Monthly Archives: December 2016
Update for 12/30/16
New review for the last book of 2016, Snow Cone City #1 by Joseph Hewitt! Since I’m writing these reviews in advance, I assume that 2016 still has one more celebrity death to crap out before the year is up, so I’ll guess… Betty White? She seems nice, which makes her a perfect finale to this crappy year. Here’s hoping for better things next year!
Hewitt, Joseph – Snow Cone City #1
Snow Cone City #1
Sometimes, over the course of running this website, a comics artist sends me their entire back catalog of comics. Usually it’s like in this case, where there’s roughly half a dozen comics to read. Some might suggest to start with the most recent comic, as that’s the best representation of what kind of work they’re doing right now. But me? I’m a super nerd; this should be obvious because I’ve been running this site for 15 years. As such, I go back to the beginning and work my way forward. The point of all this rambling is that if this particular comic is not representative of what Joseph is doing right now in late 2016, well… oops. This also sounds like I’m leading up to crapping all over this book, and that is not my intention. This is the story of Pokemon (or the generic pocket monsters of your choosing) existing in the real world. Or at least a version of the real world that has Power Rangers/Voltron pilots keeping the peace. The monsters have been getting loose and disturbing the peace, so the crew investigates and finds the source of these monsters. Along the way Joseph gets really inventive with the odd background monsters that the nerdier among you will delight in identifying, which helps to elevate the fairly standard story about good guys coming together to beat the bad guy. It’s a fun book, is what I’m trying to say, and I’m looking forward to reading through the other comics that he sent my way to see how he’s evolving as an artist/writer. And the three books in this series are a measly $1 each!
Update for 12/28/16
New review today for Raccoon by Marie Hausauer. Is anybody who went into work this week actually doing any work, or are you just killing time reading websites like this? Discuss.
Hausauer, Marie – Raccoon
Raccoon
Is it sad that I find it odd that Marie only has an Instagram page (that I can find) and nothing else for an online presence? Isn’t that plenty? I guess I’ve gotten used to having three or four websites to link for contact information for every artist. Says the guy who doesn’t even keep up a Facebook page or any other sort of website outside of this one. Ahem! This is the story of a dead raccoon. Well, mostly it’s the story of the reactions of different people and groups of people to said raccoon. We don’t get to see how it died (one person said it died snarling, but death does funny things to faces) and are left to confront how other people handle a dead raccoon body. There’s an older couple who is mostly baffled that “somebody” hasn’t done something about it yet, there’s a group of young kids who pressure the outsider of their group into sticking his hand into the gaping hole in its belly, and finally there’s a lady who uses it as a backdrop for her poetry on her social media page. I found the reaction of the kids to be the most sympathetic, as each of them reacted in genuine ways to the body and what happened when they upset the body. Maybe it’s too close to the election of Trump (future people, assuming the printouts from this website survive, yes, we did know how bad he was), but the old people wishing somebody else would fix the problem mirrored reality a little too well for me at the moment. And yes, this is reading something into this that isn’t there, but you can’t tell me how to read/interpret comics. And you? How would you react to seeing a dead raccoon in the woods? Would you walk on by? Poke it with a stick? Post it to your social media page of choice? Or would you go in a completely different direction with it?
Update for 12/26/16
New review today for Music of Changes by Daria Tessler, the last of the current batch of mini kus comics (and #45 in the series, if you were keeping track, which you don’t really need to because they’re all self-contained. But you be you).
Tessler, Daria – Music of Changes
Is it ever possible for randomly produced art to be genuinely random? Are even coin flips truly random when looked at from an objective distance? What happens when art is mass produced using these methods and protesters are added to the mix? Those are some of the questions you’ll be asking yourself while reading this, or at least you will if we share a brain. Otherwise, don’t let me tell you how to react to art. This one starts off as a tour of the facility where these artworks are being produced and we get to see the great lengths that are followed to ensure that the art is a random as possible. From there the protesters are introduced, and their contribution to the artwork is devastating. From there I don’t want to spoil the whole thing, but four drink recipes are included, so even if you’re a soulless monster who gets nothing out of this comic, at least now you have four new drinks to try! As for me, I was engrossed by this story and think it had quite a bit to say about order, chaos, and the benefits/drawbacks of both. I’ll just leave you with a quote from a disgruntled protester that says it all: “Blast! We increased the amount of uncertainty on the Earth again.” $6
Update for 12/20/16
Happy holidays week of reviewing! That means that this is the only review of this week, but it’s for a pretty great book: I Thought You Hated Me by Marinaomi. If all goes as planned I should be back to a regular schedule of reviews next week, but if not (holidays being what they are and all), then definitely the week after that. It’s not like anybody else is really working for these next two weeks anyway.
Send review comics to: Kevin Bramer 2405 Meadow Spring Circle Columbus, OH 43235
Web banner design by Cailey Tervo
Marinaomi – I Thought You Hated Me
I probably wouldn’t have thought it possible to boil down a 35 year friendship through a relatively short graphic novel, but I would have been very wrong. Marinaomi introduces us to three young girls at the beginning (the story starts when she’s 8): herself, her best friend Harmony and the “competition,” Mirabai. Harmony gradually fades away as the story progresses (if there was any dramatic reason for this I missed it entirely), and the rest of the story is told mostly through single page stories depicting an event from a certain period of time. There are little bits from early in her schooling (including her trying desperately to get Maribai to like her by agreeing with whatever she said, not understanding that she might be testing her), her gradually getting accepted, Maribai standing up for her at a slumber party, her first experiences with booze, and watching as all of her guy friends fell in love with Maribai and not her. From there we see some time gaps as the two communicated less and less, although I’ll let you find out the reasons why for yourself. OK, I’ll spoil one tiny thing, mostly because it happened to me too recently: if there’s anybody in your past who you once loved very much (friend, I mean), and you’re not talking to them now because you assume that they hate you… maybe call them? It might turn out that they thought the same thing about you and that the whole thing is one big stupid waste of time/misunderstanding. Or I guess maybe they really do hate you, in which case you can go right back to not speaking to them. Win/win, really. Anyway, this is a great example of an enduring friendship, one that goes right back to normal after years apart, and all the little things from the past that make up such a friendship. It’s a phenomenal book, and if you’re estranged from any long time friends you really could learn something from this. $9
Update for 12/15/16
New review today for P-FE/FRAF by Ville Kallio, which is a fun title to say out loud. Go ahead, try it!
Send review comics to: Kevin Bramer 2405 Meadow Spring Circle Columbus, OH 43235
Web banner design by Cailey Tervo
Kallio, Ville – P-FE/FRAF
Baffled by that title? Yeah, I was too until I read the book. And I could tell you what it means, but what’s the fun in that? This is a story that really needed a synopsis of what was going on right there on the first page, and Ville delivered on that front. Basically it’s 40 years in the future, fascism is on the rise and whole sections of the world are getting wiped out. But the people are as relentlessly shortsighted and stupid as ever, and internet slang has become part of the way that people communicate with each other in real life. It’s a strange, terrifying future world of bright colors, odd creatures and giant robots. It’s also a book that I’ve already read twice and feel like I should read at least one more time before I come close to getting all the nuance that Ville packed into it. Speaking of, is that a… yep, that’s a unicorn in here. Huh. Somehow I missed that the first time around. So yeah, there’s a lot going on with this mini comic, and it could probably teach us a lesson or two about maybe avoiding our own fascistic future… nah, we blew that chance on the most recent election. Oh well, at least those of us that survive will get to see giant robots.
Update for 12/14/16
New review today for Finding Harmony by Carlo Carino, and it’s too cold out for me to even try and say anything clever here today.
Send review comics to: Kevin Bramer 2405 Meadow Spring Circle Columbus, OH 43235
Web banner design by Cailey Tervo
Carino, Carlo – Finding Harmony
It’s always nice when a book impresses me the more I think about it, and this is definitely one of those comics. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed reading it, but going back over the subtle details in my head has been equally rewarding. For example, this is the story of an investigator who is looking for a missing person. He also has vague psychic (sort of) abilities, in that he can’t help but sense the emotions of the people around them, and the is affected more depending on the number of people around him and the severity of these emotions. Carlo explained all this neatly on the first page while our hero was on a flight experiencing turbulence and was offering chocolate bars to the panicked passengers (because chocolate soothes anxiety). We also learn that our hero can learn a lot more about somebody by physically touching them, and while this could easily turn into an easy win for the character every time, Carlo shows it as a series of vague images and impressions, so basically it only really helps in showing the investigator who he should question next, but not exactly why he should question them. Great work all around, is what I’m saying, and it goes on from there, but if I mentioned that stuff I’d really be getting into spoilers. I can say that the investigator isn’t the only one looking for Harmony, that our hero may not be the only person of his kind around and that even the mindless hordes of enemies are explained when it’s all said and done. I haven’t seen anything from Carlo before, but after reading this I’m curious to see what he comes up with next. $5
Update for 12/12/16
New review today for Mill Girls by Caitlin Cass. So do you think we’re all going to have to learn Russian when Putin’s puppet gets put into office in a month and a half? On the bright side, I’ve always wanted to read Dostoevsky’s books in the original Russian…
Send review comics to: Kevin Bramer 2405 Meadow Spring Circle Columbus, OH 43235
Web banner design by Cailey Tervo
Cass, Caitlin – Mill Girls
Caitlin (who has to be one of the hardest working artists in comics) has veered off in a different direction for this issue, as it “captures the wordless day dream of a cotton mill worker.” Yeah, I cheated and looked that up on her website, but that was the overall impression I had anyway. Things start off with us seeing a few different women working in the mill. The faces that we can see through the windows are bleak pictures of despair, and the daydream starts with the image sampled below: with the women being completely buried under cotton while the owner made money on their suffering. In this dream the women go on strike, confront the villainous owner and, well, it’s a pretty picture of what reality should have been and I don’t want to spoil it for you. Caitlin often goes into more detail with the historical facts of her comics, but she manages to convey a lot of information here without saying a word. These women were exploited for their labor, they did work under extremely dangerous conditions, and undoubtedly many of them dreamed about seeing their bosses finally get what was coming to them. If you’ve somehow not read a single one of her comics yet I’d recommend starting with something meatier, but if you’re already a fan then this book is gorgeous and another great addition to her ongoing library of comics. $4
Update for 12/8/16
New review today for Beef With Tomato by Dean Haspiel, and I’m still collecting thoughts and opinions on the new look of the website. No, I don’t like all the empty space on the sides either, so I’ll see what I can do about it. Cailey Tervo did the new banner (and is available for freelance work, hint hint), and here’s my contact info for review purposes:
Kevin Bramer 2405 Meadow Spring Circle Columbus, OH 43235
Haspiel, Dean – Beef With Tomato
How have I managed to get this far into the website in general and life specifically with this being my first Dean Haspiel book? Granted, I reviewed Aim to Dazzle years ago and have seen his work in various anthologies, but it’s just silly that this is my first book of his. Baffling. Anyway, I’ve always liked his work, but clearly haven’t actively sought it out. With all of the artists I review that makes some sense, but it’s an oversight I look forward to correcting after this, because this book was incredible in every way. These are mostly short pieces from his time living in New York/Brooklyn, and stories include Awful George (and his awful habits with regards to cats and his mother), NBC sticks and his new neighbors, running into a car door immediately after 9/11 and the unbelievable reaction of the driver of said car, his honest but unfortunate reaction to a basketball rolling his way at the park, trying to play nice with cops who are determined to be assholes, drunkenly wandering through a snowy night, exhibitionism and the end of a bench, a murder in his building, his ex who loved to get naked and parade in front of the windows and the effect this had on the neighbors, him getting hit by a car while he played a purse snatcher for a film, and how his community came together for the big NYC blackout. There’s also a large section towards the end of the book with some written stories and some other strips that were originally from other books (or at least some of them were: I recognized his story about the day of 9/11/01 from an anthology). The kind of life he’s led shines through in every story, as he’s constantly depicting himself with various bandages and scars from incidents that rarely even make it onto the page. The man is a seriously talented writer and he’s one of the best artists working today, so if you’re like me and have somehow made it this far without buying one of his books, this is the perfect chance to fix that mistake. $14.99
Update for 12/7/16
New review today for Blammo #9 by Noah Van Sciver. Still soliciting opinions/suggestions on the new look for the website, you should still ask Cailey Tervo about any illustration work you need doing (she did that amazing new banner), and here’s my contact info for reviews:
Kevin Bramer 2405 Meadow Spring Circle Columbus, OH 43235
Van Sciver, Noah – Blammo #9
I’ve had more and more of a compulsion to get political ever since Trump got elected a few weeks ago (future people, assuming any exist after this administration, we really can’t apologize enough, and please know that more people voted for Clinton but she still lost because America), so in that vein, please read that sample image I posted below. I can’t get out of my head the idea that the sad man baby in the top hat is now the face of the resistance. Sure, I don’t know the guy (Noah didn’t either, clearly), but we’re all going to have to get over this concept of “safe spaces” to survive the next four years. Oh, and Noah also has a new comic out, which is always good news, in spite of whatever else is happening in the world. And hey, he’s just one issue away from taking an independent comic into double digits, which is vanishingly rare these days. Stories in this comic deal with his recent time at the Center for Cartoon Studies (along with a letter from R. Crumb asking him why he was wasting time training when he already knew his shit), the true story of where Blammo comics come from, various strips about 19th century cartoonists, two people with broken hearts and a complete lack of the story going in any direction you may have expected, the dangers of playing a prank with egg sacs from a preying mantis, and his time at a comics convention as a moderately famous artist. It’s a dense pile of stories and you’re pretty much guaranteed to find something you enjoy/that will make you think/that may change your life in some way. Hey, life changes can come from anywhere, so it could very well come from a comic story. He also has quite a few new graphic novels out over the last few years, so if you’ve lost track of his work somehow you have some real catching up to do. $7
Update for 12/5/16
Hey look everybody, I’ve changed the website around! And broken it in a few places, as I’m not sure how to fix the menus and my tech guy is out of the country for a few weeks. That new banner image is by the delightful, talented and incredibly patient (believe me, she had to put up with some serious delays on my end with all the work I was doing for the election) Cailey Tervo, and you should really think about hiring her for your illustration needs before she gets too famous to bother with freelance work. New review today for Everyone is Hungry by Anna Sailamaa, and since my contact information has mysteriously vanished I’ll just post it in these messages every day until I figure out how to fix it. Comments or suggestions (or tech advice), please let me know!
For reviews:
Kevin Bramer 2405 Meadow Spring Circle Columbus, OH 43235
Sailamaa, Anna – Everyone is Hungry
Regular readers by now probably know the hallmarks of a review where I don’t have much to say about a comic one way or the other. This doesn’t mean that the comic is bad or that I didn’t enjoy it, just that I don’t have much to add to the experience. In those cases I usually start off a review with a rambling bit of nonsense, trying desperately to kill time and/or fill space to give the appearance of writing a proper review. Eventually this runs out of steam, and I have to try to come up with something meaningful to say about the comic. Which would be right about now, I think. Hi, everybody who stuck through that! This is a mostly silent comic about some kids eating, them sharing their food with some birds and some flowers growing in the yard. Every bit of it is gorgeous and it’s a nice moment in time depicting a quiet meal with some natural beauty along with it. Maybe this won’t end up being one of the more memorable mini kus comics I’ve read over the years, but it is quietly charming, which is a welcome respite from the real world these days.
