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Goebert, Jerry & Foster, Brad W. – Quark #2: Dream Me A World
Quark #2: Dream Me A World
Well, so much for this being a regular Friday review. Instead I’ll just make it a regular weekly review until I regain something resembling a normal schedule. Last time around we were taken on a journey through the creation of everything, so naturally this time we go a little bit further. This all starts once the concept of “two” is introduced following patterns repeating themselves, which leads to a third variable, which… well, you get the idea. Then the concept of three dimensions gradually comes about, which leads to all of the stuff in those three dimensions, with much trial and error being done along the way. Not by the hand of a bearded man in the sky, mind you; these were basically tests to see which things/living beings worked best. Once again it’s a fascinating look at the way in which everything might have started, and this one ends on a cliffhanger of (spoilery spoilers) man building Eden. So yeah, I’m curious to see where they go next, and I’m thoroughly happy with how inventive it’s been so far. And yes, I do realize that it’s mildly ridiculous to have these reactions for mini comics that are 30 years old, but hey, it’s all new to me. $1
Goebert, Jerry & Foster, Brad W. – Quark #1: Determined to be Different
Website (where you can buy his books)
Quark #1: Determined to be Different
Jerry and Brad have both been in this business way too long to not have any kind of contact information in this comic. Hey, if I’m going to get annoyed at the new artists for making that mistake, it’s only fair to do the same thing to the old pros. Granted, this is a reprint of a comic from 1982, but single mini comics can end up in the strangest of places and you always want the person who finds it to have easy access to the rest of your work. So, what’s it all about? No big deal, just establishing consciousness and a sense of self. This one starts off before the very concept of time itself, when all there was was nothing. Nothing was alone and it noticed potential for there to be more, which gave it another frame of reference, and things build up from there. It provokes a whole lot of thought for being crammed into eight pages, and good luck reading this and not veering off into different philosophical directions of your own. Oh crap, and I just noticed that it’s “to be continued!” In that case I’ll just make this a regular Friday review (unless I’m not around on that Friday, as my current schedule is proving to be all over the place), because I’m very curious to see where they take things from here. Or took things as, like I said, this series is from 1982. Yes, children, mini comics existed back then. $1
Goebert, Jerry & Durant, Christopher – Major Mishap Pushes the Panic Button!
Major Mishap Pushes the Panic Button!
It’s best that I get a few disclaimers out of the way before I get to the review. Jerry sent me a whole pile of comics but, due to the various technical problems my computer, scanner and brain have had over the last few months, I haven’t been able to get to them. Some of them are even still in the original envelope, to pull back the curtain on the goings-on around here a bit. So when I say that I don’t have much context to review this comic, or any idea if it’s part of a larger series (it sure seems like it, but that’s just a hunch at the moment), that’s exactly what I mean. I’m going to break my usual rule here and even talk about the ending, but to make up for it I promise not to spoil any of the other several comics he’s sent me, and it’s necessary for the point I’m trying to make. What is that point? That I don’t get this comic. Oh, the basic story is simple enough, and even a little funny: man trapped in a remote installation for 30 years snorts some “mystery powder,” gets a notice from his superiors that he cant’ handle in his state, and he blows up the world. It’s a very short comic, so that’s all you really need. But then there’s the presence of “Dusk, Ruska Vampire Nurse.” I assume that means that her name is Dusk, but a word of explanation about what a “Ruska Vampire Nurse” is would have been helpful, unless this is part of a bigger string of stories and I’m the one being stupid here. Anyway, it turns out that our hero gets nightly visits from this vampire nurse, so we see her in a few panels handcuffed near his bed, standing by a fan, and smiling a wicked smile after he discovers the mystery powder. Was it because she put it there? Was she a hidden instigator for the destruction of the planet? It seems like that would be a little inconvenient for her too. Anyway, the oddest thing was that there was no interaction between the two characters. She seemed to be there for very little reason. Was she invisible? Subtly influencing him? It’s a little baffling. I’ve already gone on too long about this tiny comic when I probably could have stopped at “I don’t get it.” I’ll have to dig through these piles further to try and find some contact info and a price, and I’ll update this thing once I do that. For now I did link to what is more or less (probably less) his website.
Goebert, Jerry – Mishap Collection #2 (with art by Tom Brinkmann)
Website (sort of)
Mishap Collection #2: The Greasing of Billy Charter
A better name for this comic might be “Kids, Ask Your Parents.” Or maybe even grandparents, sadly enough. I was alive when the events in this comic would have made sense (the title is about Billy Carter, the “famous” brother of the former president), but was too young to have any sort of sense of who Jimmy Carter was, much less his brother. Granted, I have learned a bit more about the situation in the meantime, so the events of this comic are not totally lost on me. Mostly lost, maybe, but not totally. The brothers are portrayed as siamese twins who are joined at the hand, possibly a reference to the fact that they often hung out together, but I don’t know for sure. This is a series of one panel strips, so there isn’t much of a story to keep up with, but the individual strips can be just as confusing. Topics include Billy and his trying to get business connections, Jimmy striking up an oil deal, Jimmy smuggling out some of Billy’s booze after the 1980 election (or possibly not), and Jimmy hoping that Reagen gets elected. Ah, if only he knew how that would turn out, or that Reagan would be on his way to sainthood from some of the more dimwitted folks out there. Tom Brinkmann’s art works great for this and it’s probably funny if you’re old enough to remember those years, but it’s just past my consciousness. If you’re interested in political humor from different eras I’d give it a look though. $1
