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Gaskin, Samuel C. – Sugarcube

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Sugarcube

Diabetes!  A couple of you, assuming you’re assholes, probably think it’s funny.  The rest of you either already have it or are living in fear of getting it, and according to my family tree it’s just a matter of time before I get some variation of it.  Well, that, heart disease, high blood pressure, all sorts of goodies.  Anyway, this comic is all about a man named Andy (I’m going to assume that this is fictional and not just a stand-in for Sam, but I have no idea) finding out at the age of 20 that he has diabetes.  If you have no idea what this entails this comic will serve as an excellent guide, as I learned all about having to inject yourself with insulin or test your blood sugar 7 (!) times a day, how having diabetes means you have to stop drinking (and try picturing getting that news at the age of 20), and how you need to have your medicine with you for every meal.  It’s a huge pain in the ass, in other words, and it’s a battle of constantly making adjustments.  Andy decided at some point in this book that he might as well smoke pot since he could no longer drink, but naturally he’s found out and made to feel shame.  Seems mildly ridiculous to me, but I guess he was still living with his parents at the time.  The rest of the comic is an understated journey of self-discovery, as Andy starts questioning everything about his life with his new forced maturity, and his friends and their partying ways don’t end up looking as good as he once thought.  This is a hefty comic, peppered with little observances of his new life and how it doesn’t seem to be coinciding with his old life all that well.  In much the same way that Ken Dahl’s Monster is a definitive portrait of herpes, this comic does a pretty great job of cornering the market on comics about diabetes.  If you prefer your information on this subject not to come with Wilford Brimley lecturing you, this comic is an excellent place to start.  Sam was also nice enough to send this copy along for my rental service because the cover is a little smudged and dinged up (but perfectly readable), an excellent idea for you other comics folks who are good with the idea and don’t know what to do with some of your slightly damaged comics.  Just sayin’…

Gaskin, Sam – Faux-Pas #2

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Faux-Pas #2

It what can only be called a major coincidence, it looks like Sam started up a website today, 2/14/07. Or at least today was the day he updated the thing, who knows? Either way, whether or not you’ll like this book boils down to a simple question: do sloppy comics bug you? You know, the ones that look like they were rushed through for large portions, regardless of the quality of the actual stories? If you don’t mind a bit of a rush when the stories are still entertaining, then you’re in for a treat. If slop makes you put the comic down, this isn’t for you. There are lots of little (mostly funny) one page gags here, and also a few longer stories. The longer stories deal with a taxi getting messed up on bio-diesel, a man realizing that the worst thing he did in his life was look at his friend’s sister as she was bending over and never apologizing for it, and hammering home the point that everything can kill you. Plenty of other comics are more aesthetically pleasing than this one, sure, but there’s a pile of good stories in here regardless. And it’s cheap! $1

Gaskin, Sam – Fatal Faux-Pas

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Fatal Faux-Pas

Apparently I was a bit wishy washy with the review for Sam’s mini, the contents of which are mostly included in this collection. So why, if that’s the case. do I have such unreserved love for this collection? Eh, I’m a mass of contradictions, what can I say. It’s also going to be tough figuring out what it is I love about this so much, as it’s a mass of unconnected stories, gags and strips, some tiny, some not so much. The uniting force behind this, the thing that made me laugh so many times, was the sheer absurbism on display. Spiderman wondering if Dr. Octopus is squeezing or hugging him, for example, is an image that either makes you smile or it doesn’t. Ditto with a series of four page gag strips involving The Fonz, the series of Faux-Pasta strips involving things that aren’t pasta, theories on what’s inside of Oscar’s trash can, and the drama of being a cat (with an indispensable set of drawings of a cat freaking out). When the worst you can say about a book is that not every page was hilarious, well, chances are it’s a pretty great book. This book is right around a hundred pages and full of things that you’ll enjoy discovering for yourself, so I’m not going to ruin anything by revealing the use of tacos as digging implements. Apparently it’s not widely available quite yet (as of 6/9/08 anyway), but it will be by October. In the meantime you can probably find it at cons, or just get a few minis from the guy. $10