Reviews - Illustrated Fiction 28

$3 each or all three issues as part of a seven comix bundle from:
Macedonio Garcia
11722 Dorrance Lane
Meadows Place, TX 77477
Macedonio website
Flickr

Garcia first started making comix during the Newave era in the early 80s. Clay Geerdes published a dozen issues of his Tales from the Inside through his Comix World imprint. The comix featured stories of life in the Texas prison system. His comix were also included in Weirdo #5, edited by Robert Crumb.

Garcia dropped out of comix for over two decades spending his time air brushing murals, windows, and metal. Somewhere in the mid-2000s he started cartooning again.

I listed the title as "Questionable" above for pronunciation sake. The rest of this review will list the title as shown on the covers: ?-able Comix. It's an apt title, reflecting the book's controversial jabs at politics, society, big biz, and sex.

Issue #1 grills American society, its cultural flaws, and its questionable icons. Each page is a full page cartoon. Garcia's cartooning is bold and his editorial wit scalding.

Issue #2 goes sequential and to some extent fanciful. The stories still go for some shock value but the settings and characters focus mostly on nature and the natural world.

Issue #3 features themed sections with full page panels cued from other titles Garcia has published. Last Call Comix depantses the late night bar scene in various stages of inebriation. It's followed by a series of striking cartoon illustrations—some gags, some abstract and highly detailed. The final series is called D'prse (Depressed), haunting images of isolation, abandonment, and suicide. Inside the back cover is a tipped-in mini CD of Pat Sloan's Morning Wood.

Garcia's new comix have matured substantially since his Newave days. His artwork and storytelling are top notch and his biting commentary has only gotten sharper.

Top Review Index Previous Review Page

Art Break #1 by John Lambert

2010, Weird Muse Productions
8 b&w pages, plus cover
Editor/publisher: Dan W. Taylor
4.25" x 5.5", saddle stitch binding, handmade, no trim
$1 (plus 75¢ postage & packing) from Weird Muse Productions

One of the more prolific artists in small press, I was surprised to learn John Lambert has only been drawing comics for a little over three years. He's contributed dozens of illustrations and comic pages to Jim Main's Main Enterprises comics and zines and of course, he's the artist on the long-running Chase comic book series written by Main.

Art Break is a new title from Weird Muse. It's a mini comic portfolio and its debut issue features full page, fully rendered sketches by Lambert. Most of them drawn during breaks at his day job.

If you're one of Lambert's many fans or simply want to get a sampler of his work, Art Break offers a great opportunity to take the plunge for less than $2.

Top Review Index Previous Review Page

The Possum and the Pepper Spray by Pete Hodapp

2010, self-pulbished
20 b&w pages, plus silkscreened cover
5.5" x 7.5", saddle stitch binding, trimmed with rounded corners
Available for $5, or as part of a bundle for $20, from the artist.
Yawning Void website

When Hodapp traded the urban vibe for the country jibe, he found a new way of thinking wasn't optional. Originally created for the Lutefish Sushi collection, The Possum and the Pepper Spray is an illustrated anecdote of life in rural America.

This little self-published comic is remarkable for a number of reasons. It's not exactly a 24-hour comic, but Hodapp created the whole thing is just eight days according to his closing summation. By all indications, the man is a born storyteller. His tale is crystal clear, beautifully paced, lingering in appropriate spots with just the right amount of detail to simultaneously pull you in and ratchet up the tension.

His panels and page layouts are rooted in traditional comic storytelling but he adds enough playful experimentation to keep himself and the reader amused without sacrificing clarity. It's an interesting true-life story worth recounting on it's own, but Hodapp goes the extra mile and actually learns from it.

Expert storytelling, appealing artwork, a tale with depth, and beautiful production and design easily make this comix a Midnight Fiction Favorite. It was also the winner of the 2010 Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Coimcs.

Top Review Index Previous Review Page

Herman the Manatee #3
by Jason Viola

2010, Manatee Power Media, LLC,
28 b&w pages, plus cover
5.5" x 4.25", saddle stitch binding, handmade, no trim.
$4 from the artist
Manatee Power website
Jason Viola tumblr

The copyright statement inside this mini comic reads 2009, I believe that refers to the appearance of the webcomics, because I'm certain the print version was created in 2010.

When Herman the Manatee first appeared every punchline was Herman being thunked in the head by a motor boat. The strip worked like a modern day version of a classic like Dream of the Rarebit Fiend. The early comics were entertaining, but thankfully Viola has expanded the cast and the set-ups.

In Herman #3, the hapless manatee goes to jail. He's imprisoned with his pals Lester, the world's most depressed sea cow and Knuckles, a narwhal with a record. Each six paneled comic strip delivers a smile, but there's also an overall loose storyline that adds considerably to your reading enjoyment.

Viola's Herman comics are perfect examples of high-class, low-budget self-published mini comics. Black and white interior pages, printed duplex to yield 8 pages per 8.5" x 11" sheet. The printed pages are cut in half, collated, and folded. The covers are an unprinted sheet of colored stock. The front includes black and white cover art that's centered on the cover. Judging from the rounded corners and firm grip, it looks like Viola prints these on label stock and then presses them into position. The back is a rubber stamp of his Manatee Power Media logo. The effect is a very nice looking production completed at minimal cost with a reasonable amount of effort.

I've been following Viola's work since 2008 when he published Rabbit Shadows. His artwork and writing continues to improve with each project he tackles. This one easily ranks as a Midnight Fiction Favorite.

Top Review Index Previous Review Page

All Nukes #1 by Andy Nukes

2010, Main Enterprises
20 b&w pages, plus cover
Publisher: Jim Main
Production: Dan W. Taylor
4.25" x 5.5", saddle stitch binding, handmade, no trim
$3 (postage paid) from
Main Enterprises

Andy Nukes has been creating mini comix since the Newave era. One of his 8-pagers from 1985, Mondo M, is reprinted in Michael Dower's Newave collection. Nukes style a unique mix of surreal images rendered in a decidedly cartoony style. They're not often drawn in an intentional sequence to tell a story, they're individual full page images collected into a sort of portfolio.

Main prompted an introduction from Nukes for this mini in which the artist reflects on his influences and what keeps him producing new work after all these years. The comix is dedicated to the late Jamie Alder, who under the pen name Bill Shut, produced his own unique brand of abstract artwork with strong comic influences.

Andy Nukes in turn is the pen name of Dale Lee Coovert. His Andy Nukes Art Gallery is loaded with examples of his artwork and his store hosted by Big Cartel includes a terrific assortment of prints, zines, and stickers. Be sure to check out his Peace work. (And for Newave collectors, his website also hosts the Michael Roden Catalog listing.)

Nukes stamps the date on each of the images he draws. This makes it easy to place them in time as you flip through the book. The coarse reproduction of the stamp adds an interesting contrast to the artwork and is a consistent iconic reminder that Nukes is in this for the fun of it.

If you're after a terrific sampler of Nukes recent work you can't go wrong this little beauty.

Top Review Index Previous Review Page

Yawning Void #1 by Pete Hodapp

2010, printed by La Crosse Graphics, 20 pages including its self-cover. The cover is two-color, insides are black-and-white. 11" x 17", folded in half for shipping. No binding. Available for $7, or as part of a bundle for $20, from the artist.
Yawning Void website

Pete Hodapp won an Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics for Yawning Void earlier this year. It's a beautifully produced piece with great stories and artwork. The tabloid format captures the feel of hometown rural newspapers nicely, as Hodapp explores the virtues and liabilities of country life as only comics can.

The inside front and back covers are filled with short comic strips plopped on the page right-side-up or sideways around editorial concerns like publication identification, tributes & thanks, and contact info. The sideways reactions to the recent stock market crash and myths of rural life are genuinely funny. (The other short comic strips aren't quite as strong.)

In rural America, curbside garbage collection and recycling doesn't quite pencil out. So residents save it up and haul it to the nearest dump themselves. Dump Troll is a slice-of-rural-life story about the onerous task of unloading a truckload of garbage into sorting bins while a stern, gray-haired grouch supervises. The narrator (Hodapp?) dreads every trip until an abrupt change suddenly helps him sort everything out.

In Housing and Birds the cardinal rule may be prudent, but even the virtues of feathering your own nest has its limits. This adventure is a mirror of rural life. All work and no play is a sour note even when the work is never done. Besides being a solid fable, the centerspread made up of 88 square panels, is visual treat.

The wordless urban adventure that follows is also a sort of fable. The end title on the fourth page serves as the payoff and clarifying point of everything preceding.

The final two page story is more subject to interpretation than the others. For me it was about a new world that had gone back to a simpler way of life, but the sirens of progress and technology were calling again, already.

Yawning Void #1 is a terrific small press comic with a decidedly strong mission to promote and celebrate the rural experience. When you consider it provides 40 pages worth of standard, letter-size pages, $7 makes it a great value to boot.

Top Review Index Previous Review Page

Silber Micro Mini Comics
by Brian John Mitchell & Friends

Brian John Mitchell publishes his micro mini comics in batches, so it seems fitting to review them in a like fashion. All are printed in black & white, handmade, saddle stitched, with self-covers that are included in the page counts listed (below). Unless otherwise mentioned, they measure about 2" x 2.25" and each one is packed in its own tiny plastic bag. Most of the series are continued from issue to issue, but with the beginning recap at the start of each issue you can enjoy them singly as well. They will likely end with a cliffhanger, but that's part of the fun.

Silber Mini-Comics Sampler #1 60 pages. At $1 a copy I'm not sure why a sampler of Silber's tiny titles is necessary, but for those afraid of commitment this may be just the ticket. On the other hand, the book isn't a simple reprint of excerpts from the titles it samples. No way. Instead, each micro sample presents a few original pages in the spirit of seven of Silber's ongoing series. So if you're a completist, you'll want this one too. Here's what's inside, in Mitchell's own words:

Just A Man tells the story of a man in the old west fighting for vengeance, justice, and salvation with a gun. With art by Andrew White.

Worms follows a young woman who's a victim of medical experiments that have made her world a very dangerous place. With art by Kimberlee Traub.

XO is about a sociopath with a heart of gold . . . who can't stop killing people. With art by Melissa Spence Gardner.

Marked chronicles the life of a retired demon-hunter dragged back into his profession and on the run from the law. With art by Jeremy Johnson.

Lost Kisses chronicles the life of a depressed, self-obsessed, and self-deprecating stick figure. With art by Brian John Mitchell.

Ultimate Lost Kisses stands Lost Kisses on its head with great artwork and heartfelt stories from the female perspective. With artwork for the sampler drawn from Arlene Hughes' collection of Chinese paper cuttings.

Mecha follows a lone survivor trying to save the human race and hopefully end his life and suffering in the process. With artwork by Johnny Hoang.

Due to their relatively high page counts and size Silber's micro mini comics are puffy little packages. Fortunately, Mitchell compresses each one and stuffs it into a tiny plastic bag that helps preserve and flatten them out. The rest of the batch he sent consists of:

Cops & Crooks #1 by Mitchell (story) is split down the middle and requires readers to flip the comic over to its second cover to continue reading. 40 pages. The the Cops half by Jason Young and the Crooks half is drawn by Eric Shonborn.

Each half tells the story of a boy growing up without a father who was killed by either law enforcement or a criminal. Each character is defined by his past. As their futures rush together, they are sure to clash in an upcoming chapter.

Just A Man #4 by Mitchell (story) and Andrew White (art). 48 pages. Previously, the main character went on a killing spree to avenge his wife's murder. Then he was hired to rescue his employer's daughter from a whorehouse. Problem is, shortly after saving her, he discovers the girl really wasn't his employer's daughter, and his wife is still alive. He settles accounts with the boss man and then sets out to find his spouse.

Marked #2 by Mitchell (story) and Jeremy Johnson (art). 52 pages. After almost a decade of normal life, Mark excises his retirement to fight some local demons. Unfortunately he's grown weak and had to unleash his inner demon to win the fight. Now it's on the loose and that spells the end of Mark's civilian life. There's nothing left now but battle and escape.

Mecha #1 by Mitchell (story) and Johnny Hoang (art) is an unusually large format for Silber, measuring in at about 2.75" square and 32 pages. Martians have invaded and conquered Earth. They've enslaved what remains of the native population. As the story opens, the narrator finds himself cast in the role of a gladiator fighting for his life for the entertainment of his captors. He escapes to find his destiny on a almost hopeless planet.

XO #6 by Mitchell (story) and Melissa Spence Gardner (art). 40 pages. In the last chapter, the sixteen-year-old narrator committed a semi-accidental murder and was left with the dead body and a vintage Ford Mustage. He takes off on Interstate 95 to deal with his immediate problem and his longer term dilemma.

Worms #6 by Mitchell (story) and Kimberlee Traub (art). 44 pages. After escaping from a series of medical experiments in which her body became host to alien worms, the narrator/main character jumps into a huge tank only to be swallowed whole by a gigantic worm. Fortunately her mind controls it and she uses it to fight back at her captors. That is, until they turn up the juice.

It's hard to go wrong with any of Mtichell's minis. They're action-packed and filled with unexpected twists. Just choose your favorite genre and dive in. $1 each from Silber Media Comics.

Top Review Index Previous Review Page

Veggie Dog Saturn #4 by Jason Young

Feb. 2010, Buyer Beware Comics. 28 pages including the full color cover. Interior pages are b&w. 5.5" x 8.5" with saddle stitch binding, untrimmed.
Available for $3 from the artist.
Webiste: Buyer Beware Comics

Filled with funny recollections of childhood moments and growing up, Veggie Dog Saturn #4 is a handmade comic book that delivers more than its modest package might suggest. The meaning of the far-out title and wraparound cover must be inside jokes. They're fun, but they seem to have no relationship to the contents.

Inside, Young illustrates anecdotes of his childhood with humor, honesty, and candor. The stories are funny but they also have a point, a lesson learned, an ironic twist, a small but important moment when something meaningful occurred that stuck with Young long enough to make him want to share it.

Young never misses a beat in his storytelling. Every panel flows from one to the next, the reader never distracted or disoriented, the story simply progressing at a satisfying pace, pulling the reader along for the ride.

All of Young's recollections are believable. He tells his mini memoirs with a warm nostalgia balanced by the distance of the years between the notable moment and its recording.

Young's artwork is simple, but just right for the content of his light-hearted retelling of his youthful adventures.

Young co-hosts the Gutter Trash podcast with his pal Eric Shonbon, where they talk comics, movies, and drink.

Back issues of Veggie Dog Saturn are also available at Buyer Beware Comics. I can't speak to those, but I liked issue #4 enough to award it a Midnight Fiction Favorite.

Top Review Index Previous Review Page

Outbound #1 & 2 edited by Roho

#1 (May 2009), #2 (April 2010) River Bird Studios & Boston Comics Roundtable
#1 72 b&w pages, plus cover, saddle stitch binding, w/trim, $6.99 plus shipping
#2 120 b&w pages, plus cover, perfect binding, w/trim, $9.99 plus shipping
Both issues are 5.5" x 8.5"
Outbound Magazine
Outbound Store
Boston Comics Roundtable

Outbound, the science fiction comics anthology, makes a powerful first impression. The subject matter, the size, the production values, the cover design, and the cover artwork are all top notch. And when you crack the covers, the contents inside generally manage to fulfill those high expectations. The first issue is printed on a slightly heavier, whiter paper than the second. And as much as I enjoyed the look and feel of the first issue, the second one actually manages to surpass it. These are gorgeous books.

Most of the stories in issue one continue in issue two and will continue in issue three. That fact makes supporting the title a little more challenging, but so far their publishing record is on track. Many of the story chapters begin with a page that would be a cover except for the fact that they're b&w and appear inside. I love this editorial device. They serve as distinct dividers between the stories and add an unexpected full page treatment to enjoy.

The first two volumes Outbound are 95% comics, but each has a few short prose pages as well. In issue one they're all grouped together near the back. I prefer the approach of spacing them out between the comic stories as editor Roho did in issue two.

Following is a short preview of the contents of the issues. Most of the artwork is from issue one, because its saddle stitch bindery made it easier to scan.

Both issues feature front covers by Marcelo Buchelli. Issue one begins with The Caerulean Dream (8 pages) by Brett Barkley and Roho. A family prepares for a long space flight to begin a colony on a tiny dot of light nearly a year away. The first installment relies heavily on narration as we learn the background and orient ourselves to the story. In issue two Roho is joined by Kevin Zimmerman and they deliver the second chapter (9 pages) with a nearly wordless approach as the family crash lands on the desolate landscape of Mars. Issue two includes a chapter cover by Randy Valiente.

Space and Time (8 pages) by Josh Mills and Mike Paoloni, with a chapter cover by David Newbold. A man and his daughter book passage on a spacecraft to his new job. But the ship's captain is hauling more than passengers. And a mysterious cyborg has taken a keen interest in their flight. The story continues in issue two (8 pages) with lettering by David Marshall and effects by Roho.

The Null Device (11 pages) by David Marshall. The Director selects Agent D for a suicide mission to rescue Agent K, far behind enemy lines. The mind-bending story continues in issue two (9 pages).

Flek (9 pages) by Erik Heumiller. Flek is a flea, but a very special one. He's different than all the others on his alien world and he's just about to find out why. After a two page setup, this fanciful adventure story really takes off. It's told almost entirely with dialogue, which keeps the story moving and captivating. Flek returns in issue two (12 pages) for another well told installment.

Scientist Gone Wild (4 pages) by Eric Boeker. After so many continued sagas this self-contained mad scientist send-up creates a welcome pause in the space/time continuum. The feature returns in issue two (5 pages).

Marcel Sirer provides a paper model (designed by Roho) of the Soviet Mars probe Marsnik VI , which successfully reached Mars on March 12, 1974. The model is printed in issue one, but you'll have to photocopy it if you want to avoid cutting up your book.

The title of Mark and the Aliens (6 pages) by Aya Rothwell sums it up pretty well what the story is all about. Mark is a human who finds myself among a planet full of alien bugs. Their adventure has a distinct ending but it's also possible Rothwell will continue the story in a future issue.

Black Fuska (8 pages) by Roho, with a chapter cover by Richard Jenkins. A young Brazilian runs off the road during a blinding rain storm one evening and losses consciousness. When he wakes, he tries to sort out what happened through his disoriented mind. The adventure continues in issue two (9 pages) with artwork by Dave Myers and Steve Willhite and a chapter cover by Paul Marquis. In the second chapter the reader can no longer be sure which version of the young man's reality is actually happening.

Issue one's prose features are Breezes of Heaven (2 pages) by Joe Cannon with artwork by Paul Marquis; How I Learned to Tolerate Vegemite by Aya Rothwell; and an interview with the director of Hunter Prey, Sandy Collora, by Darren Albert, with artwork by Chris Ring.

The New Kid by Dan Mazur is previewed in issue one (4 pages) and begins in issue two (13 pages), with a cover remix by Roho. Ellen moves a lot due to her job, which means her son Jamie is always the new kid on the block. Their latest move involves a flying saucer—and perhaps more adjustment than usual!

The production team for issue one includes Linsay More (who edited the Reader Mail), Jamie Garmendia, Aya Rothwell, and Richard Jenkins. In addition to the stories already mentioned, issue two includes several more:

The Fallout Parade (8 pages) by Jesse Lonergan opens its first chapter with Jack and girl friend Bugsy motorcycling through a post apocalyptic world in which somehow TV still seems to reign supreme.

Tin Cans and a String, a prose story (6 pages) by Patrick J. Flaherty, with artwork by Furman appears in three chapters interspersed throughout issue two. The next chapter(s) will run in issue three.

Driftwood (8 page) by Morgan Pielli is a disturbing fantasy world where nature rules and the nature of things is not what it seems.

Frequency (7 pages) by David Alluisi and Brian Boyles, with a chapter cover by Jason Baroody. Seth Stevens, Physics Officer is a by-the-book kind of enforcer. But for some reason he's on a different sort of frequency today. And the woman observing him wants a closer look.

Robot 11-Three (6 pages) by Kevin Kilgore, with a chapter cover by Chris Ring. In this self-contained escapade two robots plan their escape from the recycle bin.

Issue two closes with Alkehine's Gun (12 pages) by Joe Gill is a classic science fiction chess match.

Outbound is an impressive science fiction comics anthology. With all the continued stories you're either in for the long flight or you're grounded. I'm in. The two volumes easily earn their Midnight Fiction Favorite ranking.

Top Review Index Previous Review Page

Two Italian Guys by Chris Yura

2010, Mangia Industry
38 color pages, plus cover, hardcover with sewn binding, $12.95
9" x 7.5", Mature Readers
Mangia Industry
Mangia Industry Shop
Chris Yura's Blog

Two Italian Guys is a small press comic book that has the production values of a hardcover picture book. But the language and innuendoes inside are strictly, "Hey kids, adults only" faire.

The book's landscape orientation delivers a pleasing format for the short comical adventures inside. The stories all play off Italian stereotypes—wiseguys, pizanos, and goombas—but everything's out on the table so no offensive, capish?

The main event is Two Italian Guys, the story. A tale of two brothers, first generation Americans, growing up and finding their place in an Italian neighborhood in Scranton, PA. The opening chapter of their continuing saga takes just half of the book's 38 pages.

The rest is filled with shorter stories: A couple of wiseguys, one of whom eats, shoots, and leaves. A chef trades quips with his entourage of anthropomorphic ingredients in two different adventures. Yura also throws in a few authentic Italian recipes and some phony advertisements to round out this entertaining package.

I like Yura's cartooning. He tells his stories in a straightforward style and his pages are packed with panels. The book is always amusing and entertaining, if not outright hilarious. It's delivered in an usually upscale package, but its contents are friendly and accessible. You could say it's like a good pizza, served at a fancy table. So whad'ya waiting for? Eat already!