Just got finished doing some pruning on the outbound links. There were quite a few sites which were putting out some well crafted reviews when this site began, but have since disappeared. No sense in keeping the links if there isn’t anything on the other end.
A couple new ones have been added. There are links for my local comic shop, Elite Comics. If you’re in the Kansas City area, this is the shop that you need to visit. Most shops that carry comics are a horrible goulash of games, sports cards, and toys, with a few comics sprinkled in. Which means it’s a shop that does a whole lot of things, but none of them with any competence. Elite Comics has dropped all that other rubbish and concentrates on comics, with a huge back-issue section and a large selection of new comics. It’s a great place and highly recommended.
Another link is for one of the regulars at Elite Comics, Justin Cline. Justin is publishing his novel at his site and has an ongoing series cataloging all of the little annoyances that should get folks their own ticket to hell. Check it out.
My plan was to sit down and wrap up the Slave Labor Graphics reviews tonight. But, I happened across Jamie Smart’s latest comic: Talking to Dad. It’s put me into a bit of a contemplative mood, so SLG reviews will resume tomorrow. Pretty much everything will have to wait.
Jamie, I’m only a guy who has read Ubu Bubu and a few of your other comics, but allow me to offer my condolences. Life can be a right bastard sometimes. Best wishes.
And while I’m writing about monsters, how can I forget Evan Dorkin? He is a regular contributor to SLG Radio and has much of his work published by SLG. And, he has a fantastic set of monster drawings on Flickr. Who doesn’t love monsters?
If I remember correctly from one of the SLG Radio podcasts, Dorkin started drawing these for his daughter in a notebook left behind by a loved one who had died. He said that it seemed like a good way to put the notebook to use and remember someone special to his family. I thought that was a touching story to go along with the fantastic artwork.
While all the monsters are good, I think that my favorite is Door-To-Door Craziac:
Doris Danger: Giant Monster Adventures
Writer: Chris Wisnia; Pencils: Chris Wisnia; Inks: Dick Ayers, Chris Wisnia; Cover: SHAG;
SLG Publishing (Slave Labor Graphics)
Doris Danger: Giant Monster Adventures might be my favorite graphic novel from 2009. It collects the previously-printed Doris Danger stories into a single volume, and the collection arrived none too soon. Doris Danger is a fantastic take on the silver age giant monster comics. The book collects a random assortment of comics supposedly published in the 50’s and 60’s and only now reprinted. Within each issue are markers which point to issues which have not seen reprint, which only increases the craziness of the full story. We never get to know the entire over-arching plot, but it doesn’t matter because the entire book is about having fun with the monsters and conspiracies.
Wisnia has fun with the overly-expository dialogue and convoluted plots typical of silver age stories, but he never mocks his inspiration. The Doris Danger stories appear to done out of real love for the past giant monster stories and a desire to see everyone else recognize the brilliant fun. Wisnia also pokes fun at himself in the self-created letter columns. He brings up his use of an army made of only three star generals and inconsistent monster sizes through letters supposedly written by disgruntled readers.
Wisnia isn’t above taking a fun shot or two at folks outside of the giant monster milieu. First, those that are worried about the condition of your immortal yet fragile soul in the face of homosexualsatheism giant monsters:
And there are those who see gay marriageDungeons and Dragonsatheistsrock ‘n rollseparation of church and statedancing giant monsters as a threat to our very existence as freedom-loving, pie-eating Americans. (They may very well threaten our precious bodily fluids!)
And perhaps my favorite panel out of the entire book:
If the story doesn’t appeal, then it’s at least worth checking out for the fantastic guest-artist pin-ups. Mike Allred, Tony Millionaire, Peter Bagge and a bunch of other artists have wonderfully done giant monster pin-ups. The Art Adams pin-up is good enough that it should be a print for sale all by itself.
And with all of that together in the same book, Doris Danger: Giant Monster Adventures is worth picking up. Your local comic shop can order it, or you can get it directly from SLG. It’s worth your time and money.
Zombies Calling is the first work done by Faith Erin Hicks for SLG, but I only read it after finishing The War at Ellesmere. Zombies Calling is the story of Joss, and college student worried about her future filled with uncertain job prospects and certain oppressively huge student loans. She is an expert in zombie lore and finally has opportunity to put her knowledge to the test when zombies attack the school.
Zombies Calling has a little fun with the typical zombie apocalypse tropes by considering what happens if the rules gleaned from movies are followed. Hickes points out how two of the rules (“Don’t leave the mall” and “The survivors are never rescued”) can’t both be followed since the food and water eventually run out wherever the survivors hole up. The other rules all get a bit of attention, but we see that debt, the future, difficult decisions, and the other problems of real life dwarf that of zombies.
I found Zombies Calling to be enjoyable, but not as good as The War at Ellesmere. Zombies Calling is good in the same way that Reservoir Dogs was good: the initial work hints at the how good the creator’s next work will be even if each isn’t great on its own.
