Blog Archives

Cater, Donovan – Ploy: Rags (with TP Whited)

Website

Ploy:Rags (with TP Whited) Now Available!$1.50

Whatever happened to all the comics with a ton of text and static art? Seemed like there were a lot of them back in the day (or maybe I was just reading a lot of them along with Cerebus before that one ran off the rails). Well, whatever the case, that’s what you have here, as TP Whited has crafted a pretty interesting shortie about a corrupt, broken-down journalist who gets a story that would ruin the career of a young FBI agent. He doesn’t exactly work for a reputable newspaper, so they love the story, but he soon gets more information that tells him that this FBI agent may also be an anarchistic plant, which leads to a bit of soul searching before things get really interesting. Hey, I already told you more of the plot than I usually do, what do you want from me? Anyway, it all works, from the blank-faced, hopeless newsmen to the wonders of this prose. Good stuff all around, I hope TP tries this format for a few more comics…

Cater, Donovan – Reg Maximum: Inter-Galactic Real Estate Agent

Website

Reg Maximum: Inter-Galactic Real Estate Agent Now Available! $1.50

When is a 24 hour comic a waste of time? Can it ever even be called that, as a lot of them are more exercises for the creator than anything else? Well, they still have to be remotely entertaining to the reader, and this one bored me silly, so I guess it didn’t pass that test. The art was incredible; you can really tell Donovan has done a few of these and has gained some skill in making them look good in 24 hours. So what’s this one about? Well, there’s this guy named Reg Maximum, I think you can see what he does for a living by the name of the book. He has this problem of another real estate agent, Red Marshall, always taking his jobs because he’s listening in on the conversations. Reg decides to take his revenge using the evil Michael Bolton, and any more and the whole thing is going to be ruined. I thought it was kind of silly how planets and people were clearly just backwards names with no particular meaning, but that could be due to going into something with no preconceived notions and all that. Look, this isn’t an awful book, but he’s done better. Contact info is up there, this is $1.50 and is available in the online store too…

Cater, Donovan – Chucky

Website

Chucky

Ah, I do love the 24 hour comics, especially when they somehow end up looking as great as this one. This is the story of Bill Chickowski, the creator of a comic strip called Chucky Chicken. Bill started as someone with great ideas, someone who hoped to make a difference, but gave it all up when his girlfriend was gunned down in front of him protesting the Vietnam war. Bill has grown to accept the fact that Chucky has become a bland corporate mascot over the years, until he reads a story that says Chucky is going to endorse George W. Bush in 2004, and promptly snaps. It’s a great story about trying to keep some sort of artistic integrity when you’re in the meat grinder of daily comic strips, not to mention dealing with the legions of fans who can’t see why Bill would ever want to change “their Chucky”, nor do they understand why he’s able to do so with impunity. Worth checking out if you have a buck lying around, I do with people who did these 24 hour comics would put some sort of afterward in their books though, I sometimes get the idea (due to the quality of the work) that they must have been cheating a little bit on inking or something…

Cater, Donovan – Null & Void #6

Website

Null and Void #6 Now Available! $1.50

Let’s see, this comic is being reviewed on 1/25/09, years after I read the issues before or after this, meaning that I have just about no idea what led up to this issue or what comes after it outside of reading my own ancient reviews.  Meaning that this review will be even less informed than usual, so be warned.  There are basically two stories going on here (and I’m going to take the easy way out and treat this as a stand alone issue), one involving a young woman going to see a dopey car crash movie with a dopey guy while her while her much cooler friend (with an obvious crush) wonders what she’s thinking, the other dealing with the mutual theft of high school mascots and symbols as a way to “stick it” to the other side.  There are a few moments of fun, but making fun of car crash movies comes across as more than a little dated, as us folks in the future are much bigger fans of juvenile vampire movies.  And I have no idea how this comic gets us to #7, as based on my review that was a dark and somber issue and this one ends with the promise of a good old fashioned chase scene to come.  Probably still worth it for the presence of a few funny moments, and what has this man been up to in terms of comics?  I’ll have to look into that…

Cater, Donovan – Null & Void #5

Website

Null & Void #5

I didn’t like this one as much as the other ones, and I think it’s for a fairly simple reason: it was all set in a house. I know, the title of the story indicated that that would be the case, and it was interesting, it just seemed like there wasn’t much going on. And the spelling errors, they are easily fixed. Really. Just have somebody else read it before you print it or do a spellcheck (and I don’t mean to single Donovan out, as there weren’t THAT many spelling errors, it’s just such a simple thing to fix). The story is that Nigel and Jack have a pretty typical day, with Nigel’s Grandma giving him a hard time because a female friend of his stays at his house to get away from her abusive mother and Jack fighting with his sister. Some funny dialogue and the art just keeps getting better, with the exception (WARNING: EXTREME PICKINESS ALERT) of one panel where Jack has a bunch of oddly-drawn bubbles surrounding his head. This is one of those comics that’s better read in clumps rather than single issues, but it’s still a good book. Contact info is up there…

Cater, Donovan – Null and Void #3

Website

Null and Void #3

Another solid issue, this one is basically a day in the life of all the main characters, focusing on classroom problems and dealing with members of the opposite sex in high school. Don’t get me wrong, there are some points in these books where it gets kind of silly, but overall I think he’s on to something. There certainly aren’t many other people out there covering the high school niche. The bit with the “don’t throw away” note was hilarious, as were several of the conversations in the school. In other words, it’s worth sending him some money (they’re $1.50 per issue) to check it out. Send him some money at: 3209 Eastland, Muskegon, MI 49441.

Cater, Donovan – Null and Void #2

Website

Null and Void #2

If this was a world where everybody read comics, this would probably be one of the more popular things read by kids in high school. Unfortunately, the print run for every mini comic is tiny and I’m not sure where Donovan finds his audience. It’s a good series, about some freshmen in high school and their activities. This one is all about a party that an older classmate sneaks them into. It makes a lot of good points about drinking without getting too preachy and the dialogue is natural and believable. All ages fun. The poor guy doesn’t have much of a sense of comics history though, thinking that Alex Robinson was the first person to use the question and answer concept with his characters to flesh them out a little bit. Poor Dan Clowes is rolling over in his grave…

Cater, Donovan – Null & Void #7

Website

Null & Void #7 Now Available! $1.50

You know, there really ought to be a law: if you’re only going to put out one or two books a year and if those books are supposed to maintain some kind of a consistent storyline, you really should put some kind of synopsis somewhere in the book. Seriously, it’s a fairly simple thing to do and it would enrich the reading experience immensely. It’s been a long time since I’ve read #6 (even though there’s strangely no review of it, which I’ll fix one of these days), and whatever happened in that one is way past hazy to me. This one is easily the saddest of the Null and Void bunch, as it’s set almost entirely in a hospital, and the bits that aren’t there are getting ready for a funeral. I’d love to recommend this to you, as it’s still a pretty good story about family and dealing with death (even if only in a peripheral fashion), but I just can’t. If you haven’t read the other issues of this series, this probably won’t mean that much to you. Check out some other issues (as I really liked the earlier ones), then this might all make a bit more sense. Contact info is around here somewhere, this is $1.50 and it’s also in the online store, if you were interested…

Cater, Donovan – Why I Hate People… And Other Stories

Website

Why I Hate People… And Other Stories Now Available! $1.50

The main story in here is about a trip to the supermarket. If you’re ever looking for a reason to hate humanity, Donovan has it pretty well summed up that that’s a good place to start. Pretty good stuff about stupid kids, slow check-out lane ladies (although I have to say that I’ve never been stopped for having one item too many in the express lane, but I’m sure it’s happened) and deceptive sale prices. Also in here are a couple of stories about what a horrible monster George Bush is (can I even type that without getting arrested? Can I also type that he’s a war criminal? Just checking) and meeting family members at odd places. A good assortment of stuff, and Donovan had a whole mess of new stuff available at SPACE, so scroll around the page, why don’t you? Also, the only e-mail address I had for him is old, so if somebody could tell me if it’s valid, I’d sure appreciate it… OK, it’s good now. Send him e-mail!