Blog Archives
Motley, Tom – True Fiction #6
True Fiction #6 Now Available! $3
Comic strips! That idea can either terrify me or elate me, depending on who’s involved with it. Some of them are formulaic wastes of time (like everything in the paper except Boondocks, at least around here), and some of them at least try to expand the artform, challenging the readers here and there. Luckily this falls into the latter category. And the thing about strips like this is that sometimes the artist will try too hard, leaving a jumbled strip or two as a result, but as long as they keep pushing the boundaries and trying to come up with new things, it’s worth the trip for me. This is a book of strips of varying shapes and sizes, and I came out of it generally liking the whole thing. Individual strips might not have done it for me (like the silly Green Arrow strip), but overall this is worth a look. Topics include Hector on the Farm (which has more silly genital jokes on one page than I had previously thought possible, when I thought of it at all), backwards aliens, sneezing, dreaming, nudity, a butt on the loose, a devil dog, heaven and hell, an ethnically diverse buffet, quadriplegics, dumb food jokes, and the future. $3
Motley, Tom – True Fiction #5
True Fiction #5 Now Available! $3
This was part of a neat idea for a 24 hour comic: 11 people got together in a comic store, sat down and started at the same time to finish 24 hour comics. Two of the people didn’t finish, everybody else came out of it with a comic. Tom’s was the story of a model for an art class, trying to remember poems that she needed to know for her poetry final the next day. Most of the book is just poems and her body floating around or going over the things that she’s thinking about, with brief bits of reality thrown in. It’s a bit too self-referential for my tastes, because if you know that he’s doing a 24 hour book he does all kinds of little inside jokes about it, but it’s not a bad little story overall. And he mentions in the afterward that the art gets stronger as he goes because he felt really rushed at the beginning, and it’s obvious in the final product. Not the best of his books and not the best of the 24 hour books that I’ve seen, but it’s far from awful and has a naked woman wandering around for most of the issue, so I suppose you could do a lot worse. $3, contact info is up there…
Motley, Tom – True Fiction #3
True Fiction #3 Now Available! $1.50
Now this is what a tiny mini comic should be. You can quibble over the content, sure, but what you have here is a comic that’s full of a wide variety of stories that’s heavy on text, which, for me at least, is usually a sign of more bang for your buck. In here you have the life of a tiny mouse, a fable about a trusting cow, a trip to the moon, shape shifting around a naked woman, neglect beyond the grave, misery and dogshit. Yeah, that mostly sums it up. Tom was kind enough to send me a bunch of comics, so there will be a lot more of his books up here in the coming weeks, and so far that looks like a really good thing to me. Here’s an e-mail address just in case the one up there isn’t working, and at $1.50 this is well worth a look.
Motley, Tom – True Fiction #2
True Fiction #2 Now Available! $1.50
With something this short you have time for a visceral reaction and that’s pretty much it, and I liked this one a lot. It’s the tale of a princess who’s shipwrecked on an island with a man who she completely ignores. Funny stuff, if a bit pricey at $2 (hey, it’s tiny), and definitely worth checking out. I just found the Squid Works website, and there are all kinds of comics there. Looks like Tom has done all kinds of comics, so I should be able to tell you a lot more about the guy if I ever get any money that doesn’t go right to rent or food again any time soon. I didn’t see this on the Squid Works page, but e-mail the guy and the see if he has any laying around.
Motley, Tom – True Fiction #1
True Fiction #1 Now Available! $1.00
Here’s an interesting early effort from Tom. This is all about a guy who, while sitting at a coffee shop, has his nose fall off. He soon discovers that his nose is actively trying to escape, then also finds out that similar things are happening to other people around him. That’s all I’m giving away because it’s only 6 pages long, but it’s a neat little story. Too expensive for how small it is, sure, but that happens. If you like his stuff and already have some of the other issues this is worth a look, otherwise I’d say to start with one of the meatier issues (#3 is my personal favorite) and work your way back if you’re so inclined. $1.50, contact info is down there…
