Print Comics -------------- Archive
Black and white digest comic. 32 pages including covers. Price $2.00
An anthology of JKC’s comics, 3 short stories are presented in this issue, as well as a few pages of pinups by various small press comics artists. The first story, "Glorianna in Dirty Deeds" is available in color and totally free of charge at Web Comics Nation. See the link below. The second short comic story is "Phantos in the Revenge of the Samurai". In a brief search of JKC’s site, I could not find this comic posted on line, so I assume that as of this writing, it is only available in print. The last story is a very short 2 pages long titled "Lady Spectra and Sparky, The Ultimate Terror". I also could not find it online. For those new to fantasy Theater, Glorianna is a sword swinging barbarian very similar to Red Sonja, but in JKC’s comics she is nowhere near as arrogant, or perfect. The marked difference is a sense of humility, and the recognition that she can not win every battle. In Dirty Deeds, Glorianna is a bit closer to a Red Sonja type of character she’s based upon. This is a drinking Glori that gets hired by a holy man to slay a vampire. It seems pretty straightforward but there is a twist at the end. Phantos is a dimension traveling super hero. I haven’t read enough hero comics to pin down a close equivalent in the pro comics ranks, but suffice it to say, he’s not limited to one world or plane of reality. In "The Revenge of the Samurai" Phantos is confronted by a monstrous god like samurai warrior come to rule the mortal world. But this God has a mortal weakness. He needs an living person to channel his power. It’s up to Phantos to find this weak link and bring an end to the reign of terror. While this might give the impression that Revenge of the Samurai is a super hero mystery, it really isn’t. The link is known from page #2 and the means by which Phantos defeats the Samurai is only just barely related. One might describe it as a very easy victory requiring little more then an action packed Google search. Strangely, that’s part of the comic’s charm. The Lady Spectra and Sparky 2 pager is so short, it really qualifies as a super hero gag cartoon. I won’t spoil it by giving it away. My opinion is that it was a so-so gag. The art is a bit rough throughout, even by small press standards, but is still up to the task of moving story and gags along. Main weakness is the human figure. Anatomy is bit off. Otherwise it’s not too bad. Stories are typical comic book in style. Always a lot silly, though handled in a half serious, half humorous manner. No real subtlety, and no real character development to be found. To be fair, the comics are too short to allow for much development at all. None of this really hurts the comic, as it’s clearly not intended to be more than a small press version of the classic comics. Overall, the entertainment of this comic rates it 3 and ½ stars out 5. I believe it could stand a general polishing up, and perhaps more pages dedicated to each story to add a little extra suspense and humor to the book. Price: is $2.00 (I assume direct mail from the publisher. E-mail him for details.)
J. Kevin Carrier Reviewed by Daniel Nauenburg 7/30/2010 |
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Black and white digest comic with color covers. 16 pages including the covers. Rounding out the issue are letters of comments pages, short story text pieces such as a guest writer piece on Buzz Alderin, and comments from the publisher. This comic is not your typical small press book for sale or trade. It’s a free-bee given out at the publishers discretion. To get on his list for free copies, it’s probably best to e-mail him at the address below and see if he is willing to add you to it. I know this is inconvenient, but a few small press publishers are still mainly hobbyists trading comics among friends. This issue continues the Sci-Fi saga of "Manjack" a pilot of a super powered world destroying suit used to instill fear and compliance throughout a large galactic empire. In many respects it’s like a tiny one man version of the Death Star from Star Wars. In previous issues, Manjack was given orders to destroy his own home world, and developed a sudden, and a bit convenient revulsion for his assigned work. The sudden development of a conscience, and subsequent refusal to obey orders has placed Manjack in the cross hairs of the Emperor, a leader who will tolerate absolutely no dissent of any kind. But to destroy a renegade Manjack, it takes another Manjack to do the job. Fast forward to the current issue, and we resume Manjack’s escape from his pursuer, and the Emperor’s slowly escalating desperation to stop this rouge. Without giving too much away, the emperor culls the military talent of his armed forces to find someone who can stop a Manjack. The art, as you can see for your self by clicking on the cover image, is pretty good by small press standards. Sure, it’s not Pro level, but it works very well most of the time to move the story along. In places it’s a bit Kludgy, but this never really derails the reading experience. The story is typical comic book, in style. Bold, silly, not very subtle, but effective. The ending is a so-so cliffhanger (Or at least I hope it is because if this is where the story as a whole ends then it’s suddenly got very bad). My guess is the story continues on. I give this book 3 and ½ stars out of a possible five for it’s reasonably good art, and story. It looses half a star for one of the text pieces which was rather snore inducing. The Guest piece was quite good but looked more like a sampling advertisement then a feature of the book. Given the shortness of the Manjack story, it did a good job entertaining this reader in my opinion.
Address: (e-mail) thecomicist@yahoo.com Reviewed by Daniel Nauenburg 7/29/2010 |
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12 pages including covers, black and white mini format that mimics a collectable card pack. This is a Mini that lists 5 wacky super hero style characters with a single illustration of each, done by various small press artists. The idea is to present the dumbest, silliest character ideas and present them like collectable trading cards. In this goal it succeeds. So why does it only get 2 stars out of 5. Simply put, this reviewer, while loving the sheer stupidity of this project, dearly wishes there were more to it. I’d especially like to see actual comics with these characters in them. As it is presented now, I’d say this mini qualifies as good filler material for comics, but on it’s own it’s just does not have the ability to inspire much love. While most ordinary people would probably give this a one, or possibly zero star review if they are really harsh, I’m giving this 2 stars out of 5 for the humor. I have my fingers crossed that if a second installment comes out, it will have some comics to back up the trading card theme, and really milk the comedy potential of this idea. Price: is $1.50 at the ecrater store front.
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Website: http://www.mainenterprises.ecrater.com/
Reviewd by Daniel Nauenburg. 07/27/2010 |
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24 pages including covers, black and white mini-comic format with yellow paper stock cover.
One can’t help but love Andy Nukes attitude about making art. As he describes on the introductory page, he draws for fun. That’s a very healthy attitude and I don’t mind saying that I’m jealous. As a reviewer though, I have a different standard. That standard is, is it fun for me? Is it fun for others? The idea sounds similar, but as we all know, the artistic act of creation is different then the audience act of viewing. What the artist enjoys is the process, and if he or she is lucky, the outcome. The audience is only concerned with the outcome. With that said let’s examine what this books is and is not. First off, this is not a comic. It’s a series of comic like drawings that are highly abstract, and symbolic. Simply looking at the cover thumbnail image should give you a good idea of what is inside. Think of this as a mini-comic formatted pinup book. As a pin-up book it’s enjoyable part for the viewer must derive solely from the images. You will not find nearly naked sexy centerfolds, bulked out barbarians, epic sci-fi landscapes, or spandex clad supers from all your favorite comics and movies. What you do find are simple pen and ink drawings, often primitive, abstract, and distorted in nature. Sometimes the images are clear enough to easily get what they are, and other times they are just so weird that it takes a few moments puzzle them out. You can see samples by clicking the thumbnail image. For me, I like a much more traditional, highly polished kind of art when no story is involved. In this case I’d prefer well rendered over what is offered. Is the art completely unenjoyable? Not entirely, though it is very, very, very weak in my estimation. From an audience perspective I can not give this book a high rating. I give this 1 and one half stars out of possible 5. Price: is $3.00 at the ecrater storefront.
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Website: http://www.mainenterprises.ecrater.com/
Reviewd by Daniel Nauenburg. 07/27/2010 |
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Full color, close to mini mag format. Some pages are black and white while others make use of only one color in addition to black and white for artistic effect. A few pages are actual 4 color. 16 pages total, including the covers. The partly silent comic, Bag Head makes up the majority of this book. It’s about a black guy who has a paper bag for a head who goes out on the town simply to have a little fun and perhaps pick up a nice sexy lady. But his simple and innocent interactions with the populace continuously put him into confrontations of a not so subtle racial nature. These are not the typical KKK type characterizations, but rather what appears to be divisions that mainly occur inside black communities. One of the better gags is when Baghead is denied entry into a club because he isn’t lighter then a paper bag. Lil’ Nino Brown is a comic that fills the centerfold, and takes the Little Nino comic and plays with it, making it a humorous Ghetto Gangster style of short. "Harry "Bucky Lew" Orginal Baller." fills the remainder of the book up, and covers what I assume to be a historical figure in Basketball. Not being a fan of the game and being far too lazy to look him up, I will assume that the material is at least reasonably accurate. This comic is done narrative style, and isn’t really about developing character, putting them through trials and tribulations and delivering into a climatic scene, so it works more like a illustrated documentary with the occasional gag thrown in to keep it enjoyable. It was never a dull read, and didn’t go on too long, thus avoiding the tendency to become boring. Some filler sketches and a pseudo nutrition label help fill out the few remaining pages. The Nutrition label is actually a simple, yet clever little gag that this reviewer wishes he had used on some of his own comics. Overall this comic is a little more enjoyable then issue #1. I liked the direct style of humorous story telling in the Baghead and Lil’ Nino Brown. Nothing ever bored me, and the art was always up to the challenge of the stories and gags. I rate this comic 4 out of a possible 5 stars. Price: is $2.50
Address:
Website: www.joelchristiangill.com
Reviewd by Daniel Nauenburg. 07/17/2010 |
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Full color, close to Mid-Mag format. 20 pages counting the covers. A humorous comic that devotes the majority of it’s pages to the tale of "Out of the Box Thinking with Henry, Box, Brown". Not being a very acute listener in history class, I assume this a take on one of the historical figures of the Underground Railroad that delivered slaves from the south to freedom in the north. Gone is most of the high minded rhetoric that would usually accompany a political comic, and in it’s palace are a series of simple one-liners to illustrate the point. Sample pages will show the title page, middle panel, with Henry simply stating "This Sucks." From a readers standpoint the one-liners really work, making the comic a quick, but enjoyable read. While the comic is reasonably enjoyable, and I assume somewhat historically accurate (I haven’t bothered to check for myself) it’s not a side splitting kind of humor. Also, this comic is presented mostly in the narrative format whereby captions do a lot of the work for dialogue and images. Done reasonably well here, do not expect much in the way of character development, and the ebb and flow of longer comic fiction. As a result, it’s not as strong as it could be. Some filler material rounds out the issue including a page of sketches, a 2 page spread of "Lil Nino Brown in Slum after Land" which is probably a bit more humorous for those of us who are not White Middle Class Suburban Dwellers like this reviewer is. Still, it’s an okay comic. Finally we have some production notes, more sketches and a mini bio of the artist. I rate this comic a solid 3 out of 5 stars. I’m glad it was sent to me, and I never groaned once while reading it. (That’s always a good thing in my opinion) Price: is $2.50
Address:
Website: www.joelchristiangill.com
Reviewd by Daniel Nauenburg. 07/13/2010 |
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In a short full sized issue, we get to witness the first half of an arctic jail break. A big man who is doing time for some unspecified crime, but hinted as being a violent one, has, according to guards, mellowed out and now contents himself with watching the "Minky Show" in his cell. For long time fans of Small Press Comics, the Minky Show makes a pretty funny gag using old artists and publishers by name. It’s an insiders joke, but cool if, like me, you get it. Like the last issue of Chase, this one ends at a decision point that the character must make. Not quite up to the level of a cliff hanger, it’s still a neat way to end a chapter in the Chase Saga and keep the reader primed for issue #10. The larger format really helps. The art has some room to breathe now. Speaking of the art, it’s pretty good by small press standards. More then adequate for telling the story, and it seems to be getting incrementally better from issue to issue. Layouts can be a bit rough sequentially like the brick through the window panel which doesn’t work very well. Putting that aside as a minor problem, this issue works well in context with the rest of the series comics, but would be pretty so-so if read alone. I recommend that all people trying out Chase, start with issue #1. To start with issue #9 could prove a bit disappointing. Having said that I’d rate this issue (taken in context with the other issues) to be 4 stars out of 5. Price: is $2.25 at the online store.
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Website: http://www.mainenterprises.ecrater.com/
Reviewd by Daniel Nauenburg. 03/14/2010 |
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Being an anthology of small press comics, this book already has 2 strikes against it before it even makes it to the printing press. The first being that it’s an anthology which by it’s very nature forces the comics to be short, and thus rely more on the vignette, the gag, and / or the hurry up ending. The second strike is that it’s written and drawn by small press talent, which is basically amateur talent. Now to be fair, amateur artists and writers can be as good or better then the pros. In this case they are not. In a couple of cases they are not even remotely close. Checking out the samples should give the prospective reader an idea of what awaits in the visual art department. I implied that story takes a beating in anthologies, and gags and vignettes become dominate. All of that is very true with this issue. By way of example, the short, "Lonesome Hound Dog" is a fairly well drawn humor comic, that builds quickly to a gag line about sleeping with editors. It is my favorite of the lot. The hurry up ending would best fit the story of "Wild Strawberries" which starts off as a humorous romantic punk story and ends in death. I came away from this one thinking that it should have run much longer to give it a fighting chance at a satisfying ending, or at the very least been given a "to be continued" caption at the end. "Cocktail Hour" also suffered from a pretty weak narrative story style, combined with an unmotivated main character, poor art, and a single panel hurry up ending. It’s by far the biggest disappointment of the lot owing to it’s potential for real dramatic story telling. Nearly every opportunity to make this story about a lady forced to choose between the man she loves and her friend was blown in favor of a rapid and weak delivery, no doubt to reduce page count. Even the weak art could have been considered serviceable if it had an actual sense of story telling to counter it’s weakness. I chalk this up as a ton of opportunity lost. The strongest elements in this issue are the gags, probably because they are the easiest to pull of. A close second favorite of mine is the comic titled "!*%&#ERS". It boasts nearly professional level art, a witty use of language and delivers on it’s swearing gag superbly well. In the interest of space I won’t cover all the comics. Suffice it to say that this book is about 2 and ½ stars out of 5. Expect a mixed bag, and no long or continuing stories here. My take is the humor rules the book, and it’s for the humor that one should consider getting it. The drama is embarrassingly bad so if that’s what you like, avoid this book. Price: is $5.25 at the online store.
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Website: http://www.mainenterprises.ecrater.com/
Reviewd by Daniel Nauenburg. 03/14/2010 |
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Rubber stamp comics can be a hit and miss process. The limited number of stamps can, and does confine the visual aspect of the comic. In past issues, this has been overcome in some cases by witty use of words, and in other cases it’s been a near total disaster for the reader. This time around it’s about midway between the two. Suffice it to say, we have a story being told to some children frogs by an older frog. It’s not immediately apparent that this is the case so visually it’s a bit rough on the reader, but smoothes out as soon as it’s understood what’s going on. The bad part is that when that happens, we’re already near the end of the story. (this is a very short 12 page comic including covers) and as a result, it’s not nearly as satisfying a read as it could have been. Moreover, the story really is nothing more then the old frog telling the tale. Sure it’s a cute take on old radio dramas, but it’s so short, and possesses so little potential beyond that, that this isn’t offering much meat the reader can bite into. I’d say this would amount to a good start to a longer story, but as it stands, it’s a cute rubber stamp, vignette and little more. Price: is $1.00 from the publisher by mail.
Address: Reviewd by Daniel Nauenburg. 03/14/2010 |
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Chase #8 represents the last of the series to be published as a black and white mini-comic. It’s 24 pages including covers, and it’s cover blurb describes this as a triple sized issue. For me 24 pages is more like a slightly undersized regular issue but I’m partial to longer stories. This issue has visible anti aliasing throughout, though it’s not really an issue for readability for most of the comic. Only the outside covers, inside back cover and SPS New Releases section really suffer from the blurriness of the anti aliasing. I would describe this issue as a drunk character issue. The other characters have been assembled in previous issues, but this issue the character "Nate" didn’t do so well with the free time he had, having turned to alcohol in volume to cope with the loss of 2 loved ones. His description of past exploits put him into some violent company which makes him well suited for the tasks that lay ahead of him, but he must choose to rejoin the team. The ending leaves that one aspect of the story as an open question. Did he refuse or just postpone? This reviewer doesn’t know the answer. Below is the publishers own description of the book. If you want to see samples, click on the thumbnail image. This book can be bought at the publishers e-crater store, the link is posted below. It's here, at long last, the startling conclusion to "Nate Solomon's Blues", which began last issue. It's a 24 page triple size issue of this popular mini comic, with art and lettering by John Lambert and story by series creator Jim Main. Wraparound cover embellisgment by Dan Taylor. Price:is $2.00 at the online store.
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Website: http://www.mainenterprises.ecrater.com/
Reviewd by Daniel Nauenburg. 01/29/2010 |
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Wow! Talk about an ambitious small press comics project. I nearly threw my back out lifting this hefty issue. It’s a staggering 156 pages not counting the card stock color covers. It includes so many articles and features that I included the table of contents in the sample pages just so I wouldn’t need to list them all. Among the favorites for this reviewer are the generous Comics Reviews by several contributors. Titled "The Spinner Rack", it’s 32 pages long, includes cover samples of most books reviewed and generous text descriptions. Books range from the Small Press, to the biggest of the big publishers. These are new comics reviews, not old back issues dating to the Golden and Silver age. It’s Silver Age comics that form the core focus for issue #5 of Comic Fan, and includes a small press legend and one time Pro comics writer, Steve Skates, who’s skill with the word can make a pretty routine retelling of past projects into an immensely interesting read. Everyone should note that this issue, being a small press book, does have it’s share of production errors, and in the case of the Steve Skates article and later on in the article titled "of Sea Kings and Sexy Heroines" on page 49, some of the text is either missing or covered by the images that accompany the articles. It’s a bit jarring the first time around, but you will have access to a reprint of the articles sent as separate pages along with the book when you buy it. So if these small errors bother you, the reprints should give you all the missing stuff, which isn’t very much, and you can fully enjoy the articles. A nagging problem in the book is the images sometimes appear to be fuzzy as if they were prepared for web publication instead of print. While this isn’t so bad that it ruins the book, it’s a bit of a nuisance. Just bear in mind that only a few of the pictures are fuzzy. Most are just fine. Like most fan works I have seen in the past, Pin-Ups are generously interspersed within the pages. Some are well drawn and others are a bit on the primitive side. Clearly this is a feature that will impress those who are into the 1960’s and 1970’s era super heroes. Not being a big hero fan myself, I find them to be a so-so feature. Another feature that I like is the comic con reviews complete with plenty of captioned photos. If you can’t make it out to "SPACE" www.backporchcomics.com/space.htm (Small Press & Alternative Comics Expo) or "Stuptown Comics Fest" www.stumptowncomics.com then these are good primers as to what is going on at the shows. While I can’t list every feature here because I’d be typing this for days, I would like to point out that some original works, both pages and sketches, from past and current Pros are reproduced in this issue. I’m no comics historian, and really don’t have the kind of passion about original works that some fans of the comics medium do, but I can appreciate the effort it took to get materials that this reviewer has never seen before, published in what has got to be the single most impressive Fan Zine I have ever laid eyes on. I want to give Comic Fan #5 a full five star review, but the niggling production issues take it down a half star for a total of 4 ½ stars out of five. Odds are that if you like old comics, you will like Comic Fan #5 Samples of Comic Fan #5 can bee seen by clicking on the thumbnail image or you can go to mainenterprises.ecrater.com to buy a copy for yourself. Price: is $16.95 per copy at his ecrater store
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Website: http://www.mainenterprises.ecrater.com/
Reviewd by Daniel Nauenburg. 01/18/2010 |
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More Comics are available in the Comics Archive |
and Downloadable Comics
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Downloadable Fan-Zine This review covers the PDF download version. For the fans of comic book yesteryear, Jim Main assembles a host of amateur columnists and artists to create a hefty 100 pages of material for issue #6 of Comic Fan. This review is of the PDF version. Like previous issues of Comic Fan, art from past issues of pro comics is liberally spread throughout the publication, mixed with a generous amount amateur fan art of varying quality. The cover is perhaps the best example of the fan art in this issue. See it, plus samples by clicking on the thumbnail image. The reviews section remains the single biggest, most useful, and timely part of CF. Unlike the rest of the book that is focused on the past, the reviews offer timely, detailed, and interesting information on current comics from the Professional ranks as well as from the small press. Readers should note that different reviewers bring to this publication different styles of review, making some reviews more useful then others. No review in this issue ever really disappointed this reader. All gave the minimum amount of information needed to either pique interest in a book, or warn me away from one. Some reviews provided more information then was needed, yet never dragged or bored. The only complaint I could reasonably pin on the Reviews is that a tiny number of them didn’t include cover reproductions or samplings of interior art for the books. A minor detail to be sure. The articles and interviews in this issue covered a lot of ground, from a look at Alan Moore to a short, and rather dull, old, cookie cutter interview with John Byrne. Columns about "J.L.A. Evolution" and "George Henderson", while offering potentially interesting topics, tend to plod along like a grocery list of achievements. This is simply weak writing on the part of the columnists. Another column, this time on Super Hero Gadgets, takes a pretty ho-hum topic and through skilled writing, makes it enjoyable reading. In the interest of keeping this review from becoming too long, I’ll simply sum up that the writing is the weak link in an otherwise strong book. Readers should be prepared for varying quality in this department that trends toward the low end of the skill spectrum. The subject matter being written about is the strong point and should be of interest to any older fan of the comics medium. Rounding out the issue is a letters page, samplings from an old comic, editorial page, opinion page and other similar features. One last note. The PDF version did not maintain the text as vector, so it does not scale, and is a bit blurry. Image quality is about what you’d find on a web page so zooming in isn’t going to gain you much. None of this hurts the reading experience, but it is a bit disappointing when viewing thumbnail images that I wanted to get a closer look at. My recommendation for next issue’s PDF version is to use 150 dpi images and to keep, as much as possible, the text in it’s original form so it will scale flawlessly. Overall I’d rate this issue at 4 stars out of 5. Price: is $2.00 at the online store.
Address:
Website: http://www.mainenterprises.ecrater.com/
Reviewd by Daniel Nauenburg. 04/24/2010 |
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Downloadable Comic This review covers the PDF download version. This Retro 1950’s style anthology offers up 3 short comics that revolve around a single Sci-fi theme. Art and story telling is generally weak, owing to limited drawing skills and cramped or rushed storytelling. "Outpost" and "Darkness Fell" are the 2 weakest stories due to total reliance on captioning to move the stories. This placed all elements into past tense giving each story the impact of a history text. The strongest is the first story titled "The Creature from Stalag 17" which unlike it’s competitors, actually moves the story along in present tense. Other features included are a short editorial by the publisher, a couple pages of letters to the publisher and a little less then a dozen pinups. Because each story is short, I won’t go into much detail about each one. The longest story runs for 9 pages, so it’s not going to have lots of twists and turns. The shortest one runs for a mere 2 pages. Here is how each one stacks up. "The Creature from Stalag 17" is a simple monster in a remote mining outpost type comic that has a similar theme to the movie Alien, and probably a host of other similar films of that genera. Art is typical middle of the road small press. A bit rough around the edges, not terribly polished, and with layouts that are serviceable, but not strong. Click the thumbnail image to see a sampling. The story moves in present tense, and though it’s predictable, it also remains entertaining. It’s perhaps that borrowed influence from the movies that make it stand out. "Outpost" is the 2 page comic that literally kills itself, both as story content and the way that story is delivered with pure past tense captioning. If I say much more I’ll be entering spoiler territory. Overall it’s weak, though the art is strong by small press standards. This one disappoints because it’s artistic potential is never realized. A much longer story, done in present tense, with the same level of art could transform it from a sorry, one star story, to something entertaining to read. "Darkness Fell" suffers from weak art. (Check out the last page in the samples) It’s poor even by small press standards. While the story of Robots taking over a world only to be defeated by a last ditch counter attack by the remnant of humanity is loaded with potential, the delivery of that story is just about as weak, unimaginative and un-dramatic as is possible in fiction. Again, it’s the relentless use of captioning and past tense story telling that kills this before it even has a chance at getting good. The pin-ups, covers, letters, ads and other features are kind of a "nostalgic cool" and they help bring up the overall level of this publication. As a whole I rate Strange Space Stories #2 at 2 and ½ out of 5 stars. Price: is $1.00 at the online store.
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Website: http://www.mainenterprises.ecrater.com/
Reviewd by Daniel Nauenburg. 04/06/2010 |
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CTS PreludeBy; Ronson Butler CTS stands for "Carpel Tunnel Syndrome" and has been a yearly SPS tradition going back for about a decade. Traditionally this has been in print form only, being published in the SPS "Rap Sheet". Since the SPS is no longer printing the "Rap Sheet", the remainder of the CTS pages are appearing in the SPS forum as a web comic. Clicking the thumbnail image will take you to the thread where you can read what is currently posted. web comic |
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Watusi Web Comic By; Dale Martin 
web comic |
Fantasy Theater web comic |