SIZE MATTERS: The Mini-Comics Blog

Hey Everybody, It’s Comics by Cathy Leamy

I’ve got to start out here with I Survived Gwar. Give this comic to anyone, anyone I say, and they will think it’s cute. In this twelve-page (fourteen if you count the inside and back of the back cover which continues the story) mini-comic, Leamy spies an ad for the Gwar concert in the Boston Sunday Globe. “It was listed in the arts section, right next to ballet and jazz performances, which was a bit weird.” So what does she do? She goes. She picks out some clothes that wouldn’t stick out and wouldn’t “show stains” and she goes to Gwar. I like her already.
This is the most Gwar inspired fun I’ve had since the scene in Empire Records where the dude is eating pot brownies and thinks that Gwar is talking to him through the TV. Leamy draws the only conclusion one can from seeing Gwar in concert – they are kind of silly. What makes this mini absolutely hilarious is the picture of Leamy on the cover. She’s dot-eyed and freckle faced, and her arm is raised skyward with forefinger and pinkie pointing to the sky. Rock on Cathy Leamy. The back cover shows her leaving the concert wrapped in a long coat and scarf. Definitely not Gwar approved clothing.

Leamy also sent in two issue of her mini-comic Geraniums and Bacon. the first issue has the wonderful “Little Kid Dreams” piece where Leamy illustrates the kind of things that we all wished for as kids. Talking animal of choice, check. Picked first for kickball, check. Each page of this section is simply four separate panels with a title underneath. It’s a nice way to start a mini with something almost all of us can relate too. There are a couple of other short pieces including one that details her yearning to be good at something.

The longest story in this first issue is “Faith Crisis.” In this one Leamy outlines the struggle that most thinking individuals go through in regards to religion. But isn’t it all just a sham, she wonders. This one goes on a bit too long, but she redeems herself on the last page as her mother brings her character back down to earth.

Geraniums and Bacon issue two is a bit of a departure from number one. Leamy whips out a can of “Writer’s Enlightenment” to jazz up some pedestrian tales. The second such tale is almost startling in the way she blends fantasy with fiction. There’s an ad for “Lysol Gay-Away” that enterprising young homosexuals can spray to erase all trace of a gay lifestyle when parents pop in for an unexpected visit. Leamy closes the issue with an extended dream story where she discovers a land of geometric figures and gets overwhelmed by bees. The next thing you know she’s the voluptuous “Goddess of Sex and Math.”

Leamy’s art is uncomplicated and simplified. Her backgrounds give just enough information for the reader to process the scene and no more. It’s an example of her using what she’s comfortable with, without sacrificing content and entertainment. Cathy’s blog is at Metrokitty.com. Her comic section is here and you can read the one page story "The Adventures of Milo Mercury and Ginger". You can also find her comics at Small Press Swap Meet.