Monthly Archives: January 2014
Update for 1/30/14
New review for The Casebook of Elijah Snugs #3 by Sal Sciandra. Hooray for temperatures almost above freezing!
Sciandra, Sal – The Casebook of Elijah Snugs #3
The Casebook of Elijah Snugs #3
Don’t be alarmed at the condition of that cover; my postman doesn’t seem to care for comics. If you can’t tell that there’s anything odd about that cover scan, please ignore these two sentences or pretend that they were just a figment of your imagination. Oh hi there! This issue nicely wraps up this particular Elijah Snugs mystery, but as pretty much any aspect of the book would be considered a spoiler, I’m at a bit of a loss. I should mention that I love in comics/movies/anything where a detective who is clearly smarter than the police officer gets sarcastic with them, because that has a tendency to take me right out of the story. One smart-ass remark from Sherlock Holmes or just about anybody would result in that person getting beaten, either during the conversation or later on when there would be less suspicion. Or am I just too cynical about police officers? In most cases, yes. Anyway, the last issue ended with Winston finding the missing egg that was at the heart of this case, and getting caught holding the egg by said police officer in a seemingly compromising position. Then Elijah Snugs comes into the picture, and we get to learn what has really been happening over the last couple of issues. I thought it was all tied up rather neatly, although I don’t know if it was possible for the reader to figure out the identity of the thief before the detective. That’s not a requirement, but it’s always satisfying to follow the clues and come to the solution before the detective. Or maybe my memory is just hazy about this being set up earlier on and this is all bunk. Either way this turned out to be a pretty solid mystery, with another one starting off with the next issue. Oh, and the extra story in the back is a recipe for what seems like some pretty delicious cookies, so even if you disagree with me completely on the content at least you’ll be able to make cookies after you read this.
Update for 1/29/14
New review for Dump #2 by David Robertson and a few comics artists. David draws the longer stories, in case you were curious.
Robertson, David (and various artists) – Dump #2
Dump #2
Does this actually not say “#2” on the cover? No, I guess not. I had a few questions about various things in this one before I started (that cover, the abrupt ending of the Dump story) but David covered all that in his afterward, so never mind. This one starts with the second part (of three) of the “Dump” story, this time focusing on our hero as he gets more and more miserable at work, but he does finally meet somebody he can talk to and commiserate with. I love the little touch of the Garvo-Munchers, little horror shows of eyeballs and tentacles, amidst the generally mundane tone of the rest of the story. I’m looking forward to the finale of this one in the next issue, although he might want to put the whole story in one comic when it’s finished, considering the average attention span in this day and age (myself sadly included in that). The short pieces in here dealt with trying to remember the name of that one actor guy, a bicycle ride with a nice ending, overthinking things at a party, trying to come up with a good argument in favor of voting, coleslaw, appreciating what you have and an informal history of e-mail and the internet. Read that last part and feel old! Or bitter at the youngsters because they’ve always had the answer to every question in the world at their fingertips. The other big story in this one (it’s a pretty hefty comic) is David’s 24 hour comic. He starts with a brief history of the 24 hour comics, mentions how one of the rules is to go into such things without a plan, and ends up with a pretty damned compelling comic. He goes into detail about his own history, how he always wanted to do comics but ended up trying a bunch of different things because he couldn’t see a way for comics to be taken seriously. This is where the internet comes in, as the message board for The Comic’s Journal helped all kinds of people from all over the world (David is in Scotland) come together. 24 hour comics can be a bit of a mess, so it’s always nice to see one put together as well as this, especially considering the conditions involved in making such a thing. Read it and enjoy, as there’s plenty to like in here. Don’t let that innocuous cover scare you off!
Update for 1/28/14
New review today for Monday Saddies #2 by Steve Seck. Another comic that was sadly misplaced for a few months, and another sign that I need to get this pile o’ comics organized one of these days. Which I think can happen if I wish it hard enough…
Seck, Steve – Monday Saddies #2
Monday Saddies #2
There’s no way that the “Locker Junk” story should have worked, but it ended up being pretty damned funny. I love it when comics end up working out like that, and in a perfect world it would make a great cartoon. Oh hi, did I start in the middle of the comic? Yeah, kind of. This one starts off with new characters from the last issue, so don’t be alarmed if you missed the first one. First up is the pair featured on the cover, as a bored young man suddenly has a ghost pop into his life. His immediate assumption that this ghost must be a member of the KKK was hilarious, and the revelation that this ghost died in 1983 and missed all kinds of important events could be fodder for many comics to come. Or the story could have come to an end in this issue, as the main problem seemed to be all the movies that the ghost never got a chance to watch. Anyway, there’s that initial “origin story” and another shorter piece where they try to watch the movie that the ghost never got to watch when he was alive, and they’re split up by the story of the locker objects. Ordinarily in stories like this (food items coming to life), there’s a certain uniformity to the proceedings. Either everybody can talk or nobody can, or maybe just the food items, or the inanimate objects, whatever. This time around none of that holds, as the main characters are a sandwich in plastic, a can of peanuts (?), a rubber band and a banana. Their only contact with “god” comes when he/she puts items into the locker or takes them out, and the items have a wild range of intelligence. There’s the horrific dirty gym bag that can relate on the level of watching a video of a farting donkey with the can of peanuts, the “elders” (who aren’t very smart, just old) and a couple of items that had clearly lost their mind from being neglected for so long. Again, it shouldn’t work as a story, but Steve pulled it off beautifully. Oh, and that last image of god may or may not haunt you, depending on your religious upbringing. $5
Update for 1/24/14
Late update before another miserably snowy weekend around here for Pang The Wandering Shaolin Monk Volume 2: Winter Worm, Summer Grass. Huzzah for a weekend of not leaving the house!
Update for 1/23/14
This week has clearly gotten away from me a bit, so here are two new reviews for Star Pilot #10 by Frank Swartz and Walrus by Brian John Mitchell & Jared Catherine. More tomorrow probably!
Mitchell, Brian John & Catherine, Jared – Walrus
Walrus
And here I thought comics about a post-apocalyptic hellscape had already been done pretty much every way humanly possible. I had failed to consider the possibility that there was still a story out there about a walrus who played the blues on street corners and how he would get by after society ended. Not to give anything away, but he did pretty well, all things considered. This seems to be one of Brian’s series that are one and done, not one of his many ongoing series, so I don’t want to give too much away. But if you’ve ever had questions about how a musician would maintain his artistic integrity in a lawless society, or whether or not a walrus would still have trouble finding clothes that fit in such a world, you’re in luck. Jared Catherine does a great job drawing this material, although I am curious whether Jared drew this because of his walrus drawing skills or whether Brian had a long search to find somebody who could handle it. It’s well worth checking out, and as always if you’re going to check out his stuff, my advice is to just send him $5 to get a wide sampling of what he has available. Because believe you me, he has a lot of comics available, and damned near all of them are worth checking out. $2, and I just checked his website, where he has an ongoing offer to give out the next ten mini comics he releases for $10 ($15 for you international folks), which would have saved you money on this one if you knew about it, so maybe you should start it up now.
Swartz, Frank – Star Pilot #10
Star Pilot #10
Has there ever been a leading man named “Chest” before? Because “Chest Palmero” is one of the better names for a boxer that I’ve ever heard. This comic is unconnected from past issues, so don’t worry about being lost by that “#10” on the cover. Things start out with Chest stealing some food as a little kid in 1932. He’s chased down by the robot police (suggesting that maybe this is not quite the 1932 that we were thinking of) and, given the chance to surrender or fight, he fights. We don’t see what happens in that fight but instead are moved forwards to 1955 as Chest is defeated by a robot for his boxing championship. From there we get to learn a bit more about these robots and Chest’s plan to take them all down. I love how damned near every panel that Frank draws has such a manic energy to it. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen biting into an apple done as an action panel, and there’s a constant sense of forward motion to go along with all the general weirdness. The perspective is a little bit off here and there (when Chest chokes the homeless guy I’d swear the guy’s head shrinks quite a bit), but that’s a minor quibble for such a fun story. Buy some of his books, the guy deserves a reward for making it to double digits. $2
Update for 1/17/14
New review for Loud Comix #2 by Jamie Vayda and a gaggle of writers. Is a half dozen writers a gaggle? I always get these terms confused. Happy weekend everybody!
Vayda, Jamie (artist) – Loud Comix #2
It’s odd to start a review with the back cover of a comic, but the back issue of this one has a hilarious image of a frazzled Jamie Vayda promising that a new issue of this anthology will come out every two months. That’s ambitious as hell and I wish him all the best, but it seems like an impossible deadline to meet. Six issues of this series in 2014? I hope that I’m wrong, but that seems impossible. As for the stories, they’re another solid bunch, all illustrated by Jamie, and I have to say that I’d like their odds better of getting six issues out next year if another artist or two illustrated a story here and there. Stories in here include one of the more unique scenarios I’ve ever seen for a zombie outbreak from Darin Martinez, Lester the Porn Fairy by Erika Lane (which is either exactly what you’re expecting or nothing like what you’re expecting, depending on what’s in your head), an attempt to one-up that guy who jumped from space back down to earth last year by Christian Maes, a song about Electric Frankenstein by Sal Conzonieri, a night at the Apollo that doesn’t go all that well by Eric Todd (but it is funny as hell), and the finale of that story from last issue by Alan King. If you don’t remember that one the big question was how the guy ended up with a fake leg, and I could not have been happier with the answer. I think people should be lining up to support this effort, as a regular anthology series with a rotating cast of writers sounds like a great thing to me, so give this and/or the first issue a shot. $6 seems a little steep to me for a mini comic, but in a time where the popular Marvel stuff is going for $4 I don’t see how anybody could be expected to ask much less than $6 for a self-produced comic. Those old timey mini comic prices that are still in my head are a thing of the past, so don’t mind my nostalgia for an age of cheap things. $6
Update for 1/16/14
New review for an international anthology: RhiZome #1, edited by Rob Jackson & Kyle Baddeley-Read. Expand your horizons, mythical sheltered Americans that I just made up in my head!
Baddeley-Read, Kyle & Jackson, Rob (editors) – RhiZome #1
RhiZome #1
I can’t help it, it’s just been beaten into me over the years: I get nervous whenever somebody puts the first part of a continuing story in an anthology. I’ve been proven wrong to be nervous about this before, but I’ve also been proven right plenty of times. Which is to say that Rob Jackson has a fascinating first part of a story in here, and I’d really rather the rest of the story wasn’t lost forever because there was never a second issue of this series. Eh, don’t mind me, I’m working on being less pessimistic in the new year. The other stories are all self-contained, so no worries there. These other stories include Max Mose’s tale of a civilization wandering the stars in search of more of the nuclear weapons that destroyed their homeworld, Kyle Baddeley-Read and his piece on the benefits of child slavery (to the children), John Robbins with his story of a man who discovers a giant hole in his stomach and his conversations with his therapist about it, and Pete Batchelor’s tale of a man who thought that he had outsmarted the apocalypse by freezing himself and thawing himself out in 2130. Pretty great stuff all around, and it all added up to a really odd and fantastic vibe for the book as a whole. Oh, and Rob’s story, as I mentioned, won me over completely. It’s all about a man who’s annoyed at getting his new job while also happy because he desperately needed the money. Which wouldn’t be that odd of a story, but this man goes into his first day and finds another man there who has his name and who kind of looks like him. This is more than just a simple coincidence or there’d be no story here, obviously, but the direction that it seems to be taking has me really curious to see what happens next. So check it out, is what I’m saying. Even if future parts of Rob’s story disappear completely (and he has a pretty good track record of finishing his stories so far), then this works perfectly well all by itself.
Update for 1/14/14
New review today for Lucy the Octopus: I’ll Take What I Can Get by Richy Chandler. Have I actually managed to put “14” for the year on top of these updates eery time this year? I’m afraid to go back and look, although it’s not so bad if you’re still doing it in January. If you’re still doing it in May, that’s when it becomes problematic.
Chandler, Richy – Lucy the Octopus: I’ll Take What I Can Get
Lucy the Octopus: I’ll Take What I Can Get
See? It couldn’t stay all bad for Lucy forever! Oh sorry, spoiler alert. Sort of. It’s complicated! This second collection of Lucy strips does a great job of expanding the cast of characters and giving a few of them more screen time, which is going to go a long way towards building a big universe for this crew. Assuming that Richy is going to keep going with this, which is never a sure thing, but judging from the response from readers that he got offering Lucy life advice it looks like he already has quite a fan base built up. Anyway, the main story in this collection deals with Lucy going to a concert for her favorite band, said band breaking up right after the show and Lucy auditioning for the vacant job of guitarist with the band. Her uncoolness shines through to the band even though they enjoyed her playing, so she doesn’t get the job initially, but things change a bit when she goes back to audition again wearing a disguise. Other subjects in here include her siblings trying to make her more presentable for the audition, another sibling getting the mistaken impression that Lucy is the favorite (with a hilarious strip featuring her father trying to correct the record in that regard, which is only seen as more proof of favoritism), checking in with Sandra from the last issue to find that she’s currently stuck holding the bags for the cool kids (or, as she puts it, climbing the social ladder), and the social pecking order of the school all in one strip. There are two odd artistic choices in here, although I’d hesitate to call either of them “bad” (mostly because I’m not the creator of the strips and cannot judge such things). He runs out of time on one strip, and instead of delaying it for a week he puts out the one finished panel, two black and white pencil drawings and one final panel apologizing for just not having the time to get the strip done. It ended up serving as a nice cliffhanger for the next strip, so no harm done, it’s just that I don’t recall ever seeing a late strip handled quite that way. The other oddity was the final three strips, as they each show a conversation from three different points of view. There’s Lucy recommending a theme for a class project that the other two students liked a lot, but they couldn’t say they liked it without publicly agreeing with Lucy, which is social death. It’s interesting to see how they each processed this contradiction, but this also means that Richy got to use the same strip three weeks in a row and just change the words, so I guess your level of cynicism will determine how you view this. There are a few bonus bits in the back, including Richy briefly drawing another strip, another artist drawing his and Lucy as a human. It’s a solid pile of strips and the concept as a whole is steadily improving, so check it out. And, as it’s a web series, there are plenty of free samples up at his website…
Scalzo, Kevin – Sugar Booger #1
Who likes their stories about candy to also be filled with nightmares? If it’s you, then you’re in luck! This is the story of an overexcited creature (monster?) who eats large amounts of candy, which transforms his boogers into candy for other people/creatures. Or it turns it into some kind of narcotic drug, it’s never made clear. But is if funny and/or disturbing? Oh yes. Yes, it is. There are basically two stories here, even though there is no kind of dividing line to indicate different stories. First there’s a brief introduction of Sugar Booger and his ability to transform candy into boogers for all his odd friends. The other story is the one depicted on the cover, where he meets up with a couple of (rightly skeptical) kids to share his treats with them. Things get a little dicey when the parents of these two kids show up, and why wouldn’t it, as that thing is almost certainly a monster. Kevin did a great job with the parents too, with their giant anime eyes and gross, gross perspiration/crying. It’s a three issue limited series, with the other issues coming out throughout 2014 (although the promotional material I got had these all coming out in 2013, so it’s good to see that fairly major comic companies can make the same mistake as me trying to write a check in the first week of 2014), so there’s plenty more of this to come. I guess this may be considered “all-ages,” although I have no idea where that line is any more. I recently discovered “Adventure Time” (always late to the party, that’s me), and if that’s considered appropriate for kids of all ages, I’d have to throw this in the pile too. It’s worth a look and I’m interested to see how this story evolves over the next couple of issues. $5.95
Update for 1/9/14
New review today for Inspiration Point by Spencer Hicks, which actually came out in 2014. Always up to the minute with the latest comics around here, that’s me! Never mind all the times that didn’t happen…
Hicks, Spencer – Inspiration Point
Inspiration Point
Hey look, it’s the first comic I’ve seen with “2014” written inside of it! Why yes, I am easily impressed, why do you ask? This comic is about… well, it’s about a few different things, some stated outright, and some implied and referred to obliquely. Which makes it tricky to review, as if I get into the implied stuff then you won’t be able to discover it for yourself naturally, which means this will be another mess of a review, which should really stop being shocking after 12+ years of me rambling about comics. This one starts off with a man looking up safe places to go jogging in his area and heading out right around dawn. There’s someone sleeping on his couch and covered in cats, but we don’t learn the story of that person quite yet. From there the bulk of the story deals with this man and the people he encounters on the jogging trail, how they react to him, how he reacts to them, theories about what they might be up to, and what this man is doing jogging anyway. All along the way he’s also clearly thinking about that person on the couch, but trying very hard not to think about it or pretend that it has any importance to him. The comic would work just fine as an observational comic about the various types of people on a jogging trail and the experience of somebody who is clearly not a regular jogger, but it’s the subtext of that sleeping person that turns this into a great comic. And I’ve already made it clear that I’m not going to get into the specifics about that, so just take my word for it that this is a pretty damned great comic and you should check it out.
