Hiatus and Contest
I'm sure this will come as no surprise as I haven't updated here since late June, but I'm going to take extended time away from posting reviews on SIZE MATTERS.

Between work, exploring the city, and spending quality time with Kate, my life is embarrassingly full right now. Last year was one of those years, and I've been seriously re-evaluating things and what's important to me. I'm working on my own comic and spending a lot of time reading books and writing.

I will keep SIZE MATTERS up as a resource. Maybe I'll revisit reviewing when winter hits and I'm not out running the streets. In the meantime, I'll probably post pages of my own stuff here when I feel like sharing.

For all of you who are waiting on reviews, I'm sorry if I haven't got to your work. Luckily, there's a bunch of other reviewers who are much more dedicated to showing your stuff to the world. I started SIZE MATTERS on July 20th, 2005 when I noticed there wasn't sufficient coverage of minis. I'm so happy that has changed.

For now, it's time to move on. I've got too many other things rattling around in my head to concentrate. I'll see most of you around. I'll keep abreast of what people are doing on Facebook and I'll still check out local shows and events.

I'd like to thank everyone who has read the blog over the years. Thank you, thank you. I'm really glad I was able to share some of these amazing mini-comics with you. And thank you to everyone who sent in minis for review. I've always been impressed with the creativity and energy that I've discovered in your work. You guys and gals are awesome.

Before I turn out the lights, here's a very quick look at some interesting stuff that I was hoping to review before I shut down. Please visit the links provided to find out more.

City Under Sand and Casual Sex by David Beyer Nine Gallons by Susie Cagle Big Un Visits the City by Brian Leonard Nurse Nurse 3 and 4 by Katie Skelley Candy or Medicine Volume Six by Josh Blair, et al Here's Blobby by Patrick Morgan Sunward by Jason Viola The Moth or the Flame by Joshua Ray Stephens This is a gorgeous hardcover book. Sam and Dan by Jeff Lok Exploding Head Man by Jason Overby Look at this beautiful envelope from Jason. I'm gonna miss that kind of shit. And one last thing - I have a huge box of mini-comics sitting in a sub 500 square foot apartment. I need to get rid of these beautiful little things. So, if you want a big box full of mini-comics (probably about 100 minis I would guess), drop me an email titled "I want that box of mini-comics!"

I'll have Kate pick a random number between 1 and the number of emails received between now and August 31st. The corresponding email response that matches the random number will win the comics and I'll ship them out to you.

I'll see you around.
Shawn

Top Ten Mini-Comics of 2008
Man, what a year. Personally, this was an eventful year that both good and bad made me grow as a person. I’m not sure I want to repeat this kind of year again, but I have to admit that I’m better for it. I’m hopeful. Globally and nationally, I’d say the same thing applies - good and bad events of epic proportions - yet we’re still standing and dare I say it, hopeful. Here’s to growth and moving on to 2009.

But before we move on, there are the mini-comics of 2008. I didn’t read as many mini-comics this year as in years past. I didn’t go to MoCCA, SPX, or APE. For the first three quarters of the year, I only reviewed minis sporadically. Still, a ton of mini-comics found their way to the SIZE MATTERS office. I’ve read a stack that I haven’t reviewed yet and there are still several minis in the review pile that I haven’t opened. But when I think back over the year, there are several minis that stand out. Here, in no particular order, are the ten minis that I enjoyed the most in 2008.

Jessica by Jason Overby I hadn’t heard of Jason before this year, but I really, really dig his style and fresh way of communicating with the reader. I don’t think you can get any copies of Jessica, but SOLIPSIST'S DOODLES should still be available from Jason’s blog.

Wigger Haircut by Zach Hazard Vaupen Same thing with Zach. Who the hell is this guy? I enjoyed Wigger Haircut and The Diary of Lisa Frank, but the former gets the nod here because of Zach’s use of color.

Shitbeams on the Loose by Various Artists through Tender Loving Empire was a standout anthology in 2008. House Party by Lane Milburn Everything looks good from ClosedCaption Comics, but I really loved Lane’s House Party.

Nurse Nurse 2 by Katie Skelly I love Nurse Nurse! What a great character. Katie’s playful and sexy style perfectly suits this interplanetary story of a nurse/hero/adventurer. The Legend of Countess Saddenbrau is nothing to sneeze at either.

Selected Comics by James McShane

Over the last few years I’ve always made sure to grab James McShane’s tiny books masquerading as mini-comics. His cramped one panel pages are glued into an impossibly thick binding and they make irresistible objects. Now, James has published a larger format mini that collects selected minis from the period 2003 to 2008. Here are a few images from James’ blog that show the format.
Are You Man Enough by Phil McAndrew A felt mustache on the cover and a 5-page drum solo within? Yeah, that’s a 10 Best Mini.

Rabbit Shadows by Jason Viola

I haven’t reviewed this yet, but it’s a beautiful little mini-comic. Each page features one panel of gorgeously shaded and crosshatched art. Rabbit Shadows is the story of a rabbit mired in the day to day routine of work and TV. Suddenly, while walking, he discovers his shadow and begins to interact with and manipulate it. Jason’s mini clocks in at 44 pages for only $3 and it has a striking brown cover with a Rabbit Shadows sticker pasted in the upper center.

Tegne Issue Two by Various Artists I discovered Tegne through David Birchall (Extricate)

There’s too much going on inside this densely packed collaboration to mention here, but look for a full review in a few weeks.

My Life in Records by Grant Thomas This is still in the review stack, but I’ve enjoyed reading it and can’t wait to share some images with you next week. Stand by for a review of this during Christmas week.

That’s it, the ten mini-comics that stood out for me in 2008. Please give these folks some love and consider purchasing their work. If you are reading this and you read SIZE MATTERS regularly, thank you for sticking around. I’m so grateful that there are people out there who love making mini-comics and I’m grateful that you love to read them.

Have a wonderful holiday, travel safe, and take care of each other. Kate, Chloe, and I are off to Michigan for Christmas this year. I’ll probably squeeze a review of My Life in Records in next week, but other than that the SIZE MATTERS offices will be shut down for the holidays.

Peace, Cheers, and Best Wishes!

Jessica by Jason Overby Jessica is one of the most visually arresting minis I’ve seen this year. Jason Overby’s art flits from suggestions of figures, out of focus faces, morphed arms, and seemingly haphazard shapes floating in the background, to panels featuring almost nothing but randomly placed text balloons and squiggly lines. The overall feeling created by Jessica is of an artist playing fast and loose with his pencils and inks, yet you become captivated by the cumulative effect of all those lines and an appearance of sleight of hand. Jason uses a few styles of drawing that switch at random. At first it looks like the styles switch between an old comic or memory to the present, but the two bleed into each other’s territory and you’re left with randomness. This isn’t distracting. In fact, it adds to the overall charm of this book. Jessica is about the artist’s experience trying to date Jessica. They go on a date, but ultimately end up as just friends. In the present, he’s still distracted by the one that got away. For the cover, Jason uses a thick, virtually unadorned recycled brown card stock that looks like something used as the backing for a pad of legal paper. No information other than the title scrambled inside four lines of randomly stamped letters and Jason’s name on the back cover.

You can check out nice page scans of Jason’s comics at Discrete Funk. Unfortunately, Jessica is sold out on his blog. You might be able to grab a copy from Rick Bradford’s Poopsheet Shop though if you hurry. For more of Jason, read Austin English’s 20 Questions with Cartoonists Interview.