Upcoming Convention Appearance

The next Dandelion Studios convention appearance is fast approaching! Join us this Saturday (2/16/2013) at Manchester Memorial High School in Manchester NH for Queen City Kamikaze. This is a really great show with bargain-priced admission, great artists, and fun events.



I'll be there for the whole show, and Gynn is currently planning to be there for the first couple of hours. We'll be easy to find. Look for the table with the adorable giant spiders!

Chaotic Kiss Book Two

I actually bought this at the Free Comic Book Day festival last year, but since Michelle Pinard was at yesterday's Queen City Kamikaze, I figured I would feature it as today's review. This will be all for convention-related comics from this weekend. I attended Boskone today, but purchased only a couple of prose books. I also got to meet the editors of Fat Girl In A Strange Land, an anthology that debuted this weekend which includes a story I wrote!

Back to the New 52 tomorrow!

Title: Chaotic Kiss
Issue: Book Two
Date: 2012
Publisher: MKT Productions
Writer: Michelle Pinard
Artist: Michelle Pinard

Michelle Pinard's geeky transgendered soap opera returns with more drama, more plot twists, and a lot more geekiness.

It's the geeky elements that are the real fun for me with this book. The intrigue and plot twists are complex and engaging, and writer/artist Michelle Pinard does a great job of incorporating the unique challenges and struggles of her transgendered protagonists in a way that stays hopeful and never gets too angry or preachy.

But it's the geek culture elements that really make me smile when I read Chaotic Kiss. In this issue, we've got a Halloween cosplay ball (complete with a Cinderella-flavored romantic moment), a viewing of Rocky Horror Picture Show ("What the hell does this 'V' mean?" HA!), a video game tournament, and a maid cafe. Plus plenty of cosplay, corsetry, and goth-lolita fashion.

The plot focuses primarily on Yujiko, who is still transitioning and is in an emotionally abusive relationship, and Syd, who decides that even though Halloween is approaching, it's time to play cupid.

Subplots abound, although there was one bit of plot that seemed to get dropped without explanation (a character who was angry with another character, and then things were normal between them without explanation; small in the overall scheme, but it did have me scratching my head).

A lot of the characters in this are rather over-the-top, but that is intentional and very much part of the fun.

This was a thoroughly entertaining follow-up to the first volume and it leaves plenty of story potential for Book 3.

Rating: 7/10

Love Letters to Tokyo from Boston

Queen City Kamikaze was a fun show, and I have a couple of comics to feature from artists who were on hand.

Title: Love Letters to Tokyo from Boston
Date: August, 2008
Publisher: Kristilyn
Writer: Kristilyn Stevenson
Artist: Kristilyn Stevenson

This minicomic collects a series of poetic comics inspired by writer/artist Kristilyn's time living in a small Boston apartment in 2003-2004.

The writing is simple free-verse that suggests haiku, and is nicely loaded with meaning in every word. The first story is a brief scene that takes place at the end of three days of falling snow. The second story involves a sleepless night spent after watching Dawn of the Dead with only a cat for company. The third is a reflection on a freckle and a memory.

Kristilyn's illustration style compliments the simplicity and the emotion of her words. This was touching and fun.

Rating: 8/10

Chaotic Kiss Book One

Title: Chaotic Kiss
Issue: Book One
Date: 2010
Publisher: MKT Productions
Writer: Michelle Pinard
Artist: Michelle Pinard

Manga-format collection of the first five issues of Chaotic Kiss, a comic about transgender relationships set in Boston. Chaotic Kiss follows the adventures of Sydney, who has finished her male-to-female transition, and is embarking on a new start in life in Boston. There's a whole cast of otaku, fanboys, t-girls, nerds, and gothic lolitas, and a complex plot with a well-developed backstory. The Boston locations are fun, as are all of the subculture references. This comic is essentially a humorous soap-opera, and it succeeds at having plenty of twists and turns to keep the plot interesting while delivering some funny moments and clever dialogue. MKT Productions is very clear that they are doing this book to fill a need for transgender stories in manga, but while transgender issues are central to the story, they are never handled in a heavyhanded or preachy way, and this is first and foremost a good comedic drama.

Rating: 7.5/10

I met Michelle Pinard earlier today at the Queen City Kamikaze convention in Manchester NH and picked up Book One of Chaotic Kiss, which she signed for me. This was my only comic purchase at the convention, so it's back to the unread comics box tomorrow. We had a great time at QCK and enjoyed showing off our comics to all the fans in attendance.

Reviewing Live From Queen City Kamikaze Tomorrow!

It's convention time again, and tomorrow we're heading up to Queen City Kamikaze at Manchester Memorial High School in Manchester NH. Keeping with the tradition I've established, I'll be checking out the dealers' and artists' areas at the convention for comics to review. I'm hoping to pick up at least one to feature as tomorrow's review, and if I get more, I'll continue with those for the next few days.

If you're in the Manchester area tomorrow, stop by for what should be a great show!