From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Tue Feb 24 22:23:50 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2004 22:23:50 +0000 Subject: [review] [ZUM!] Windy Wilberforce: The Voice of the Wilberforce Message-ID: review by David Birchall Yes! This is amazing. I sat down to read the first story and was quickly swept off, turned inside out, reduced to my basic chemical formula and reconstituted mostly as water! The stories seem to circle and twist through a world rooted the everyday, but always taking a turn into a hidden passage of phrase and picture that is occasionally sublime... Almost every phrase demands a rereading, I skimmed through, "Here as an Exorcist of words his task is to locate the Harlequin", then stopped and went back, thoughts sparking off everywhere. Is he breaking down the difference between an idea or concept and the representation of that in words? Trying to perceive the clarity of an idea or a thought in its purest form, before words maybe obscure or represent that meaning...? It strikes me at this point that I'm thinking too much about a single panel... but the comic is filled with moments like this; a deceptively simple arrangement of words can suddenly take on a staggering array of meanings and possibilities... Overall it's the kind of work you need to savour as a whole rather than dwell too long on individual incidents. The sum of the parts leaves you thinking on and on - maybe similar to a Herman Hesse novel or something, where it only starts to sink in when you absorb it as a whole.... The drawing has a really free but controlled line that moulds brilliantly with the nature of the constantly evolving insanity of the stories that always remain articulate and lucid... Quite an eye opener. For more info please see: http://www.zumcomics.info/wx/votwilberforce.html From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Wed Feb 25 18:59:26 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2004 18:59:26 +0000 Subject: [review] [TRS] Stiro #3 Message-ID: Posted by John Robbins Stiro #3 My osmotic take on writer Forstenski as foppish agitator struggling to shake his petit bourgeois mores is not always at odds with the tone and subject matter of the stories featured in Stiro , but read sans-misconception the third issue is infinitely more digestible and thoroughly enjoyable. Again capably aided by Mardou, here the artist mostly adopts an economical, cartoonish approach to the art, and though this retains only a fraction of the detail and character of her Manhole work, it should prove agreeably polished to those with an eye for evidence of a more conventional, developed style. Opening strip 'Marie Antoinette' describes the winding-down of an off-kilter romance between a circus wolf-boy and an elusive character who may or may not be more than a circus-hand with delusions of Royal grandeur. Permeated by a deadpan humour, this two-page tale provides some amusing dialogue and contains the instantly classic line Your naivety is pleasing, wolf-boy . In '33 Sleaford Street', the slacker generation is spotlighted as the ennui of two unemployed flatmates is interrupted by the introduction of a friend's girl to the scene. It's routine slice-of-life stuff, but with adroit characterisation and a wit that isn't too laboured, is well realised. At ten pages the Manga parody 'My Name Is Stiro' accounts for almost half of the publication and, I'm relieved to report, justifies this devotion of space. With ambitious narrative structure it offers glimpses into the animated lives of some pure and true youths as they join forces to battle the analogous Sea-Badger, sixty metres tall and terrorizing Tokyo. A casual deconstruction of the genre adds some weight to the laughs and the art is appropriately Manga-functional. Three short strips end the issue: the slightly indulgent but visually inventive 'Terence Gets Uppity', the Clowes-like 'First Date' (which contains a priceless panel depicting the dating couple occupying the front seats of the '59' double-decker. 'It's just two stops more,' says the bloke) and 'It's a Sickness', a half-hearted frustration with the fact that sex shades our every fibre - which fails to recognise that sex is a biological imperative and is indistinguishable from what we call 'personality'. Stiro #3 is no pseudo-Marxist 'call to arms' or demagogy - I'm obviously not absorbing information like I used to! What it is however is a thematically symbiotic collection of work that abandons sentiment and poignancy for dry wit and a playful edge, and which manages a kind of defective charm fuelled by intellect rather than emotion. It should certainly prove sound enough entertainment for adults, irrespective of class and degree of submission to the ageing process. 24 A4 pages, colour cover, £2.50 from Smallzone . For more info please see: http://www.bugpowder.com/trs2/005265.html From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Wed Feb 25 22:34:17 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2004 22:34:17 +0000 Subject: [review] [ZUM!] Coffee is for Grown Ups Message-ID: review by David Birchall Coffee is for Grown Ups The latest offering from the writer of the excellent "Continuum of Thought" series... There's a great moment halfway through when one of the 'monsters of weakness' (representations of our human fallibility, or so I believe...) starts shouting at the writer to do something different, something else; and she does. It's a really funny and poignant moment; someone dealing openly with the act of creating, and working this into the narrative of the story itself. After this we see a development of styles and ideas come forth; I really like the way comics can explore the internal self and its dialogues and doubts in such a way that can be both amusing and intelligent. I particularly enjoyed the piece that explored a single moment in time from various different perspectives. It made me think of the idea of a sense of community and connection; that what you do effects someone else; that we don't live a in a hermetic bubble and can ignore everyone else with no consequence... Lots of good drawings of hands too, which I myself am struggling to learn to draw properly at the minute, so that's always good to see. Good stuff. For more info please see: http://www.zumcomics.info/c/coffeegrownup.html From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Thu Feb 26 16:10:38 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 16:10:38 +0000 Subject: [review] [ZUM!] THE Banana/Skin JOKE Message-ID: review by David Birchall THE Banana/Skin JOKE A curious artifact, the sequence of flashing beams from the light house turning round and round, illuminating a lone banana eater are completely evocative of that feeling of fear and unease at being exposed in the darkness. There's a another sequence that runs like negatives of photographs over and over, trailing off into the distance, endlessly repeating the same joke again and again; the banana skin joke... Something else that reaches out to me from this is how some of the panels and sequences have a real abstract quality to them, which really draws in the eye and had me turning the page around at 360 degrees to try and figure out quite how the image worked. Often these images are resolved into meaningful shapes and objects but occasionally panels remain ambiguous, constantly changing... Hmmm, I'm still not quite sure what to make of this; from an artistic point of view its beautifully drawn and produced; but it seems like there's some deeper idea behind the story, but this is never presented to the reader in any discernible way, leaving you wondering if you missed something. For more info please see: http://www.zumcomics.info/b/bananaskin.html From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Sat Feb 28 23:04:43 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2004 23:04:43 +0000 Subject: [review] [CI #168] The 0 Men 22 Message-ID: Review by Kelvin Green The 0 Men 22 by Eden; Ominous Comics =A31.50 from M. Eden; 19a Trevalyan Road, Tooting London SW17 9LS. As Pathe confronts Doctor 0, the 0 Men face their=20 own considerable problems. Excellent stuff again,=20 with twists and turns aplenty, superb=20 characterisation and some of the best art in the=20 series so far. Absolutely brilliant, and fully=20 deserving of the top score. 9/10 http://www.comics-international.com/Reviews/small_press.html Comics International reviews first appear within=20 the format of the magazine & are thus designed to=20 fit the constraint of being within 50 words. From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Sat Feb 28 23:06:41 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2004 23:06:41 +0000 Subject: [review] [CI #168] Pest Control 4 Message-ID: Review by Kelvin Green Pest Control 4 by Springford; Ominous Comics =A31 from G.=20 Springford, 2 Cawston Court, Highland Road=20 Bromley BR1 4AF. I really have no idea what's going on in this=20 comic, but that really is part of its success.=20 Deep, disturbing mysteries, flawed but likable=20 characters and inventive imagery all together=20 make this a very fresh look at superheroes. A=20 superb cover too. 8/10 http://www.comics-international.com/Reviews/small_press.html Comics International reviews first appear within=20 the format of the magazine & are thus designed to=20 fit the constraint of being within 50 words. From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Wed Feb 11 16:05:52 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2004 10:05:52 -0600 Subject: [review] [Poopsheet] BLUNDERING POP #1 & 2 Message-ID: <00b201c3f0b8$f061dd20$4da70943@austin.rr.com> BLUNDERING POP #1 & 2 Review by Rick Bradford You want extreme comix? This is extreme comix. SS-Sunda's work in BLUNDERING POP should appeal to fans of the Mike Diana school of art. In other words, it's ultra-violent, sexually graphic, defiantly perverse and downright bizarre. I'm sure this stuff would fit right in the pages of SICK PUPPY/ATOMISER (R.I.P.) or THANK GOD IT'S UGLY (although I'm guessing on that one as I haven't seen an actual issue). Unfortunately, for me, it's entirely in Italian. Still, it's not to difficult to get the gist. The main storyline (which runs in both issues) concerns a large group of freaks (as in the sideshow variety) seeking retribution of some sort ("The Fucking Freaks Revenge"). The second story in each issue focuses on different (apparently) masked wrestlers and their otherwise freakish companions. If you haven't read much of this sort of thing then prepare to be shocked. If you happen to have a freak fetish you've probably already got money shoved in an envelope, but the uninitiated should be warned: the cover is only a small taste of what awaits inside. For more info please see: http://poopsheet.blogspot.com/ From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Wed Feb 11 16:10:53 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2004 10:10:53 -0600 Subject: [review] [Poopsheet] THE COMICS INTERPRETER Vol. 2, #1 Message-ID: <00c601c3f0b9$a1d1c0c0$4da70943@austin.rr.com> THE COMICS INTERPRETER Vol. 2, #1 Review by Rick Bradford Have you seen this magazine yet? Any reader of THE COMICS JOURNAL or the recently-relaunched INDY Magazine should give this one a try. Interviews comprise the bulk of TCI, this time with Hans Rickheit, Paul Pope and Glenn Fabry. The interviews were conducted via e-mail and I think they suffer for it (just a personal prejudice, you understand), but the quality of questions and knowledge of the interviewers (Chad Parenteau, Robert Young) make up for it. And it's obvious from the back-and-forth discussion that these aren't simple Q&As. Still, they don't have the natural flow that in-person or phone interviews often produce. That said, my favorite is with Glenn Fabry, an artist whose work I enjoy but haven't seen all that much of. All three interviews succeed at being interesting and examining the subjects both as artists and as people. Other features in the issue include a number of indepth reviews (of alternative and related mainstream work), Gene Phillips' "Defining the Superhero", a Q&A with Alex Pardee (an artist/self-publisher who's apparently been pretty successful even without Diamond's help), "The Most Interesting Person in Comics?" (a bunch of industry folks offer their picks) and reviews of zines and mini-comics. All of this comes wrapped in an attractive cover by Rickheit. If you haven't seen this in your local comics shop, check with Tower Records (or buy it directly from the TCI website). For more info please see: http://poopsheet.blogspot.com From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Wed Feb 25 18:17:47 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2004 12:17:47 -0600 Subject: [review] [Poopsheet] THE AMAZING CYNICALMAN Message-ID: <005d01c3fbcb$ad13e180$71a70943@austin.rr.com> THE AMAZING CYNICALMAN Review by Rick Bradford I've been reading Matt Feazell's comics for - oh, my - nearly 20 years now and I'm still enjoying them. They're not what I would call "cutting edge" (whatever that really means) but they're fun and make me laugh. Feazell's timing, humor and draftsmanship have all improved over the years but the truth is he had mastered the stick-figure form by the time I first saw his work sometime in 1985. This paperback collects the entire run of the "Amazing Cynicalman" weekly strips that originally ran in several Michigan newspapers. What you get is mostly family-friendly humor that includes the occasional commentary on local topics or politics. Cynicalman, of course, is the primary character but not always the star. He shares the page with such aptly-named characters as Antisocialman, Stupid Boy, CuteGirl and Mr. Know-it-all. I know, I know... If you've never read the stuff before it all sounds like something out of a fifth-grader's notebook (okay, junior high then). Well, I suppose that's part of the gag. The characters are basically as shallow as their names would suggest but it doesn't matter because they're only vehicles for the artist's jokes. Scenarios I find really funny for one reason or another include Dr. Pweent (a mad scientist) turning the modern-day world back to 1900, most anything with Waldo Brakefluid (philosopher) and the Cynicalman versions of the American Revolution and 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas'. If you're put off by the concept of stick figures and haven't read any of Feazell's work I encourage you to look past your prejudice and check it out. You may find that it's not your cup of tea but I think you'll also realize that the guy knows what he's doing. For more info please see: http://poopsheet.blogspot.com/