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Brandl, Tony – Adolescent

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Adolescent

Here’s another random pickup from SPACE ’07, and I’ve rarely seen a more descriptive cover. Right off the bat Tony goes away from the traditional image and jumps right into things. He’s entirely too hard on himself in the intro on the front inside cover, going on about how critics and naysayers have essentially prevented him from doing anything for the past two years without seeing it as total crap right off the bat. As one of the naysayers (not on this issue but in general) let me just say this: it’s absolutely insane to see all your work as worthless for two years because of people like me. Seriously, I read the books, try to come up with something remotely informative and entertaining about them, without giving too much away, and go on with my life. Hell, I often forget what I said about somebody on the website when I meet them at a con. This is a long way of saying it, but I’m trying to say worry about your own work and not what anybody else thinks about it. Chances are you have some idea of what constitutes quality work all on your own anyway. So, how about that comic? Lots of random shorties in here. There’s the question of who you are if you aren’t represented by family, interests and work. Then Tony, after one rejection letter too many, decides to do the most formulaic story possible, involving big guns, big tits and fist fights… before the main character, Massive Fist, has a problem with the whole thing. He also deals with the morality of jumping into dunes (knowing that he’s adding to their natural erosion), coming home after long absences, O.C.D. pants, and a nice bit of filler at the end involving much punching. I thought it was pretty funny stuff all around, and here’s hoping that he puts out stuff on a more regular basis from now on. $3

Paton, Doug & Brandl, Tony – Alone in the Night

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Alone in the Night (with Tony Brandl)

What is it about lighthouses that’s so fascinating? Is it just me? This is the story of a man who takes over as the keeper of a lighthouse where a bunch of strange things are happening. He doesn’t really get briefed on the details, but he notices that something is wrong pretty much right away and spends the rest of the comic trying to get used to his new surroundings. It’s an interesting story, although I think every lighthouse ever in a story has been haunted in one way or another. The art’s smudgy enough to be just about perfect for a rainy, dreary story and the writing is desolate yet hopeful for the peace and quiet. Good stuff, although a spellcheck would have been nice. It seems petty to bitch about something like that, I know, but if you’re going to the trouble to type the lettering anyway, why not check it?