Random Thoughts

Different Beat Comics #1 edited by Kim Thompson.

This book features a bunch of short (mostly two page) pieces that either are previously unpublished or are very obscure. It’s meant as both a way to read those obscure pieces and as a promotional tool: All artists featured had regular series going at Fantagraphics at the time.

I wonder whether it was successful at being either of those things. As a promotional tool it’s very odd: It’s more expensive than Fantagraphics’ regular comics. These days publishers issue free comics on Free Comic Book Day as a way to lure people in.

And as an anthology of rare stuff? Let’s see.

One page from Joe Sacco’s irregular single-page series on how Portland sucks, or something. I would read a collection of those, but I don’t think that’s ever happened?

A piece by Beto Hernandez on the aftermath of the Rodney King riots. Quite different from his normal pacing.

A nice five-page story by Jaime Hernandez that originally appeared in Vortex Comics in the early 80s.

And an ACME Novelty page by Chris Ware. I have the feeling that Ware has a lot of uncollected pages out there, since he serialised many of his stories in a weekly newspapers, and then reworked them extensively before being collected. I can’t remember this page in the collected edition, for instance, but I may be misremembering. (I’ll have to reread ACME Novelty Library one of these weekends.)

So, does it work as a collection of stuff by artists we already enjoy? Yes, I think so. As a promotional tool, however, I can imagine a lot of heads were scratched.

This post is part of the Fantagraphics Floppies series.

I Before E #1-2 by Sam Kieth.

These two issues reprint a lot of Sam Kieth’s early work; Kieth had become a hot artist over the past few years. I like how “Fantagraphics” isn’t mentioned at all on the covers. Perhaps keeping that fact a secret would entice Sandman fans to buy them?

The most puzzling thing about these (56-44 page; newsprint; stiff covers) issues is how The Maxx is referenced on the covers as if that’s the big Kieth thing. But these were released in 1991? Didn’t The Maxx start in 1993? SO PUZZLE.

First we get a quite funny introduction by William Messner-Loebs explaining how Kieth got published for the first time. I found the idea that Kieth based his art style on Messner-Loebs’ odd; I thought it was more Wrightson and Suydam, and didn’t really see much of a Messner-Loebs vibe…

Oh. That’s totally Wolverine MacAlistaire. With a pinch of Rand Holmes.

But the rest of the comics here are more Wrightson than Messner-Loebs.

Included are some early and somewhat rough pieces, but it’s mostly like the one above: Pretty great. The stories are slight, though.

Kim Thompson introduces the second issue. Kieth does sound very self-critical.

The bulk of the second issue is reprints from Critters. Which is OK, but I read them just the other… month…

And a checklist for the Kieth completist.

I didn’t buy this at the time, and getting them now was slightly difficult. I mean, they’re for sale all over the place, but mostly as “slabbed” high-grade issues that you can’t really read. And very expensive. But I found these non-slabbed issues somewhere for… er… a price. Which I guess means that the material here might not have been reprinted anywhere else? Otherwise it would have been cheaper?

I’m just guessing, though, because I’m too lazy to do research tonight.

This post is part of the Fantagraphics Floppies series.

Avenue D, Guttersnipe Comics #1-2 by Glenn Head.

I guess you could call Glenn Head a third generation underground comix artist. His comics seem to belong to that lineage even if he started working in the 80s.

Avenue D collects various bits and pieces into a 48 page magazine sized single author anthology. About half the pieces are autobiographical (although Head uses the name “Chester” for himself), and we’re treated with a number of anecdotes and stories from his drunken, druggier days. Here he meets Muhammad Ali randomly on the streets, a scene that Head also included in his recent (and very well-received) Chicago book.

There’s a lot of stories about drinking too much. It starts to feel somewhat boastful after a while, but they’re interesting.

The other half of the stories are violent anthropomorphic tales of depravity. Here we see somebody doing something that Borderlinx certainly wouldn’t approve of!

There’s a certain element of going over the same stories again and again, like when Head moved into a place above a topless bar in Brooklyn. Here we have the scene from Avenue D…

… and here it’s from Guttersnipe, his short-lived series from the mid-90s. It’s a really good story though, so the temptation to tell it twice is understandable.

Guttersnipe is wilder graphically than Avenue D was. I think perhaps a great deal of Kim Deitch has crept into his layouts? Lots of chaos on almost every page.

Head really likes characterising himself as a slightly dangerous guy, but he also deflates himself a lot, so it’s not too eyeball-roll-inducing.

As mentioned earlier, Head published his first larger book recently, and it was well received. I thought it was fine, myself, but I found the reception slightly puzzling. “A Titillating, Brutal Comics Memoir” warbled Vulture, as if they hadn’t read any underground comics before… In the book, Head depicts himself going to Chicago and almost (almost) sleeping on the street one night before somebody took him in.

It’s just not all that brutal.

This post is part of the Fantagraphics Floppies series.