Mini-Comics from Lane Milburn and Ryan Cecil Smith

Weird Shmeird is a flip-book mini-comic. Lane and Ryan each start from opposite covers of the book, then each 28 page story bumps into the other in the middle of the book with the line, “Weird Shmeird.”
Ryan’s story is told as a multi-level video game and his art has a bit of a similarity to Kevin Huizenga’s mini-comic work. The penultimate chapter, titled “The Valley of Shifting Stones” is the neatest visual piece in his story. The repetitive pattern of the stones, cross hatched with shadow, gives this section a unique background.
Lane’s story, “House Party,” is dark as hell – visually and story wise. His heavily shadowed backgrounds and heavily laid line make this tale crackle with atmosphere. Maybe I’ve been to too many house parties like this in the sticks, but the barely contained violence simmering underneath each page was palpable until the very last panel.

Ryan’s Picnic at Tough Beach is a mostly silent exercise in intense physical effort and movement. As a group of gods cycle through calisthenics and heavy lifting on the beach, Ryan does a fantastic job at capturing the movement and concentration in their lifting. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the gorgeous silk screened cover spotted with clouds. The cloud theme continues in the opening pages, as Ryan lays down thick brushstrokes that hint at the fullness of an illustrated cloud – nothing white and fluffy here. Those same thick strokes highlight the movement and startle lines that radiate from the heads and muscles of the gods at Tough Beach. When the silence gives way to words in the last several pages of the story, it’s an abrupt shift in timbre and feeling; the gods become more approachable, somehow more human as they marvel at Achilles’ feat of lifting Hanging Rock.
Lane’s Olde Tales: Volume II continues his creep on from Weird Shmeird. In “A Fireside Tale,” an old, topless witch, complete with drooping tits to her navel, regales a group of youngsters with her tale of an epic contest in which she bests a lizard beast. I don’t want to give away the contest, but Lance uses some phallic props to illustrate the old witch’s oral skills. The clueless kids look upon her in admiration as she delivers the ultimate final line echoing a ZZ Top song. That’s all I’m saying.

In “Wasteland,” three American tourists are touring ancient ruins and begin to lament the lack of women around to entertain them. They get MUCH more than they bargain for when a pissed off minotaur pays them a visit.

I really enjoyed Lane and Ryan’s work. They both hail from Baltimore, MD and you can find out more about their work at the ClosedCaption Comics blog. I’ve included a scan of their attention grabbing envelope as well. I can’t tell you how many cool envelopes arrive in the mail here at the Size Matters offices; I’ve always meant to do a post featuring nothing more than envelopes from the likes of Gary Panter, Souther Salazar, Allison Cole, Dan Zettwoch, and many others. Look for that soon as well as a more frequent posting schedule. I’m getting a new laptop and have carved out some time at the neighborhood pub to sit down and do reviews. I hope people are still interested. Trust me, there’s some good stuff in the review pile…

Comicosmos by Beth Haidle Beth labels Comicosmos as a "non-fiction zine reviewing ideas, topics, & books." The two issues she sent me deal with Willliam Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell and "Shaker Philosophy... in the kitchen! Cooking for the heart, mind, & soul." Both issues are a nice blend of art and text. The Shaker issue even includes recipes, one of which I'll have to get Kate to try - Chilled Bluberry-Lavendar Buttermilk Soup.

Both issues, with 12 pages counting the covers, are packed with information. You'll finish each with a familiarity of topic not expected by the time you set these slim comics down. What wins you over is the art; it's beyond charming. Witness below the cast of characters featuring the Goddess of Garnish and the Seasoning Nymphs from the Shaker issue.
The charming quickly switches to sinister in the Blake issue. The bat creature flits from page to page accompanied by fire and serpents illustrating Blake's words and Bible quotes.
the back cover if each issue features bibliography, related works, and further studies, in case the reader needs more information. These issues are quick, informative, engaging, and quick to point you to more information should you be interested.

Beth's website has some sublime illustration work and her site dedicated to these zines has some fantastic images from the third issue, Book of Beasts. Please make sure you check out these websites, as I discovered so much great stuff that I was distracted from finishing this review. Prices for Comicosmos are $3.50 each from her online shop.

Zirp #3 by Till ThomasIssue three is a 28 page mini that switches gears from the last issue. In this installment, Rezzo, a cross between a dog and a teddy bear, and human Elizabeth endure a broken relationship that unfolds in a trailer. According to Till, this is the first part of an ongoing story.
The story is in German, but he provides English translation numbered by panel at the bottom of each page. This makes it a bit difficult for an English reader to follow as your eyes travel up and down the page, but it’s a nice touch that it’s written in German and then footnoted in English. I ended up reading through the footnotes to get the gist of the story, and then followed the story panel by panel with the German. Most of the plot takes place through the art anyway.

Till’s art is interesting. I like that his figures have a slightly tilted appearance on the page that reminds you of an old school scrolling video game. It’s a distinct style that lends to the type of story that he usually tells.

Zirp number three is seven euros from Till’s website, but I also noticed copies at Rick Bradford’s Poopsheet Shop for seven dollars.

Check out Till’s website for more info on his work. He’s doing freelance illustration work now and has a story in the latest Sturgeon White Moss.

Three Books from Julia Stein
Swell:Open Faced Sandwich is so huge that I couldn't fit it into my scanner. Swell is the story of Emmeline and Lucy - both of whom are at a point of change in life. Emmeline goes away to university and Lucy... well, Lucy just goes.

Despite the oversized pages, Julia still struggles with holding her thoughts and visions to these pages. Each page and panel is a kaleidoscope of shapes, patterns, and angles. Borders surround the panels and inside the borders images shift and undulate as Emmeline's emotions swell. Over 22 pages, nothing is stable, but you also aren't able to take your eyes off of Julia's art. Swell debuted at SPX 2007 as the first part of a longer story. Here's another image from Swell scanned properly from a website. Julia's current website, Juliacks is still under construction, but you can get some good info on her work here.

Antelope Eater is a 20 page mini-comic based on a performance.
Julia captures the tale of Andy Yak who can't accept that his mother is dying. Andy escapes and becomes the Antelope Eater. This mini is much more cotrolled than Swell or Old Lady Merrell. Page borders are wider and the story seems more contained, despite the constant presence of geometric shapes, swirling patterns, and dying cells.

The Tale of Old Lady Merrell is an engaging and visually exciting book. Julia mixes different types of art (watercolor, pen and ink, lithography) over the course of this tale and begins with these jagged words scratched into a black page: "The decaying house was contaminated. Each room was filled with mounds of what some call junk and others call antique." Old Lady Merrell's house may be disgusting to outsiders, but it's her home. To fill her empty life, she has created dolls that mean something dear to her, while outsiders find the dolls frightening. When her house is marked for destruction by the county, all she can think about is saving her dolls.

This is a very moving story and it fits that this book was born out of a performance. Julia packs these pages with little details that make the story more lifelike. An uptight county inspector becomes a rooster in mid-sentence. A pair of girls are frightened by Old Lady Merrell's upstairs doll room and you can see the tension around the eyes of one of the girls as she tentatively grasps the hands of her companion. When the unfortunate old woman decides on the course she must take, the pace of the narrative speeds up noticeably. At the same time, the selective use of color gives the story punch and emotion.

The Tale of Old Lady Merrell is a 68 page book with about a third of the pages in full color. You can get your copy at Lulu.com for $15.98 or download it for a ridiculously cheap $1.25. I would suggest getting the book to capture the intensity and feeling of the story.

You can also grab Julia's work, at least Swell, from Pittsburgh-based Copacetic Comics. Go get your $2 copy of the 11" X 11" Swell for the best buy in mini-comics I've seen in quite some time.

Two Mini-Comics from Katie SkellyThe Legend of Countess Saddenbrau, perhaps the most aptly named mini of last year, and Nurse Nurse from Katie Skelly are fun mini-comics. Countess Saddenbrau pokes fun at the gothier than goth sect in a gentle manner. Countess Saddenbrau and Duke Crestfallen, both very happy wallowing in their own solitude, stumble upon each other and find that they must act upon their feelings for each other. But would they be happy together when both so enjoy their time alone? Hmmm, probably not.

Katie's art for the The Legend of Countess Saddenbrau perfectly matches the setting and action of her tale. She uses crayon reproduced on a xerox machine to lend it that darker than thou look.

Nurse Nurse has a lighter feel and a more expansive topic. In the year 3030, three cosmic nurses travel to Venus, home of the hippest intergalactic band, the Quality Confections. Nurse Gemma, the star of the mini, is tricked by her two friends and ends up arriving late on Venus. Then Gemma is assigned to the case of a butterfly farmer where things end up on the sinister side as the mini closes. This is one of those endings where you immediately want to know what happens next. Nurse Nurse feels kind of manga influenced, though not in art so much as in content.
Both minis are $3 from Katie's Etsy shop. I'm not sure when Nurse Nurse #2 is coming out, but she needs to get on that. In the meantime, you can check out some of Katie's comics online at her website.

Ink Engine Issue 1The first issue of Ink Engine was out in December. Ink Engine is a 24-page mini-comic of drawings created by the five person collaborative of the same name. Alea Adou, along with partners Dajana, Daniel, Lindsay, and Matt, all recent graduates of the University of Wisconsin graphic arts program, take turns crafting 3-4 pages of art along a common theme.
Their styles are different enough to add variety to the project, while also preserving a common feel. My issue came with a ziploc bag of goodies to accompany the mini-comic, inlcuding a fold out camera named the Cutie Cam: Twin Reflex Camera and a tiny envelope with the legend, ""What can you do with this junk?" Inside the envelope was an orange button, a tiny piece cut from a magazine illustration, a few small illustrations from the mini, and backing paper from a sticker - sans sticker.
Isue one of Ink Engine is $4. Visit their MySpace page or or blog for details.

Warren Craghead’s New Site
From Warren:
“I've updated and moved around my website - it's now at www.craghead.com. The old wcraghead.com will still host my blog and will point to the new site. I've added a couple new things: links, bio, press, plus more sample pages of books and a new blog of my postcard drawings postcards AHOY.

One brand new thing is a new book Lisboa, Lisbon which is based on my trip to Portugal last fall. Lisboa, Lisbon is available for reading on the new site or as a free PDF download that you can fold up, staple and play with. I'm releasing it with a Creative Commons license which means you can copy it to your friends, send it to anyone and even remix it as long as I get some credit and you don't sell it.”

Warren is a great guy and I really love his work. Peaceful, contemplative lines converge on the page in a way that immediately relaxes you. Be sure to check out his postcard blog as well.

Entropy Issues Three and Four by Aaron Costain
Both issues three and four of Aaron Costain's Entropy are cat-centric. Issue three is a silent cat story that begins with a cat waking from a nap in the forest and ends with the same cat curling up on a comfy living room couch. In between, the cat stalks birds, stretches its legs over short graceful sprints, and stumbles upon another cat.

Aaron's art is very precise. The lines forming shapes and figures are very bold and deliberate. Although he uses organic shapes like leaves and bushes, he also generously uses non-organic patterns to fill in backgrounds. In one three page sequence, he moves simple black ink backdrops to tightly grouped vertical lines to four different types of foliage and then finally to tightly grouped horizontal lines. This lends the panels a feeling of movement. The reader's eyes quickly follow the cat's lithe body through these changing backgrounds.

Issue four of Entropy is less focused on art and backgrounds, but more focused on plot. Once again a cat takes center stage, but this time she interacts with an eagle and a wild boar. All three characters are mothers laden with growing broods.

Crafty as any cat can be, this cat gains the confidence of both the mother eagle and mother sow. The cat slyly plants nefarious thoughts into both eagle and sow's minds, playing on their maternal instincts.

This is a brutal story that leaves you cautiously eyeballing your own cats as they slink through your house. Both of these minis are a nice addition to the Entropy line of comics. Check out Aaron's website. You can find his comics at The Beguiling, Quimby's, Chicago Comics, and Strange Adventures in Halifax. You can also contact Aaron directly at acostain@gmail.com.

Entropy issue three is 8 pages for $3. Issue four is 24 pages for $4.

The Rosie Stories by Diana Tamblyn
You know how mini-comics can be about anything the artist wants, right? Well, Diana Tamblyn's The Rosie Stories is about her love for her new baby, Rosie. This comic feels so personal and so right with the world, that you start to feel a kinship with Rosie, Diana, and her husband. That's part of the charm with mini-comics; while the big comic publishers push the same old crap on a captive audience, minis and small publishers are free to explore the important things in our lives. With Diana's new comic, you know exactly where her passion lies (not to pigeonhole her though, she also sent me a neat litle mini that mixes up some single panel pages, Poor Sailor style, devoted to some local musicians).
The Rosie Stories is split into four sections and an introduction over 16 pages. It begins with a prelude to Rosie's birth. Diana has the fears, uncertainty, and then the overwhelming joy as Rosie is born. A highlight of the mini to us outsiders are the crazy-cute "Lil Rosie" stories. In these two stories, Diana's Rosie reminds the reader of a younger Lucy from Peanuts. She's cute but headstrong.

Diana's art is a good mix of bold lines and strong black and white art. Occasionally you feel overwhlemed by her facial expressions and heavy line, but you always know where she stands in relation to ther art. She's never indecisive. I always appreciate her commitment to her work and she gives everything up to the reader in this very personal story.

Check out her website for samples of her work. Diana has a nice back catalog of minis available and she's a very consistent and honest artist. Tthe Rosie Stories is still available for $3 from her website.

The Chunky Gnars by Chris Cornwell For those of you lamenting the early demise of Cold Heat in pamphlet form, you'll be happy to find Chris Cornwell's salute of sorts - The Chunky Gnars. The cover of Chris's mini takes the form of a flier for a Chocolate Gun tribute band called The Chunky Gnars. Inside you'll find a tight little story starring Castle and the ultra creepy Senator Wastmor. The Senator is still pissed off and hopes to use the lead singer of The Chunky Gnars for revenge.

Over 16 pages, Chris does his usual fantastic job of mixing up panel structure and patterns, moving effortlessly from four or six panels to 36 tiny panels of silent images. The story feels comforting and familiar to Cold Heat readers and Chris is talented enough to play with the characters in a way that doesn't feel cheap or inappropriate.

If you're infamiliar with Chris's work, check out his stuff on the Locals Rule page at Pittsburgh's Copacetic Comics or past reviews here at Size Matters.
Get your own copy of Chunky Gnars from the Picturebox website for only $3.