Between The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea

Nautical horror is one of my favorite subgenres. I picked this book up at Boston Comic Con last spring.

Title: Between The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea
Date: 2012
Publisher: The Draw Box
Writer: Tony Sedani, Joe Daxberger
Artist: Tony Sedani, Joe Daxberger
Cover: Tony Sedani, Joe Daxberger

Full-format comic consisting of two nautical horror stories. The art by both creators (each does writing and art on one of the stories) is stark and gorgeous throughout this book. I love the fish-tale-turned-dark flavor, which was nicely complemented by the grim art style.

The first story features a fisherman who survives a shipwreck only to find himself in an even worse place.

Next up a man trying to give up his dark secrets to the sea has an encounter with some of the sea's own secrets.

These stories are horror flash-fiction in comic form. There isn't room for a lot of plot twists or character development, but the mood and flavor of the stories give them their impact.

Rating: 8/10

Unpleasant People #1

Another find from Boston Comic Con.

Title: Unpleasant People

Issue: 1

Date: 2010

Publisher: Holly Foltz

Writer: Holly Foltz

Artist: Holly Foltz

Evil dictator Lord Zoloft has problems. His ninjas are on strike for better health benefits, his t-rex is, um, with child, and there is a pair of revenge-seeking heroes at the castle gates.

Fortunately, the "good guys" at the gates seem incompetent enough, but Lord Zoloft is still having time-management and organizational problems. The obvious solution: Hire a temp!

The story is really just getting started in this thin minicomic from Holly Foltz, but it's off to a good start with a decent send-up of typical heroic fantasy and some funny one-liners.

Rating: 7/10

Slashers 101

I picked this one up at the Boston Comic Con.

Title: Slashers 101
Date: 2012
Publisher: Stacie Ponder
Writer: Stacie Ponder
Artist: Stacie Ponder

Incredibly cute mini comic tribute to slasher films. The great thing about the slasher film subgenre is that you don't need to have seen all that many of them to "get" the idea (or to get the jokes in this comic). And if you do happen to be an expert, writer/artist (somehow it just seems right to give her a title with "slash" in the middle of it) Stacie Ponder loads the book with plenty of obscure trivia aimed at the real horror buff.

Ponder covers killers, masks, weapons, and most importantly the stock cast of victims from the annoying joker/nerd to the easy lover to the ineffective authority figure, and of course the final girl.

The whole comic is written in a tone of nostalgic amusement mixed with sarcasm and loaded with little side notes, trivia, and snark.

Rating: 7.5/10

Brain Parts #0

Artist Holly Foltz was across the aisle from me at the Boston Comic Con.

Title: Brain Parts
Issue: #0
Date: 2010
Publisher: Holly Foltz
Writer: Holly Foltz
Artist: Holly Foltz

Minicomic collection of short cartoons. Opening bit involving a cat and a small tribute to the film Alien was very cute. This is followed by a SF-flavored vignette that felt like it was part of something bigger. It was actually a dream comic, as it turned out, but it still looked like there could be an interesting plot lurking in there.

The remaining pieces were short, amusing autobiographical bits, that had the little bit of geeky edge that I never fail to find amusing in nonfiction comics.

Ten pages total, but entertaining and worth the buck cover price.

Rating: 7/10.

Caroline's Catalog

Here's one of my finds from the Boston Comic Con.

Title: Caroline's Catalog
Date: 2012
Publisher: Drowned Town Press
Writer: E.J. Barnes
Artist: E.J. Barnes

E.J. Barnes can always be counted on for some eclectic comic book subject matter. This digest-sized minicomic is a biographical portrait of astronomer Caroline Herschel, who discovered eight comets around the beginning of the 19th century. She was the brother of Sir William Herschel, who first discovered the planet Uranus.

The retrospective of Caroline's life is framed by a visit from her nephew, also an astronomer, who has come to congratulate Caroline on an award she received from the King of Denmark. He also has some new plans for scientific exploration to share with his aunt.

E.J. Barnes does a nice job with the historical details, but where she really shines is in the life and personality she instills into Caroline Herschel, whose love for discovery and for life in general comes across loud and clear.

Rating: 8/10

A Conversation About Spiders

Continuing to make my way through the stack of recent convention finds. I ran into Aya Rothwell the second day of the Boston Comic Con. She was there with Boston Comics Roundtable. I picked up her latest minicomic.

Title: A Conversation About Spiders
Date: 2012
Publisher: Aya Rothwell
Writer: Aya Rothwell
Artist: Aya Rothwell

As a fan of biodiversity in all of its many (and many-legged!) forms, I can very much relate to the poor nature geek in this minicomic. He tries so hard to describe the wonders of the arachnid world to his arachnophobic friend, but she gets more and more disturbed by each new fact. This is an amusing and informative minicomic (quarter-sized), and it contains a bonus page of spider-sketches.

Rating: 7.5/10