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Rubenstein, Kenan – Tick
Tick
My apologies if the size of the images are a little off from usual, as I had to get them from Kenan’s website. My scanner doesn’t deal well with comics that are the size of your average calendar. Whatever happened to the ordinary tiny mini comics? Why in my day blah blah blah. This is why it’s impossible to keep a uniform size for all minis: this one needs to be the size of a calendar. It’s a mostly silent tale of a lonely young man holed up in a cabin, trying to work on his art. The time of the year is crucial to the story, as the months are in giant lettering for a good number of the pages. The middle of April has an ominous skull and crossbones, and we get to see the reason for that soon enough. Before all that though, the young boy decides to make a companion for himself, drawing up blueprints for another young man to keep him company. If I go much further than this is an explanation everything will be ruined, and there’s very little I hate more than spoiling a perfectly good comic. As a whole, it’s a thoroughly gorgeous comic about loneliness, the passage of time and attention to detail. And probably a bunch of stuff that flew right over my head. It’s a bit pricey at $8, but you did catch the part where I mentioned that it was gorgeous, right?
Rubenstein, Kenan – The Pyramid
The Pyramid
Kenan mentioned in his note that this comic takes place right before the events in On The Beach, so in the barest of nods to trying to keep things in proper chronological order, this is where it goes on the page. Of course, I have no idea where Prologue fits into all that, but it would logically go first, right? Ah, the wonders of putting these pages together. This issue unfolds much like On The Beach, as it starts with that little panel (the cover), folds out into a slightly larger panel (the sample) and gets bigger and bigger from there. The story this time appears to be that of a sudden breakup, as Kenan and a friend are packing all his stuff up to be moved into a creepy storage locker. There’s a delightfully awkward moment between Kenan and his ex as they say goodbye, then Kenan and his friend get all philosophical while loading all his stuff into the garage. That probably makes it sound stupid but, as always with this guy, it ended up being more insightful than anything else. It’s worth a look, and I have to admit to being a big fan of how they’re put together. This is one of those things that you have to read in printed form, you just don’t get the same effect looking at this on your computer. $1.50
Rubenstein, Kenan – Prologue
Prologue
Here’s another tiny mini from Kenan, done in the same style as the one listed below, with tiny panels opening up into bigger and bigger ones as you go. This time it’s the story of a longtime crush finally walking over to Kenan and starting a conversation, asking him to go out with her and pick up more beer for a party they’re attending. Kenan can’t really blame her for a lack of conversation up until that point, as he’s always struck dumb when she’s around, but is pleasantly surprised to be hanging out with her and hopes that (as this is on New Year’s Eve) this is the start of a wonderful new trend. Anyway, it’s a tiny thing with a great story, as the awkward dialogue is a marvel for anybody who’s ever gotten in over their head while talking to a crush. There’s even a surprise ending that I didn’t see coming even a a little bit, although in hindsight it seems a bit more obvious. Still, kudos on that. Well worth checking out, as is everything else on this page so far. There’s still no price, I’d still be surprised if it’s much more than a buck.
Rubenstein, Kenan – On The Beach
On The Beach
Huzzah, finally a book that flips open where you don’t need an instruction manual to follow the story! OK that’s probably overstating the case a bit, but it seems like whenever I see a mini that folds open and progresses that it takes some serious effort to keep up. In this case there’s the tiny cover (the sample is just about actual size), then you open it, then fold up, then open again, then up again for a huge spread. Well, it feels huge when the pages are getting progressively bigger. This is the brief story of Kenan and his history with a nude beach, starting with his first time going there as a kid to trying to go back there with a far too attractive female friend. I say “far too attractive” because, well, that sort of thing can cause problems for males at a nude beach. Slight awkwardness and all, Kenan clearly loved the experience and appreciated how nude beaches are not, in fact, full of naked Playboy models, just regular people, only naked. It’s a great story, Kenan has a clear mastery of drawing naked people and I just plain dig how the whole thing unfolds. Crap, was that a pun? Oof, sorry. Worth a look, I can’t imagine this is more than $1…
