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Kelberman, Dina – Important Comics Volume 2
Important Comics Volume 2
What, “Important Comics Are Bad” doesn’t count as a volume? Bizarre numbering system aside, it’s always a good thing when another collection of Dina’s comics comes along. This one has a fairly compact 40 pages of comics for a fairly steep $12, but oh the colors, they are very pretty. If you’re not familiar with her work you should feel a brief moment of shame before going to her website where you can see many free samples to educate yourself. For the rest of us, yes, this comic is still full of the funny bits that we have come to demand, which is really a lot to ask of Dina or anybody else on a consistent basis, but she seems up to the task. Subjects this time around include shut up, the feeling of stupid, internet addiction, getting crud on you, the human oldening process, a possible awkward moment in the doctor’s office, gamelon, crying getting in the way of the fun, telling the brain to fuck off while listening to your guts, and breaking the news. As always, she manages to cram a few strips on most pages, so it’s not like you’re getting short-changed or anything. And have I mentioned the colors? I did? Well, I want to make sure that you understand how impressive they are this time around. Not that they were crappy before, but you know what I mean. Buy her comic and continue this inevitable process of making her rich and famous. Hey, the first volume is even available on this website, so you don’t even have to leave to buy it! Yes, that was a shameless plug. I’ll stop now. $12
Kelberman, Dina – Important Comics: A Collection of Unquestionable Merit
Important Comics: A Collection of Unquestionable Merit Now Available! $12
One of the things I love about comics is that you don’t have to have a great command of anatomy or conveying reality to make a great comic. Some of the best comics out there are minimalistic in one way or another, and this looks like a welcome addition to that pile. Don’t get me wrong, it’s clear from the layout, coloring and stories that Dina has some serious artistic skills, and for all I know she can paint a mean Sistine Chapel ceiling if she were so inclined. For what she’s doing here it’s irrelevant, even if she does draw an excellent hamburger. This is a collection of strips from her website, all done in color, mostly involving the utter banality of everyday life as related through a series of creatures that mostly resemble odd shapes, but occasionally reveling in absurdity. The sample should give you some idea of what I’m talking about (although a lot of her strips are bigger than that), as it’s going to be a bit hard to explain. The strip on the page opposite the sample page, for example, has two blue creatures (man and wife? boyfriend and girlfriend? who knows), and the male one has snuck off to eat a blue hot dog. His wife/girlfriend/landlady comes across him eating the hot dog and demands to know why he’s not using a hot dog bun. That is the kind of thing, for those of you who want a peek into my very odd brain, that I absolutely love. As for the rest of the mostly glorious comics included in this collection, I still recommend checking out her website, but I’ll give explaining a few of them a shot: there’s a politician with nothing to say, why leaving the house is a bad idea, a small cowardly sandwich, no fucking way, pointy water, being a jerk, your new pal the cloud, schizophrenics having a smell, books taking too long to read, going a whole day without the internet, and a roommate leaving all their crap. Confused? Then you clearly haven’t gone to her website yet. Why won’t you listen to me? The art is simplicity itself (and perfectly suited to the stories), a number of the strips passed the all-important “did it make me laugh out loud?” test, and I even noticed at least one strip I didn’t see the first time through due to tininess. I think this woman should be rich to pursue her dream (that I just made up) of never leaving the house again and putting out these comics. Won’t you please help? $12
