Concepcion

From the random stack of unread comics.

Title: Concepcion
Publisher: Pretentious Comics
Date: 2008
Writer: Rickey Gonzales
Artist: Rickey Gonzales

Sixteen-page half-sized minicomic, labeled as "for mature readers" due to some non-sexual nudity.

A woman contemplates the concepts of age, mortality, and the nature of God. Framed around her taking a shower, the title character introduces her living son, as well as loved ones she has lost. She reflects on stories from the Bible and gives voice to the questions that she has developed about her own faith.

This is a nicely thoughtful comic that makes very effective use of the character's voice and her own uncertainty about the issues she is questioning. The secondary characters help to ground the story and to make it feel distinctive.

Rating: 8/10

Blood & Justice #2

From the random stack of unread comics.

Title: Blood & Justice
Issue: 2
Publisher: Alien Head Comics

I believe this is actually just a minicomic preview for the full second issue of Blood & Justice, but the website is out of commission, and there are no credits other than the web address anywhere in this 4-page minicomic.

The story has a bully menacing some kids, shaking them down for money. Another kid intervenes, and gets the better of the bully, making some intimidating threats once he has the bully down.

That's pretty much all that's here, and the story is hurt a bit by the fact that the bully is shown tripping when he goes after the new kid, so it's not clear whether the new kid is the better fighter or just got lucky.

I really prefer to see more in the way of credits, even in a giveaway minicomic, if only because domain names can expire and it's good to have a hard copy record of who the creators are. As a promotional device, this mini wasn't as effective as it could have been.

Rating: 3/10

Everything You Wanted To Know About Killjoy Comics... But Were Afraid To Ask

From the random Stack of unread comics. We got this one at the SPACE convention in Columbus OH in 2008.

It's now two days into May, which means 45 days until we head back to the US. And after today's review, 38 comics left to go in the stack. I'm also trying to read a few more graphic novels, some that I own, and some from my school library. 

Title: Everything You Wanted To Know About Killjoy Comics... But Were Afraid To Ask
Publisher: Killjoy Comics
Date: 2008
Writer: Todd Swanson, Daniel "Doc" Holiday, Mark Anticole, Rick Antolic, Tony Schiffbauer
Artist: Todd Swanson, Daniel "Doc" Holiday, Mark Anticole, Rick Antolic, Tony Schiffbauer

This is a minicomic containing samples of five comic strips. Todd Swanson's Killjoy pairs two girls in a classic optimist vs. pessimist dialogue, that felt original and entertaining in spite of its fairly straightforward premise.

Martin Molotov by Daniel "Doc" Holiday features some good geeky science humor in a college setting.

Lab Rats by Mark Anticole also goes for the geeky humor vibe, but stumbles a bit more on its premise. It has some amusing moments, though, especially when it breaks the fourth wall.

Rick Antolic's Slap of Reality Man repeats the same joke every time. The things that annoy the creator coincide with a couple of my pet peeves, so I found myself laughing along, but I do wonder how sustainable this concept is.

Last up is Tony Schiffbauer's Garbanzo, which mostly focused on food and vegetable puns.

There were funny moments in all of these, and I thought at least the first two had some potential to work long-term. The print quality of the minicomic itself could have been better, as I found myself reaching for the magnifying glass a few times to read the dialogue.

That being said there was plenty in here that amused me.

Rating: 6.5/10





 

Comics Go Hollywood: Free Comic Book Day Edition

From the random stack of unread comics.

Title: Comics Go Hollywood: Free Comic Book Day Edition
Publisher: TwoMorrows Publishing
Date: 2008
Writer: Mike Manley, Danny Fingeroth, Roy Thomas, John Morrow, Peter Sanderson
Editor: John Morrow, Danny Fingeroth, Robert Greenberger, Jeph Loeb
Cover: Mike Manley


Not actually a comic, this is a magazine printed in standard comic book dimensions as part of Free Comic Book Day 2008. TwoMorrow Publications produces books and magazines on the comic book industry and the history of comics, and this volume is a sample of articles from across their line of publications. The theme here is the intersection between the movie and comics industries.

There is an introduction to storyboarding by Mike Manley, which gives some insights into how he broke into storyboarding for some of the DC animated features.


Next up is an interview with writer Jeph Loeb, focusing mostly on his work on the TV series Heroes. Danny Fingeroth conducts the interview.

A second interview feature sees Roy Thomas interviewing Gerry Conway about the script that they collaborated on in 1984 for an X-Men movie that didn't end up happening. It includes a nice synopsis of the plot, and provides a funk look at what might have been.

John Morrow gives an overview of Jack Kirby's contributions to film and TV, including his work on Thundarr the Barbarian.

Last up is a retrospective on the character of the Joker over the years written by Peter Sanderson.

This was enjoyable reading, and I learned quite a bit that I didn't know. Even the article on the Joker, a topic which has been discussed quite a lot over the years, provided some insights that were new to me. I'm not a fan of either Heroes or the DC animated universe, so I probably missed out on some revelations in the articles concerning those, but they still held my interest. The interview about the old X-Men script suffered a bit from Thomas and Conway not remembering some of the details that might have made the story better, and the Kirby article probably could have been expanded considerable from the couple of pages it got here.

All of the articles had accompanying bits of classic artwork from the respective properties under discussion, but the print quality on the artwork reproduced here varied quite a bit in quality.

Still, this was a good read for anyone with an interest in fandom or comics history, and it did leave me with a good impression of the types of articles I can expect to find from TwoMorrows' books and magazines.

Rating: 7/10

Gapo the Clown Vol. 1

From the random stack of unread comics. Forty comics left in the stack after this one. And with April coming to an end, that means I have 47 days until we leave Vietnam, so 47 days to meet my goal of finishing this stack.

Title: Gapo the Clown
Issue: Vol. 1
Publisher: Bone Yard Studio
Date: 2004
Writer: Tony Miello
Artist: Tony Miello

This half-sized minicomic consists of five pages of Gapo the Clown comics strips, plus some bonus art. The basic idea is a parody of kids entertainment, with the crude and obnoxious Gapo put into various situations where he gets to be, well, crude and obnoxious. Lots of fart and vomit jokes. There was an amusing bit with Gapo on Jeopardy, and a quick parody of those old "Can you hear me now?" commercials, but most of the other humor wasn't really to my taste.

Rating: 4.5/10

Shonen Jump Special: Free Comic Book Day 2008

From the random stack of unread comics.

Title: Shonen Jump Special: Spring 2008 Edition
Issue: Vol. 1 Issue 1
Publisher: Viz Media
Date: May, 2008
Writer: Masashi Kishimoto, Tite Kubo, Takahiko Inoue
Artist: Masashi Kishimoto, Tite Kubo, Takahiko Inoue
Letterer: Mark McMurray, James Gaubatz
Editor: Marc Weidenbaum, Yuki Takagaki, Grant Lowery, Joy Ma, Urian Brown, Michelle Pangilinan, Pancha Diaz, Joel Enos, Kit Fox
Cover: Masashi Kishimoto, Tite Kubo, Takahiko Inoue

Formatted as a standard comic book (bur right-to-left), this freebie samples three popular ongoing manga series that are being reprinted in Shonen Jump magazine.

Naruto, the very popular ninja series, is up first. The scene that's presented is a glimpse of fighting training. We get a sense of the type of action involved in the series, but not much in terms of character or plot.

Bleach is the second feature, and this was the most intriguing of the three to me. A conversation (and possible big revelation) between Ichigo and his sister is interrupted by the arrival of some rather nasty villains. This segment did the best job of selling the series.

The last series was Slam Dunk, a high school drama/comedy centering on the school's basketball team. This had a lot of typical high school story elements: bullying, nerves about asking a girl for a date, trying to fit in, the cred that comes from being a "jock". It looked like it had some potential, but I didn't find the characters all that appealing (possibly just my dislike of some of these exaggerated high school stereotypes).

So, one for three in terms of getting my interest in reading the actual series.

All of the artwork is quite good, and the book also provides short blurbs on other Shonen Jump titles, including those that are serialized in the magazine, and those published as stand-alone volumes.

Rating: 5.5/10

The Adventures of Marky #2

Today I read the 2008 Free Comic Book Day offering from, Virgin Comics, Dan Dare / The Stranded / Ramayan 3392AD Reloaded, only to realize I had previously read and reviewed it. One less comic to review in the stack! You can read that review which I wrote in 2011 here.  So back to the random stack of unread comics for this minicomic. I picked this up at SPACE (Small Press & Alternative Comics Expo) 2008 in Columbus OH.

Title: The Adventures of Marky
Issue: 2
Publisher: Dimestore Productions
Date: March 2008
Writer: Madison Shires, Ian Shires
Artist: Madison Shires, Ian Shires
Back Cover Art: Dan Taylor

Cute minicomic by a young artist (Madison Shires did this book at age 7).

It's Valentines Day, so Marky is dressed to impress (with a slight resemblance to Mr. Potato Head). He's determined to explain Valentines Day to his friends, Fred and Mary, and he's also got a special plan involving a secret message in a bottle.

Cute stuff.

Rating: 7/10

 

Sam: Fate Revolution: Souvenir Edition

From the random stack of unread comics.

Title: Sam: Fate Revolution: Souvenir Edition
Publisher: Foongatz Studios
Date: 2007
Creator: Bill Gallagher, Alex Drinan, Ron Smith

In a universe under threat of destruction by a cosmic-powered conqueror, a hero named Sam somehow acquires mysterious powers that might be the key to saving everything.

This is an ashcan-format preview book setting up the world and story for this space-based SF superheroic epic. Color cover, b/w interior. The book definitely has a Guardians of the Galaxy vibe to it, and the character designs presented here are loads of fun visually, especially Bronto, a humanoid sauropod engineer.

The descriptions of the characters felt a bit generic, as did the plot, and hopefully it will move into more original territory with the first full issue.

In the meantime, the visuals were enough to keep up my interest.

Rating: 6/10

Minimalist Comics Collective Edition 0.5

From the random stack of unread comics.

Title: Minimalist Comics Collective Edition
Issue: 0.5
Date: 2008
Publisher: DIY Jet
Writer: C. Che Salazar, Joe Botsch
Artist: C. Che Salazar, Joe Botsch


This twelve-page half-sized minicomic uses mostly text and typeface. Artwork, as the title promises, is minimal. The result is a sort of visual poetry on the page. It's very surreal and leaves quite a lot open to interpretation, but I found it to be a fresh and original concept that left me intrigued.

It also has sentient sundials, and a conversation on the nature of life and death between the living and the dead.

This is about as far as you can get from "mainstream comics". Which is part of the reason I enjoyed it.

Rating: 7/10

Sky Pirates of Valendor Issue #2 Preview

From the random stack of unread comics.

Title: Sky Pirates of Valendor
Issue: #2 Preview
Date: 2008
Publisher: Free Lunch Comics
Writer: Everett Soares
Penciler: Brian Brinlee
Inker: Michael W. Kellar
Tones: Jet Amago
Letterer: Steve Kuster
Cover: Brian Brinlee, Michael W. Kellar

Minicomic preview for the full-format second issue.

Captain Tobias Manheim and his crew arrives in town with a plan. But before they can make it happen, they are going to need to negotiate with the Pirate Guild.

This is well-edited. It introduces the steampunk fantasy world of Valendor very nicely, giving the reader enough setup to keep things interesting while not bogging down the story.

It also gives quick glimpses of the characters, with enough interaction that several conflicts become apparent.

Aside from the opening teaser page, there isn't really any action. This preview is all set-up. But it is all very effective setup, and an excellent tease for the full story.

Rating: 7.5/10