Random Thoughts

OK, got a really late start today, so this’ll be a short one. But just comics; no reviews, as usual, because busy busy.

Heat by Jean Wei (Peow)

This sounds like a high concept comic (a fire demon comes to live on a farm), but it’s really sweet.

It’s got a quiet ruminative feel.

Unfortunately the ending was kinda meh.

The Mask by Benconvervato (?)

It’s a fun little mini.

Moon by Rozi Hathaway

This is (I think?) structured as a fairy tale, but it’s so difficult to tell on a page-to-page basis just what’s happening that I’m… not sure?

Uncanny X-Men #19-20 by too many people to even try to mention (Marvel)

Man, this is relentlessly ugly and dull. I was an X-Men fan in my childhood and I drop in on them still now and then… and most of the time, it’s just so boring now. The stakes are Always The Highest Possible, which means nothing really matters.

Perhaps you should give this book some props for just being more WTF than usual…

… but it’s mind-numbingly tiresome. I do seem to remember that Rosenberg guy writing some stuff that was mildly entertaining at one point, but this…

Gulag Casual by Austin English (2d cloud)

Yes, hairstyles.

I kinda like this. It’s mildly befuddling, but the mix of mundane er dialogue and the wild, wild artwork is nice.

But I didn’t connect with this book much. I was all “uhm… where’s he going with this…” Which he probably explained in the afterword, but I skipped it. Hah!

Detrimental Information by John and Luke Holden (2d cloud)

Uhm… this has a rambling quality that’s not unappealing…

… but the jokes are a bit on the underdeveloped side?

Is the thing here that it’s supposed to be created by a couple of children? I guess it does have that feeling (i.e., somebody writing as if they were children), but, it’s…. Well.

Walt and Skeezix by Frank King (Drawn & Quarterly)

I don’t know what volume this is in the series… but as most people (ahem), I was flabbergasted by the first volume when it was published. Imagine! A comic strip from that age that’s not a chore to read! Not only that, but it’s like good and stuff!

But as the years have passed, I don’t think King kept things puttering along on the same high level… I was almost *gasp* bored by the previous volume.

But this! It’s much better! It seems like King has gotten a second wind now that Skeezix is a bit older and can have real adventures on his own. This volume is very enjoyable.

And, of course, the artwork’s just so appealing.

But one note: It seems like everybody says that this is a “real time” strip, and it’s not. I mean, everybody grows older about the rate you’d expect, but most of these plot elements (that take weeks to be published) would be absurd if they took that long in the world depicted.

How’s that for incisive criticism?

But now it’s the middle of the night and I can’t read more comics because sleep.

Boo.

I thought I was going to be busy all day today, but apparently not, so let’s do a half day of comics. As usual, the rules are: No reviewing, because we do not have time for that.

Soda 12 by Gazzotti and Tome (Zoom)

This is a “modern” (i.e., isn’t from the 50s) French-ish series with a somewhat high concept: A cop pretends to be a priest so as not to worry his mother. It really doesn’t develop much: He just dresses up as a priest every time he comes home. (Yes, he lives with his mother.)

It’s somewhat on the violent side, but nothing explicit.

It varies in entertainment value, and this is a pretty lame album. And the artwork does absolutely nothing for me: The lack of details and care taken is a turn-off.

Something or other by Christopher Adams (2d cloud)

This little mini is somewhat vague, but works pretty well.

Robert Sax by Rodolphe and Alloing (Zoom)

This is a new series of albums, but done in a very 50s/60s style and milieu. To appeal to the nostalgic comics reader, you’d suppose. And it works! The storyline isn’t very original, but it hums along without too many embarrassments. The artwork’s a bit basic, but you gotta like those building designs.

Kobane Calling by Zerocalcare (H//O//F)

This is comics journalism (sort of) about Kurdistan. It’s hilarious! Zerocalcare shifts constantly between making fun of himself and his own foibles, and commenting in verbal-diarrhoea mode on everything, to heartfelt impressions about what’s going on, to earnest (sort of) didacticism. I laughed (out loud) and I cried.

It’s such a lively book. The artwork is a bit cramped by all the text, but Zerocalcare makes good use of the remaining space: He draws everybody as complete individuals and really gives us the feeling of his impressions of everybody.

So, sure, he’s a total wise-ass, but he’s funny, and that makes up for a lot.

If I have one criticism, it’s that I was exhausted by the book halfway through and had to relax by doing Emacs bug triage for a few hours before completing the book.

So that’s all for today; hopefully tomorrow will be an all day all comics kind of day.