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Clotfelter, Max – Snake Meat #8

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Snake Meat #8

Just so you know: the link on the title doesn’t go to where you can buy this specific issue. But it does go to Max’s comics that Spit and a Half has available (23 as of this review, either his comics or comics where he’s a contributor), so if this issue still isn’t listed by the time you see this, maybe just buy another one of his comics. What about this one, you ask? Snake Meat is where he mostly does silent comics with a few “talkies” thrown in. It feels ridiculous to call the silent comics “sketches,” as there’s an insane level of detail to all of them (as the sample below proves), but if you’re in the market for a linear storyline, Snake Meat generally isn’t the place to go. If, however, you’re looking to be amazed/baffled/revolted/terrified, this is the series for you! As such, they’re tough on a simple country reviewer like me, so I’ll just say that one of his joke strips was a fairly straightforward gag, while the other was like if the writers and cast of Hee-Haw had been on whatever drugs they could find for several days and then decided to shoot an episode. I’ll leave it to you to figure out which one was which. Look, this dude has been around since the very earliest days of this website, so you know the drill by now. If you like his stuff, give it a shot. And if you’ve been reading reviews about him here for several years and still haven’t read his stuff? You should still give it a shot. I suppose only haters get a pass here… $3

Clotfelter, Max – Andros #9

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Andros #9

Here’s a little bit of trivia for y’all who have stumbled across this website for the first time: way back in the day (and my memory is not specific, so please allow some leeway here), maybe in my third year of reviewing comics (so around 2003), I ran a review for the third issue of this series, and it looks like I was undecided at the time. It was an anthology back then too, which probably had something to do with it, but the years have made one thing clear: I’m a fan of Max’s work. Even when it’s stuff that I don’t get, there’s something so compellingly grimy about his art that it’s impossible to look away. And if you’re taking “grimy” to mean sloppy, just look at that sample and try that one again. There are several stories in this one, a few of which were already in various small press anthologies, so if you’re somebody who reads every single one of those, I guess you might have seen one or two of these before. For everybody else this will all be brand new, and even if you’ve seen those pieces there’s still plenty in here to recommend it to you. There’s a hilariously tragic story of the time he went to a seedy strip club with information that for $80 they would “do anything” to him. Not to spoil anything, but it didn’t end all that well. There’s another piece about how he slandered a girl when he was a kid with a story about how she had sex with the whole football team at a party (he wasn’t even at the party), which morphs into a tale of how he could protect himself from her irate brother. As always, there’s his centerfold, which should forever ruin any sexy connotations from that word usually being applied to Playboy and the like. The level of detail here is insane, and I don’t know if it’s a good or a terrifying sign that I understood the meaning behind it right away. There’s another story where he talks about a tape that he made in the early 90’s featuring his “burp solos,” and there’s still even a copy of it out in the world as of this writing. Finally there’s a longer strip that talks about his early troubles with panic attacks, a toxic relationship he lived through and even a small glimpse into the origin story of his long term relationship with Kelly Froh, who is also an incredible cartoonist and somebody whose work you should be seeking out. There are also a few single page strips with his redneck characters from past issues, sort of like if Hee Haw got run through a David Lynch filter. I’m clearly biased, but there’s some great stuff in this issue, and it’s only $1 more than the issue I reviewed way back in 2003. Check it out already! $3

Clotfelter, Max – Andros #8

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Andros #8

There’s something profoundly unnerving about the stories in here between the stories about Max’s past. Or are they just disturbing because they’re inherently disconcerting? That’s a question that’s above my pay grade. This is a mix of autobiographical tales and those old timey Hee Haw skits if they were done by David Lynch on a bender. Those stories are best read by you without any clue of what’s coming, but subjects include (being as vague as I can here) spicing up a meal, falling in love, a pun, making your own bait, and excessive fingernails. There, good luck making sense of all that. His other stories are a lot more grounded, and they deal with his getting his first gun (and then a bigger gun, and what happened when he finally got around to firing it), catching fish with his dad (and what happened to the fish afterwards), the true story behind a group of ghosts that he saw, and his brief time with one of the worst temp jobs I’ve ever seen, and I have been through some temp jobs in my day. It’s another solid mix of stories by a man who’s been doing this long enough to have his (artistic) shit thoroughly together by now. Give it a shot, unless you’re easily grossed out. In that case, give it a shot anyway. That way you’ll know that your previous bar for being grossed out was probably too low. $2ish


Clotfelter, Max – The Elements of Rough #2

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The Elements of Rough #2

For anybody who missed the last issue (or the last review), this series is dedicated to answering the question of why Max’s comics are perceived as being “so rough.” Meaning that he’s telling the story of his life, or at least the interesting/relevant bits. Last time around we got a good look at his father, this time around we spend some time with his mother and sister. And a few of the assorted people who were in their orbits when Liz had her 35th birthday party, which is the star of the comic. We see the terror that Beth (his girlfriend at the time) showed at the idea of being at a party with his family, how much booze goes into planning such a thing, the efforts made to help Liz get help with her sobriety (making it odd indeed that their was so much booze at the party, but her mother was a terrible enabler), and finally Liz’s boyfriend, who was also an ex of her mother. There’s oddly little drama over that last fact, which is odd, at least to me. But the guy got her a rabid raccoon for her birthday, and that went about as well as you might expect. There’s more to the party and to the people at the party than I’m sharing here, but hey, a journey of discovery means that you have to have something left to discover, right? Check it out, if you have questions about Max or his comics this series is an invaluable peek into how it all started. $3

Clotfelter, Max – Andros #7

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Andros #7

I just got lost for a minute trying to count the faces in that cover. Go ahead, try it yourself! This is another collection of short pieces by Max, mostly (if not entirely) pulled from small anthology comics. And since I do this “for a living” (i.e. make no money but keep doing it anyway) and haven’t seen most of these stories before, I’m guessing you haven’t either. The strip I sampled sums up my general mood on America in the middle of 2018; if you’re reading this in the future, the main subject of controversy right now is prison camps for immigrant children. Check around to see if things have gotten better or worse since this moment! Other strips deal with the steps Max has taken throughout the years to make himself almost entirely disguised, a few FEMA funnies strips, the story of a dog breeder who had some creative methods for convincing others that his dogs were pure bred, an alarming double page spead pinup of his Aunt from the 60’s, the time that he learned a valuable lesson about bullying, and a few other short pieces that I’ll leave as mysteries. Hey Secret Acres, Max is bound to have enough strips around by now to warrant a collection of his work. You’re on a roll with what you’ve been putting out, maybe give his stuff a shot? For you, gentle reader, yes, I’d recommend giving this a shot. I’ve been reviewing his stuff almost since I started this website in 2001, and it’s still an unnerving delight every time I see it. $2

Froh, Kelly & Clotfelter, Max – Stewbrew #5

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Stewbrew #5

Hey everybody, let’s take a road trip with two of the most talented cartoonists around! OK, it’s a virtual road trip, in that it’s you reading a comic about the trip that they took, but you get what I mean. Kelly’s Mom has agreed to give Kelly her old car, but she lives in Wisconsin and Kelly lives in Seattle, meaning the only way to get the car back is via a very long 4 day road trip. So Kelly and Max set out together, got on a flight to Wisconsin and then drove back, drawing stories all the way. OK, they probably did most of them when they got back. I’ve really got to stop leaving myself open to such literal misinterpretations. The front and back of this book are filled with postcards, receipts and various bits of trivia that they found along the way. The bulk of the book is full of comics about their journey, with subjects like forgetting the exact date while driving (sometimes that’s more important than others, apparently), the inherent overthinking that goes into visits with the family, taking in the sights of the small towns, finding out that prairie dogs are poisonous (who knew?), a list of various foods eaten and bands listened to, an irresistible hat, and finally getting back home. I undersold the “taking in the sights of small towns” thing; that’s a solid chunk of the comics. But they ran into an awful lot of oddities, so I didn’t want to delve into too many of them before you read the book. I also found out on the back cover that they were nominated for an Ignatz for this series, so kudos to the both of them! It’s well deserved, even if that means some other asshole probably won if they’re only mentioning the “nominated” part. I kid, obviously, I’m sure whoever won was great. But give these people some awards! And if you’re reading this and can’t give them awards, at least give them some money for the comics, because they’re great. $4

Clotfelter, Max – The Elements of Rough #1

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The Elements of Rough #1

Finally, it’s the secret origin story of Max! OK, sure, he’s done autobiographical comics before. But Max had a simple conceit for this one: to answer all of the people who are constantly asking him why his comics have to be “so rough.” Since I’ve literally had friends come by, see his comics and ask me variations of the same question, he’s clearly not exaggerating how often he gets asked this question. The answer is a little more simple than you might have guessed: because he’s been surrounded by a colorful cast of characters his entire life. His father was quick to make friends with weirdos and slow to kick people out who were just looking to drink for a few days, leading Max to a childhood with his parents bailing friends out of jail, regular drinking and driving by all concerned, and running into an inmate that Max knew as he was cleaning a local library in his prison uniform. The nexus for all sorts of craziness ended up being a seedy liquor store that Max’s father owned, leading to even more colorful characters. Eh, “colorful” might imply “wacky” or “harmless,” and a few of these characters seem perfectly capable of doing harm. It’s an interesting story and it explains a few things, but Max promises that things get even weirder in the next issue, so there’s that to look forward to. If you’re a fan of his work it’s pretty much mandatory to get this comic, and if you’ve never read his stuff this is as good an introduction and anything. So basically you should buy this one either way, with the only exception being if you’re a terrible person who hates comics and only reads these reviews to torture yourself about all the unregulated art going on in the world. Hey, if it can be imagined, somebody on the internet is doing it…

Derry Green, Delaine (editor) – The Portable Not My Small Diary

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The Portable Not My Small Diary

Hey kids, or anybody who has started reading comics in the last few years? Are you interested in the history of mini comics, why they’re such a source of passion for so many people? Well, maybe not in numbers, but in level of interest and dedication in following certain artists? Your answer is this volume. If you have no interest in the history, away with you! This one can be for the old timers. This is a collection of the best of the “Not My Small Diary” anthology, and if you read small press comics in the 90’s and 00’s, you will recognize plenty of these names. In fact, good luck not getting lost in a Google hole or trying to figure out what so many of these people are up to these days. Notable names include (but are not limited to) Jeff Zenick, Dan Zettwoch, Patrick Dean, Raina Telgemeier, Jesse Reklaw, Carrie McNinch, Sam Spina, Roberta Gregory, Kurt Wolfgang… you know what, there are just too damned many names, and they’re all in the tags, so check that part out. If any of those names made you say “hey, I wonder what they’re up to these days” then this book is for you. These are mostly snippets of stories, but they’re all complete by themselves. Sometimes the stories follow a theme, like notable dates or moments in their lives, but really they’re all over the place. If it seems like I’m avoiding getting into specifics, that is entirely the case. If you were around for all these artists when they first started, you’re going to get lost in this instantly. If not, this is an excellent way for you to figure out what the big deal was about these people all along. I guess it’s possible that it’s the nostalgia talking and that people might not connect to these stories now, but screw that. These are tales of human weakness (and occasionally triumph), and those stories are universal and timeless. Most of the original issues of this series are out of print, so this is your best option all around. The book itself is $7.50 if you see Delaine at a convention, but if not $10 should be enough to cover the shipping, and I really can’t recommend this enough. It’s rare for any anthology not to have a weak story or two, but these are all golden.

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Eichhorn, Dennis P. & Various Artists – Extra Good Stuff

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Extra Good Stuff

You can file this review under “you kids today,” if you like to know that type of thing right away. What I mean by that is that there are two people out there that everybody else attempting autobiographical stories should be compared to: Harvey Pekar and Dennis Eichhorn. Sure, Harvey had a movie made about him, meaning that even casual comics folk may know the name, but Dennis, for reasons that baffle me, has never gotten that kind of attention. They also wrote completely different types of stories, as Harvey was all about daily life, the mundane bits mixed in with insights about the human condition. But Dennis, man, Dennis has lived a hell of a life, and he’s chock full of fascinating and/or hilarious stories to tell. Dating back to his Real Stuff series in the 90’s he’s had nothing but the top comics artists in the field helping him out. Back then it was both of the Hernandez Bros, Chester Brown, Dan Clowes, Peter Bagge, I think even Robert Crumb… basically anybody you can think of from that era. So, since this is a collection of (mostly but not entirely) new stories, he brought in some of the best artists working today. The stories in here are all over the place and from various portions of his life; if I had any complaint it’s that I sometimes wished for context as to what age he was or when exactly the story happened (although he did usually give a ballpark estimate). Stories include his very first writing gig interviewing a terrible local band (with Ivan Brunetti), his first night as a taxi driver and how he learned to trust prostitutes (with Max Clotfelter), a fantastic prank on Mormons/a shitty neighbor (with Dame Darcy), a very surreal medical experience with Fox News blaring in the background that also involved him finding out that Harvey Pekar had died (with RL Crabb), finding out that the Coast Guard is not legally bound in any way in regards to searching boats (with Colin Upton), and sifting for gold with a (literally) crazy friend. There are other solid stories in this collection too, but it’s best to leave some things a surprise, right? I checked a bit online and somehow there doesn’t seem to be a definitive collection of his earlier series, so maybe Fantagraphics or Top Shelf should get on that, legal mumbo-jumbo permitting? That’s a pile of really great stories with some of the best artists in the world that are somehow still out of print. Regardless, this is plenty worth checking out all on its own, and if you stumble across any old issues or Real Stuff (or, if you’re old enough, Real Smut), pick that sucker up too. $10

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Kirby, Rob (editor) – Pratfall

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Pratfall

Has the theme of falling on your face/ass/other ever been the subject of a comics anthology before? I can’t think of one, but it’s such a natural fit. This naturally made me think of various falls in my life, and I kept coming back to one what wasn’t really a fall and also wasn’t me. I was walking with a couple of friends on an icy road years ago. One of these friends is 6’6”, and my other friend and I noticed him start to slide. This is one of those moments when time slows down, but after the fact we would both swear that he had fallen far enough backwards for the back of his head to slide on the ground, but he somehow more or less kept his balance and never did completely fall. Not sure even today if that’s a good story or a “you had to be there” story, but it’s notable that I still remember it maybe 15 years later. Anyway! The point of that story is that it’s impossible to read this comic without thinking of pratfalls you know and love, and Rob has assembled quite a talented bunch here to tell their stories. There’s Carrie McNinch’s story of getting her thumb slammed in the door (and her mother driving away with said thumb stuck in the door), Becky Hawkins and her amazing collection of bruises and cuts (not the mention her ridiculously unlucky landing spot), Aron Nels Steinke almost knocking his eye out, Tessa Brunton’s spectacular rolling fall, John Porcellino’s skateboarding mess, Jason Viola’s trip to Russia and the impression he must have left with some of those people, Noah Van Sciver and his preventative precautions taken to prevent ever being hurt again, Cara Bean’s skiing “mishap”, MariNaomi’s bowling injury (yes, it is possible), the cat of Gabrielle Gamboa taking her eyebrow, Tony Breed getting away with one, Max Clotfelter getting seriously punched, and the causes of Rob Kirby’s various scars from waiting tables. With a list of talent like that I doubt that I have to do much convincing, so just do yourself a favor and pick this up. Then, if you haven’t already, work your way back through the older comics of these folks. You deserve it! $5

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Various Artists – On Your Marks #1

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On Your Marks #1

Oh, what a crank I am. I get a pretty damned great anthology filled with small press people living in Seattle who could use a little more exposure and I can’t help thinking that I would have liked it better with a clear indication of which artists did which pages. They’re even all listed on the inside front cover, but they’re inside of a drawing, which makes some of them tough to make out. Does this take away from the quality of the content? Not one bit, no, as it’s not like it’s impossible to figure out who did certain pages with a little bit of work. Eh, I blame it on the general tone of the holiday season. All this Christmas music everywhere just bugs me. And if you ever needed more proof that I am in fact a total curmudgeon, there you have it. Anyway! This is a collection of mostly one page strips, done by all kinds of people that you either already know about or should be ashamed of yourself because you’ve never heard of them. Stories include Ben Horak having the comic he made when he was 6 read by adults (with a perfect final panel), Tom Van Deusen’s creepy piece about a head growing out of a roof and what happens when it’s removed, Bobby Madness and the sacrifice he made for the environment, Kelly Froh’s traumatic moment on an aimless afternoon, Pat Keck and his dungeon Gremlins, Aarow Mew and the result of his “spider” bite, Julia Gfrorer’s tale of a creepy ouija board experience, Rick Altergott and Pat Moriarty’s story of what cats think is going on with their litter boxes, Marc Palm’s Flannelwolf and Frankcan, Robyn Jordan’s worries about what she’ll be like in 10 years after she has kids, David Lasky’s questions about what you would do if you were a superhero, and Max Clotfelter’s mistaken assumption involving getting his older brother involved in protecting him. Like I said, it’s a damned solid anthology, full of ridiculously talented people. Maybe next time they’ll put page numbers on the pages to lessen my crankiness, or maybe it’s something I need to work on on my own and I’m sharing too much here… $4

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Kirby, Rob (editor) – Tablegeddon #1

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Tablegeddon #1

Comic conventions! Maybe you’re one of the people who only go to conventions to buy comics and don’t create them yourself, but have you ever wondered about life on the other side of the table? Not really? Well, you really should try putting yourself in their shoes for a few minutes. This anthology has all kinds of stories from conventions, good and bad, from some of the champions of small press comics (if the industry had formal champions, which they should maybe think about doing). Stories in here include Max Clotfelter’s first time working a table when he was a kid, Cara Bean and Sara Carson’s long road to a triumphant show, Kelly Froh’s two worst shows (I hope), Carrie McNinch’s problem with shyness, Rob Kirby’s mostly bad day (but with plenty of good things in it, like the progressive redneck parents), Mark Campos’ ingenious trick to selling original art, Aron Nels Steinke dealing with a friend getting a tv deal while having a slow day himself (along with dealing with an annoying kid), Gabrielle Gamboa’s hilariously illustrated conversations among cartoonists, Justin Hall’s description of finally getting the sale after talking a guy into it for 20 minutes, Tony Breed dealing with putting a book together and the reality of the show, Matt Moses and Jeff Worby narrowly avoiding a beating/murder, Zine Crush trying to get a copy of their zine to the object of their crush without being obvious about it, Rick Worley learning the truth about Dash Shaw, Jason Martin showing the good and the bad and John Porcellino showing us the weather paradox at cons. Oh, and a bonus piece by Kelly Froh (I’m almost positive) showing us the moment at a con when her spirit leaves her body. I’ve seen plenty of comics about convention horror stories in my years of reviewing these things, so I was a little nervous about a whole anthology on the subject, but that was silly of me. This whole thing is full of goodness, and should probably be handed out to obvious first-timers as they walk into cons as a public service. $4

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Van Deusen, Tom – Alex Jones True Adventures #1

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Alex Jones True Adventures #1

Ah, Alex Jones. I’m going to happily assume that this comic is supposed to be about the Alex Jones of radio/various conspiracy theories fame and not just a random Alex Jones, mostly because this comic would serve as an excellent origin story for the guy. Scratch that, Alex has a microphone and a tape recorder on the first page, so obviously it’s him. Anyway! This comic reads like a bizarro lament to my opinion that too few comics deal with modern political events or figures. This one has a bundle of political figures show up, and if any of them ever somehow heard of this comic I’d have to imagine that they wouldn’t be too happy about it. Buy hey, fuck ’em. This starts off with Alex on his personal tour of Bohemian Grove, the “play area for the elites,” and his confrontation with a “dandy sex toy” who seems to have stolen Jughead’s crown. From there he witnesses all kinds of horrors  involving Geraldo Rivera, Herman Cain, Hilary Clinton and Bernie Madoff that I probably shouldn’t get into because of the dreaded spoilers. I will say that the ending with _____ (I’ll leave it as a surprise) in his “liberty copter” was brilliant, even if the person in question is a goldbug loon in real life. It’s a nice little piece of cathartic madness all wrapped up in eight pages. Normally I’d also complain about the lack of any contact info in this comic, but considering the subject matter I can see why Tom might want to make this a little tougher to find than most of his comics. That being the case there’s no price, but a buck or two should probably cover it.

Clotfelter, Max – Andros #5

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Andros #5

For what it’s worth (and it shouldn’t be all that much, as everybody gets an opinion), I approve of Max’s recent shift into double page spreads of his art, or silent work in general. Sure, I bitch about silent comics at times, but not THESE comics. And yes, that’s supposed to make total sense. In past issues of his comics we would get the occasional glimpse of the oozing, seething horrors that populate his art, but in the last few issues I’ve seen we get to see these monstrosities in better detail. In this issue we get two double page spreads, both on the inside front cover and the centerfold of the book. Is it still called a centerfold if it doesn’t involve a naked man or woman? Let’s just say that it does. The center image is the more powerful of the two, mostly because it’s uninterrupted. Is the gelatinous pile of tumors holding a speared child of the cowering, weeping creature backed up against a tree? Why is the man (if it is indeed a man under all those clothes, but it least it has a manlike shape) holding a gun up to that cowering creature? And are all the creatures of the forest on its side, or have they merely been backed into the same corner? I probably should have put that image as the sample just so all that made sense, but trust me, you’ll be glad that you discovered it for yourself. Other bits in here that are generally more examples of linear storytelling include Max’s memories of meeting Mr. T. as a child (and how he’s confronted with the reality of that meeting as an adult), begging for food at a flea market, seeing a guy jerking off on a bus, and ending up getting way too many eyedrops when taking drugs. There are also more than a few silent pages or short stories that defy conventional explanation, and as a whole comic it’s pretty damned impressive. My only confusion is that I remember Andros as being an anthology, but it’s from a long time ago (way, way back in the fuzzy days of the 90’s), and who can remember that far back anyway? $2

Clotfelter, Max – Alligator Milk #1

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Alligator Milk #1

Now that is one hell of a cover. Anybody looking at it is either going to be compelled to pick this up or run screaming in the opposite direction. The cowards will miss a thoroughly entertaining show while the rest of us will almost certainly have at least one of Max’s hauntingly extravagant drawings pop up in our dreams. On the first page this is called FEMA Camp 2012, which is based on the fever dreams of professional carnival barker and gold shiller Glenn Beck, so it’s instantly fertile ground for some extra insanity. Two guys are in line, trying to decide what they should wish for (the reader is not immediately told what this is all about), when one of them gets too happy at the prospect of a sandwich and gets admonished by a guard. The smiling persists, so the admonishment gets much worse, leaving only one of the guys to try and make it to the end of the line. As for what’s waiting for him at the end of the line, I’ll refer you to the title and leave it at that. I will say that it’s impossible not to love that last page but will offer no further hints. That would be a perfectly fine mini comic for a measly dollar, but that’s not all that’s in here. In the middle of the book the action stops to show two larger illustrations. One of them covers two pages of the story (we even get a “continued on third page following” warning like in old comic books) and the other images folds out from the center pages. The smaller drawing (and keep in mind that describing these drawings without you seeing them is a bit of a hopeless task) has two monstrosities that are tentatively trying to tongue kiss each other while clinging to a ceiling and towing along a bucket of horribleness respectively, while the larger drawing will take your breath away. It shows a man (ish) dragging along an incredibly heavy burden of melted bits of all sorts of creatures (or at least they seem mildly melted to me, and again I must point out the pointlessness of describing something that is almost certainly is its own unique thing) while another man, his dog and a snake creature all look on. At first I thought that this large picture was showing what happened to the people in that camp, now I’m not so sure and think they may just be two images that are completely disconnected from the main story. Either way, if you’re a fan of Max’s work they’re not to be missed. $1

Clotfelter, Max – Wing Man

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Wing Man

Crikey, it’s been years since I’ve seen one of Max’s comics. Well, at least I think it’s been years, as I’ve found that website time does not necessarily correspond exactly to actual time. Good to see that Max is still loving drawing the representatives of the lowest rungs on the societal ladder, and you’ll be happy to know that any preconceptions you might have from that title are completely and totally wrong. This is the story of an amorphous blob of a man and his young son. Well, that and the fantastically creepy way that the older man hugs his son. The older man tells his son to look after “Maw” and goes away for 20 years. When he returns he discovers that “Maw” has either died or gone missing in his absence, so they both go to a local bar to… find her? Exact revenge? Share a drink to her memory? I’m pretty sure it’s not the last one, but other than that I’m not sure. Maw is never seen in this comic, so it’s all up to your imagination as to what happened to her/exactly what she is. It’s a great finale either way, with the final line explaining the point of the title. If you knew what it was you’d be laughing too, but you probably still need to buy the comic and I’m not going to ruin it for you. Max was nice enough to send along a few other recent minis, so he should be up here a few more times in the coming weeks. The man has been putting out quality comics for years (if memory serves, which it probably doesn’t, he was one of the first people to send me some minis for review when I started this thing up 10+ years ago) and he just keeps chugging along. No price, but e-mail the man and you could probably get a copy for a buck or two.

Various Anthologies – Paper Cuts Machine

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Paper Cuts Machine

Wow, that cover is tremendously hard to see in a scan. This is an anthology of autobiographical comics, which automatically means that I like it, so I’ll try to be a bit more critical this time. There are a couple of great stories by Max Clotfelter, one about almost getting killed in grade school and one about the average events of a week. Every embarrassing detail is exposed here, which is always fun. Then there’s a story from Liz Prince about who’s stinkier, which is a short but fun strip. Aarow Mew just sort of wanders around aimlessly, and I can’t tell you why it bugged me here and not in the other strips, but there you go. Kelly Froh has a great story about a crush on an art school teacher, Rob Schultz has a one pager about wackiness in Iraq (maybe not the funniest subject matter in the world) and Kaz Strzepek has a story about trying to make out with his girlfriend back when he still lived with his parents. Max probably had the best looking art in here, with Kaz a close second, if you’re going to by that standard, even though it’s usually not a tremendously important criteria in autobio. The important thing is that everything in here is engaging and interesting (except maybe for Aaron’s story, but that’s a question of taste). I’m going out on a limb and saying it’s $2, check out the website!

Various Anthologies – Andrus #3

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Andros #3

Random anthologies are a sampling of parts of America. OK, maybe they’re not anything that profound, but I’m starting to think that certain parts of the country have clearly defined differences in taste and humor. I’ll be sure to let you know when I write my 50 page thesis on the subject, but for now you’re probably curious about what’s in the actual comic. Most of it is by the editor, Max Clotfelter, and I’m becoming torn on the guy. I reviewed a book of his yesterday that I liked quite a bit, but his stories in here seem mostly aimless and, well, pointless. Not that I’m sure what the point of most comic stories should be, exactly. His first piece is about a wise owl (just once I’d love to see a stupid owl) basically giving a lecture to a giant rat suffering from a hangover. Looks like he spent some time researching this and it’s a great short piece. Then there’s “Under Your Blanket”, a piece that seems to have a point and/or a coherent story at first, then it just doesn’t. Or it just loses me, it’s open to interpretation. There’s a few more, the best being “What’s Happening”, a two-pager about various unimportant moments across history. This was a great idea and could have easily been expanded. Other pieces didn’t stand out as much, although all of his stuff looks great. Like I said yesterday, the man has some artistic talent, there’s no doubt about that. Other contributors to this book are Aaron Mew, who has a neat little silent piece about love beyond the grave; Cathy Hannah, who I think has the strongest pieces in the book (short diatribes about real-life stuff, which are always my favorite; Rich Stevens & Josh Carl Evens, with a creepy Snow White story; F. Enciso with a lovely story about the eternal struggle against roaches, and Andy Rappe with a story about mange. Altogether a pretty strong anthology, although all anthologies have their highs and lows. Still, it’s worth checking out for a couple of bucks, send Max an e-mail to order…

Froh, Kelly – Meet Erin (Stewbrew #2)

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Stewbrew #2: Meet Erin

Again, to make this all perfectly clear: Meet Erin is half of a collected two parts called Stewbrew #2, the second half being Coot’s Day by Max Clotfelter, and the whole thing is available from Max for $3. That being said, if Kelly and Max ever decided to combine these two real people into some sort of a fictionalized “date”, well, I would have to think that hilarity would ensue, even if the two would never speak in real life. This one is all about Erin, a woman that Kelly met while working in retail, and the sheer ridiculousness she brought to every day. From a fakey accent to reading Ann Coulter in public to seemingly everything she said, the woman was more than interesting enough to warrant a mini comic. We also get to see her briefly as an actual human, a sobering moment, but one which doesn’t last long. Great stuff, I have to say I like this even better than the other half of Stewbrew, mostly for the sheer level of dirt we get in this one. $3

Clotfelter, Max – Dumpster

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Dumpster

That’s what’s been missing from this page: an endearing love story between two hobos. Sadly, this isn’t it. The cover may fool you, granted, but this one starts out with Joy leaving her life with Cliff, as she’s sick of huffing gas, getting drunk and eating garbage, so she wants to move on to bigger and better things. Cliff is heartbroken and briefly attempts minimally cleaning up his act, but gets frustrated and ends up back in the city, making out with another random hobo. At least there’s a happy ending, as Cliff finds the things in life that he truly values. It’s 64 pages and a measly buck, so there’s good fun to be had by all hobo loving people of the world.