Blog Archives
Stephens, Craig – What Else?
What Else?
One thing I can’t get enough of is when new comics creators, when they’re starting out, decide to tackle multiple genres. Whether it’s working out the kinks of just seeing which one they’d like to do the most, the results are pretty much always interested to folks like me who read a ton of these things. With this one Craig decided to tell the story of his Grandfather, from an independent young man to an old man who is fighting to keep his life. It’s a fascinating story, which I won’t go into here (why ruin it?), but one of the main pitfalls for a book like this is getting overly sentimental, which I’m happy to report wasn’t the case at all. Oh, don’t get me wrong, there’s emotion and sentiment here, as they should be. But it never gets to be overpowering, and you’re left with a fairly honest tribute to a man who definitely had a few failings. I also loved how the narration for this is told over a kitchen table, with different memories of how things really were thrown in whenever somebody brought it up. This is easily Craig’s best serious book to date, and it’s great to see him getting better and better each time out. Seriously, check out some of these minis before one of the independent publishers wises up and starts putting these things out. $2.50
Stephens, Craig – Monsters Unleashed! #1
Monsters Unleashed! #1
Man am I glad that there’s a “#1” next to that title. That means that there are going to be more of these! Or at least there will be if the unverse loves me. This is VERY much in the style of the old Tales From the Crypt books, which is great by me. Honestly, this is going to be a very biased review because I thnk that even if this book was blank, after a cover that touted “Zuto the Mighty” I was pretty much bound to love it. The stories in here include the real reason why a cheap and effective carburetor never got made, the debut of Zuto the Mighty, and, of course, Kahalith, Demon From the Nether Darkness. And I won’t ruin a single thing about any one of them, as they all have one of those endings that the EC comics were so famous for. I will say that this is now my favorite of his books, if that tells you anything. It’s $2.50 and it looks like there are even Zuto t-shirts at his website…
Stephens, Craig – Blue Collar #2
Blue Collar #2
Well, any ambivalence I had about this guy has vanished after this issue. The bulk of the book is the Negotiator storyline, and while I’m still not sure where it’s ending up, it’s looking like the ride is going to be fascinating. Before that you had a wonderful “what if” kind of conversation about what would have happened in the Lord of the Rings world if the wraiths had found the ring before Frodo had even gotten started and how Orc society might have developed. Also in here is a short story about leaving the art room a mess and making excuses for it (the weakest of the bunch, mostly because it went nowhere, but still not bad), the sample and a different interpretation of The Scream by Munch. Good stuff all around, there’s some real potential here and I’m really curious to see where this whole Negotiators thing is going. $3 is maybe a buck too much for your standard black and white mini, but it’s a minor quibble. Contact info is up there!
Stephens, Craig – Blue Collar #1
Blue Collar #1
Ah, another #1 from somebody I’ve never heard of. Actually, Craig has a strip in the back of the book where he mentions that this is his first comic, so that helps explain why I’ve never heard of him. As for the comic, for a first effort, it’s pretty good. The dialogue was a bit too “comic-booky” at times (a quick definition of that, for those of you who think I’m just making stuff up, is dialogue that sounds like it would never come out of the mouth of a real human being), but that’s a minor complaint and usually something that gets worked out in a few issues. He sent me #2 with this and says that #3 is on the way, so chances are he’s already worked through that. Stories in here include a mooching roomate, Mean Muggin’, a tramp breaking up a band, the supervillain known as the Old Geezer, and the Negotiators. That last one was a pretty innovative story, all about a class of people whose sole purpose is to, of all things, negotiate their way out of trouble. One of them decides, after everything is pretty much settled on his world, to go somewhere else and see if he can help some other people. I’m curious to see where he’s headed with this, as this continues in the next issue and has some potential. Overall, some interesting concepts and a pretty good looking book. Here’s a website, this one is $3.
Stephens, Craig – Working Stiff #3
Working Stiff #3
Watch out, name change! No idea why, as Blue Collar was a fine title. Oh well, whatever float his boat. And if anybody out there read comics as a kid (a fairly likely proposition, as you’re here, aren’t you?) then that cover just screams nostalgia. Pretty much all the Marvel comics when I started reading them had covers like that, something very dramatic that made you just have to pick it up… but then the cover image never happens in the book! Cheater! Ahem. Anyway, the Negotiator storyline continues here, and it seems to be veering a bit into schlock silliness, at least with some of the dialogue. Whether or not that’s a bad thing is entirely up to you. To me, this is looking like a longer story, so I’m still waiting to see how it all plays out when it’s read together. Also in here is a silly story about the devil appreciating a young punk’s artwork, a cautionary tale about getting too smart for your own good, a parody of those ads about a skinny guy getting sand kicked in his face on the beach, and a genuinely odd note that Craig apparently received after doing some digging under an overpass. Pretty good mix of stuff here again, and I have a couple of issues to review that aren’t part of this series, so I should be getting a much better idea of what else he’s capable of very soon. Contact info up there, $3!
