T-Shirt of Adventure (Miniworks #15)

Title: T-Shirt of Adventure (Miniworks)
Issue: #15
Date: 2004
Publisher: Paradise Valley Comics
Writer: Pam Bliss
Artist: Pam Bliss

This quarter-sized minicomic is an amusing look at the secret identity concept. Jack Swann is secretly Foursquare, the super-powered defender of Kekionga, Indiana. But when he saves a t-shirt vendor while off-duty, he's offered a free t-shirt with his alter-ego's logo on it. What's a superhero to do? Well, sometimes the answer is right in plain sight. This is a lighthearted sendup of superhero tropes. Quick but entertaining.

Rating: 7/10

Night Patrol (Miniworks #11)

Title: Night Patrol (Miniworks)
Issue: #11
Date: 2004
Publisher: Paradise Valley Comics
Writer: Pan Bliss
Artist: Pam Bliss

Foursquare is the resident superhero of Kekionga, Indiana, which is not exactly a hotbed of crime, super or otherwise. Instead, Foursquare's patrol involves checking in on the woolly mammoths, the lake monster, and the thunderbird. It's a quiet patrol, the best kind. Amusing take on the superhero genre.

Rating 7/10

Coelacanth And Friends (Kekionga Miniworks #16)

Title: Coelacanth And Friends (Kekionga Miniworks)
Issue: #16
Date: 2005
Publisher: Paradise Valley Comics
Writer: Pan Bliss
Artist: Pam Bliss

This minicomic, set in Pam Bliss' magical (or simply odd) town of Kekionga, was a "25-hour" comic created from a set of prompts involving a disembodied brain, and ugly fish trophy, and an airplane about to crash. The resulting story tells about how the Coelacanth in the back room of Bud's junkyard office found its way to the front of the shop, and how Mr. Spit's remote controlled plane got some emergency repairs. There's also a brain in a jar. Great dialogue in this cute story.

Rating: 8/10

I picked this issue up at one of the SPACE conventions and it's signed by the creator.

Snapshots (Kekionga Miniworks #20)

Title: Snapshots (Kekionga Miniworks)
Issue: #20
Date: 2006
Publisher: Paradise Valley Comics
Writer: Pan Bliss
Artist: Pam Bliss

Pam Bliss' Kekionga is an absolutely wonderful setting, full of quirky characters and little bits of magic. This minicomic is exactly what the title describes: A set of snapshots arranged into a photo album of the characters of Kekionga. From local superheroes to wooly mammoths to retired gods, these glimpses of Pam Bliss' magical town and its inhabitants are lovingly illustrated with captions that give just a hint of the stories behind the characters. No plot here, and probably not the best starting point for exploring Kekionga, but really fun if you're familiar with any of the stories or characters.

Rating: 7.5/10