandaries and a cliffhanger ending and you get this book. To be concluded in the next issue, so I’ll have more thoughts on the whole story then, but as the first part of a storyline this one had it all. All kinds of situations to be resolved and, while I have a few ideas of where this series will NOT be going based on that ending (just assuming from Kel’s past work on this front), I admit to have no idea of where it WILL be going, which is always nice. It’s worth a look, and if you’ve resisted trying his stuff over the years these two issues make up a nice hefty story for you to give it a shot. $2
Update for 4/20/12
New review today for Sammy the Mouse Book 1 by Zak Sally. Say, if any of you comics types are going to be at SPACE, it would help me greatly if you would be so kind as to give me review copies of your book. I had my car looked at before the trip and fixing a few various issues caused me to have VERY little spending money outside of gas for the weekend…
Sally, Zak – Sammy the Mouse Book 1
There is one benefit to my sticking to mostly self-published mini comics and things of that nature instead of also reviewing a whole bunch of Fantagraphics/Drawn and Quarterly stuff: I get to read the series when they come out in collected editions, removing the ambivalence that can come with reading one issue of an epic series. In this case Zak put out the first three issues with Fantagraphics, then hand-made each copy of this collected edition on a machine that contains all sorts of numbers that I won’t even pretend to understand. So if you like the personal touch in your books, it’s hard to get more personal than that. As for the book itself, it feels like cheating when two of the quotes on the back cover call this a revelation, but, well, this book is a revelation. The closest thing I can compare it to is being in one of those old timey scuba suits, the kind which were designed for walking along the ocean floor, while examining the effects from an oil spill. The sea creatures that you expected were there, but damaged and corrupted, and there were also several creatures that you were expecting, that seemed to be perfectly normal until you get right up next to them and see the sores. Utterly hopeless with a sense of inevitable fatalism and just a dash of a higher purpose that might fix a thing or two, maybe that’s what I’m getting at. Anyway, things start off with Sammy sitting around his house. He just wants to be left alone, but a strange voice above him tells him that he has to answer his door, as this is “the start of something.” Sammy resists, but finally answers the door to see a duck who’s too drunk (and broke) to buy booze. From there Sammy runs into another friend who’s in a coma and a creepy-as-hell skeleton kid who delights into scaring the shit out of people for what appears to be no good reason. From there we get a few drunk characters (and another one of them seems to be in the direct control of that voice from on high, although we never learn if it is the same voice or a different voice), a bar that’s made out of a hollowed out baby (although the baby doesn’t seem to mind, unless it was just frozen in that pose; either way it’s horrible to think about for too long), a moustache that seems to be the key to something, some poison that is imminently going to start spewing out, and a nail in the forehead. And a sasquatch-like creature. And a butterfly. Once again I’m stuck not giving too much away, as this needs to be seen by all folks who like these funny pictures on paper. You may want to have a large glass of booze on hand, but I wouldn’t recommend drinking too much before reading it. Wouldn’t want too much of this stuff to get into a drunken, vulnerable mind… $18
Update for 4/19/12
New review today for Ritual: Real Life #1 by Malachi Ward. It looks like I’ll be going to SPACE after all, due almost entirely to a gigantic order from Joe Davidson. He’ll have a table at SPACE and everybody who was too cheap/broke to buy anything from me should definitely pick up a few of his books. You should even buy them if you had no interest in helping me out, as the man has done good work with his Robot Bildungsroman series. Any further comic orders this month will go towards the “helping me eat and pay rent” fund, and my persistent unemployment lately has made that fund pretty tiny.
Ward, Malachi – Ritual: Real Life #1
Ritual: Real Life #1
Wow. I think that any fans of horror or surreal comics should just buy this sight unseen (when it comes out in a few weeks), and that almost anything that I have to say about it will just spoil bits for you. So with that said, fans of Malachi’s past work or fans in the general of the comics that Revival Press have released so far, please go on your way and wait patiently until the book is released. Or you could pick it up at the Stumptown convention on April 28th. For the rest of you, I will now try to convey what I liked about this book without giving anything away. It’s a delicate dance and it’s almost impossible to be entirely successful, but you have been warned. That cover should be your first hint that this isn’t just another typical comic, and the first page will confirm that. We see a clear night sky, then a disembodied hand floating down, then a flash of light from the hand, then the hand is gone. From there we go to a couple in bed, with the woman awake and watching bugs crawl into the skin of her lover. It’s a sign of things to come, and pay close attention to her “nonsensical” words at the beginning, as they all come together by the end. Both members of the couple wake up, they go about their day as usual, and the reader is lulled into a false sense of security rather nicely. Then the power goes out (but only in their house), and we get to the page sampled below, and I’m going to stop talking about it right now. I looked through Malachi’s website before writing this (mostly to make sure I had the right order of the title) and it looks like “Real Life” is projected to be a series of stand-alone stories, although I’m not sure if they’re all going to be horror stories. All I can say to that is: yes, please. There are far too few genuinely scary or unnerving comics out there and more are always welcome. If this ends up being a series of stand-alone tales that eventually come together or make a larger sort of sense, I’m all for that too. Just keep drawing, that’s all I ask. Malachi has clearly grabbed onto something here and it’s far better to keep that roll going than it is to stop it for “real life” and then try to start it back up again. No price (as it’s not out yet), but I’d guess at least $6 for something this hefty.
Update for 4/17/12
New review today for Robbie and Bobby by Jason Poland. The funding for SPACE is looking grim, so if anybody had any thoughts of trying to help me out a bit, buy something in the next few days or I’ll have no chance of going. Which, granted, is not your problem, but there must be some people out there who would like some comics and/or some of the stuff I’m selling through eBay or Amazon…
Poland, Jason – Robbie and Bobby
Robbie and Bobby
It took me a lot of years, but I’m officially starting to regret not paying any attention to web comics for this long. Sure, I’m relatively busy keeping up with printed small press comics (which is also why I’ve ignored text zines for years), but great stuff does exist out there that I’ve never seen. Luckily people like Jason occasionally send me a copy of their first book, so at least I can get caught up on it after the fact. If you’ve never seen any of his strips and are about to run away after seeing a picture of a kid and a robot on that cover, don’t panic: this is some uniquely strange and funny stuff, and adorable kid poses will not be found in this volume. In fact, Bobby (who is the boy, not the robot, in case you were wondering) doesn’t seem to have any kind of authority figures in his life outside of Robbie, and it’s very much up for debate whether or not Robbie is even supposed to fill that role. Instead these two get up to all sorts of (mostly) good-natured trouble that may or may not be wrapped up by the end of the strip. Unless one or both of them end up dead, but that little problem is always corrected by the start of the next strip. So what’s it all about? Bobby is a young boy whose main interests seem to be pizza, Robbie, taking part in whatever adventure crosses his path and occasionally trying to impress a girl. Robbie… is. We don’t get an origin story and we really don’t need it, but he’s always there, either taking care of or taking advantage of Bobby. Some of the many subjects tackled in this mammoth (120+ pages) book include Robbie’s awesome power form, some seemingly sweet birds taking some of Bobby’s hair, the most terrifying strip I’ve ever seen involving a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Science Cat calling for help, the war against math users, marrying a pizza, and turning into a Netflix envelope to win hide and seek. Strips range from the very occasional three panel format to several pages long and damned near all of them either made me chuckle or at least smile, which is fairly remarkable in a book this varied. There are also some of his college strips in the back (which could maybe all come together in a single volume if this one is successful, hint hint) and a few pages done by guest artists which also managed to be hilarious. Maybe you’re like me and you don’t really read webcomics, but it would be a good idea to bookmark his site now and go back through it at your leisure. You’ll thank me later…
Update for 4/16/12
New review for Stranger Two Stranger #3 by R. Hendricks. I’m still holding out hopes of getting to SPACE this weekend, so if you wanted to buy something from my eBay/Amazon lists or the store here you’d be really helping me out. Or hey, maybe everybody reading this could just mail me one dollar. Ah, that kind of thing only works in the movies…
Hendricks, R. – Stranger Two Stranger #3
Stranger Two Stranger #3
For those of you who haven’t been reading this series, a quick recap: R. Hendricks finds some of the more ridiculous/heartbreaking/bizarre Craigslist ads about missed connections and illustrates them. His illustrations generally elevate these ads into another art form entirely, and I’ve been thoroughly impressed with his efforts so far. That being said, take a moment to embiggen that sample below and read it, because it has to be the most delusional thing I’ve ever seen in any kind of personal ad. Done? Yeah, that guy actually thought that he might have a shot with that woman AFTER RUNNING OVER HER DOG. I’ve surely had my clueless moments in dealing with the ladies over the years, but that level of willful ignorance is astounding. But hey, at least he’s offering to buy her a new dog! Madness. This is an extreme example of what you’ll find in this volume, but several of them are along the same vein. There’s one from a woman who researched who David Lynch was after having a cute guy ask her about him, a guy looking for another guy he had met with huge feet, another guy who’s looking for the guy that he gave an oral exam (in a dentist’s office) to, a guy who sneakily took a picture of a the feet of a woman and another guy who’s just looking for a “female wrestling partner.” There are also a few more surreal entries, like the one that says that “love lies do not mix well with love” and another that simply says “I screw you.” Overall I’m leaving a large chunk of these for you readers to discover, as there’s no sense in ruining such a delightful surprise, but rest assured that there are some doozies in here. And if you go to his website you’ll see a few new entries that are not in this volume, which tells me he’s keeping this up, which is good news to all of us. $2
Update for 4/12/12
New review today for Silent V #5 by Kyle Baddeley. Hey, I’ve been forgetting to post the link to all my eBay stuff. It also occurred to me that I should post the link for the stuff I’m selling through Amazon, as a lot of it is related to comics, so you might have an easier time finding something there to buy to help me get to a convention in about a week. Yeah, it’s not looking good and I’m running out of time quickly, but you never know.
