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Taylor, Rio Aubry – Tabe Collection Volume One

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Tabe Collection Volume One

Long time readers of this site may recall a few instances when I’ve tried to review abstract comics in (unintentionally) hilarious fashion, and this collected of Rio’s is actually ten comics in one package, so settle in for a garbled treat where I entirely miss the point of a good 3/4 of these comics. First off, the packaging is impressive as hell. This all comes in a large plastic envelope with images of transformers on the flap, and it even comes with a little hole in the flap where you would theoretically hang it on a wall. The packaging for the ten individual comics is impressive too, although if you weren’t a kid who could manage one of those “does he/she like me or not” folding hand thingies (and I clearly don’t know what to call them) then you might have some trouble folding some of these back into position after you finish reading them. On to the comics! #1 is a series of seemingly random images, involving a lot of people in very strange hats and some hieroglyphics. Have I mentioned that most of these comics are only a few pages long? OK then. #2 is a fold out thingie with all sorts of images of various transformers on it. Hey, just like the images on the outer flap of the whole package! #3 is a brief conversation on war and madness and #4 is a series of rorschach blots that are described as “new cave art.” #5 (sampled below, as I wanted to sample the most conventional page in a series of abstract comics just to mess with your head)  is an interview with an unnamed person about either Don Juan, Cecil DeMille or both. There are a few interview comics in this set and I really wish I knew the subject in any of them. Hey, I’ve found a complaint! #6 is all about life and love, with an almost criminally adorable main image, and I can’t get it folded back the right way. #7 is a man coming to grips with the rot and taint within him, and it was probably my favorite of the bunch. #8 is a memory, a realization and a maze. #9 is a long interview about art and why to make it, and finally #10 is a message and a poem. With what appears to be that big guy from Katamari Damacy giving the main message. Overall this is an impressive pile of a variety of different types of comics. If you insist on a linear story, you have a few interviews and more conventional stories to win you over. If you prefer your comics abstract, damned near this whole collection has some elements of that. It’s a bit hefty at $14, but you’re also getting a fair amount of comic here. It’s worth a look, unless you really just hate abstract comics.

Taylor, Rio Aubry – Jetty #1

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Jetty #1

Do you still ask questions about the universe and your place in it? It’s OK to say “no,” as it can get exhausting after a while, but Rio is still asking, and we get to read about it. Read and observe, really, as there are a couple of pieces in here with very few words. This comic starts off with Rio asking “What is it that makes my heart narrate?” on the inside front cover. So right away it’s easy to see that this man is searching for meaning in everything he does. The first story deals with a young man who was made king of a realm of giant space insects. Well, cars that fly into space and transform into giant space insects. While still carrying their passengers. And one of those passengers happens to be a bratty kid, who the mom asks to be left with the space bugs (!), so he is. Next up is the heart of the book, called “Masks that grown-ups sell me and the lies they tell me.” This is where Rio really lets loose, and it’s utterly pointless for me to even try to review it. I did use a page from it as a sample to give you some idea of what to expect, but that’s as far as I go. The rest is up to your own interpretations. From there you have a silent piece about some of the giants of the sea, a series of quotes from Jesus from unfathomable space entities, and Rio taking his leave. If you’re looking for a linear story you’re better off going somewhere else, and that’s also true if you’re not big on introspection or asking too many tough questions. For the rest of us there’s a lot to like here, although I’m left with the ridiculous thought that I wish that he had gone deeper. But that’s just me, and that’s probably because I’ve long thought that the answer to everything is out there somewhere, it just needs to be found again. If it exists at all, that is. Yep, this is why I leave it up to the professionals to make comics about such thoughts. $5

Taylor, Rio Aubry – Light Riot Departure

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Light Riot Departure

Haters of science fiction and fantasy, take note: that dragon on the first page is not indicative of the content the rest of the way. This is the story of Rio (it’s called a “fantastical autobiography,” so use your own imagination as to how much of this is true) as he watches people on inner tubes floating down the river, noting that they never take the time to look up at him in the tree. He’s also worried about his girlfriend and whether or not she’s using hard drugs. A strange creature appears and offers to split Rio’s soul from his body, allowing him to exist in the real world while his soul takes a different journey into self-discovery. He accepts and the story splits in two, with soul Rio on the top of the pages and human Rio on the bottom. Human Rio gets the news that he was dreading about his girlfriend while soul Rio gets to try and fly into the center of the moon while avoiding some seriously odd hazards. No sense in my telling you much more about this, as it’ll get spoilery in a hurry (if it isn’t already there), but you could read this comic a few different ways. I see it as a man retreating into himself when he gets the worst news possible, but who am I to say? Maybe he did take that spiritual journey and I’m just a materialistic cynic. It’s worth checking out either way and figuring it out for yourself. $5.50

Taylor, Rio Aubry – Werefore Teach Comics?

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Werefore Teach Comics?

I was all set to praise this thing before I noticed the glaring typo in the title. In the freaking title, by a person who teaches students about how to make comics! This isn’t the first time that I’ve wondered if there was a class on spelling at The Center for Cartoon Studies. They do fantastic work in every other area (as far as I’ve been able to tell), but that title alone may well have scared me off if I saw this sitting on a shelf in a store. So anyway, this is a tiny mini and the title basically says it all. Rio praises her teacher Alec Longstreth and gives some of his pearls of wisdom, then goes on to feature a few students who talked about what they learned in class. Like I said, it’s short (six pages of story), and the content was fantastic and thought-provoking. Still, I’ll be the guy yelling on street corners in 20 years about spelling errors when the rest of the world has given up, so don’t think my annoyance about that title will do a thing to dim your enjoyment of the book. Rio also sent along longer comics that I look forward to digging into (rushed for time today, so that pretty much always means I’m reviewing a mini comic), and I’ll go ahead and give her the benefit of the doubt on that typo. Hey, why not? There’s nothing about this comic on her website, but you could probably get a copy for a dollar.