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Cattapan, Brian – Zeek the Martian Geek #5
Zeek the Martian Geek #5 Now Available! $1
Good to see that he’s not using a parody of something in every issue. OK, so The Cat in the Hat from Dr. Seuss was in here, but just barely. This one is mostly about Zeek and his potential lady (?) friend dancing around and having fun. Zeek likes having a bit more fun than his lady friend, and that’s about as close as you get to a conflict in this. 8 pages or so of whimsical tomfoolery! Contact info is all over the place and he’s quickly amassing a pile of books to choose from, if you’re inclined to sample a couple…
Cattapan, Brian – Zeek the Martian Geek #4
Zeek the Martian Geek #4
There’s a lot to be said for being prolific, and there’s also plenty to be said for keeping all the comics he puts out fun. There’s what, three series that he’s doing on a regular basis now? Kudos to him. This issue is a parody of the X-Files (called the Ex-Iles, I don’t know why he doesn’t just use the real name, it’s not like anybody is going to sue and I think that’s fine when used in a parody anyway), and it’s basically making fun of the fact that Mulder and Scully never kissed. Or maybe they did and I missed it, I missed whole chunks of that series and still only have the vaguest idea of what was going on. Anyway, another issue in, and his Plympton-like drawing style is really growing on me. Contact info is around here, see if you can find it!
Cattapan, Brian – Zeek the Martian Geek #3
Zeek the Martian Geek #3
He sure can crank these out. Still looks kind of messy (I’m not sure if he’s using crayons for these or what), but it’s still fun. This one is about Elvis on Mars and Lisa Marie, along with his customary tremendous number of asides. One thing you can definitely say about the guy, he uses every little bit of the page. Eight pages of fun with a few parodies thrown in for a dollar, what’s wrong with that?
Cattapan, Brian – Certain Confusion #1
Certain Confusion #1
Everybody who reads this site on a regular basis knows that I mostly don’t like the traditional 3 or 4 panel comic strip with the gag ending. It’s just been done to death and I’m frankly sick of seeing it, as I think this medium is capable of so much more. That being said, this stuff wasn’t bad. A couple of groaners, sure, but some of the strips were genuinely funny and that’s about all you can hope for out of this format, in my opinion. I didn’t like the “mouth all the way open to indicate talking” thing that a lot of characters did at first, but the more I read the more it grew on me. It’s just so ridiculous that it’s hard not to laugh at after awhile. Contact info is above if you’re in the mood for strips…
Cattapan, Brian – Zeek the Martian Geek #2
Zeek the Martian Geek #2
Random, frantic fun. The book looks like it’s gotten a bit messier since the first issue. The panels are a lot busier (there are little asides everywhere) and I’m still not sure exactly what the heck was going on. I think the alien was trying to impress Winona Ryder (and he uses aliases for everybody famous, but I really don’t think that’s something you have to worry about when putting out a mini comic) by stealing all kinds of stuff. It’s a goofy, fun comic, without much substance. I also just found that he has a website, and it’s a pretty ridiculous place. Want to buy panties with Zeek on them? Check it out if you don’t believe me…
Cattapan, Brian – Zeek the Martian Geek #1
Zeek The Martian Geek #1
Do I have a word limit that I have to reach with these reviews? No? Good. I ask that because there’s not much to say about this book. It had a few funny parts, in between the parts that weren’t so funny, and then it was over. It was cute enough to be worth a look, but I don’t know if I could say the same after reading a few more issues of this. It looks like it would get really old really fast. Still, I’m just judging this one issue, and it was pretty funny. Send the man an e-mail to see what else he has laying around, I think this one was a couple of bucks.
Cattapan, Brian – Cattapan Comics
Cattapan Comics Now Available! $3
Sorry about that fuzzy cover image. I was going to remove the buttons (and did I mention that each issue comes with those buttons?) and scan the regular cover, but that man did some serious stapling, so I left it alone. Everybody reading this gets the basic idea that humor is subjective, right? What’s funny for me is not necessarily funny for thee? OK, good, because this book was almost completely unfunny. The vampire bits in particular were painfully bad, even worse because they’re puns seen coming a mile away (in the landscape of the four panel joke strip). The Zeek strips were a little better, but most of this stuff has already been published in his other books. I guess this was just an attempt to sell the buttons with a sampler of his work, which is an OK idea but would have been better if he’d gone with some of the funnier stuff. If you love his stuff and really want these buttons, I’d say this is worth getting. If you’re just looking to find out who this guy is and what he’s all about, scan around this page for a cheaper sampler platter. And just so there’s something positive here, as I do appreciate the work Brian has put in over the years (he was one of the first random submissions I got, way back in the day): I do like the buttons.
Cattapan, Brian – The Collected Zeek the Martian Geek
The Collected Zeek the Martian Geek Now Available! $10
Yes, I added “the collected” to my title, mostly so I could convey the fact that this collects the best bits of Zeek #1-7 and that this is, in fact, a hefty graphic novel and not just a really overpriced mini.
Cattapan, Brian – Zeek the Martian Geek Full Color Special #2
Zeek the Martian Geek Full Color Special #2 Now Available! $5
First things first: that is one fantastic cover. Seriously, just sit back and enjoy that for a second. As for the rest of the comic, yes, there were plenty of funny bits this time around. The main story in here is a long piece about Zeek falling into the, er, “Zone” (because apparently he couldn’t legally say Twilight Zone) and confronting an evil cat. This piece has more geek references in it than you could shake that proverbial stick at. Go ahead, read it and see! Bonus points if you get them all, or should I say shame points, as that would confirm you as a total geek. Other stories in here include the two of them going camping, bowling, playing matrix frisbee and discussing the true origins of the earth. This is a bit “inside baseball” as it were, but Brian also wins the prize for “mailing most likely to survive a nuclear explosion”. One thing about his comics, they always get here wrapped in a ball of tape so thick that I have to cut into the package o’ comics (hoping that I don’t chop anything vital), and when I get inside they’re usually wrapped in three layers of bubble tape. It’s a good precaution, as my mail carrier usually takes “do not bend” warnings as a personal challenge, but maybe one less layer of everything the next time around? Sure, you could call that rambling that is utterly disconnected to the comic being reviewed, and you’d be right, but it’s good to know for people who are going to be sending in comics, and they might be reading this, right? Right. Anyway, there are more than enough funny bits in here to make this worthwhile and really, kudos again on that cover. Oh, and I know this should be down at the bottom of the page with his other full color special, but do you know how big this entire page is at this point? I’m going to have to change the format of how pages are done one of these days purely because Brian makes so many comics. $5
