Laird MacGuffin's Treasury

Got this from the artist this past summer.

Title: Laird MacGuffin's Treasury
Date: 2017
Publisher: Drowned Town Press
Writer: E.J. BarnesArtist: E.J. Barnes

Wordless furry fable about a rumor of a treasure in a ruined castle. As the rumor spreads a band of would-be adventurers is gradually assembled and they begin to make their way to the castle, each of them engaging in their own scheming as they go. What they find there is not what any of them expected.

This was cute. The dialogue is all pictures and there is an amusing cast of anthropomorphic animal characters, each with their own personality and motivations. The ending was quite amusing.

Rating: 8/10

Tree Rats! Or, The Crepuscular Hobbyhorse

Given to us by the author over the summer.

Title: Tree Rats! Or, The Crepuscular Hobbyhorse
Date: 2015
Publisher: Drowned Town Press
Writer: E.J. BarnesCover: E.J. Barnes

Not a comic. This is a zine-format chapbook containing a single prose short story.

The story is a dark comedy and family drama, beginning with a scene that will be familiar to many: Family members trying to persuade and elderly relative to move into an assisted living facility. In this case, the narrator's uncle has gotten himself into the habit of shooting at squirrels with his b.b. gun out his bathroom window while dealing with his digestive issues.

When the narrator calls on an old friend to drive him from the East Coast to the Midwest to help with the resulting family drama, things quickly escalate into an over-the-top mess involving sex toys, a standard-shift truck, fireworks, stochastic music, an ill-tempered Italian greyhound, and militarized cops.

This had a lot of fun geeky elements, enough realistic details of how some family members can grow old ungracefully to give it an emotional punch, and plenty of laughs as it hits one bizarre plot twist after another.

Rating: 8.5/10

Errand of Mercy: The Irish Potato Blight And The Good Ship Jamestown

One of the comics I got this summer.

Title: Errand of Mercy: The Irish Potato Blight And The Good Ship Jamestown
Date: April, 2017
Publisher: Massachusetts Historical Society
Writer: J. L. Bell
Artist: Olivia Li
Editor: E. J. Barnes

Eight page b/w minicomic with a color cover. This begins with a general overview of the history of potatoes in Ireland and the potato blight and famine in the mid-1800s. It then goes on to document the response of Irish immigrants in Boston, who organized a relief effort, securing approval for the sending of the USS Jamestown, a navy ship, with a cargo of 800 tons of food and clothing to Cork, Ireland in 1847.

Considering the space limitations of the minicomic format, this book does a nice job of exploring the political complexities involved in mounting the mission of mercy.

This was a good snapshot of a moment in this history of Ireland and of Boston.

Rating: 8/10

Confessions of an American Ling Master Preview #0

From my friend EJ by way of the random stack of unread comics.

Title: Confessions of an American Ling Master
Issue: Preview #0, 2nd Edition
Date: 2007
Publisher: EJ Barnes
Writer: Al Ackerman, EJ Barnes
Artist: EJ Barnes

A seemingly mundane city-dwelling recluse leads a double life as the mysterious Ling Master. Featuring a highly unreliable narrator and a weird-pulp vibe, this b/w preview minicomic sets the scene for the weirdness to come. The mentions of the Vug-Randolphs ("a creche-family of large sentient black beetles") and the Araby society tease of some serious strangeness on the way.

Not a lot of plot in this introductory story, but plenty of groundwork is laid.

Rating: 7/10

An Invitation to the World of Luisa Felix, Cartoonist

A book I picked up at last year's MECAF convention in Portland ME.

Title: An Invitation to the World of Luisa Felix, Cartoonist
Date: 2013
Publisher: Drowned Town Press
Editor: E.J. Barnes, Paul Curtis
Artist: Louisa Felix, E.J. Barnes, Natalie Ewert, Larry Blake, Steve Peters, Keith O'Brien, Michele Witchipoo, Frank Humphris, Eric Jensen, Paul Curtis

Hoboken NJ cartoonist Louisa Felix was active in the small press and comics APA scene more than four decades, writing and drawing comics and comic strips in a range of genres from funny animals and gag strips to film noir and horror stories.

This tribute collection shows of the range of her work, and includes concept sketches and roughs, along with finished comics, and tributes by other small-press comic artists working with characters that Ms. Felix created.

I loved the classic old-Hollywood feel of her work, with an art style that evokes Betty Boop and classic Popeye cartoons. The stories are fun, and her technique of inventing a cast of actors in a Hollywood meta-story and then "casting" them into her cartoons was a very clever way of creating a coherent comic book universe involving such a wide range of stories.

This is very obviously a heartfelt tribute, and is was delightful to discover Louisa Felix's work through this collection.

Rating: 8.5/10

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

The Million Year Picnic's Jam Comics From Free Comic Book Day 2011

Title: The Million Year Picnic's Jam Comics From Free Comic Book Day 2011
Date: 2011
Publisher: Million Year Picnic
Editor: Aya Rothwell
Contributors: EJ Barnes, Alex Firer, Jay Kennedy, Nathan Kitler, Laurel Leake, Dan Mazur, Aya Rothwell, Kristen Toohill, Andy Wong

This half-sized color minicomic is a collection of jam comics done at Million Year Picnic in Cambridge MA on Free Comic Book Day 2011. The comic are done in color markers, and are standard jams with each artist taking a panel as the page is passed around. Coherence is not necessarily an objective.

The group presents a lot of bizarre and surreal material while touching on themes that include fancy ballerinas, caterpillars in space, Superman renouncing his US citizenship, rogue teeth, berries, and a conqueror named Nern.

High-quality paper and production values make this a nicer package than the typical jam minicomic.

Rating: 6.5/10

How Dear To Me Is Sleep

A fitting title for the moment, I think.

Title: How Dear To Me Is Sleep
Date: 2009
Publisher: Drowned Town Press
Writer: E.J. Barnes
Artist: E.J. Barnes

Half-sized minicomic completed as part of 24-Hour Comic Day 2008.

Part science and part autobiography, this minicomic explores the concept of sleep from several angles. The opening discussion concerns scientific (lack of) understanding of the nature of sleep, followed immediately by a discussion of sleep in the animal kingdom.

From there, the comic explores EJ Barnes' childhood, the unusual sleeping habits and patterns of her parents, and her brother's struggle with sleep apnea. EJ goes on to recount the sleep study that she went through, and then ends with several pages illustrating a relevent quotation from Michelangelo (Renaissance painter, not mutant ninja turtl),

There is some clever art here, showing peoeple's different experiences with insomnia, and I liked the ending with the Michaelangelo quotation. Nice cover too! Gotta love the cat curled up in the blanket.

Rating: 7.5/10.

A Beautiful Young Nymph Going To Bed

Title: A Beautiful Young Nymph Going To Bed
Date: 2011 (poem originally published in 1734)
Publisher: Drowned Town Press
Writer: Jonathan Swift, E.J. Barnes
Artist: E.J. Barnes

This minicomic is an adaptation Jonathan Swift's poem of the same title, originally published in 1734. For those interested, the text of the poem can be found here.

EJ Barnes uses a woodcut style to illustrate the stanzas of the poem, which present a message quite applicable to today's world of beauty and fashion excesses. This is the 18th Century version of plastic surgery, airbrushing, and photoshopping, the creation of an ideal of beauty that proves to be a mere facade. And that facade is stripped away piece by piece through Barnes' woodcut-style illustrations. The illustrations do a great job of bringing out details that might be lost on those readers who are not up to speed on their 18th century beauty and hygiene terminology.

This is a clever and disturbing piece of work that nicely complements the original poem. EJ Barnes has captured the satirical venom and cynicism of Jonathan Swift's original work, and it is still as relevant as it was when it was published.

Rating: 8.5/10