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Morgenmuffel #16

More tales from Isy as she tries in some way to slow down the destruction of the planet, and this time we even get to take a close look at protesters at the G8 summit. Harrassment by the cops, trying to feed over a thousand people at a time, dealing with the elements and trying to get a meaningful protest in anywhere, all good times. She also talks about a horticultural show (as Isy is apparently quite the cook, more on that later), Climate Camp 2007 (the Camp from the previous year was discussed in the last issue), pancakes, tv shows (the good ones at least), beech trees, and whisky. If you’re not terrified enough about the looming effects of global warming she also has a handy chart showing how it’s all going to go to crap over the next century or so. One of the highlights of this book was all the hate. Various people had lists of things they hated most in the world, and it was a diverse enough group of folks to make for a fun read. Oh, and in regards to the cooking thing, Isy has put out a huge (258 pages) vegan cookbook, and that’s even something a meat eater like me would be curious to see. Hey, healthy eating is healthy eating, and the only thing stopping me from eating more vegan dishes is the lousy tastes I invariably seem to run across. Here’s a website where you can pick that up, or probably just e-mail her at the link up at the top of the page for more details… $2

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Morgenmuffel #15 Now Available! $2

You know, for somebody as overtly socially conscious as Isy, it’s surprising how little preaching she has in her books about any chosen cause. Sure, she mentions corporate greed, oil and veganism, but she manages to pull it off in a very accessable way. This issue is more of the same, which is a good thing, in case that wasn’t clear. It mostly talks about her summer vacation of 2006, with her meandering to all sorts of places. Also included in here are a diary about a trip to the lake (illustrated, of course), a history of the Cowley Club, some zine recommendations, games to kill time on long road trips and various drinking games. My favorite, which I suppose isn’t a game really, deals with tequila shots. For you youngsters out there, generally I’ve seen it as licking salt (usually off your hand, but creativity is encouraged), drinking the shot, then biting down on a lemon. Apparently in Leeds they snort the salt, drink the shot and then squirt the lemon in their eye. As an American, I am shamed by our collective wussiness once again. The only “problem” I had with this issue is that her panel layout is occasionally impossible to follow, as arrows can’t always help tell you where to go next if whole panels are left out of the map. Still, the stories she tells are usually about various travels, where it’s not essential to get everything in a linear order anyway. Just wanted to throw a bit of negativity into an otherwise glowing review.

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Morgenmuffel #12

Here’s another solid bunch of stories. Lots of stuff for your buck too: it probably took me about an hour to read this whole thing. Text pieces, comics, reviews, hate lists… a diverse selection of stuff to keep you interested. Stories in here include passing the time, cycling, yeast infections, their club, drinking (and drunken stories), eczema, and working (or being unemployed). In other words, she doesn’t shy away from the goriest personal details, but she always keeps it entertaining. Good stuff all around. I said it in the last review and I’ll repeat myself here: I wish there were more comics out there like this. Seems like a bunch of them are just thrown together at the last minute to have something for the next convention, while stuff like this are done over a long period of time and are so obviously done with love of the medium. Contact info is up there and apparently there’ll soon be a collection of #2-11, which will probably take something like 8 days to read, but at least it’ll be worth it…

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Morgenmuffel #11

There aren’t enough comics like this around any more. It’s basically a collection of tales about things that happened to Isy. You know, autobiographical stuff. She’s an anarchist and draws stories about trying new things, trying yoga, a typical day in her life, trainspotting, testing video games, going to music festivals, and she even has a story about an activist who’s still in jail. One look at the cover should show you the sheer level of detail she puts in her art, and her writing is the same way. Everything is as casual as can be, it comes across like you’re listening in on some of the conversations she’s having with friends. There are also a couple of text pieces in here. One is about her trying to get a bar/bookstore opened up with some friends and another is a rant by someone named Adam about why he likes comics. Great art, engaging dialogue, and she leads enough of an interesting life to make autobio fun. Send her a few bucks (I’m guessing here, but if it’s too much maybe she’ll send you some other comics too) at: P.O. Box 74 Brighton BNI 42Q. Or just e-mail her…

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Morgenmuffel #13

If anybody was wondering if Isy was capable of putting together a great book of (mostly) one story, well, the answer is yes. She took a 3 month trip with her boyfriend from London all the way to Seoul, with stops on the way at all kinds of places. She has interviews with some of the more interesting people that she met in long text form, otherwise it’s just a whole pile of things that happened to her and/or impressions of all the things that she saw. In other words, it’s very much a comic with a story to tell, and she tells it very well.Other than her main story she has a couple of smaller pieces dealing with babies, cooking and bicycling, but the main story here is the fact that she was on a train for a combined 356 hours before all is said and done. Well, it is to me, anyway. All kinds of fascinating stuff here, told with somebody who has some obvious enthusiasm for traveling and seeing new things.This one is probably a couple of bucks, contact info is up there and if you’re just looking to get one issue of this series to try it out, I’d try this one…