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Lawrence, Jon – Demon Wheat #2
Demon Wheat #2
Huzzah for words! After my review for Jon’s mostly silent last issue (last in terms of when I read them, not necessarily in the order they were released) I was hoping for something that made a bit more sense on the first read through. This comic has a few stories in it, and the different subjects give Jon a chance to really get inventive with his art. First up there’s the story of the Worm God and the unfortunate (though predictable, if you think about it) way that he meets his end. Next up is the story of an elderly radioactive snail and the creatures that live on its shell (including a Wuzzgutt cameo?), but mostly the creatures and their desire to see a bit more of the world than the back of a snail. Finally there’s the last story that takes up about half of the book about Moth Girl. Her costume is impractically designed, I have no idea whether or not those wings actually do anything, but it’s still a damned fascinating story (and also the first part of a serial, so there’s clearly more to see in #3). Things start off with her being sent away by her archnemesis to the rural mid-west, and her appearance causes a little confusion there as she’s mistaken for a prostitute and imprisoned. Still, the pimp has a pumpkin for a head and there’s the matter of all these vampires running around, so there’s a lot yet that has to be made clear in future stories. All in all this was a pretty great comic, much easier to follow than the last issue I reviewed but with the same great art. Check it out, and you too will believe that a man can have an enormous literal worm for a penis… $3
Lawrence, Jon – Wuzzgutt
Wuzzgutt
You know how sometimes a silent comic ends up, um (how do I put this politely), not making a lot of sense? I’m usually not clear in those situations whether I’m too dense to follow the story or if the author just wasn’t clear in what they were trying to convey. In this case I’m pretty sure that the reader isn’t given enough information to begin with. This comic isn’t entirely silent, so it gets a little clearer in the second and third stories (out of three). But that first story… woo boy. I should point out that this book is stunning visually, with plenty of genuinely weird and alien imagery. Anyway, the first story is entitled “Cosmic Pilgrimage.” The Wuzzgutt is that creature on the cover, just so you’re clear. I have very little idea of what happens in this story. Wuzzgutt meets a baby bird creature, who spews out some noise of some kind towards Wuzzgutt? Or maybe he/it is directing this noise towards the bird? Then Wuzzgutt sees a vision of a naked lady with a bird mask of some kind (and hey, if you’re just looking for boobs in your comic, this one has plenty of them), then Wuzzgutt either is transported to or sees a female singer (fully clothed this time), then it’s back to pure madness, and Wuzzgutt finally ends up seeing a female (?) Wuzzgutt near another lady. Or a Wuzzgutt statue? I feel confident in about 25% of that summary. The second story starts off fairly incomprehensively too, but once the talking starts we learn that some lady wants the Wuzzgutt captured, and the Wuzzgutt starts a ritual of some kind. Finally the third story deals with the ritual and the guy who tries to capture it, along with any ancillary damage that this guy does in the capture attempt. Maybe future issues would help this make some sense, but it sure feels like this is meant to tell the whole story, and if that’s the case the story it tells is a bit of a mess. I really like his art, and he sent along another comic so I’ll see how that one goes, but as a story I have to say that this made very little sense to me. $4
