Monthly Archives: February 2016
Update for 2/29/16
Happy Leap Day! Is that a thing to celebrate? Eh, we can figure it out in 2020. New review today for Mixmen Hyperworld #1 by Bob McHenry, Alister Blackthorn and Molly McHenry.
McHenry, Bob; Blackthorn, Alister; McHenry, Molly – Mixmen Hyperworld #1
Mixmen Hyperworld #1
I should make one thing clear early on in this review: this comic series is more or less intended to be an origin story of sorts for characters and settings that are going to be used in a tabletop game that the creators of this comic is putting together. I’m still going to judge the comic on its merits, but it should be noted that the people responsible for this have big plans and show every sign of having their act together enough to make this happen. That being said, this is a #1 of a series and there’s still no #2 listed on the website. Let’s just say that I’ve learned to take this sort of thing with a grain of salt over the years until I see tangible proof that things are progressing. Anyway! This is the story of a planet that was terraformed (for lack of a better word; giant aliens put this planet together seemingly from scratch) for the purpose of being used as a prison planet. There were three zones and one warden (i.e. character with super powers) was put in charge of each zone. As time went on the population exploded, necessitating several more wardens, and after many years pass the place seems to be clearly broken down into three groups: the dominant group, the “police,” and the scholars. All this information is neatly laid out before we meet the hero of the story, or at least our introduction to this world: Takota, a “recycled” former warden. We also get to see him trying to figure out his powers, which was handled about as well as I’ve seen in comics. The guy was delightfully out of his league in testing his limits and it was nice to see our hero being fallible right off the bat. Yes, I may have seen one too many “instant savior” science fiction movies over the years. I still have lots of questions after reading this, but the creators seem very aware of potential questions and sure seem like they know what they’re doing. I’m hoping for the best, as this series intrigues me, but one issue isn’t really enough to judge a series one way or the other. I think it’s worth a look, although $7.50 for a comic seems a little expensive to me. At least you can get it for $5 from a convention, so try to find them there.
Update for 2/24/16
New review today for Men’s Feelings #2 by Ted May, just in case you were wandering around in your daily lives without knowing that Ted May had a new comic out.
May, Ted – Men’s Feelings #2
Men’s Feelings
Ha! I just started writing the review for this issue, checked back to my website to make sure I had already reviewed the first issue (yes, I do sometimes use my own website as a resource), and realized that I had started writing the review exactly the same way that I started writing that review. I wonder how often that happens? Never mind, I don’t want to know. Anyway, this is a new comic by Ted May, which is always a good thing. All of these stories refer back to Men’s Feelings in some way or another, sometimes obliquely, sometimes straight up. Subjects include a man going on a walk with the son of the woman he’s dating and trying to win him over, what goes through your head on a flight in regards to the person sitting next to you, the efficacy of wake-up calls in hotels, a bad pick-up line, the option of going towards the light, technically following mom’s order with eggs, football, and praying. The story of the man trying to connect with the son of his girlfriend was my favorite, mostly because that’s as hilarious of an ending to that scenario as there is in the world. I also laughed several times, which is always welcome in the realm of comic books. It’s a great book, that’s what I’m saying, which you should already know if you’ve read Ted’s other comics. If you haven’t, there’s still time to rectify your terrible error in judgment! $5
Update for 2/23/16
New review today for 30 Miles of Crazy: Another Round by Karl Christian Krumpholz. Internet connection spotty for no good reason, so here’s hoping all this goes through…
Krumpholz, Karl Christian – 30 Miles of Crazy: Another Round
30 Miles of Crazy: Another Round
If there’s one rule about autobio comics, whether they’re daily strips or regular old comics, that everybody should stick to, it’s this: have something to talk about. That’s it! The “something” could be deeply personal, or absurd, or just observances of the people around you. I’m happy to report that Karl nailed that last one, as this is a collection of stories told (usually) at bars, or at least dealing with drunken people. And, if you’ve ever been to more than a few bars, you know that that is where the best stories often come from. These were originally single page strips that were published on a weekly basis on his website (and he’s still keeping up with them as of late February 2016), so there’s no greater narrative arc here, but who needs it? Some of these stories are funny, some baffling, and some are downright sad. Subjects include the various ways that people get kicked out of bars (as a recurring theme in these strips it’s hilarious), what counts as an ID, eating a sandwich that was left at a bus stop, getting lectured by a bum about forgetting the lesson of Super Size Me, drunken acrobatics, drunkenly hitting on ladies on a bus, picking the appropriate area to vomit in, finding his people at a comic convention, and the troubles with a language barrier while trying to find a little person prostitute. That covers about half the book anyway; the other half is up to you to discover. Unless you just read them all for free at his website, you cheapskate you. Overall this is a fantastic collection of stories and overheard conversations and I defy anybody not to enjoy reading this. As for me, I don’t go to bars much lately, but this comic actually has me missing them, which is no small feat. $15
Update for 2/19/16
New review today for the welcome return of an old favorite: You Can’t Get There From Here #35 by Carrie McNinch. Happy weekend everybody!
McNinch, Carrie – You Don’t Get There From Here #35
You Don’t Get There From Here #35
Hey daily diary comics artists, you think you have it rough? You think it’s tough to stick to a daily drawing schedule? Well, Carrie sprained BOTH of her wrists and still didn’t miss a day. Good luck topping that! Granted, for all I know she went back and finished the strips when she was healed, but I didn’t get that impression while reading the book. She did sometimes go more minimal with her images, but only slightly, and not missing a beat after having that happen is incredibly impressive. If you have no idea what this series is you have some serious catching up to do, as very few small press comics outside of King Cat can boast about getting up to 35 issues in a series. Basically these are diary strips about Carrie, and she’s a master of the format and could teach some young cartoonists a few things. A lot of her strips are regular three panel stories, but when she goes on vacation or has a lot to talk about she seamlessly switches over to using between a few and several pages to cover the events of that day. She even puts the date and the concept of the comic at the start of each issue (this one covers October-December of 2014), so anybody who does stumble across this will know quickly what they’re picking up. Subjects in here include spending time with her cats, babysitting the kids of her friends (I think; the danger of missing a few issues of a daily diary comic is that some of the specifics fly out of my head), taking a trip to Oaxaca (and then reading the Steve Lafler comic set in that area), and dealing with menopause (mostly the hot/cold flashes and what she calls her “menopause belly”). It’s a great comic by a great artist, and if you have any sense you’re already following her series. If not, now’s your chance to get caught up! You can buy most of her books through Spit and a Half (from John Porcellino) or she has plenty of samples up at her website.
Update for 2/18/16
This week got away from me in a hurry, but there’s a new review today for Macro Groan #6 by Sara Lautman. More tomorrow probably!
Lautman, Sara – Macro Groan #6
Macro Groan #6
Right off the bat, I have to commend Sara on her use of panels. Yeah, that’s not something I usually notice/make note of, but her characters (and words) flit in and out of them so regularly that it’s impossible not to notice. You could say that they’re just the usual rushed strip comics, and the mess with the panels is actually sloppiness, but I don’t think that’s the case. What it actually means I’ll leave to the fine folks at The Comics Journal or some other suitably erudite operation, but I liked the effect that it had on her strips. On the other hand, some of these strips come from sources that don’t come across very well in a comic form (usually lined graph paper or sometimes maybe just bad copies), but that’s an occupational hazard whenever you make mini comics. Enough about the margins, how about the content? These are mostly single page strips about Sara’s life and whatever is going through her head at the time. This book covers the end of her 20’s, to give you some idea of where her head is at, but subjects include how The Simpsons never fails to center her (I can relate there), how Portlandia is barely even satire, shouting “buffet style!” everywhere she goes, enjoying being an adult on Halloween (and not enjoying the day after), the embarrassment of giant yogurt containers, swimming, bonding with her plants, and incest. And that’s just (roughly) the first half of the book! It’s a solid collection of strips, and since this is #6 it’s clearly something that she’s been doing for awhile. My only remotely negative comment would be that a few of the strips get awfully dark (literally, not in terms of subject matter), but it was very few strips and I could still read them all. Overall I’d recommend this highly to whoever still loves mini comics out there. $5
Update for 2/12/16
New review today for Nothing Whatsoever All Out In The Open by Akino Kondoh. Happy weekend everybody, if you’re near Ohio it looks like a good weekend to not leave the house at all. Unless you like freezing!
Kondoh, Akino – Nothing Whatsoever All Out In The Open
Nothing Whatsoever All Out In The Open
Ah right, this is the part where I have to boil this comic down for you. I was sitting here and absorbing what I read when I remembered that that won’t be enough for a review. The theme of this comic seems to be the moments when you’re almost out of reach of a feeling or event, but still consciously aware that it might be a real thing. Too vague? OK, how about “stories about surreal happenings that are more real to the person that what is actually happening around them”? That’s closer, maybe. Anyway, this one contains three stories, and after the first one you have to flip the book over and read the remaining stories like manga (i.e. right to left). First up is Metamorfosa, in which we see a young woman cleaning her apartment for a date. While she’s doing this something hard and round falls from her eye, which leads to her entering this thing with her mind, leading to some problems with reality when her date shows up. I probably missed some of the nuance from the other stories because my American brain isn’t trained to handle reading right to left (either that or the sideways text blocks threw me off), but other stories include this young woman interacting with her child and an enticing black hole, and a feeling she has right before sleep that someone is trying to drag her away. This someone starts off as a child and becomes more menacing as the story goes on, but I won’t ruin the ending for you. After reading these stories I’m mostly left with a vague sense of unease, that I’m missing things out of the corner of my eye while I’m concentrating on writing this. After all, for all I know there’s somebody behind me too, waiting for me to drift off just a little bit so they too can drag me away into a cabinet. In other words, read this and enjoy! $6
Update for 2/10/16
New review today for Ryokan by Graeme McNee, and it’s always fun to see the stamps that come from comics from Japan. Only I get to see that though, not you guys.
McNee, Graeme – Ryokan
Ryokan
People who have been reading this website for a long time have probably figured out by now that comics based on poems are usually not my favorite thing. Not always, as very few rules are universal, but mostly that’s the case. Oddly, that rule does not apply to zen Buddhist poets. Who knew? This is a collection of five poems from Ryokan, a man who studied under zen Buddhism but then spent the second half of his life living in a hut, happily interacting with the people around him and, by all accounts, leading a pretty damned great life. It’s great that Graeme went to such trouble to include details about the life of that man, as that information really helped flesh out what would otherwise have been an ephemeral collection of stories. He even includes a self-portrait that the monk did, most likely in the early 1800’s; that smile alone helps show why Graeme was fascinated by the man. Anyway, it’s difficult to review five illustrated poems without telling you exactly what they’re about, so I’ll just say that he wrote about what he knew: life in his hut, his surroundings, and fleeting memories of his past. It’s all very minimalistic, the brief sentences and the imagery, and they go well together. For everybody who wants to go live in a hut by themselves but doesn’t want to be cut off from society completely, check this out and see what it’s like! For everybody else who likes the idea of uninterrupted contemplation time, you’d also enjoy this.
Update for 2/8/16
New review today for Palefire by MK Reed & Farel Dalrymple. On the off-chance that you’ve been reading this website for the last ten years or so, this is a different Palefire than what MK did in the past. Sort of. Eh, read the review and see for yourself.
Reed, MK & Dalrymple, Farel – Palefire
Hey wait a minute, I thought that title looked familiar! MK wrote and drew this story years ago, probably with a few changes, under a series of mini comics called Pale Fire. Now it’s drawn by Farel Dalrymple and called Palefire. In case you hang out at the oddest/best bar in the world, there’s a trivia question answered for you. I looked back at a few pages I posted in older reviews and the dialogue is almost identical. So if this is basically a remake of a comic that’s already out there (if out of print), is it worth checking out? Assuming you’re one of the dozens (or hundreds; I’m just going with the average mini comic audience size) of people who have the entire original story, yes it is. Because Farel Dalrymple is the artist, and he can do amazing things with facial expressions. And MK writes some of the most realistic dialogue in comics. Put those two things together and you have a hell of a powerful comic. Oh right, I haven’t even told you what it’s about yet. It’s about a high school girl named Alison who has a crush on a kid who is known around school as a firebug, as a kid who blew up the hand of his own brother with fireworks. Naturally, her mom doesn’t care for this idea, but instead of stating that fact as a stereotypical parent who finally gives an ultimatum before being ignored completely, MK is able to write all of these people as humans with recognizable motivations. That doesn’t sound like a strange thing, but as somebody who reads a whole bunch of comics/books, the teenage kid/parent/sibling dynamic is difficult to get sounding natural, and MK nails it. Anyway, Alison meets up with this firebug at a party (along with three other potential suitors who each underwhelm her in different ways), we get to see various interactions with these people, and finally we get to the image from the cover: Alison in a secluded spot with the firebug, with him going off into the woods with a can of gasoline. That’s about as close to a spoiler as I care to get, but this is one of those comics that just makes me happy. Mostly because it’s a great comic by itself and needs no other qualifications, but also because I’ve been reading minis from MK for over a decade now and this reads like a natural evolution of her talents, and the high point of her work. For now, I should add, because I only see bigger and better things in her future. Especially if she’s sticking to just writing these days, as that’s bound to cut down on production time. That’s how all that works, right? Never any issues with artists not getting the pages in on time? Yep, that’s what I thought. $12
Update for 2/4/16
New review today for the Big Planet Comics Anthology by various artists, mostly from the area of the comic store. I should really do an anthology theme week some time soon. Look for that to possibly happen (or not) in the near future!
Various Artists – Big Planet Comics Anthology
This is an anthology with mostly artists from the area around Big Planet Comics, meaning mostly the Washington D.C. area. I’ll start this review with a complaint about anthologies in general and this one in particular, and this is a complaint I’ll be putting in all anthology reviews until comics society as a whole fixes it. For an anthology you have three ways to let readers know who did each story. You can list the title and author at the bottom or top of each page (still my preferred method), list a table of contents with the page numbers clearly listed there and on each page (that last bit trips up more people than you would think) or you could have the writer/artist clearly take credit for each story either at the beginning or the end of it. This anthology went with the second option, mostly, choosing instead to include a table of contents with page numbers listed… and no page numbers listed on each page. It’s not the worst thing in the world for a 48 page anthology, but it’s still annoying. Anyway! This was still a solid anthology overall, and a nice sampler of the work of some of these artists. Highlights for me included the Horse Story by Jensine Eckwall, a Mark Burrier comic that I hadn’t seen (check the archives, the man has been around for ages), Saman Bemel-Benrud’s tale of internet culture mixing with real life, Robin Ha and the horror of The French Cows, Box Brown’s horrifying tale of what magic is, Angelica Hatke’s story of a hen laying a football egg and what comes after, and Jared Morgan’s harrowing tale of life inside the first level of a video game. I didn’t actively hate any of the stories here, always a plus, and it was a nice mix of talent. Just maybe make it easier to find each individual story next time? Comicland, maybe we can get together and make a law on this. $5
Update for 2/2/16
New review today for Making Jamie by Kyle Bravo. If you’re having a baby soon, this comic almost certainly has useful information for you. If you’ve already had a baby, laugh at the hapless soon-to-be parents! If you’ve never had a baby and have no plans to do so, my review should cover that perspective. You win either way!
Bravo, Kyle – Making Jamie
Making Jamie
Man, talk about a comic that takes you on a journey. Or me, anyway; I have no idea what journey you’ll have on reading this book. I should point out that I’m single and childless, meaning that a book full of diary strips detailing a pregnancy and the early days of a baby wasn’t something that I was really looking forward to reading. Those negative thoughts were confirmed by the early strips which, frankly, looked like garbage. Lousy images, text that spilled all over the place, they were just a mess. An obvious hazard of doing a daily strip, where quantity always wins out over quality, but I almost stopped reading this about a dozen pages in. And yet, by the time it was all said and done, I’ll really glad I stuck with it. The art improved, for one thing. It was a gradual change, but it was also obvious that Kyle was taking more time on it, and that gradual improvement of the quality continued all the way through the end of the strip. I would have understood if it hadn’t, as I expected it to stop altogether once the baby was born, but instead it kept getting better all the way up to the end. Oh right, I should give you a synopsis of the book that I’m reviewing. Kyle and his wife Jenny are about halfway through her pregnancy when this book starts up. We see lots of different happenings, their uncertainties about what they’re in for, picking out a baby name (although naming the book after the baby took a bit of the drama out of those strips), planning out future work obligations, finding a doctor, etc. Then the baby is born, and we get to see roughly a month of life with a new baby. Kyle even wraps it up with a six page afterward, detailing why he did the comic, how he got into comics at all, and what he has planned now, if anything. He even mentions that he read American Elf (the daily strip by James Kochalka) AFTER he finished his series, which is kind of hilarious. I go back and forth on the value of daily strips all the time, as is evidenced by even a quick search through the archives here of my reviews of other daily strip collections. Sometimes they seem to go on for years past when they make any sense, sometimes I never see the point of them to begin with, and sometimes they’re perfect little sections of time with a fascinating story to tell. I wasn’t expecting this book to fall into the latter category, but it completely won me over by the end. And if you’re having a kid or planning to have a kid, I have to imagine there’s plenty for you to learn from this book. And if Kyle is stuck on a comics project to start next, he could always tell the story of how he became religious in his mid 30’s. That was a throwaway fact from a few strips, but it’s the kind of thing that always makes me curious. $10
