Plastic Farm #19

This is the last of the individual issues of Plastic Farm that Gynn brought home from SPACE. In general, the stacks of comics I've acquired from the Spring conventions are finally starting to shrink, and I'll be digging more and more into the backlog in the coming weeks. With 19 issues read, Plastic Farm is by far the title I've followed the most during this year, and it's definitely kept me interested.

Title: Plastic Farm
Issue: #19
Date: 2011
Publisher: Plastic Farm Press
Writer: Rafer Roberts
Artist: Rafer Roberts, Matt Dembicki, Jim8Ball

There are essentially three stories here, plus the snowed-in airport lounge framing story which has been ongoing. In college, Chester Carter learns of the state's actions against the orphanage where he was raised and the surrounding town, but he's drunk and high at the time, and his buddy keeps wanting him to change the channel to Scooby Doo.

Also in this issue is a continuation of the cannibal farmers story that has been recurring. It's a pretty intense segment and Matt Dembicki does a wonderful (and horrific) job with the illustrations.

Last up is a story by guest artist Jim8Ball of two teenagers following a map to the mysterious temple of the Immaculate Defacation, which, ironically, grants to power to see through all the bullshit that people hide behind. Goofy premise, but executed pretty well, especially the ending.

With three stories plus the framing bits, this issue had a very choppy feel to it, but individually, all of the segments were quite good.

Rating: 7.5/10

Plastic Farm #18

Closing in on the last of my Plastic Farm stack.

Title: Plastic Farm
Issue: #18
Date: 2010
Publisher: Plastic Farm Press
Writer: Rafer Roberts
Artist: Rafer Roberts, Chris Piers, Dale Rawlings

Two stories with bits of framing sequence. First up, Elaine tells the tale of the day the next door neighbor died. The next door neighbor with all the animals. And the library. And the secret passage and the hidden laboratory. The fun of this story is Elaine's inability to communicate what she is seeing coupled with Chris Piers' illustrations which let the reader in on the secrets that Elaine is failing to get across to her own audience.

The second story is a creepy little bit of urban mythology involving a dancing statue of Jesus in a cemetery somewhere in New Jersey. Dale Rawlings does a nice job with the illustration for this one.

As always with Plastic Farm, half the fun is figuring out how these disjointed pieces fit into the overall jigsaw puzzle.

Rating: 7.5/10

Plastic Farm #17

Title: Plastic Farm
Issue: #17
Publisher: Plastic Farm Press
Writer: Rafer Roberts
Artist: Rafer Roberts

Chester Carter finishes up his tale of his college days with his account of his experiences at a keg party. As might be expected, it ends with him staggering off into the woods to puke. Less expected are the mysterious voices he hears.

We also revisit the starving farmers and their newfound source of fresh meat. You might remember the bit from the classic film Motel Hell. "It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent's fritters."

Back at the snowed-in airport, Chester passes on the storytelling torch as the stranded travelers settle in for a long night.

This issue was less focused than the previous one because of the different plots we were following, but it also featured some good advancing of several of those plots.

Rating: 7/10

30 Day Comic Challenge Day 15

Halfway through!

Day 15 - A Picture From The Comic You’re Reading Right Now.

Well, the blog is called Comic A Day because I read and review one comic per day. I've been focusing mostly on Free Comic Book Day stuff recently, but before that there was one title I was reading on a regular basis more than anything else. That's because at SPACE this past March, my wife Gynn brought home the entire run of Rafer Roberts' Plastic Farm. I still have some issues to read, so I pulled one of those out and reviewed it tonight. You can read the review of Plastic Farm #16 here and you can read my reviews of the complete run of this multifaceted series here.

Here's some tentacly goodness from the issue I read tonight.



Artwork by Rafer Roberts.

From My Creations

This would be a great opportunity to showcase some new artwork from one of the comics that I have currently in the works. Unfortunately, none of the issues currently in the works are being drawn right at this moment. All three are at various stages of the script editing process.

So here's an image from the book we most recently finished, Unpopular Species #3.


Artwork by Gynn Stella.

Did you know that nine-banded armadillos can jump up to four feet straight up in the air when startled? Did you know that they are carriers of leprosy? That and loads of other fun facts can be found in Unpopular Species, our "nature documentary" minicomic series about creatures that are less loved.

The 30 Day Comic Challenge Page on Facebook is here. Here is the complete list of daily topics:

30 Day Comic Challenge
Day 01 - Your first comic book.
Day 02 - Your favorite character.
Day 03 - A comic that is underrated.
Day 04 - Your guilty pleasure comic or character.
Day 05 - Comic character you feel you are most like (or wish you were).
Day 06 - Most annoying character.
Day 07 - Favorite comic couple.
Day 08 - Best series being published right now.
Day 09 - Most touching comic book/comic book scene.
Day 10 - Dream versus match.
Day 11 - Favorite comic book cartoon series.
Day 12 - A comic everyone should read.
Day 13 - A book you’ve read more than five times.
Day 14 – Most awesome single comic book image
Day 15 - A Picture from the comic you’re reading right now.
Day 16 - Funniest comic book/comic book scene.
Day 17 - Most useless Villain.
Day 18 - Favorite B-list character.
Day 19 - Comic book city/universe you wish you lived in.
Day 20 - Favorite super power or skill.
Day 21 - Favorite writer.
Day 22 - A series that you liked but stopped reading
Day 23 - Your favorite artist.
Day 24 - Dream character team up.
Day 25 - A book you plan on reading.
Day 26 - A comic you wish they would make into a movie.
Day 27 - Favorite comic book movie.
Day 28 - Favorite comic publisher.
Day 29 - A comic you thought you wouldn’t like, but ended up loving.
Day 30 - Your favorite run or series of all time.

Plastic Farm #16

Back to some Plastic Farm. Continuing to work through the complete run of this comic that Gynn brought home from SPACE.

Title: Plastic Farm
Issue: #15
Publisher: Plastic Farm Press
Writer: Rafer Roberts
Artist: Rafer Roberts

The opening Kamikaze Kid sequence is tentacly goodness. From there it's back to Chester Carter's college days as his buddy sets him up as the lookout for his great textbook buyback scam. As one might imaging, that doesn't go well, and the result is pretty funny.

This was another issue with really strong art by Rafer Roberts, and some good smooth dialogue as well.

Rating: 7.5/10

Plastic Farm #15

Another issue of Plastic Farm. I tend to buy a lot of different books, so this is one of my few chances to really work my way through a whole series from the beginning.

Title: Plastic Farm
Issue: #15
Publisher: Plastic Farm Press
Writer: Rafer Roberts
Artist: Rafer Roberts

Chester Carter wakes up late for his first college class, advanced physics with the strictest professor on campus. And the stairs are out of order. Meanwhile, inside Chester's head, the Kamikaze Kid is dealing with his own set of problems.

The art in this issue was gorgeous, easily Rafer Roberts' best work in the series so far, with three separate two-page spreads showing the college campus in all of its creepy glory, plus some beautiful wordless sequences involving the Kamikaze Kid. The plot was simple, but did a great job of building tension.

Really good issue.

Rating: 8.5/10

Plastic Farm #14

Continuing through the Plastic Farm run.

Title: Plastic Farm
Issue: #14
Publisher: Plastic Farm Press
Writer: Rafer Roberts
Artist: Rafer Roberts

Nice to see the letter column and editorial back, as well as clearly marked credits.

Chester continues his tale to his captive audience at the snowed-in airport lounge. This time, the flashback is to his college years. After some early hints that Chester is being taken to a college that is not-quite-normal by has parents, the experience turns fairly mundane.

Chester makes friends with his roommate, gets introduced to alcohol, and proceeds to get drunk and make an idiot out of himself in pretty typical college freshman style.

This was a good story in spite of (or in some sense, because of) its lack of some of the surrealism that characterized earlier issues. It was nice to see writer/artist Rafer Roberts devoting some space to teenaged Chester just being a kid, and the dialogue flowed smoothly and naturally.

Rating: 7.5/10

Plastic Farm #13

Another comic from our purchases at SPACE.

Title: Plastic Farm
Issue: #13
Publisher: Plastic Farm Press
Writer: Rafer Roberts
Artist: Rafer Roberts

Plastic Farm returns to minicomic format with issue #13. There's also no credits or contact information given. I'm assuming this is all Rafer Roberts' work.

Two stories. The opening is a fairly detailed set of scenes from Chester Carter's arrival at Greybridge as a baby and his baptism by the Brethren. This is as close to a detailed origin story for Chester as we've seen in the series. The artwork very nicely captures the flavor of the abandoned mental hospital, now being taken over by the Brethren, who may not be as united as they first appear.

From there, we return to the snowed-in airport for a short scene that serves mostly to introduce new characters to the cast. Oh, and there's more cannibalism.

Good start to the new format, although I'll miss the lettercolumns and Rafer's editorials and his spotlighting of guest creators.

Rating: 7/10.

Plastic Farm #12

Continuing through the Plastic Farm run.

Title: Plastic Farm
Issue: #12
Date: December 2005
Publisher: Plastic Farm Press
Writer: Rafer Roberts
Artist: Rafer Roberts
Copy Editor: Nan Roberts

Chester Carter visits a fortune teller and gets all the answers. He just doesn't get to keep them. The final chapter of the first part of Plastic Farm doesn't wrap everything up, but it does give the reader some better insight into where Chester fits in all of the strangeness around him.

The dialogue is really strong in this issue, and the story has a nice even flow to it, as it concentrates mostly on a single narrative (with the framing story of the older Chester telling his tale at the snowed-in airport.

Rafer Roberts handles the art solo this time, and provides some really strong visuals, including a very nice final splash page.

A good breaking point, if not an actual conclusion.

Rating: 7.5/10

Plastic Farm #11

Another issue of Plastic Farm, part of the haul from the SPACE convention.

Title: Plastic Farm
Issue: #11
Date: September 2005
Publisher: Plastic Farm Press
Writer: Rafer Roberts
Artist: Rafer Roberts, Dave Morgan, Danielle Corsetto
Copy Editor: Nan Roberts

Five in-continuity short stories here, plus a Rafer Roberts backup story that's outside of the Plastic Farm universe.

Lots of cannibalism this issue. Plus some connections established between previous chapters, and some new characters and situations introduced.

Artist Danielle Corsetto's work on the love-gone-wrong story "The Flavor of My Love" was a perfect fit for this disturbing bit of black comedy.

I thought the other segments fell short of providing the kind of connections that I was hoping for this issue, although Roberts did manage to tie in one of the most obvious unconnected threads from a previous issue, and he revisited another.

I also really enjoyed the bit of poetry that is read by one of the characters in the opening scene. It's a nice bit of character development, and holds its own pretty well as a poem.

The final backup story was a a pretty amusing piece, mostly for its use of language, and the protagonist gets some firsthand experience in becoming "wooby".

Finally, worth noting in this issue is a two-page letter from Dave Sim with advice on distribution and marketing of independent comics. It's a bit dated at this point, but still worth a look as Mr. Sim goes into considerable detail on his perceptions of the challenges of distributing to the retail market and the question of when to move to a trade paperback offering.

Rating: 7/10

Plastic Farm #10

Back to the pile of comics from SPACE. I'm slowly making my way through it!

Title: Plastic Farm
Issue: #10
Date: June 2005
Publisher: Plastic Farm Press
Writer: Rafer Roberts
Artist: Dennis Culver
Copy Editor: Nan Roberts

Detective Jake Goner investigates the bombing that killed two of his fellow cops. At the funeral, he makes a promise to one of the widows to find the killer, but the investigation soon grinds to a halt amid a mass of red tape. It seems that powerful people in the police department want this case to remain unsolved.

Detective Goner is unable to shake the need to find the truth, even when his continued investigations cost him his career. But that price, it turns out, is only the beginning.

Rafer Roberts goes back to the straight-up hardboiled detective style for this issue, and crafts a disturbing tale that features the capable illustration talent of Dennis Culver.

Rating: 7/10

Plastic Farm #9

Title: Plastic Farm
Issue: #9
Date: March 2005
Publisher: Plastic Farm Press
Writer: Rafer Roberts
Artist: Wendi Strang-Frost
Copy Editor: Nan Roberts
Backup Story By: Scott Cristian Carr, Jeff Westover

This issue delves into the origin story of Raoul the baggage handler, a tale which begins with a man hiding from his bill collectors and quickly spirals into bizarre experimentation and government conspiracies.

What I really liked in this issue was all of the minor details that were brought in from previous issues and strung together. Rafer Roberts is telling a complex tale here, one in which everything is connected even though things to not at first appear to be.

Backup story was "The Continuing Adventures of Fat Man and Little Boy", a post-apocalyptic comedy by the team of Scott Cristian Carr and Jeff Westover. I liked the post-apocalyptic culture they have created, and the distorted take on what life was like "afore the war".

Rating: 7.5/10

Plastic Farm #8

A couple more reviews from SPACE and then I'll spend some time reviewing comics and manga I pick up at Anime Boston.

Title: Plastic Farm
Issue: #8
Date: December 2004
Publisher: Plastic Farm Press
Writer: Rafer Roberts
Artist: Rafer Roberts

"A Fistful of Inferno" finally brings back the Kamikaze Kid, who was first introduced in an extended story in Plastic Farm #1. He's gotten multiple mentions since then, but this is our first chance to see him in action.

Action, in this case, means a lengthy monologue on the nature of reality and the universe. It's largely incoherent, but backed up by some really beautiful artwork showing the Kid making his way through a series of hellish landscapes following a succession of exit-signs.

There's also a confrontation with a creature that resembles a rat with four eyes.

The rambling got a bit difficult to follow, but this was a great issue visually, and it did serve to advance the overall plot.

Rating: 7/10

Plastic Farm #7

Continuing through the Plastic Farm series, which my wife brought home from SPACE.

Title: Plastic Farm
Issue: #7
Date: October 2004
Publisher: Plastic Farm Press
Writer: Rafer Roberts, Jake Warrenfeltz
Artist: Rafer Roberts, Jake Warrenfeltz

The seventh chapter of Plastic Farm opens in the snowed-in airport bar where Chester Carter has been sharing stories. A new patron has a story of his own, a rags-to-riches-to-rags tale involving an odd anatomical quirk.

From there, we switch to the tale of a female killer-for-hire who's been stalking her target and may have gotten too close.

And in the third story, a young man and his grandfather encounter a mysterious aviator out in the farmlands of the midwestern USA.

The first story didn't do much for me, but I really liked the other two. Rafer Roberts does a great job infusing his hit-woman with a very believable personality. In a genre where assassins for hire are found on the pages of hundreds, maybe thousands of comics, this character was one of the very few examples of the archetype that really stood out.

The final story stood on its own very well. It was a really touching tale with some excellent dialogue.

Two hits and a miss still make this a very good issue.

Rating: 7.5/10

Plastic Farm #6

And back we go to the comics brought home from SPACE 2011. Hoping to finish up this stack soon, since I'll be heading to Anime Boston in about two weeks.

Title: Plastic Farm
Issue: #6
Date: July 2004
Publisher: Plastic Farm Press
Writer: Rafer Roberts
Artist: Rafer Roberts
Cover: Laura Socks, Dave Morgan

If you've been following the reviews, you know that I've been enjoying Rafer Roberts' Plastic Farm. My wife brought home the entire series from the Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo (SPACE) in Columbus OH a few weeks back.

The individual issues have been great, but there has not been a lot of cohesion to the ongoing plot. At times it was difficult to tell if there was an ongoing plot. Well, Plastic Farm #6 goes a long way toward providing that cohesion. We even get a convenient timeline of major events from previous issues. And we get some significant crossover of characters from past issues.

And zombies.

Among many other things. We open with Chester snowed in at the airport bar telling his tale to the bartender and a baggage handler. The story covers Chester's high school years following his attempted suicide, and it introduces some additional supernatural elements.

Roberts does a nice job of tweaking the cliches, so as to keep familiar patterns like the high school outcast and the bullying victim pushed over the edge from becoming too familiar. His minor characters are especially strong in this issue, and they provide much of the flavor that makes this story work so well.

Rating: 7.5/10

Plastic Farm #5

Title: Plastic Farm
Issue: #5
Date: March 2004
Publisher: Plastic Farm Press
Writer: Rafer Roberts
Artist: Jake Warrenfeltz
Backup Story By: Matt Dembicki

A group of party-crashers raise some hell to start off what morphs into a pretty sweet romantic story. Interesting and well fleshed out personalities and good dialogue keep things moving along. Still waiting to see how all of this connects to the storylines of previous issues. Connections are just barely hinted at this time out.

Backup story is a rhyming horror piece by Matt Dembicki that's got some great artwork, particularly on an incredibly detailed border that frames a splash page.

Rating: 7.5/10

Plastic Farm #4

Title: Plastic Farm
Issue: #4
Date: December, 2003
Publisher: Plastic Farm Press
Writer: Rafer Roberts
Artist: Rafer Roberts
Backup Story By: Rafer Roberts, Nan Roberts, Dennis Culver

The main story here is a tragic romance about a young pilot and the first and only love of his life. It's a stand-alone story, so we've still got a lot of loose ends hanging from earlier in the series, but I'm enjoying the ride so far. The dialogue, especially early in the tale, flows smoothly and naturally and the characters are great.

Two backup stories here. First up is an illustrated poem by Nan Roberts, wife of creator Rafer Roberts. Rafer Roberts handles the illustrating on the piece, which has a nice quirky beat-poetry feel to it.

The second backup story is Astro Zombies, an space-opera zombie tale by Dennis Culver that doesn't take itself too seriously. Two of the three characters are pro wrestlers (one with extra arms!). The story is simple and straightforward, but the characters are amusing and likable.

Rating: 8/10

Plastic Farm #3

Continuing to make my way through the pile of purchases from SPACE.

Title: Plastic Farm
Issue: #3
Date: September, 2003
Publisher: Plastic Farm Press
Writer: Rafer Roberts
Artist: Dave Morgan, Jake Warrenfeltz
Backup Story By: Sean Frost, Wendi Strang-Frost

Plastic Farm has some of the most unusual and creative covers in comics, and this issue's photo cover is one of the most fun in the series.

This issue also represents a departure as writer/artist Rafer Roberts turns over the art chores to Dave Morgan and Jake Warrenfeltz, who each take a story. First up is the story of a country couple whose dinner is interrupted by a call for help. This is one of those quick/nasty/ironic pieces, and it works pretty well. I particularly liked the space given to the art and the very sparing use of dialogue.

The second story is a much more straightforward tale, a hardboiled cop story about an undercover operation that doesn't end well. It's got good dialogue and action and a nice buildup of suspense.

Nothing in this issue's stories appear to have any connection to the first two issues. It will be interesting to see how the series develops over the long term, but readers looking for immediate continuity will find themselves at a loss.

Backup story, Johnny Public: Queen of Hearts Preview, was a better fit for Plastic Farm than the previous two backup stories have been. In fact, this bizarre tale of a woman visiting her father's grave fits pretty well flavor-wise. It featured some nice artwork (and a cat!), with some surreal character depictions.

Rating: 7/10

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

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