MoCCA Continued
My apologies to everyone at MoCCA who I didn't get around to visiting. I've heard from several people who saw me pass by their table - pass by being the operative word - and I feel kind of bad about that. For some reason I didn't pick up a map of tables and it took me a few laps to orient myself. I did stop and talk to several people, but despite my best intentions I didn't make it back for my final round after the Panter/Santoro panel. For instance I really wanted to talk to Katie Skelly some more about Nurse, Nurse but never made it back to her table. I saw Marek Bennet talking to someone and made a mental note to go back, and then never made it back.

MoCCA wasn't a total loss though, I got to talk to several people and pick up some great books. For starters, I ran into Marcos Perez and Justin Fox, two of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. I have a handful of their comics for upcoming reviews and it's been awhile since I've checked out their stuff. Also got sucked into the Partyka table. John Meijas had this amazing book with huge, painted wood covers. Inside was just too good to be true. When I asked him the price, he sheepishly said it was $100. I didn't get a copy there, but John says they are available at Desert Island, which I REALLY need to visit, and St. Mark's Books, which I did pop into on the way to Angel's Share cocktail bar on Sunday night.

Talked to John and Shawn Cheng for a bit and bought a couple comics that I hadn't had a chance to see. I really loved the self explanatory Matt Wiegle's Monsters & Condiments and Shawn's Whiskey Jack & Kid Coyote Meet the King of Stink. I haven't cracked open the copy of Paping yet, but it's on the nightstand. Here's a shot of the Paping books: Also talked got to meet Tom Gauld and picked up the third volume of Three Very Small Comics. Tom's packaging as always is first rate.
I talked to the super sweet Meghan Hogan of Good Minnesotan for a bit and was bummed that I missed her husband Raighne. Right next door I found Cathy Leamy and got to chat with her for a little bit. I'll have reviews of her stuff coming up. Then abruptly I was face to face with the wild-bearded Raighne Hogan. His beard was truly a site to behold and we held court on vegan and vegetarian food for a bit.

I also got to meet Kevin Church for the first time, which is kind of weird since I already feel like I know him from his many online ventures. Kevin, I hope you made it to The Spotted Pig after the show.

And that's pretty much it for my MoCCA visit. As the Panter/Santoro panel was winding down - it was at that point that I hate, where the audience members were asking questions (or also know as let me show everyone how smart I am) - I got texted away on a beauty emergency. So, everyone that I didn't get to talk to or return to, I'll see you next year or maybe at SPX.

Pictures of the PictureBox table:
Buenaventura Table:

The Would-Be Bridegrooms by Shawn Cheng Shawn Cheng, of Partyka, has combined the grace and simplicity of a fable with the energy and silliness of a shape-shifting duel. Two would-be bridegrooms approach a girl's house, slowly realizing that they both intend to ask for the hand of their beloved. Once they realize this, the battle is on - the two shape-shifters take turns trying to outmaneuver and overpower the other. Near the end, the two suitors find themselves in a very compromising position. Shawn's comic timing is impeccable during this sequence. The Would-Be Bridegrooms is a 48-page black and white mini-comic wrapped in a threaded spine cover. Get your own copy for $5 at the Partyka online store.

Road of Knives by Zak Smith and Shawn Cheng
Road of Knives is a print version of Zak Smith, Shawn Cheng,and Nicholas Di Genova’s excellent battle blog, Road of Knives. In the foreground of the first panel, Zak drops in a nightmarish beast hunched over with an absurdly large axe. Underneath in the next panel, Shawn draws a pair of ominous-looking, ferociously armed serpentine warriors – and a much less ominous little guy. This little dude looks totally out of place. He’s definitely outclassed by the other menacing figures on the page.

On the next page the battle begins; coiled figures unload on each other as swords slice through flesh. On page 5 the little dude is almost crushed by a severed head. He disappears after that as the battle heats up. Later on page 11, you see him hauling ass away from the battle site. At this point, both artists’ canvases expand. The monsters grow to terrible heights, filling the page with their swollen and grotesque bodies.

Both artists excel at this type of subject matter. And this format allows unfettered imagination and a ridiculous game of one-upmanship.

Road of Knives features 16 pages of beastly carnage underneath a gorgeous silver screen printed cover. Get your copy for $2 from the Partyka online store.

Seven More Days of not Getting Eaten by Matt Wiegle Matt Wiegle has a knack for turning folk tales and legends into disarmingly funny and thoughtful mini-comics. Seven More Days of Not Getting Eaten is no exception. Over seven days, a talking fish manages to manipulate some not too bright anglers out of cooking him for dinner.
Over seven stories, the fish proves much smarter than the assorted fishermen who cast their line into his stream. The fish convinces one fisher to let him go so he can change into a better suit, "I was lamenting the shame of being caught without my best suit on." He convinces another fiherman to attempt to build a fire underwater, "Get those twigs! Yes! Yes! Put them underwater! Rub them together! Go! Go!" This sequence had me laughing out loud both times I read this mini.

To be honest with you, I'd recommend anything that Matt produces. His mini-comics have not missed yet. Each of them transcend the mere form of mini-comic and possess that quality that makes them something you want to treasure. Seven More Days is 76 pages for the ridiculously low price of $3.

From the Partyka website catalog: Teach a man to fish, and he will eat for a lifetime," goes the old axiom. Well, fine, Mr. Axiom, but while you're busy encouraging every oaf in the kingdom to trudge down to the river with a crudely made pole, the fish will be busy teaching themselves whatever trickery will help them survive. In this book, fishkind bamboozles mankind for seven days. Also: punching; dampness; screams of terror.

Go buy it. Go buy everything on the Partyka website. It's all fabulous.

If you don't believe me, here's today's Daily Drawing by Sara Edward Corbett - "Rat of the Sky."

The Monkey & the Crab by Shawn Cheng and Sara Edward-Corbett
Brooklyn-based Partyka artists Shawn Cheng and Sara Edward-Corbett deliver this well-crafted and ultra charming mini based on a Japanese folktale.

The Monkey & the Crab is wrapped in a silver silk screened cover punched and tied together with purple yarn. Inside is the usual high quality Partyka mini-comic. The monkey finds a persimmon seed; at the same time the crab finds a dumpling. The conniving monkey jealously eyes the crab’s dumpling. The crab eloquently shows the monkey that a persimmon seed, once planted and tended, provides a lifetime of sustenance, while the dumpling only gives a moment’s satisfaction. The monkey, a vagabond without a family, then forces a trade with the crab who has a family to support. After reluctantly agreeing to the exchange, the crab carefully tends and nurtures his persimmon seed. The seed grows to a beautiful and fecund tree, capable of feeding the crab’s family and friends.

Then the jealous and hungry monkey comes back.
This is a fantastic mini-comic – compact, moving, and eloquent. It’s a fairy tale and a moral lesson neatly packaged in a striking cover. Purchase the 64-page The Monkey & the Crab at the Partyka webstore for $7. Check out sample art from their other minis while you’re there. The Partyka gang puts out some of the best mini-comics you’ll ever find.

Stay tuned for a review of Matt Wiegle’s fish tale Seven More Days of Not Getting Eaten.

A word of advice: if you have a nagging, bone rattling cough for more than six weeks, it’s probably not a good sign. And if you try to battle said cough with massive amounts of Nyquil and whisky instead of reluctantly submitting to a round of antibiotics, you may have signed up for a nice case of bronchitis that leads to pneumonia. The Nyquil and whisky will certainly knock out the cough and help you sleep, but you’ve got to wake up and function in the real world at some point. Caffeine is a big help unless you’re piling a venti Starbucks and two Diet Cokes on top of the Nyquil. Hello heart arrhythmia.

Six weeks of dry coughing, an echo stress test, and a heart event monitor later, I feel pretty damn good. But that was a bad six weeks. Unfortunately, you devoted mini-comic crafters have continued cranking out fun stuff while I’ve been out of commission.

Some great things have been arriving in the mailbox. The Partyka gang sent some new stuff. Oliver East has another episode of Trains Are Mint, and Craig Atkinson sent in a few awesome books. In a moment of lucidity I snuck a review of Sarah Morean’s Bad Time for a Polar Bear in, but she also sent a couple of other minis, including the following mini-comic novel.

Human by Sarah Morean At 120 pages, Sarah Morean’s Human encompasses ten years of her romantic life. Sarah doesn’t shy away from honesty in her subject or art. One of the most charming aspects of her story is that she just draws. She doesn’t bother trying to perfect her line, she just draws. As a reader you’ll watch her style morph and change from chapter to chapter. She subtly alters ways of rendering her hair and glasses and other details to suit her mood and the story. It’s a very refreshing way to tell a long form tale.

About a third of the way through the story, things turn serious. Sarah shows a great deal of maturity and humor when her life changes. A things grow serious around her, she adapts, even making mini-comics for her latest beau. Now I want to see a copy of “Monkey Explosion.” “It is how all monkeys are born BOOM!”

Here’s a few samples of Human that show how Sarah’s art changes through the 120 pages. Get your own copy of Human from Sarah’s website. Human is a steep $9, but it’s much larger than your typical mini-comic.

Something besides my face
My scanner is ailing so I haven't posted any reviews since I got back from vacation. But I can't stand looking at that picture anymore, so how bout some mini-comics links?
Jaime Tanner's "Robochrist."
This seems like a good excuse to link to Jaime Tanner's blog.

The Bodega Shop has some good looking minis in stock.

On the Partyka website I noticed the latest Paping looks damn fine. Check out the four page preview.

Check out the pretty colors. Onsmith's Triptych of the Primary Colors as Cartoon Characters.

Another one of those how to make a mini-comic tutorials. This one is by Gerry Alanguilan. Thanks to Aaron Dumin for pointing this out.

And finally, an online Leif Goldberg Wildlife Refuge. Because I love you all. This comic always helps me get the funk out of a rainy morning.

Underpanting by Matt Wiegle

Underpanting is a twelve page black and white mini-comic hiding a little known myth between its covers. You see - and now you’re in on this whole myth thing, mind you – the underpants traditionally worn by the devil have special powers. They’re seductive and powerful. They can promise you things and deliver. They can let you down when you need them the most. They can startle your enemies and fool your friends. But, just as often the fool will be you.

After searching through musty libraries and newspaper stacks, Matt Wiegle has collected seven unfortunate tales and condensed them into twelve pages. Most of these stories are distilled into a single powerful tale, but one of the tales is spread out over three pages.

Underpanting is available to anyone with a dollar to burn. Just go to the Partyka store and push a few buttons. I’d do it if I were you. This is one of those things that you don’t want to be kept in the dark about.

Live from Gaithersburg: A Short SPX Update

I took a bunch of photos today, but this one was the only one that didn't need cropped or anything. It's a picture of the Paping and Partyka table (that's John Mejias and Sara Edward-Corbett) and it captures what I love about SPX - a table groaning under the weight of stacks of mini-comics.

Today was a bit overwhelming, and I kept forgetting that I could go slowly and come back tomorrow. I met several people for the first time after talking to them through email. It was really neat to meet Jaime Tanner, Joey Weiser, Drew and Eleanor from Little House, Alvin Bueneventura, Jordan Crane, Shawn Cheng, Matt Deimbecki, and Austin English for the first time. Damn, I know I'm forgetting other people I met. It was also great to reconnect with people I already knew.

I had one HUGE problem. My bag filled up way too quickly and I only bought one book, Non #5. Everything else was a mini-comic, print or shirt. I rewarded myself with a Sammy Harkham print of the character Iris on her roof from his latest story in the Drawn & Quarterly Showcase. Alvin of Bueneventura Press was kind enough to hold it for me and did his best to try and find something suitable to carry it in.

Tomorrow, I'm going back bright and early with Kate in tow. I thought it would be neat to let her go around and pick up some mini-comics and review them with an outsider's perspective for the site.

See How Pretty, See How Smart #3 by Sean McCarthy and others

Sean McCarthy’s See How Pretty, See How Smart is not only the perfect showcase for his own work, it’s an opportunity for other Partyka members and allies to do pieces shorter than their own projects. Each section of these books takes up only two to six pages and the shorter format/shared environment seems to allow for greater risk taking. The physical size of this book is much larger than a typical mini-comic and it needs to be, especially considering the space that McCarthy’s images need to slowly writhe and creep their way into your brain.
Sean’s work is equal parts beauty and horror. He mixes bold lines and stippled patterns of pencil and ink to create a monstrous orgy of animals and beasts devouring, fighting, fucking, and evolving. Lost within the body of beasts are swirling pencil point patterns that meander and converge into recognizable figures. A quick glance gives you a simple impression of intertwining creatures, but a closer inspection reveals an amalgamation of bodies, organs and limbs. In issue four of See How Pretty, See How Smart, Sean gives you a peek behind his work in the form of rough sketches that are as fascinating as the finished product.

Sections by several other creators fill out each issue of See How Pretty, See How Smart. Issue three has work from Sean McCarthy, Andy Bodor, Zak Smith, Craig Taylor, Jeffrey Lewis, Shawn Cheng, Theo Rosenblum, and Matt Wiegle.

The cover to issue three by Sara Edward Corbett and Zak Smith is endlessly fascinating and the inside of both front and back covers feature John Mejias designs. Inside issue three things begin with Andy Bodor’s “Bunny and Ghoul.” Bunny and Ghoul stayed up too late watching “dancing dawgs,” and then they arrive at the radio station just in time for an on-air appearance. I’m not sure why they’re applying make-up for a radio gig, but things don’t go very well for Bunny and Ghoul. Bodor has a pleasant chunky style of drawing that uses rounded, stocky figures and ink wash backgrounds. Occasionally, he uses type font in addition to lettering, but it’s usually to drive home a point or to indicate the voice of someone other than the two main characters. The story is absurd, but kind of charming. The first panel is a close-up of the bunny and the ghoul sleeping in bed. The bunny has his mouth wide open as if he’s snoring and the ghoul has drool dripping from his mouth.

After five full page drawings from Sean McCarthy, Zak Smith has a bit called “Monsters Review Records” with two martini slurping monsters, uh, reviewing records in the voice of “distinguished gentlemen.” Here’s a page for your enjoyment.

Craig Taylor also provides seven pages of fairly abstract work titled “Marginalia of an Aesthete.” I would have liked to see these in color rather than black and white. The forms and shapes are interesting, but having only black and gray minimizes the effect of the images a bit. Taylor has an absolutely startling image to begin his section of issue four, which I found more remarkable than his work in issue three. Taylor also provides the striking cover to issue four.

Jeffrey Lewis has a four-page low brow Canterbury Tales strip titled “The Canterburied Tales” in issue three. Each character tells their story and each one is more far out than the previous tale. I’ll give you four words to describe this story: zombies, necrophilia, and Einstein’s brain. Lewis’ section most closely resembles a traditional comic format, but it’s EC Comics meets Robert Crumb.

Next, Shawn Cheng fills four pages with drawings of “100 Boys.” Each boy is actually a young monster and one of them looks like the guy in Vengeance at Cackling Mountain.

Theo Rosenblum provides a creepy “The Birth of Death” story that tracks death from an asteroid, a graveyard, a reanimated alligator and then finally into a regurgitated dog’s body. Initially I was turned off by the unfinished pencil shading in used in this strip; it gave the story an almost unfinished look. But the playfulness that Rosenblum uses with the art in his section overcame my hesitation. Rosenblum’s version of death snakes though panel borders in this silent tale and there’s a delicious glimpse on the second page of the story of what lies below the buried caskets in the cemetery. There’s a cavern with pipes and attached machinery, as well as a beast holding onto a burning torch that lights up the cavern. Theo, where's the mini-comic featuring this cavern, already?

Matt Wiegle closes the book with two pages of made up creatures. I’m charmed by anything that Matt puts down on paper, so these were a perfect way to end this issue. Here are four of his creatures for you to enjoy.
See How Pretty, See How Smart is about monsters. It’s about the slightly surreal. It’s a way for Sean McCarthy and friends to stretch their imagination and art in a collaborative environment. It may not be for everyone, but it works very well for the brave or the foolish. Here’s the preview link where you can check out several more samples of art from issue three featuring Andy Bodor, Sean McCarthy, Zak Smith, Jeffrey Lewis, and Craig Taylor.

I’ve got a few more mini-comics to review from Partyka, but they will be spaced out a bit over the next month or so. I really hope you’ve found something that you like between the four books that I’ve reviewed so far. Again, check out the Partyka online catalogue for some online samples of their work.

Again, I’m sorry for the delays in posting this week. Everything is back in order at the Size Matters office and there is a large stack of minis just waiting to be discovered.

See-Saw by Sara Edward-Corbett

Continuing our Partyka theme this week, we’ve got Sara Edward-Corbett’s See-Saw. This mini is a collection of her See-Saw strips from The New York Press and it’s a gorgeous book.

First off it’s kind of big (8.5” x 9.25”). I had a difficult time arranging it to fit in my scanner. The cover is double-layer stiff red paper with a three color silkscreen design on the front. I think the Partyka offices may have run out of staples at some point, because this one also has a hand-stitched binding. Inside the back cover she has sewed a piece of thick felt fabric that has a silkscreened picture of a duck holding an umbrella. This felt creates a small pocket that holds a neat “cootie catcher” (I had no idea that that’s what they called those things) with sketches on each of the folded surfaces. She has put a lot of work into this collection, it makes me weary just thinking about it.

On the inside there are 36 pages with full page strips from The New York Press. The art in these strips is meticulous and warm. The backgrounds are heavily detailed; Edward-Corbett has definitely got skills when it comes to creating interesting backgrounds and objects. Her classroom desks and walls are so well-rendered that you almost feel like you’re back in grade school. On a couple of pages, you’ll notice a picture of a duck on the classroom wall that matches the felt duck on the inside back cover. You don’t see too many ducks with umbrellas.

The strips in See-Saw are solid and often hilarious. The cast of characters revolves around two girls and two boys and the very weird things that they say and think. As in Peanuts, out of the mouths of babes comes very adult conversations and phrases, but then there’s also plenty of juvenile fare. Chucky’s favorite term is “Fart Knocker,” and yes, one of the characters actually tries to puzzle out what the term means. The set up is this: One of the girls, Meals, is in love with Chucky, but he wants nothing to do with her attentions. Olga and Georgie are brother and sister. Olga is best friends with Meals and Georgie has a weird relationship with Chucky. Georgie and Chucky are friends, but Georgie takes a lot of abuse from Chucky in these pages.

See-Saw is 36 pages and it will set you back $8. Feast your eyes on
a four page preview, though it’s really eight pages as each preview page actually shows you two facing pages.

Once again, here’s the website for you to explore.

Vengeance at Cackling Mountain by Shawn Cheng

Shawn Cheng, the artist that brought us the irresistible and devilish Bogies mini-comic a year ago, has two new minis including the revenge romp Vengeance at Cackling Mountain. Vengeance is a 48 page fight scene shrouded in darkness, as the only illumination on these pages comes from the glow of a lamp or the occasional burst of flame. The pages are black, but Cheng uses three silkscreened colors throughout, giving each page a unique handcrafted look. I’ve prattled on about the handcrafted aspect of mini-comics many times, I know. But, it bears repeating. Often these books are as much art as comics. You can see the artist’s hand in the finished product. The line art in Vengeance was xeroxed, but each page has also been silkscreened. In other words, a lot of work went into these 48 pages. You can almost picture a flurry of pages hanging around in a basement or spare room as they dry. This book also has a binding with hand-stitched blue yarn.

Vengeance is a silent tale, but there is a story in these wordless pages. A lanky, naked fellow is walking around in the forest when he’s waylaid by this very sinister looking beast. This beast has been drinking and he’s carrying a detached human arm. The arm is what he uses to hit the naked guy, and it becomes stuck in the poor guy’s face. This panel is an explosion of yellow, white and burnt orange as the pain radiates from the poor guy’s face. Just pages later though, he casually touches the beast’s back and a flame appears.

Using the black paper for this mini is a bold experiment, and for the most part it works. There are a few panels with just black lines on black paper with highlights of the whites of the beast’s eye. You can still tell what’s happening in this short scene, but the glorious sense of movement in these panels is muted by the darkness. The darkness is necessary for the story though, because it’s running away from the source of light. The other pages are solid, especially the ones where Cheng captures the swift movement of the two characters. Probably the best pages in the entire book are the ones that make up roughly the last quarter. Here Cheng adds a blue to his palette that perfectly mimics the night sky over a lake.

Vengeance at Cackling Mountain is $7 for 48 pages. The price may seem a little steep to some, but it won’t when you hold this mini in your hands. Check out Vengeance and other Partyka titles at the Partyka online catalogue

The Four Husbands by Matt Wiegle

Matt Wiegle’s The Four Husbands answers the burning question of what would it look and sound like if a whale had sex with a human. Well, there’s the usual grunting, the whale’s eyes get kind of bulgy, and it turns out that the girl’s skin becomes irritated from the friction. Whale/human intercourse is probably not something you consider often, but when Wiegle lays it all out there, it’s kind of fascinating. Perhaps I should explain how you get to the whale humping though. Four sisters are sitting by the sea deciding on potential husbands. One says she will marry a whale, one chooses an eagle, another chooses a sea scorpion, and the last one decides to marry a rock.

The Four Husbands is an adaptation of a Native American folktale and a fantastic comic. The four young girls make their choices for a mate at a time when they are fascinated with nature. It never occurs to them to marry the young brave that runs really fast or the kid that’s a really good hunter. “I want to marry an eagle,” says a girl. And really, what could be more majestic or romantic than an eagle?

The eagle turns out to be a bit controlling. He drops his new bride in their nest and expects her to stay there while he hunts for food. In a grand display of visual skills and timing, Wiegle shows the girl sitting in the nest, her eyes blinking as the new husband soars into the sky. No words are needed to communicate her thoughts and feelings at that moment. You know she’s thinking, “Well, shit. This isn’t romantic or majestic at all.”

The girl who marries the whale fares much worse. Besides the enormous whale penis, she’s forced to live inside this cave structure with the whale. When she’s hungry she only has handfuls of his blubber to eat. And did I mention that the whale seems to really enjoy sex? The whale is so fearful that his young bride will escape that he doesn’t let her outside. “I have to pee,” she laments. He makes her pee in his hand. She finally manages to get outside, but I'm not telling if she manages to escape from her controlling husband.

The Four Husbands is a 72 page 8" x 5.5" mini-comic that, according to the blurb on the Partyka website, teaches today's children a very valuable lesson: "Never say you're going to marry a whale unless you really, really mean it." This comic is five dollars, Matt could charge ten and it would still be a bargain. He uses less to give the reader more and this is one of the best mini-comics that I've read this year. It's funny, I said the same thing last year about his Ayaje's Wives.

A short introduction to Partyka, if you need it Okay, I’ve got this bulging envelope full of Partyka comics that I’ve just cracked open, and starting today I’ll share the contents with you, dear reader. If you’ve never heard of Partyka, please stop reading my rambling and go check out their website, especially the online catalog. Come back when you’re finished though; I’m not quite done.

Partyka is a small group of like-minded artists and cartoonists that make crazy and inventive comics. Every comic that I’ve read from this group has challenged me and my idea of what a comic could and should be. They’ve also got a few talented friends that join in on projects from time to time. One of the really cool features of their website is the feature “Daily Drawings” from the four members, Shawn Cheng, Sara Edward-Corbett, Sean McCarthy, and Matt Wiegle.

Here is the Partyka “mission statement” from their website:
“Why Partyka?

1. To present to the public a new drawing, every day, from one of its four members.
2. To make available for sale a number of comics and zines by its members, friends and allies.
3. To promote the work of artists of whom we are fans, friends or allies.”

They are very humble. They do imaginative, often daring, work that stands out in any arena. Spend a little time shuffling through the sample pages in their online catalog and you’ll get an idea of the range of artistic styles and sensibilities of each artist. Over the next several days, I’ll explore works from each Partyka member, as well as Sean McCarthy’s See How Pretty See How Smart, which features works by a number of artists.