Random Thoughts

The Bradleys #1-6, Junior #1-5 by Peter Bagge.
Martini Baton by Dave Carrino and Peter Bagge.

These are all reprints, and since I’ve read the books these were sourced from (Neat Stuff and Weirdo), I considered skipping them. But then my CDO fired (it’s like OCD, but with the letters in the proper order), and I went ahead and bought them anyway.

They were really cheap, and I was curious as to whether the stories had been reworked in any way.

Nope. I haven’t compared the pages side by side, but the stories from Neat Stuff seem to have been plonked into the new format without any alterations. The magazine size ratio is different than the comic book size ratio, so you have these headings on the top of most of the pages to fill out some space.

But there’s bonus features. Here’s an early piece drawn by David Coulson, who Bagge planned on starting a humour magazine with (which didn’t happen).

There are also new strips on the back covers. Did Bagge forget how to draw Butch?

No, there he is as he used to look.

There are also random things included in The Bradleys that have no connection to the main series. Like this strip that Bagge did for a festival. Stuff like this would later be included in the Hate annuals instead.

A very early Bradleys strip where Butch and the father looks very much like they would later…

… while the other three don’t really. Especially Babs with her perm.

And here’s an even earlier piece that’s inexplicably printed “windowboxed”, which seems rather unnecessary, since it is in vaguely the same aspect ratio as the comic book, anyway…

After six Bradleys issues, we continue on with the Junior series. It’s less focussed than The Bradleys: It’s really “the other stuff that was in Neat Stuff, except that radio talk show guy”. It makes me wonder whether the plan was to reprint everything in Neat Stuff this way, and whether a third and final series was planned, centring on Studs Kirby…

Anyway, just like with the first series, there’s also quite a bit of pre-Neat Stuff material included, and some of it’s quite funny. There’s no new back cover strips, though.

I was rather intrigued by this art style, which is something Bagge hasn’t used a lot. And the story is perhaps autobiographical, what with Bagge being a libertarian and all…

And a rare childhood reminiscence.

Oh, it’s such a struggle to be so superior.

Wow! That’s a most excellent freak-out.

I don’t know whether the extras in these two series have been reprinted anywhere else, but I’m happy I went for it and bought these books. Reading these weird early stories has been rather pleasant.

And last we have Martini Baton, written by David Carrino:

Here’s the aforementioned Stretchpants:

The bulk of the magazine-sized book is taken up by the titular Martini Baton series (which are printed sideways).

It’s deranged and it’s funny. And it has a lot more of a coherent story line than I remembered from reading it in Weirdo.

There’s a little strip running beneath the main attraction called Jesus’ Critters, where we learn a lot about religion.

I assume that Carrino is a (lapsed) Catholic. I never knew that about the pope!

And finally we have an example of Carrino’s original strips before Bagge drew them for publication.

Martini Baton seems to be Carrino’s only published comic book work. He’s now an artist. Bagge is, of course, still Bagge.

This post is part of the Fantagraphics Floppies series.

Stickboy #1-3 by Dennis Worden.

Stickboy had been published by a different publisher before Fantagraphics stepped in, and it would continue to be published by various publishers after Fantagraphics bowed out.

I haven’t read any of those incarnations, though.

The first Fantagraphics issue starts off like a normal pre-slacker comic book, what with Stickboy looking for work and having… adventures…

It doesn’t take long for things to veer off into philosophical musings…

… and that’s where things remain for most of these three issues, with brief comedic respites.

Since I’m a supercilious squirrel, this sort of thing literally bores me to death. I’m actually dead now. This is a dead man typing, in fact.

The artwork doesn’t vary much, either, but there’s the extremely occasional freak-out page.

Hm, that’s a “self-transforming machine elf”. But it looks vaguely like one of those Jim Woodring angels, doesn’t it?

The letters pages has both letters to Worden saying that Stickboy is a masterpiece, and also has stuff like this. I assume that’s a real letter to some newspaper or other.

This post is part of the Fantagraphics Floppies series.

Artbabe volume 2 #1-4, La Perdida #1-5 by Jessica Abel.

Artbabe started out as a self-published mini-comic, and then Abel got a Xeric grant and published the final issue of Volume 1 as a standard-size US comic book (with real distribution).

I haven’t got the first four issues (although I may have the collection here somewhere), but the fifth issue, at least, is very nice indeed. It’s about people in their early twenties who are working various jobs while thinking about being artists and writers. I loved the internal monologue on this story in particular, and how she zones out a lot while The Man is talking to her.

There’s a lot to like about the artwork, too, although her faces sometimes grow odd proportions. But they seem like real people, although they all have mysteriously good hairdos.

Onto the Fantagraphics issues, which change the format a bit. Instead of short stories, every issue is one longer story. (With the occasional fun backup.) They’re still about the same subject matter, though: Slackers.

I mean, KIDS THESE DAYS. I mean THOSE DAYS.

In the first issue, we have the story of a date that goes wrong (sort of), and we get to hear about it from both sides. It’s a fun and rather wistful tale.

Abel’s artwork continued to grow ever more attractive. There’s something about her figure poses and her linework that’s so on fleek.

Abel’s internal monologues are really convincing. (If you’re wondering why that looks like a ballet dancer picking up the laundry, it’s because that’s a ballet dancer.)

She mentions in the second issue that she’s moving from Chicago to Ciudad de México, and the third issue is all about leaving. But it’s a story about a poseur (possibly) writer moving to New York…

… and Abel explains what it’s all about and even gives a critique of herself.

Abel’s specialty is writing long scenes of one-sided phone conversations, which I think is something she nails.

However, her dialogues sometimes sound like something from an indie film and not real life.

After four issues, she announced that Artbabe was cancelled, but that it would return with a volume 3 in a couple of years. That didn’t happen, but instead we got La Perdida.

It’s a five issue 48 page slightly-smaller-than-standard size serialisation of one long story about a young woman who moves from Chicago to Ciudad de México. (Hm, that reminds me of something, but what?)

Abel’s artwork has changed quite a bit from the Artbabe styel. It’s looser, with broader strokes and fewer tiny lines.

Hm. Does that URL still work? No. And due to a printer’s error, the first page is repeated on page 25, so I may have missed two vital clues!

Anyway, the story is about the young woman confronting her (perceived and real) privileges as an American in Mexico. And then getting involved with some hapless but scary criminals.

There’s a lot of this sort of stuff, and my main reaction to these scenes is to want to shake her and tell her to start ignoring these flaming assholes and go party instead. Which makes for a somewhat frustrating reading experience, and may not be what Abel was after.

Love the art, though.

It was released as a hardback by Pantheon Books shortly after completion.

Abel has mostly been involved with education the last few years.

This post is part of the Fantagraphics Floppies series.