Yes! Comics!
And for music, I’ve been listening to my albums chronologically on and off for almost a year now — starting with the late 60s, and I’m now up to 1993, I think… It’s kinda fascinating how certain years were more or less exciting musically. 1993 is probably some kind of low point? At least I bought a bunch of not very thrilling albums that year, apparently.
| The Lemonheads: Come On Feel the Lemonheads |  |
12:04: Chissakobee by Minetaro Mochizuki/Shugoro Yamamoto (Abrams)
This is very… I hate recapping, but I kinda have to here, because it’s just so odd. This series is about that hairy guy up there having to take over a construction company (!) after his parents die. OK, fine..
| Sandoz: Digital Lifeforms |  |
But an orphanage (!) has burned down (!) and he also has to take care of the kids from the orphanage. Because of course he does. So this is a sort of comedy with tension both from the construction company (will he be able to find financing to carry on?!) and also with the kids, and also with two women who kinda come and live with him to take care of the kids.
*phew*
But most striking about the book is the way they avoid depicting faces — half the panels are just random body parts. There are especially many panels that feature crotches.
And the humour is just bizarre.
I can’t really say I much enjoyed this book, but it’s certainly… something.
12:35: A Tale of Two Travelers by Madita Schwenke (Fieldmouse Press)
I got this from here.
This is based on a Grimm fairy tale. I’ve always disliked fairy tales (and myths) — well, as far back as I can remember, I’ve always found fairy tales to be annoying. In kindergarten I was probably like “fuck straight off with that Hansel & Gretel or Jesus story shit! I wanna read some Wind in the Willows or Tove Jansson! Gimme the real stuff!”
This version is less so, but it’s still got that skeeziness going on.
Probably just me, though — I guess most people love these things?
And what’s up with the reproduction? The lettering looks especially smudgy. Annoying.
12:45: Different Ways to Fly by Rumi Hara (Fieldmouse Press)
This is a very short book.
But it’s pretty charming.
12:47: The Most High Girl in the World by Emily Zullo (Fieldmouse Press)
This is fun…
… but the storytelling is pretty choppy. I mean, it’s about being really high, so that’s probably appropriate, but still.
| Underworld: Spikee |  |
12:52: The Devil’s Grin #8 by Alex Graham
Number eight!? I think I may have skipped an issue… it’s been a while since I read the previous one, at least, and I don’t really remember much about the series.
Uhm… yes, that doesn’t ring any bells. I guess I should get the previous issue… Now done.
But while I don’t remember much about what’s gone on before, it’s pretty entertaining.
It’s very soap operaish, and there’s about a dozen characters, but this issue is mostly about Robert and Dandelion. It works well.
Oh, right, I’d forgotten there had been some kind of controversy on the interwebs. Wasn’t that several years ago? And… “B—- X—-“? Bianca Xunise? I thought everybody assumed that the cartoon attacked Lee Lai? But the strip was about neither of them? “Anyone in the scene knows exactly who I’m talking about.” IS IT TILLIE WALDEN
Man, it was just a year and a half ago. It feels like it was years and years ago.
13:30: Clap Twice If You Think I’m A Funny Girl by Natalie Raskin
This book is pretty unfocused, but that may be the point, kind of.
It’s got a nice flow, and it’s pretty original. I like the artwork.
| Underworld: Dubnobasswithmyheadman |  |
13:48: The Children of Light by Jean Pleyers (New York Review Comics)
This is a French comic from the early 80s.
It’s certainly… something. I mean, it feels like some strange artefact, so I can totally see why NYRC has reprinted it. It’s got the slick look of a French science fiction comic from the 70s — like Luc Orient or something — but the story is more like Olaf Stapledon’s Last and First Men, if I remember correctly.
Which is to say that it’s not very … good. I ditched it halfway through.
14:14: Concrete: Stars Over Sand #1-2 by Paul Chadwick (Dark Horse)
Speaking of… I never cottoned on to Concrete in the 90s. I liked the artwork, but I just didn’t … enjoy reading it. So I got some Concrete collections some years back just to check, and I still didn’t much like it.
So why did I buy this now!? I have no idea. I guess I was curious to see what’s going on now — it’s been a couple decades since the previous book?
Yup; the artwork still looks sharp. And we’re given absolutely zero explanation about what all this is, but apparently Concrete has a child now?
I’m not spoiling anything — they tell you what the plot is on the cover of the first issue — but it’s about the most fake of fake plot contrivances: Concrete goes all amnesiac all of a sudden. Which gives Chadwick an opportunity to do his “poetic” thing.
Still, it’s not that bad? It’s got some sense of urgency.
14:30: I’m a Cop no. 3 by Johnny Damm
I got this from here.
This book consists of quotes from ICE agents and other cops, along with collages and super-heroes from public domain comics.
It’s good stuff.
Did you all read that article about this guy who’s been swatted 55 times? The cops didn’t stop busting down his door and pointing their guns at him until he sued them? It’s such an absurd thing that you’d think the cops had something against him in particular, but I guess the explanation is probably something more trivial, like the cops getting overtime and a 4x “danger” pay when they do stuff like that.
(Oh, and why was he swatted in the first place? He correctly pointed out that Norm Macdonald is really boring.)
14:39: Yearly 2025 by Andrew White
I got this from here.
Oh, right, there’s also a process zine about Yearly 2026. Very nice.
Yearly 2025 is a collection of (very) brief pieces — which is understandable, since White had a child that year. And amazingly enough, none of the stories are about a lack of sleep. Well… perhaps it seeps in here and there.
But it’s a solid book. Kinda hypnotic.
| The Sea and Cake: The Sea And Cake |  |
15:01: See You Again, Maybe. by Vivian Nguyen
This is fun — it’s a slightly supernatural story (or perhaps more dreamlike).
The storytelling suits the story — it’s a bit confusing, not altogether clear — but then everything is resolved nicely.
15:14: I, Candy by Ruby Carter
This is a very short book.
But funny and unnerving at the same time, which is always nice.
15:16: Ending Theme by Hirokazu Oshima (Star Fruit Books)
This is nice and wistful — it’s about running a used bookstore that then has to close down.
Very appealing.
| The Golden Palominos: This Is How It Feels |  |
15:29: Cram Comics #5 edited by Andrew Alexander (Cram Books)
Yes, it’s another solid issue of Cram. I guess it’s the best anthology that’s still being semi-regularly published?
It’s a mix of various things — some rather abstract…
… and some more straightforwardly narrative. Ace. I got it from here.
15:56: Karavan för en drottning by Joe Kessler (Lystring)
I really wonder why Kessler chose such a greige cover for this book…
… because Kessler’s artwork is so exuberant.
Anyway, this is a wordless book structured around two children being told a story — perhaps a fairy tale, and perhaps not —
It’s got an evil wizard, a queen, a giant lion and all that stuff.
It’s really good. You have to put in a bit of work as a reader to interpret what you’re reading, which is all for the better. Sticks the ending, too.
16:28: Beware Her Fury by Mirion Malle (Drawn & Quarterly)
Hey! The first D&Q book of the day…
Heh heh.
But… this isn’t my kinda thing, really. It’s all about going to therapy, and the artwork is so uninspiring, so I ditched this after reading one third. Sorry!
| Lisa Germano: Inconsiderate Bitch |  |
16:47: Freedah by Eden D
I like it — it’s very much a classic underground comic book.
So it’s about drugs and sex and all that stuff. Very appealing.
16:56: Enemy Invasion by Sørum/Johansen/Noguchi (Vigmostad Bjørke)
<nelson>HA HA<nelson/>
Hey, the artwork is pretty nice…
How to explain the plot… hm… hm… OK: “Ender’s Game”. There you go. The plot “Ender’s Game”.
It’s not just that, though — there’s some interesting things going on otherwise, but that’s the focus. Which is unfortunate, because:
“Huh! VGA X 777 card?! But it’s not out yet!” “Everything can be found in Shenzhen, my friend.”
It’s all got a whiff of…
So I was gonna google the age of the creators, but I didn’t have to:
Anyway, it’s not awful… I mean, the artwork’s nice. This album is just the first in a series, though, and it feels like watching the first 25 minutes of a two and a half hour epic, so it’s not very satisfactory in that way.
| Pet Shop Boys: Relentless |  |
17:14: The End
But I think that’s enough comics for today. And… 1993 wasn’t really the best year for music, was it?