Comics Daze

I think it’s time to read some comics. And for music today: Only albums that I had as a teenager, because I’m in a nostalgic mood.

Sade: Promise

13:19: Undead Artifacts by Matt Lock (Hollow Press)

Oh, this was published by Hollow Press? I think I blanked on that when I bought this from the Wig Shop — it would have made more sense to buy it directly from Hollow Press, since they’re in Europa. D’oh!

This comes in a box…

Wow, that’s a lot of little books in various formats.

This box collects books previously published (by a number of different publishers), apparently in the original formats. I really like that — when you read collections of works like this, they’re often shoe horned into the same format, and that’s never entirely satisfactory. That is, whether you enlarge/shrink the artwork, or leave really big margins, or put several pages on one page — it always looks odd. I wish more publishers would collect works in this manner instead.

And it’s not just a problem with different formats, either — works can lose some impact when being packed into a thick book. I’m thinking of the recent Julia Gförer collection: It was great, but reading the original minis was even better.

Apparently isn’t not that expensive? This was 28 euros from Hollow Press, and it’s 400 pages of stuff. That’s just incredibly cheap.

Anyway, almost all of these books are collection of illustrations anyway.

But they’re illustrations that seem to hint at a narrative — like they’re taken from the middle of some longer book (and they aren’t, I think).

It’s good stuff.

Robert Fripp: Network

Most of the publishers I haven’t heard of, but this was in a Mould Map issue…

Anyway — the production of this collection is excellent, and the contents are enjoyable.

Propaganda: A Secret Wish

13:54: Nej! #3 by Mats Jonsson

Jonsson has been doing “serious” books the last few years (which have been very successful, commercially and otherwise), so this is his one man anthology for goofing off.

So it’s autobio stuff, and it’s very funny.

Hm… why is this out of focus… odd. Anyway, it’s class.

Jonsson puzzlingly refers to Noah van Sciver as his nemesis (or was it enemy?) and here we get the explanation why: He was the editor for an anthology that published him in an anthology a long time ago, but he didn’t have his contact info, and then things happened, so it took months for him to get payment to Van Sciver. So Van Sciver got his friends to write on the anthology’s Facebook that they were crooks etc. “I got pretty depressed.”

Prince: Around The World In A Day

14:47: Bare snabel #32

Huh, this is apparently a long-running Norwegian comics anthology? I’ve never heard of it before.

I like the artwork.

Oh, I’ve read this one before — it was published in a collected edition recently…

Heh heh heh.

15:01: Wrong by Skeleton Bones

Hey, this is great! Love it.

Phranc: Folksinger

15:05: It’s Oola/The Place We’re In Now by Karl Christian Krumpholz

The printing on the first one is kinda odd — the blacks are all washed out…

Anyway, it’s pretty fun. I like the artwork. These cat strips are apparently excerpted from a longer diary comics project, and I’m guessing they perhaps made more sense in that original context. Presented like this, one strip after another about a really hyperactive cat, I’m just sitting here thinking “they should get another cat to keep her company, because she sounds really bored”.

The final book is all illustrations of city landscapes, and it’s very nice.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: The Firstborn Is Dead

15:38: Butterface by Matt Seneca

Well, this is all kinds of fucked up.

I’m not at all sure what Seneca is trying to express with this book, but I’m pretty sure it’s not successful.

15:58: Misery of Love by Yvan Alagbé (New York Review Comics)

This is really well told…

Everything happens in several time periods, all at once. It’s impressive how clear it is considering how vague it is, if that makes any sense.

The only problem with this is that when there is dialogue (and there isn’t that much), then it’s not at all convincing — it reads like lines taken from a movie.

But it’s still an impressive book, although the plot (as it is) is pretty much self evident from the start.

16:14: Red Night by Hanawa Kazuichi (Breakdown Press)

This is yet another collection of things published in Garo — it’s time that somebody just translated the entire run, eh?

This is sexualised horror, but I’m not at all sure whether it’s intended as parody or not. And is the guy in the pot a Beckett reference?

I guess the artist’s obvious shortcomings might be what lends everything a ridiculous air, and it might actually be 4 Real? Because the stories are pretty gruesome, and not my thing at all, so I ditched this after a handful of stories.

16:34: Bizness is Bizness by Kikifruit (Desert Island)

This is a collection of illustrations.

Eh… eh…

New Order: Low Life

16:36: Smoke Signal #44 by Gary Panter (Desert Island)

WHAT!? An entire issue of Smoke Signals by Gary Panter!? *gasp* *swoon* Why didn’t anybody warn me!?

Oh yeah, I got this from the Mystery Box subscription.

Wow, this is amazing.

These pages were all apparently drawn this April/May. I love it.

Latin Quarter: Modern Times

17:20: Cat + Crazy 1 by Wataru Nadatani (Dark Horse)

This starts off as a pretty normal book for cat fanciers…

… and then turns totally bonkers.

Kate Bush: Running Up That Hill

See?

It’s pretty amusing, but it’s also very didactic when it comes to cats — there’s pages and pages of tips on how to get cats to like you and so on.

I can totally see a child that’s incredibly into cats thinking this is the best comic book ever, but…

Kate Bush: Hounds of Love

18:00: Whispered Words by David Enos

This is fantastic.

It’s funny, sure, but it’s also oddly engrossing. There’s so much going on, but nothing is clearly stated. It’s got a dream like quality about it, but avoids all dream clichés. It’s great!