Monthly Archives: November 2015

Update for 11/24/15

New review today for Don’t Cry Wolfman Chicago by Nate Beaty. And, as usual when I don’t post regular reviews for a bit, I feel like this one is lacking something, so maybe just check out his comics on his website to decide for yourself. As for the rest of the week, I may or may not get a review up tomorrow, then that’s it for the holiday week. Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Beaty, Nate – Don’t Cry Wolfman Chicago

Website

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Don’t Cry Wolfman Chicago

Clearly all of these comics I’ve talked about over all of these years are all starting to blend together, as I could have sworn I had more of Nate’s comics on this website. But I haven’t talked about anything from him since 2010, and a lot of those dates are even misleading because that’s when I proofread and reposted all the old reviews. Anyway, who cares? I’m assuming regular readers have long since trained themselves to skip over my introductory bullshit to get to the actual meat of what passes as a review from me. This is a collection of (mostly) daily strips from December of 2010 to April of 2014. It comes in chunks, and I have no idea if these were the “best of” as picked by Nathan (they all originally came out on his website) or if those were just the chunks of time when Nate was dedicated/had the time to do the daily strips. Because the vast majority of them are pretty damned funny and/or insightful. Dammit, I gave away the review ending. Ah well. Subjects in here include panic about aging, alarm clock cat, becoming a real adult with boots, exercise, doing stupid shit, a day in the life, a silent but hilarious conversation with a polite motorist while on his bicycle, finding a weird growth in his mouth and then freaking out about it by looking at the internet, getting stuff stuck in his throat (but not choking), and various pillow arrangements for the single man. He also has several strips that have nothing to do with his daily life (like imagining life as a wookie), in case you’re one of those people who hate all autobiographical comics. If that’s the case you should really get over it, as they’re clearly not going anywhere. This is a hilarious and hefty collection of daily strips, so if you’re like me (i.e. one of the few holdouts who still prefers physical comics), then you absolutely won’t regret checking this out. If you’re too poor or cheap to buy this, go to his website to look at what you’re missing, then check under the couch cushions to gather the spare change necessary to buy this.

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Update for 11/19/15

I was all set with two reviews today to make up for some lost time, but then I got home and realized that I already wrote a review for one of these comics. 14 years in, I guess it was bound to happen eventually. But hey, there’s still a new review for Bangs & Beard Diary by Aaron Whitaker and Melinda Tracy Boyce. Possibly more tomorrow, possibly not until next week. What can I say, my work is still much busier than I would have thought it would be by now.

Boyce, Melinda Tracy & Whitaker, Aaron – Bangs & Beard Diary

Aaron’s website

Melinda’s website

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Bangs & Beard Diary

Yay, a flip book! Since these are so rare, I’ll give a little description: one artist does half of the book and another one does the other half. Simple enough! But in this case it’s flipped around, so all of the strips of one artist are upside down until you turn it over. Don’t worry about having to work for it, as the halves are neatly split up. To give you some idea of how long I’ve been reading comics, the first flip book I remember seeing was with Joe Chiappetta and John Porcellino, and I don’t think Joe has drawn many comics in at least a decade now. Which sucks, as Silly Daddy was a fantastic comic. Kids, know your small press comics history! Anyway, this flip book is unique in that it features two halves of a couple, with roughly half of the diary strips being their different perspectives on events that happened that day. That’s something I don’t remember seeing before and it’s done really well here. Aaron maybe goes for the bigger laughs at the end of his strips, but Melinda’s were more effortlessly funny overall, although that opinion is clearly completely subjective. As are all opinions, so never mind. I would be curious to see more comics in this format, as I know a fair amount of couples have come together because they’re both comics artists. Pick a month and go to town, couples! It’s easy. Oh, and subjects of these strips include reflections on the homeless, going for a walk, accents, accidents, bug bites, insomnia, comfy hair, setting unrealistic reading goals, looking good while working out, having a good soul, and having a short attention span while watching tv. I added that last bit, as apparently it’s normal to watch shows while simultaneously on your laptop, but I’m a cranky old man on the subject, so don’t mind me. Anyway, it’s funny and just kind of neat to see their slightly different perspectives on certain events, and their wholly unique perspectives on the things that only happened to them. $5

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“Update” for 11/12/15

Guess what I forgot to do! That’s right, I neglected to mention that it’s election season, which means I’m too swamped at work to post any updates for at least a couple of weeks. Currently working 12 hour shifts including the weekends, so you try to find the free time in that to write about comics. Anyway, I might be able to get at least a few reviews up next week, but it’ll still be quiet this week. But hey, luckily there are 14+ years of archives for you to go through if you get bored, so try that for awhile. Pick out a random comics person or go nuts with the search bar and see what comes up.