Moses & Bean #4

Title: Moses & Bean
Issue: #4
Date: December, 2010
Publisher: Matt Bryan, Jeanie Bryan
Writer: Matt Bryan, Jeanie Bryan
Artist: Matt Bryan, Jeanie Bryan

This is the "Animal Issue", and it prefaces each of its three stories with some helpful facts about the animal in question

First up is "Mole", about Bean's activities taking in and caring for wild animals. Well, more taking in, and less caring for. Bean might or might not learn a valuable lesson from this.

The second story involves the parents and rented goats.

Finally, there's a slightly creepy wordless (aside from the intro) story about termites.

Very effective art and good layouts in this minicomic. I like the characters , and the different kinds of interactions with the animals were fascinating. I learned a little bit from reading this too.

Rating: 7.5/10

The Amazing Cynicalman #27

Title: The Amazing Cynicalman
Issue: #27
Date: 2010
Publisher: Not Available Comics
Writer: Matt Feazell
Artist: Matt Feazell

Cynicalman encounters his evil twin, who proves to me more annoying than evil. Also in this quarter-sized mini, writer/artist Matt Feazell takes on the General Motors bailout and the IRS. Actually, it's Stupid Boy who takes on the IRS. As you might imagine, this does not end well.

Feazell's stick figure art continues to be a remarkably efficient storytelling medium, and his wit is as sharp as ever in this collection. Funny stuff.

Rating: 7.5/10

Unnecessary Accessory #1

Another minicomic that Gynn brought home from Space. Slowly working our way through that stack.

Title: Unnecessary Accessory
Issue: #1
Date: 2009
Publisher: Brian Hagen
Writer: Brian Hagen
Artist: Brian Hagen

Three unconnected stories in this half-sized minicomic. First up is "Dead in a Dream", which examines the concept of dying in real life if you die in a dream. The narrator has dreamed of his own death and survived the experience just fine, but it's not death itself that bothers him.

Second story is "Shut Up God", which is a conversation between two drinkers at a bar that covers a range of topics, particularly what one does if one can hear the voice of God. It's a really good dialogue that makes some good points and tackles its subject matter from a pretty unique perspective.

The mini ends with "Girls + Boys", a one-page reflection on the breakup process.

These were all well thought out with good clean page layouts, simple but effective art, and touches of humor.

Rating: 8/10

Plastic Farm #2

I'm still working on the big stack of comics my wife brought home from SPACE, and today I attended the Southcoast Toy & Comic Show. I'm going to try to do double duty for a bit to catch up.

Title: Plastic Farm
Issue: #2
Date: 2003
Publisher: Plastic Farm Press
Writer: Rafer Roberts
Artist: Rafer Roberts
Backup Story By: Jeff Coleman, Stephen Greenwood-Hyde

The second issue shows us Chester "Cheezer" Carter a bit older, and stuck in a snowed-in airport along with one cynical woman bartender and one lecherous baggage handler. Chester pulls up a barstool and tells the story of his youth in an orphanage run by a religious order that occupied a building previously used to house a psychiatric hospital (complete with all of the "old insane asylum" trimmings).

A lot of the descriptions were over-the-top to the point of being clearly black comedy, which was an effective way of presenting Chester's "origin" as something completely outrageous. I particularly liked the present version of the character, as the readers get let in on why he doesn't seem to be phased by much.

The bartender character held up her end as well with some good dialogue for Chester to bounce his story off.

The long-term plot of Plastic Farm continues to build slowly, but the details along the way are quite fascinating.

The backup story was a very silly, but effective kung fu tale from the Progressions series by Coleman and Greenwood-Hyde.

Rating: 7.5/10

Cosmic Zoq #0

Title: Cosmic Zoq
Issue: #0
Date: 2011
Publisher: Underground Video Network
Writer: xax66 (xax66.deviantart.com)
Artist: xax66 (xax66.deviantart.com)

Quarter-sized minicomic featuring all psychedelic abstract line art. This is some very pretty work. There's no plot or characters, but it's a quirky and creative little promo freebit.

This is a promotional minicomic for the Underground Video Network site, which reports on comic conventions and other geeky subject matter. The book makes for some interesting eye candy, but might be a more effective promotional tool if it provided more details of what UVN is all about

Rating: 5.5/10

Quinn's Adventures #0

Title: Quinn's Adventures
Issue: #0
Publisher: Porterhoused Comics
Writer: Elaina Q. Porter
Artist: Elaina Q. Porter

Space pilot Quinn Frankenburger and her copilot Picky Livesworth land on a mysterious planet inhabited by giant plants with flowers that resemble Pac-Man. The pilots are promptly eaten by a T-Rex. Fortunately, there are two ways out of a T-Rex stomach: The hard way and the gross way. They opt for trying the hard way.

The story leaves off with a new villain preparing to menace the heroes.

This was cute and amusing.

Rating: 6.5/10

Moses & Bean #2

Title: Moses & Bean
Issue: #2
Date: August, 2009
Publisher: Matt Bryan, Jeanie Bryan
Writer: Matt Bryan, Jeanie Bryan
Artist: Matt Bryan, Jeanie Bryan

Schoolyard drama and bullying experiences sometimes tend to blur because there is so much shared experience out there. It's the strength and weakness of these types of stories. They resonate with so many of us, but they can sometimes all begin to sound the same.

Matt and Jeanie Bryan's minicomic succeeds because there is some really original, quirky material to be found here. It's good to see, since there is a need to keep telling these stories. This issue centers on Moses, the first day of school, and the battle for acceptance (or just survival). It's well-told, and the art style does a nice job of conveying the isolation and alienation that so many kids feel in school.

Rating: 8/10

Grixly 18

Title: Grixly
Issue: #18
Date: 2011
Publisher: Grixly
Writer: Nate McDonough
Artist: Nate McDonough

Twelve-page photocopied minicomic. Andy wakes up with a hangover and a bad case of the munchies, and spends most of this issue seeking out junk food of various kinds. Along the way, he manages to impress the morning shift newbie at the Taco Hut with his "that creepy guy" potential. He also has an amusing encounter with the sign for the Builders Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh before heading for a surreal ending when a friend offers him a ride home.

This was a bit redundant in places, and it's definitely crude for the sake of being crude, but there were some amusing jokes and the ending came out of left field and was a really nicely illustrated segment.

Rating: 6/10

Plastic Farm #1

Title: Plastic Farm
Issue: #1
Date: March, 2003
Publisher: Plastic Farm Press
Writer: Rafer Roberts, Sean C. Duffey
Artist: Rafer Roberts, Jake Warrenfeltz

Chester "Cheezer" Carter wakes up in a puddle of vomit with vague memories of crashing his car sometime the previous night. Other than that, the only thing on his mind is the mythical Kamikaze Kid, whose stories always begin with him riding his dinosaur into town and heading straight for the bar.

The Kamikaze Kid segment actually takes up most of this issue, with the Kid finding out that maybe asking the fortune teller to be more specific isn't such a good idea.

Rafer Roberts' story is alternately shocking, funny, and bizarre, and it's loaded with smart dialogue and clever little bits of detail. It's a solid start for the series (which is good because my wife purchased the whole series at SPACE last weekend, so I'll be reviewing a lot of these books). Definitely on the bizarre side, Plastic Farm is one of those books that will leave the reader thinking about what just happened and wondering how the story could possibly get stranger. And if this issue is any indication, the story will find a way.

Backup story is a hard SF tale by Sean C. Duffey and Rafer Roberts is well handled with aliens who actually look alien (in a Cthulhu kinda way) and a pretty complex plot.

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