Sin Comics (1993) #1-2 by Jay Stephens
The Sin series ran for five issues over at Tragedy Strikes Press, and now we have Sin Comics. It’s not really explained why the book was renamed/renumbered — Pickle continued with a #2 at Black Eye, after all.
But perhaps it’s just a reflection of Stephens’ restlessness — looking over the remaining Black Eye books, I think we have like four or five more Stephens projects to cover?
Anyway, Stephens pumps the page count up to 40 for this series, and his art style has changed quite a bit since Sin (less scratchy and more assured), so perhaps it was just a time for a change.
Another thing I’m wondering about: The indicia mentions a lot of different characters belonging to different artists, but… did I miss something? Did any of them actually appear in the book? I’ve flipped through it twice now (after reading it) and I can’t see any of them. Are they hidden in the backgrounds somewhere? Or just some in-joke? Or did Stephens change his mind?
The first Sin series was brimming with ideas and jokes, and this is in the same mould.
But… It doesn’t really seem to have the same energy?
Instead it seems to be running on fumes — there’s a lot of gags, but it feels distracted; as if Stephens is doing this on automatic.
But it’s fun to see the art developments.
Nothing really goes anywhere much, but it’s pretty amusing anyway.
Oh, I didn’t really mention the main part of this book: About half is taken up by the characters that would come to form Stephens’ next series: Atomic City Tales. It’s about a guy who gets the power to control reality, and he decides to become a super-hero.
Stephens sort of explains why he’s ending Sin Comics after just two issues.
Stephens further explains that he’s just too busy to do the book. But I’m wondering whether he was just bored by the “Sin” approach to doing comics. Sin was a typical “young person comic” — zany, chaotic ideas, and it’s just hard to maintain that vibe as you get older. (Even if he’s just 23 here.)
BY IAN FELLER
SIN COMICS #1 FROM
Black Eye Productions is
a different type of comic
than what we usually review
here in “Independent Review.”
Why? Because the book’s
main characters are funny ani-
mals not superheroes. And no,
they’re not funny animals in
the 1940s Peter Porkchop
sense. They’re funny animals
for the nineties.
This book is also different in
its free-flowing format. It’s like
watching a late, late, late TV
show. One of those you turn on
at three o’clock in the morning
and are compelled
to watch because it
is so bizarre. It even
comes with commer-
Cial breaks and car-
toons.[…]
Jay Stephens writes and
draws the entire comic.
Stephens’ story is simple but
truly compelling. His art style is
reminiscent of Mike Allred’s
Madman. In tribute to Madman,
as well as a host of other char-
acters, Stephens has included
them on the cover of this first
issue that looks like The
Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely
Hearts Club Band album.
From beginning to end Sin
Comics #1 is a winner. It is
definitely a bit on the strange
side, but that is what makes
the comic medium special.
There is something for every-
one.
Oh! The characters I was wondering about are on the cover. D’oh! I should edit that out so that I don’t look like a total moron… I mean, more than usual…
Nah, that would be against the blogging verité™ ethos of this blog.
This blog post is part of the Total Black Eye series.