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Colvin, Alex – One of Us #2
One of Us #2
Alex said in the intro to this that nobody bought his first issue. Nobody? Of course, I got both issues at the same time, so maybe that’s changed, but it really was a decent zine. This one is definitely better than #1, as there’s no filler to speak of, just good stuff. The main story in this is about a Ramones reunion show and the dead members of the band coming back as zombies. Throw in the entire museum getting turned into zombies when the sprinkler system hits everything in there and it’s hard to go wrong with that level of mayhem. Next is a disturbed dream comic about melting trees which has a wonderful level of surreality (spellcheck tells me that I made that word up, but I’m sticking to it) about it. I sampled the only other comic in the book, so you can decide for yourself on that one. Finally, he has a text piece about the sheer devastation that a moustache can cause. I think the guy can tell a good story and somebody out there should send him a buck or two so he doesn’t feel so alone. That and anybody who thanks their girlfriend for her boobs in the intro gets total support from me. Contact info is up there, ye swabbies!
Colvin, Alex – One of Us #1
One of Us #1
Here’s a pretty solid zine. The interview with James Kochalka is incredibly crappy. I’m amazed sometimes that the man is willing to let anybody who asks interview him, knowing that he’s probably going to get the same crappy questions over and over again. And yes, I’m aware that I’m saying that when I have two (2) interviews with him up at my site. Anyway, the book is good besides that. There’s a hilarious guide on how to be a bad artist, which rings true for plenty of people out there doing comics. I even recognized a few of this tricks from when I did a few comics and was a crappy artist. Other than that there’s a story about Mickey Mouse actually being Hitler and one about Alex’s first apartment in New York City. It was a bit too self-referential at times, but I don’t know how he could have avoided that with his choice of subject matter. Still, a pretty solid first effort, and you have to be impressed with a story called “3 Pages Going Nowhere”, about three pages that go nowhere. OK fine, maybe I’m just easily impressed. If I had to guess I’d say it’s a buck, send him an e-mail and find out! Oh, and kudos for the Freaks reference…
