My Favorite SPX Report Look at all those mini-comics!

More pretty pictures and captions from J. Chris Campbell.

Fun stuff!

SPX Weekend is upon us!

Here's a short article from the Washington Post.

And here's a column I wrote this week about SPX and mini-comics over at Comic World News.

To everyone going - enjoy the show!

To those of you that can't go, maybe you can make it to the Gary Panter and Art Chandry exhibit in St. Louis. I'll be checking that out soon.

Fiji Island Mermaid Press Artist's Book of the Month
Club by Marc Snyder Okay, these are pretty cool. Marc Snyder sent in ten little art book/mini-comics for review. Each book is a piece of paper slightly smaller than letter size. Snyder folds them up to create little 8-page (including front and back cover) booklets. Inside, he uses drawing, painting, photos, rubber stamps, and font to craft a mixed media book. The books themselves are Xeroxed copies of the originals.

Of the ten books, a few stand out right away. Great Dog Walks in Hamden Connecticut!, as told by Snyder and his dog Jack, is one of them. A map on the inside cover outlines the walk with each point highlighted. Then Snyder and Jack give the highlights of each walk in their own point sof view. Obviously, dog and man see things quite differently.
Several of Snyder’s books are critical of the current administration’s inability to do anything that doesn’t turn out to be a complete clusterfuck. The best are Dear Mr. President, where Snyder outlines his concerns over the shrinking habitat for polar bears due to global warming, and The Right Answers, which displays some nice linocut art that’s very reminiscent of Seth Tobocman’s work.

In Once Upon a Time, Snyder laments the extinct passenger pigeon. Through mostly text, with rubber stamp images on each page, Snyder tells of flocks of passenger pigeons that once blotted out the sky.

How to Explain Joseph Beuys’ “How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare” to a Dog is a cheeky look at attempting to communicate Beuys to Jack the dog. I don’t think Jack gets it.

As a member of the Fiji Island Mermaid Press Artist's Book of the Month Club you get one new book each month for $25 (postage included).

Nothing by C. Hollow It’s so rare to get something tangible for free these days, but if you go to C. Hollow’s website, you can get a copy of Nothing #1 for free.

Nothing #1 is a tight issue where Captain Hollow searches his own feelings for what life and death mean to him. If you assume Captain Hollow is C. Hollow and the Sweet Nothing is his wife, then this is an open and shut case of “What does life mean to me?” And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

In fact, Nothing is about something. It’s about the relationships we have with our mothers, our fathers, our significant others, and even the relationship we have with ourselves.

The characters are crudely drawn, but whole. The backgrounds are chunky, but serviceable. In short, Hollow uses basic structures to communicate to the reader what may be going on at any time. It’s kind of rudimentary, but effective in it’s own way. A few quick observations about the comic: Captain Hollow and the Sweet Nothing both have these little swirls for eyes. There are no hints beyond words as to what’s happening inside. The hand-lettered font has this odd habit of highlighting certain letters. It’s kind of distracting at first, but not as distracting as the weird random bold words you find in Marvel comics.
What I like about Nothing is that you have this guy making comics and putting “Issue No. 1 Summer, 2006 Free” on the cover. He’s giving his comics away. AND issue number two is the same price. It’s free. Go to his website and almost every day there’s a new one panel comic. Here’s someone honing their craft and doing everything he can to get his work into your hands. Do us both a favor and go check out Nothing. Maybe he starts charging for the next issue, I don’t know. But if you hurry, it still says “Free.”

There are samples of both issues at Hollow's website. Issue #1 is 29 pages with a color cover.

Rocket Science Anthology by Various Artists
Eight artists contributed to this anthology comic. The common thread holding each story together is that each artist has to begin with the last image featured in the previous artist’s story.

The first story begins with a musical note and ends with a hacksaw. The second story then begins with the hacksaw and ends with a coat hanger. The third story begins with the coat hanger… You get the picture.

A few of the artists have more than one story in the anthology. I think Ralph Kidson’s work stood out the most. It seemed rushed, but highly energetic. It’s a little difficult to tag each artist’s work by using the key on the inside back cover, but I think I have most of them figured out. This is Kidson’s birds arguing right before something terrible happens.
Richard Cowdry takes a new look at a Popeye type character. The raucous sailor gets his bar mates drunk and introduces one sodden soul to his, ahem… Bluto. Rocket Science is labeled as an “adult anthology.”

Tilly Aviram has a very brief two-page alien tale using a simple style that skips backgrounds and details, but delivers maximum story.

As anthologies go, this one is about average. It’s nothing earthshaking, but nothing bores you to tears either. Rocket Science is nicely packaged with an excellent cover that manages to evoke old sci-fi monster comics on the front, and feature a short doodle by each artist on the back. Gavin Burrows, Richard Cowdry, Ralph Kidson, Sam Chivers, Craig Burston, Toby Parsons, Tilly Aviram, and Peter Poole contributed to this comic.
Rocket Science is 40-pages and available by emailing Gavin Burrows at Gavin.C.Burrows@aexp.com. It’s listed at 2 pounds, so that’s like $3 American. Email Gavin (Mr. All Flee) to get some details.

Also ask him about the intriguing pub-fueled follow up possibly titled Piss-up in a Brewery.

Wunderground exhibit in Providence, RI

If you live anywhere near Providence, RI you would be crazy not to attend the ”Wunderground” show at the Rhode Island School of Design. I stumbled across this over at the Comics Comics blog. The show features posters, as well as some larger pieces of art and sculpture, from 1995 to the present. The artists should be familiar to mini-comics fans: Mat Brinkman, Brian Chippendale, Jim Drain, and Leif Goldberg.

Go check out Dan Nadel’s short report with pictures.

I mean come on, Mat Brinkman’s 20-foot tall ogre (“Maximum Ogredrive”) made from paper mache…

This is Still America by George

This is Still America: “It’s the same Every Time” has one of the most interesting covers I’ve seen lately. George (no last name given) takes thin graph paper and draws a boy’s huge head front and center. Down the left spine the title of the mini really draws your attention with effective use of color and shape. It’s quite striking. The more subdued back cover is almost as arresting. He uses red lines that remind you of something you would get from an Etch a Sketch to create a background for the main image. I hope this comes through in the scan that I’ve made.
Inside, George does something very odd with his line work. Figures are fully outlined, but delineating features fade in and out, or don’t exist at all. Background lines are half formed. It’s as if he’s made the full drawing and then went back and erased bits and pieces. It makes the reader fill in the blanks, but really requires very minimal effort. In fact it lends a dreamy quality to the whole story. You’re not sure if you’re in the past or present without the story cues.
The story fades in and out from recollections, dreams, and memories. The protagonist dreams of events from his childhood, but the weird dream details bleed through. That’s when you get this image of a giant teddy bear grasping a jumbo jet. The kid is a passenger in the jet.
This is a nice package for a mini-comic. I like the red bleeding edges to the pages and the overall look and feel. Even Kate commented that it looked cool. This is Still America is 22-pages for $2. Email the artist at george@secretacres.com to request a copy.

National Waste #6 by Leif Goldberg
Leif Goldberg’s awkward and angular images may be a turn off for some readers, but there’s something underneath that works. When you look at his art you'll notice similarities to Christopher Forgues (CF from the Kramers Ergot books). Goldberg's National Waste drawings remind me a bit of a friend’s elaborate study hall drawings in high school. This connection isn't a suggestion that his work is amateurish; instead it’s full of passion and unconcerned with traditional drawing rules and regulations.

Goldberg ignores laws of physics or behavior and the result is engrossing. The flat lines of an ink pen come alive as a strange bird crashes through a ceiling.

Later a bevy of vicious looking rat-like creatures devour a corrupt diplomat from the inside out – they start with his eyes.

Goldberg’s work is politically charged, but not preachy. The destruction of the environment is a familiar subject in his comics, which feature technicolor animals traipsing through damaged forests.

The sixth issue of National Waste is 3 separate stories interspersed with vivid color pages. The last story is especially well crafted as a wandering pilgrim steps from the familiar into uncharted territory. It’s a nice way to end the book, as it reflects how Goldberg’s comics sometimes make you feel. You know exactly where you are when you pick the comic up, but afterwards you’re somewhere else entirely.

Grab your copy of National Waste # 6 from the Bodega online shop or Quimby’s.

Zombre vs. Slappy: Megathunder Showdown and Duppy by Ansis Purins Occasionally, I’ll open up a mini-comic and it immediately clicks. Either it’s the format, the materials, the art, or the total package, but something just gets you. Ansis Purins’ minis are like that. Take Zombre vs. Slappy: Megathunder Showdown, for instance; Purins doesn’t use any words beyond “HAR,” “HAA,” and one “HOLY SHIT,” but through gestures, movement, and grimaces, he effectively telegraphs his story.

Zombre vs. Slappy is 12 pages of zombie slapstick printed on green paper stock. The cover is gorgeous as Zombre, or maybe Slappy, gives the reader a grin and a huge thumbs up against a throbbing background. Inside, Purins entertains you with exaggerated movements and a thick-lined style. His art is perfect for this offbeat comedy. Everything on the page stands out, especially the little details like puddles or blades of grass. It’s like he’s chosen to take what works in cartooning, but added a much thicker line. Occasionaly, the scenes feel somewhat crowded or claustrophobic, I think mostly due to the shading and raindrops.

Zombre vs. Slappy: Megathunder Showdown is available on Purins’ website store for $2. If you read only one Zombie comic this month, burn all the others and read something cool like this instead.

Or read Duppy, but quit reading all that awful derivative crap and enjoy something unique. Duppy is a more substantial mini than Zombre vs. Slappy. While the later was more visual and intense, Duppy opens up a bit, allowing the art to breathe on the page.

Duppy is a larger format and page count (36 pages), and Purins adds more variety this time out. I like the brave housewife vs. zombie and the startled housewife vs. love struck robot. He also, just for kicks, throws in a zombie vs. bobcat battle for good measure. Purins has a nice handle on visual storytelling in this one; the first story alone is almost worth the $3 price tag.

Duppy is available on Purins’ website too, but you can also grab his books at the following online venues: youreinsanehoney.com, Midtown Comic.com, GLOBAL HOBO, Poopsheet Shop, and Arcade Distro.

His next comic, out soon, is called GNOME GATHERING. Purins says it's "A 10 page story about 3 cosmic hippie underlings (ie:dwarf,elf,hobbit) that do waaay to many drugs. They talk about classic rock albums and smoke tons of weed. Their life is pretty good until the Wizard assigns them to do work for the national park that they all live in. Kinda weird I know. Zombre,SLAPPY, and the Park ranger from the ZOMBRE mini are in it."

The core story of Gnome Gathering will be in ELF WORLD #1 from the lovely folks at Family Style.

Finally, I leave you with the inside back cover of Duppy. Enjoy.

A Km of Dummy Torpedoes by Rob Jackson and Brian Morris

Rob Jackson and Brian Morris’ art book is a loosely connected one of a kind series of drawings assembled in a different order for each book. In this way, each book is an original. Not all drawings appear in each book, meaning mine might be totally different from yours. Some of the pages are very clever, while others funny. A few drawings are simply there, but when viewed together they make a neat statement.

Roughly a third of the drawings are in color, colored with what looks like magic markers. The other drawings are simple black and white. The book consists of black construction paper with the drawings themselves cut out and pasted onto each page. This makes the book a very hefty 28 pages.

You can find samples at Jackson’s website. Get your own copy by emailing Rob at the website.