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Mallard #4 edited by Tom England
This small press anthology features a nice balance of comics and fiction. There's plenty of material here to warrant its formal contents page which is very useful, but oddly produced. It looks almost as if it was pulled right out of a typewriter and is entirely devoid of graphics. Thankfully the typography and design of the fiction pages takes things up a notch or two. The inside back cover highlights each contributor with short whimsical biographies. As a reader and reviewer I really like this sort of thing. It's a great place to list other work, contact information, and perhaps websites for each of the contributors.
As in the last issue, Joe Baddeley's stick figure cartoons are sprinkled throughout the pages, often as momentary breaks on the fiction pages. They're usually pretty funny in spite of the barebones artwork.
The first feature in the book is Ideal World, a four page comic by Max Evry. It's a wacky daydream of the world's high-tech future through the eyes of a young lad named Renshaw Scofield.
Next up is the first of two single page comics in the issue by Dan Dyer. These are gag strips with off-the-wall setups and dry, sardonic punchlines. The second appears at the end of the zine.
Editor England's Rooftops is a poetic reminder to stop and smell the roses. The cover of this issue is pulled from one of the panels from this two page sililoquy.
Christopher Bernard Leahy returns with another well written chapter of his multi-part story, The Yearning and the Recoil. This episode spans six pages and follows the lead character, Bryan, as he ventures from the confines of the estate to explore the grounds and eventually the nearby village.
The center spread is a visually rich, wordless comic by Matt Fletcher called Journey. It's followed by a series of one page comics by Baddeley, England, Harry Nordlinger, and Chris Geary.
Nordlinger describes his series Psylocibin Water Ride as a horror comedy and judging from the two entries in this issue, I'd say he's right. The second of his one pagers appears near the end of the zine.
Half of the title of Geary's Neanderings one page comic was cut off on this particular copy. (Mallard's production values are adequate, but low end.) I like Geary's loose cartoon style and the concept of this strip with two ancient lunkheads.
The longest comic in the issue is England's four page Excerpts from the Diary of Philip Gyres. Told entirely with pictures and narration it recounts Philip's musings on life's simple pleasures.
The book's final prose piece is a three page fiction by Dan Bloom called The Way Back to the City. It's the story of the unsteady relationship between Jamie and Paul. Bloom's richly embellished narrative can be mesmerizing, but at times the story is almost lost amongst those lavish passages.
The back cover by Jenny Peacock is a nicely stylized drawing of a narrow street in London.
Mallard #4 is 32 b&w pages, plus a cover printed on blue copier paper. It's available (along with other Mallard Small Press publications) from England's website.
Chase #1
by Jim Main & John Lambert
Jim Main publishes a wide range of small press zines through his Main Enterprises nameplate. His titles include original comics like Phantascape and The Cavaliers, fiction zines like Dark Corridor, and fan magazines like Comic Fan and Thrills and Chills. And these are literally, just a few of his titles! In June he launched his first PDF publication, Gnome #5, a 52-page comics, news, & review zine that's free for the asking. Recently he announced his plans to begin a new series of mini comics — 8-pagers formatted to print on a single sheet of letter-size paper.
Chase #1 is the first issue of his new mini comics line. It's an adventure/crime comic based on Main's concept and written by him as well. The continuing story is delivered in quick, 8-page increments, so I won't spoil the details about the opening storyline. Suffice to say, it's the start of an action-packed tale about a crime family and the special forces working to bring them to justice. The artwork is by John Lambert, one of my favorite comic artists from the ME line. The production work is by Dan W. Taylor, a veteran of mini comics publishing if ever there was one. It's a great looking package as you can see from the samples.
Chase #1 is 8 b&w pages, including the cover. It's available for $1 plus postage from the Main Enterprises shop.
Chaotique #1 edited by Chris Dreyer
Chaotique is a perfect-bound, small press digest that passionately encourages creativity and challenges conventional thinking through a mixture of prose and comic entries. It's subtitled An Obliterary Journal, which Eric Cunningham explains is "writing and drawing that wipes away the false self and removes from recognition and memory all that gets in the way of the creative act."
This aspirational mission gives the entries context and drives the content that ranges from subversive editorial to autobiography, from well-informed debate to personal pontification. The zine is intentionally edgy, at times brazen, and often funny.
Nick Dreyer contributes a one page recollection of a late-night search for caffein on the deserted streets of Beaverton, Oregon with some clever grinds on coffee culture.
Chris Dreyer's four-page comic fantasy tries vainly to examine gender theory using sexplotation props.
Quasar 67 by John Calvin Errickson II is five, single page novel entries with moments of brilliance, clever wordplay, and humor. If you're intrigued by unconventional, creative writing you'll enjoy these snippets of off-kilter urban adventure with snarky asides.
A one-page comic by Cunningham explores a cartoonist's drawing styles.
The Gaijin Chronicles by Peter Linnemann is about a downtrodden outsider's search for reality in Tokyo. As the first entry of this multi-part story opens we find our hero eking out an existence as the roommate of two prostitutes. He's headed for a job interview at an English cafe that needs a chat host. The story includes illustrations by the author.
Several comics follow. A three-pager by Nick Deyer about an office incident, a one-pager by Matt Bailey on pores, and a three-pager by Cunningham about putting in a full day's work.
Chris Dreyer's Joe Job Manifesto is the longest piece in the issue. It provides interesting social commentary about work through the eyes of a pizza delivery driver. It's a hybrid comic story — some segments have so much text that the words take over the page leaving room for only one panel of artwork.
Head Full of Helium by Brandon Lukacsko is a three-page observation of perceptions about love and relationships viewed through a confusion of conflicting emotions and thoughts.
The final section of the issue wraps up with more comic pages. A couple of funny one-pagers from Bailey. An interesting ten-page editorial on politics by Cunningham, presented in a comics-style format. And the final dissertation on obliterary pursuit by Cunningham in which he invites the struggling creative to trade mere existence for adventure.
The graphic and production design of Chaotique is as ambitious as its mission. Printed with opaque, multicolored inks on paper the color of a grocery bag, and perfect bound, it's a great looking, eco-friendly package. Issue #1 is 64 pages plus a heavy-weight cover. It's available for $7 from the Dreyer Press website, or a variety of bookshops listed there. Adults only.
Hickee #4
edited by Graham Annable
Hickee is a wacky comic book anthology loaded with slapstick — and sometimes gross — humor. Most of the entries in this issue are crime stories. The characters are wildly over the top, parading through the pages with their arms flailing as their base desires hang onto their sleeves for dear life. There are no hidden agendas or subtleties here. Just raw energy, nerves, and living for the moment in a sort of perfect zen of iniquity. I loved it!
Special Operative Felps by Annable stars a super-deductive sleuth who's reviled by everyone on the police force. They can't stand being at the same crime scene with him, yet they can't look away.
Good Listener by Nathan Stapley, who also did the cover, is about a sawbones with an amazing auscultatory ability.
Lighter Side is a series of half-page gag strips by Vamburto Maduro. They're in the tradition of Dave Berg, but the punchlines left me both laughing and squirming. The ones on the inside back cover are in full color.
Horny Horns by Joe White is like a silent, animated cartoon on paper. It's inventive, gross, sick, and funny — but in a really tasteful way.
Prison Tunnel Tag Alongs by Scott Campbell is another gem that builds over several pages to its own demented, yet logical conclusion.
Hickee #4 is like the perfect issue of Mad magazine that I remember from my youth — except better because it's edgier, all comics, and funny as hell. Published by Jeff Mason's Alternative Comics, Hickee #4 is 32 b&w pages, plus full color cover. It's available for $2.95 at Indy-friendly comic shop, or Amazon if you can't find it elsewhere. Adults only.
Welcome to the Dahl House
by Ken Dahl
This collection of Dahl's work from 1997 to the present is summed up nicely in the subtitle: Alienation, incarceration, and inebriation in the new American Rome. Another quip on the tile page reads: United States of Murder, Torture, & Hi-Def TV. Those two lines alone should give you a good idea of the acerbic wit inside.
The collection features a new introduction and comics from Dahl's self-published zines and contributions to short-run anthologies, with a few heretofore unpublished strips as well. There are a few straight-out gag comics, but the majority are politically charged, laced with sarcasm, and give us a curt look at American culture and policies from the perspective of an outsider.
Dahl was the 2007 Fellow at the Center for Cartoon Studies, and his later work shows the progress he's made. Although the artwork and writing of his older work is not as polished as the most recent pages, it's fascinating to compare the old with the new. All the elements of his vision were there in the earlier years, but the art, timing, words, and choices weren't as crisp or as effective. It's a treat to see his growth as a cartoonist and social commentator.
Welcome to the Dahl House is 122 b&w pages, perfect-bound, with a full color cover. Published by Microcosm Publishing and printed in Canada. It's available for $6 from the publisher.
The Trugglemat
by Neil Brideau
This is a fun little mini comic that was Brideau's first self-published work from 2007. Each spread presents text on the left and a full page cartoon illustration on the right. The story is told in the form of a poem. It's about a five-year-old's trouble with the Trugglemat, a monster drawn straight from the nightmares inside a kindergartner's closet or under his bed. I like the contrast of the scratchy lettering of the poem across from the more refined, detailed artwork.
The Trugglemat is 24 b&w pages (including a few blanks), plus a b&w cover on colored paper. The comic has a nice homemade feel to it with handsewn binding and glued cover. It's available for a measly $1 directly from Brideau on his website or a variety of indie-friendly comic shops around the country.
The Mourning Star
by Kazimir Strzepek
With a cast of dozens of recurring characters Strzepek's epic series The Mourning Star is ambitious and richly imaginative. Set in a post disaster world, civilization struggles to reassert itself as splintered factions and bands vie for power and control or perhaps just some level of normalcy in a chaotic landscape.
Strzepek seems immersed in his epic story. He seems to know so much about his characters, their history, customs, and individual quirks that it spills effortlessly through his narrative and dialogue. His storytelling is crisp and the action moves along at a satisfying pace, yet he's able to savor the details and reveal them in an almost leisurely manner.
The story is graphically violent in places, but Strzepek's cartoony style softens its rawest moments and there's often a twinkle of sarcastic humor behind his character's facades. The story takes place over a wide range of environments from deserts to mountains and from ruins to bustling villages.The characters are inventive and original, like the dream eaters who take up residence inside their host's mouths for the night and feast on their dreams and nightmares.
I liked the square format of this volume and its pages. The page layouts vary continually and the chapters alternate between pages with white and black margins adding to the visual excitement.
This is a wonderfully imaginative and entertaining story told in comic form. I whole heartedly recommend it, but be aware that the story is continued in a future volume. Also, I must mention that the binding on the copy I bought was defective and the cover separated from the pages as I read it. It's certainly possible I got a single bad copy, but you may want to see it in person so you can examine the binding before buying your copy.
The Mourning Star is 220 b&w pages plus color cover, with perfect binding. It's available for $13 from publisher Bodega and other booksellers.
Sorry anthology
Sorry is the first "4-Square Book" published by I Know Joe Kimpel. The series features four cartoonists who each contribute work based on a common theme. Sales proceeds are used to help defray convention costs for the artists.
Mermaid Monster Blues by Caitlin Plovnick is an a ten page story about the love between a man and a mermaid. The storyline, artwork, and layout change considerably as the pages advance. It's fun to see Plovnick experimenting with different styles, but still manage to keep a nice narrative flow that holds everything together.
Sorry or Blue Jay the Imitator by Colleen Frakes is a sixteen page tale based on a native story of the Upper Skagit tribe from Western Washington. It's a Native American fable with forrest animals providing the lesson. I like Frakes' simple brushwork that opens the tale and her more detailed totem illustrations that appear near the end. Some of the pages in this story include large areas of black and the printer did an excellent job of reproducing crisp images with rich, true black ink coverage.
Monkey Bars by Mario Van Buren is a nine page comic about two kids goofing at a park playground. It's funny and dark and I like the way Van Buren gets across the characters' familiar personality types quickly as this playground drama unfolds.
Burn by Emily Wieja is series of eight full page cartoon illustrations with matches, candles, and fire. The artwork features some nice brushwork. Without captions or dialogue you can make this one as interactive as you'd like. Put them together into a story of your own making or just sit back and enjoy the artwork. Either way, you can close out this fine small press comic without regrets.
Sorry is 52 pages plus a full color cover. The interior pages are black ink printed on heavy ivory paper. The cover is printed on cover weight white paper and glued to the first interior page of the zine. This gives the cover a little extra weight and hides the saddle-stitched staples you'd normally see on the spine. Very nice production values and attention to detail. Sorry is available for $6 from I Know Joe Kimpel.
Beware the Robopocalypse!
This digest-sized comics anthology was produced by many of the folks from the Robopocalypse Comics Collective based in Portland, OR. The group also posts comics from their jam sessions on their LiveJournal site.
Beware the Robopocalypse! is a nice sampler of the Robo Collective's work, strung loosely together around the robot theme. Terry Blas contributes a seven page comic featuring a elite force of galactic adventurers battling a horde of angry robots in an elaborate game of life or death.
Nathalie Heizenrader's Dashiell X42 reveals the mysterious personal life of a man of metal with too much time on his hands in a four page comic story.
Matt Grigsby's A Short Lived Journey is a two pager about the advanced robotics found inside today's most forward-thinking hybrids.
Fantasyville by Kevin M. Arnold teaches us the sobering lesson that you can't judge a robot's objective by its external fabrication, in five pages or less.
Matthew Seely's robotic contribution to the anthology is the book's longest, weighing in at eight pages. At Gates Elementary the kids and the robots sit side-by-side to learn in a nurturing environment that fosters respect and non-discrimi-nating behaviors for all classmates. Yeah, right.
Beware the Robopocalypse! is 28 b&w pages with a two color silk-screened cover printed on heavy blue paper. It's available for $5 from the Robopocalypse Store and finer indie shops around the robobooster universe.
Alternate Reality #1
edited by Ty Wakefield
There's an infectious sense of energy and enthusiasm that this small press comic invokes, particularly from the introduction by Editor Wakefield. The book is an anthology of dark humor, inspired by the horror comics from the medium's classic era.
Revenge by Ty Douglass is a two page comic that gives us a deadly twist on Charlie Brown and Lucy's perennial conflict about holding and kicking a football.
They Never Die by Beau Wakefield is the first part of an action packed zombie war epic. The first, five page installment introduces the series' hero and its overall premise.
The Guarantee by Ty Wakfield is a tasty, slice of life chronicle about a pizza delivery to a repeat customer with a long history of complaints.
Douglass teams with writer Josh Wiggins on an illustrated poem that celebrates the Bush administration and their numerous accomplishments.
The book concludes with another collaboration between Douglass and Wiggins. The first part of Audio Journal #9 featuring a crime investigator and obsessed journaler who swaps longhand for a tape recorder.
Sprinkled throughout the comic are a few pinups that act as previews for Alternate Reality Comics' 2009 Calendar, planned for release in August 2008.
Alternate Reality #1 is 24 b&w pages, plus a b&w cover printed on heavier white paper. Visit Ty and Beau Wakefield's MySpace page or send email for more information about Alternate Reality Comics and their projects.
Mini Comic Reviews
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Check the review queue in the right sidebar on the Review Index page. Books are reviewed in the order they arrive.
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