Random Thoughts

Raw #3: The Graphix Magazine That Lost Its Faith In Nihilism edited by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman (268x360mm)

Huh. “Half-Raw (issue 3.5), a tabloid issue”? I don’t think that ever happened…

Anyway, the first issue of Raw was stunning, and the second was a let-down (relatively speaking). One problem it had was just pacing — it was almost nothing but one and two page stories, and that feels unbalanced. The other problem was that it had some pieces that felt studentey (because they were pieces from the students at the School of Visual Arts).

So we start off this issue with a visually striking one-pager by Ever Meulen and Eddy Flippo, and I was going “uh-oh”, but then we get a brilliant (and wistful) five page Jimbo thing from Gary Panter.

And this issue is indeed very satisfying. We’ve got this somewhat unnerving (but funny) page by Cathy Millet, and then a twenty (!) page story by Jose Muñoz and Carlos Sampayo. (And it’s printed on a different, more grey paper.)

Since it’s on a different paper stock (and isn’t in the middle of the magazine), we get a “continued on” message after ten pages.

Using 20 pages of a 50 page magazine on a single feature is a risk, but the artwork is so sharp and fabulous. And the story seems really intriguing… until the final couple pages where it turns out to be an O. Henry kind of story. So that’s a let-down, but it’s still a satisfying trunk to hang the rest of the issue’s contents off of.

It’s not just comics, either — Mouly herself writes one of the text pieces.

I’m surprised to see a page of Rod Kierkegaard here — he would pop up in Heavy Metal a lot later, I think? But it’s a fun page.

And the reason that the grey paper stock wasn’t put in the middle becomes clear: Mariscal needed the centre to pages for this insane double spread.

The only insert this time around is Maus. So they’re cutting slightly back on the printing extravaganza stuff, I guess, except for the different paper stocks.

And we’re getting into Spiegelman’s parent’s pre-war history.

The first few external ads show up, like this ad by The Idle Hour.

This issue is so rich — every page a new delight. Patricia Caire and Charles Burns on these two pages.

So — after a wobbly second issue, the third issue is absolutely fabulous. There’s not a single dud here, and it’s such a delight to read this. There’s no “theme” here, but everything seems to fit together into a cohesive reading experience.

By the third issue, they were printing 10K copies. It’s a smash hit.

This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

X by Sue Coe with Judith Moore and Art Spiegelman (158x236mm)

Sue Coe had previously illustrated How to Commit Suicide in South Africa, but this is also written by her.

From the title you may have guessed that this book is about Malcolm X… but most of Coe’s pages don’t touch directly upon him.

But we get a historical overview and contextualisation of Malcolm X’s life by Judith Moore — about a quarter of the pages in this book. It’s an interesting overview. Not much of this was news to me, but it’s a good read.

The final Coe pages do refer to X more directly.

I enjoy Coe’s artwork enormously.

And the ending certainly packs an emotional wallop.

The book was reprinted in 1992 — I’m not sure who the publisher was.

This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

Chemical Imbalance #6 edited by Mike McGonigal (200x267mm)

What’s this then? Isn’t this a blog series about punk comics, not punk music? Yes, but I’d thought it’d be fun to take a look at some of the more prominent zines of the time and see what’s up. So I went ebaying, and this was the earliest copy of Chemical Imbalance I could find. (The zine apparently started in 84.)

It includes a 7″ single which is why everybody bought this 98 page magazine, allegedly. (I’m listening to the single while reading the zine.)

It’s very much got that “well, I’m gonna say that this sucks before anybody else gets a chance to” teenage kinda pose, which I like.

There’s a surprising amount of comics in here, like this Ben Jackson thing that looks very much like … a cross between Maus and Krazy Kat. There’s more than a dozen pages of comics, so I wonder whether they were paying the contributors? Or whether people were just sending them stuff?

The most surprising find in here is this five pager attributed to The Fuk Boys, which is Matt Groening and Gary Panter. I’m just gonna go ahead and include all five pages here, because I’ve never seen this stuff before, and it’s kinda interesting:

Pretty wild, eh? I’m not sure I would have guessed that it’s really by them — some of the rendering things look slightly Panterish… but only very slightly.

The reason this is printed here is because Groening is interviewed. I’m not gonna include the entirety of that here, but it’s an interesting interview. Groening touches upon being inspired by Lynda Barry, hanging out with Gary Panter, appearing in the same student newspaper as Charles Burns, and starting to work on the Tracey Ullman show:

And not doing drugs.

Heh. That’s a nice Jimbo/Bongo drawring.

There’s also cartoonists here that I’ve never heard of, like Ion?

But I mean, this is a music zine, so it’s mostly interviews with musicians and snippy reviews of albums.

Heh. I can’t remember reading this Drew Friedman page before? But it’s been decades since I read that Any Similarity to Persons Living or Dead is Purely Coincidental book.

And I did not know that about Hattie McDaniel and Tallulah Bankhead.

That has to be Jim Woodring, but it’s uncredited.

Finally, we get a nine page portfolio of gorgeous comics from Carel Moiseiwitsch (and she also did the stunning two colour cover).

I am just flabbergasted at how good this magazine is, and I had never heard of it before I started doing this blog series. The articles are interesting, well written and frequently quite amusing. And the comics selection is outstanding.

I want to track down all the issues, but I really shouldn’t.

This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.