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Hendricks, Robert – Stranger Two Stranger #4
Stranger Two Stranger #4
I keep thinking that Robert is going to run out of material for these comics, or at least that the whole thing is going to start to feel repetitive. Nope, that is not the case, or at least not yet (keep pessimism alive!). This issue has probably the most eclectic mix of the bunch, and I defy you not to either laugh out loud or shake your head at least a few times in rueful amazement. I don’t even want to summarize these stories, as they’re that damned good, but I will offer up tantalizing hints. There’s the poem, the picture and the lack of moral standing as to what happens with it, the end of Craigslist, advice for a new neighbor, the lady behind the plate at the baseball game, how a day can be brightened, when it’s maybe not appropriate to hit on someone in a grocery store, wordplay, the unfortunate side effect of riding a bicycle, responsibility, how did that get there, and a couple of very awkward ways to meet somebody. There, go pick up a copy of this, read it, then come back to the review and see if it makes more sense. Everybody out there has at least one story of The One Who Got Away, or The One I Didn’t Have The Guts To Talk To, or something to that effect. Compare your stories with the ones in here and you’re sure to come out feeling OK about the whole thing. $2
Hendricks, R. – Stranger Two Stranger #3
Stranger Two Stranger #3
For those of you who haven’t been reading this series, a quick recap: R. Hendricks finds some of the more ridiculous/heartbreaking/bizarre Craigslist ads about missed connections and illustrates them. His illustrations generally elevate these ads into another art form entirely, and I’ve been thoroughly impressed with his efforts so far. That being said, take a moment to embiggen that sample below and read it, because it has to be the most delusional thing I’ve ever seen in any kind of personal ad. Done? Yeah, that guy actually thought that he might have a shot with that woman AFTER RUNNING OVER HER DOG. I’ve surely had my clueless moments in dealing with the ladies over the years, but that level of willful ignorance is astounding. But hey, at least he’s offering to buy her a new dog! Madness. This is an extreme example of what you’ll find in this volume, but several of them are along the same vein. There’s one from a woman who researched who David Lynch was after having a cute guy ask her about him, a guy looking for another guy he had met with huge feet, another guy who’s looking for the guy that he gave an oral exam (in a dentist’s office) to, a guy who sneakily took a picture of a the feet of a woman and another guy who’s just looking for a “female wrestling partner.” There are also a few more surreal entries, like the one that says that “love lies do not mix well with love” and another that simply says “I screw you.” Overall I’m leaving a large chunk of these for you readers to discover, as there’s no sense in ruining such a delightful surprise, but rest assured that there are some doozies in here. And if you go to his website you’ll see a few new entries that are not in this volume, which tells me he’s keeping this up, which is good news to all of us. $2
Hendricks, R. – Stranger Two Stranger #1
Stranger Two Stranger #1
Somewhere around the mounds of comics in this room I have a copy of “I Saw You…,” the anthology edited by Julia Wertz. I’m mentioning this because R. mentions in his introduction that that book served as an inspiration for this book and to maybe help you understand his title a little bit better. See, that book had various tales of missed connections by some of the luminaries of the small press comics world. This one has ten different stories that range all over the place covering the same subject. Missed connections in here include a dopey ad listing the entire alphabet except for the “U” with the headline “What Am I Missing?,” a fairly hopeless girl who was giving it a shot anyway, a guy either looking for an overweight lady with a moustache to respond to his ad or maybe he was playing a joke, an ad to Prince Harry, one from a couple of prison inmates who wonder where their, um, “buddy” has gone, one about the sex appeal of a big old belly, another cryptic ad, and somebody whose only clue was that the person they were looking for said “bless you” to them when they sneezed in a pet shop. My favorite of the bunch has to be the story of the man who is trying to piece his previous evening together from the bits and pieces of physical evidence left over from the night before. R. also mentioned in his intro that he was very late getting into this small press comics thing, as he’s in his late 30’s at the moment. Kudos to him/her and the more the merrier. Hell, a good chunk of the behemoths of this small press world put out their best work after the passed 40 anyway, so there’s theoretically plenty of time for improvement. It’s a pretty damned solid first issue either way, but here’s hoping the guy keeps going with this.
