Capacity #7 by Theo Ellsworth
If you’re not familiar with Theo’s work, he strikes the perfect balance between children’s storybooks and comics. He's wildly imaginative and just a little bit silly. Reading issues of Capacity, or anything else of his, is always a lot of fun. Often the level of detail and obsessiveness is a bit startling, but this tendency keeps you engaged as you read. See what I mean. This 32-page comic has two longer stories ("Witch Medicine" and "Wizards Tale") and several one page pinups and gags. "Wizards Tale" features a man who comes face to face with every dream he had ever dreamt. Here's a page from that story.
An example of one of the gag pages.
For more of Theo's work visit his website. His stuff can be found at Chicago Comics and Quimby's. If you aren't near Chicago Comics or Quimby's, you can buy Theo's comics online at the excellent Secret Acres online shop. Capacity issue 7 can be yours for $5. Grab issue 6 whie you are there for $3.50. You won't be sorry.

The Treehouse and Other Stories by Davi Shy
Davi Shy turns in a quiet mini-comic with the saddest goldfish story you will ever read. Seriously. Treehouse is five short pieces over a dozen pages featuring her meditations on daily life.

What sets this mini apart from many others mining this same vein is the dash of color she uses throughout these stories. In "Welcome to the Treehouse II" she begins with different shades of safe and secure blue. In "Other Stories from Summer 2007," she expands the color palatte with the shock of light green leaves just outside a window. In "Everyday Dilemma" and the goldfish story, she introduces shades of pink and red.

You don't see many $2 mini-comics that use color and it's enough, along with the sad fish story, to set this one apart. Davi ably captures the small moments in life; the most accomplished panels feature still life drawings rather than movement or action.

Check out more from Davi at her blog. You can buy copies of Treehouse for $2 from Chicago Comics.

From 9am to noon this Friday, Chicago Comics is having a 30% off sale. Kate and I were already planning on going to Chicago for Thanksgiving, so it looks like I'll be saving myslf 30% on comics. Nice.

Magic Hour Issues One and Two by Alex Holden
Alex Holden’s Magic Hour captures the curious mix of childhood reality and unreality. Ricky gets mixed up with Black Eye Eddie, who may or not be a zombie. The other kids are certainly sure that Eddie and his sister Carlotta are more than they seem. Ricky and his friends are focused on tagging trains and walls with lifted spray paint, but along the way they run into a few problems.

Issue one of Magic Hour is two stories in one package. The second story, “Stay Out of the Gorgon Yard,” is actually a separate 24-page mini-comic stapled into the main mini-comic. The art in “The Gorgon Yard” is light blue against a pitch black paper. This color scheme gives the story a nice creepy effect.

Alex’s art matures a bit with the second issue. His lines, more assured and confident, are thickly drawn and his backgrounds are sketched out just enough to suggest a convincing backdrop for his tales.

The second issue is part one of a story titled “Field Trip.” Ricky and Black Eye Eddie hook up with the older teen, Moose, to tag some trains. Most of the issue details the quest for spray paint, but Alex drops a tantalizing surprise on the last page of this 18-page mini.

Reading these two comics leaves you with the weird sense that anything can happen in Magic Hour. The possibilities are endless, just like that feeling you had when you were a kid running on the streets –that weird old lady’s house is most assuredly haunted, and the big old dude in the wife beater that lives down the street certainly eats children. These types of little details pop up matter of factly in Magic Hour with regularity and Alex does such a good job of telling his story that you don’t question where the story goes.

You can check out Alex's blog and pick up copies of Magic Hour for $2 at USS Catastrophe.

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.

Souther Salazar this weekend at GR2

All you folks on the West coast might like to attend Souther's show at GR2. I know I'd go if I was anywhere near LA.



Make It Real at GR2, October 13 - October 31
Reception: Saturday, October 13, 6:30 -10:00

GR2
2062 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 445-9276

Super by Kevin Breslawski
The SPX Expo is coming up and Kevin Breslawski's Super is one of those minis that I love finding at SPX. Super isn't just a comic it's a little surprise pack of art and fun. His first two issues (issue three should be out by SPX weekend) come packed in a tiny manila envelope stuffed with stickers and buttons. You can tell that he's spent a great deal of time making his comic package special to the reader.

Each issue of Super is a 2" X 4" eight-page mini. Inside each mini you'll find short stories and cool drawings. Kevin packs a lot of detail into each colorful issue.


To order Super from Kevin, visit his blog order page. Issues of Super are $3 with $1 shipping.

I apologize for the lack of updates lately. I've been buried in work and any free time is spent hanging out with Chloe the Diggity Dog.

San Francisco Zine Fest From François Vigneault, SFZF 2007 organizing committee:

"The San Francisco Zine Fest is returning October 5th and 6th. The Bay Area’s most beloved conference for zines, comics, and crafts, the Zine Fest is celebrating its sixth anniversary with a move to a beautiful new location, the Women’s Building. As always, the Zine Fest is free and open to the public! Over 50 small-press and DIY creators will be selling, trading, and otherwise sharing their work with over a thousand attendees. The exhibitors, from elder statesmen of the DIY movement such as RE/Search Publications to first time self-publishers, showcase the diversity, vitality, and ongoing exuberance of the small press movement. While the majority of the exhibitors hail from the Bay Area, creators from across the West Coast and country will be present.

Special guests this year are John Marr, writer of the seminal zine Murder Can Be Fun, a cavalcade of bizarre and often very funny tales of untimely death; and Joe Sayers, the cartoonist behind the weekly strip Thingpart and the recently released Teen Power!, a collection of hilarious comics all drawn in five minutes or less. Q&A sessions will be held with both special guests on Saturday. Several panel discussions and hands-on workshops will be held throughout the day on Saturday, including a class on the basics of silk screening taught by John Isaacson, whose book Do It Yourself Screenprinting was recently released by Microcosm Publishing. Other events include ongoing raffle drawings throughout the Fest and a special awards ceremony.

The San Francisco Zine Fest was begun in 2001 by Jenn Starfiend, and is currently run by a hard-working group of volunteers, including members of Family Style, Just Visiting and 327 Market, along with many others.

The San Francisco Zine Fest will be held from 2:00pm-8:00pm on Friday, October 5th, and from 11:00am-7:00pm on Saturday, October 6th. Admission is free on both days.

The Women’s Building is located at 3543 18th St. #8 San Francisco, CA 94110 (between Valencia and Guerrero in the Mission).

For more information, including a full list of exhibitors and workshop schedule, visit the website."

Trains are Mint #3 by Oliver East

Hey look, it's another issue of Trains Are Mint! If you don't already read Oliver East's wonderful mini-comic, then take a glance at these pages.
I prattled on about Trains Are Mint Issue 1 in this post. From last Neovembert:

Trains Are Mint is a great example of what mini-comics do so well. East takes something important or interesting to him, and puts it on the page for a small audience to discover. What I like about East’s effort is the extra touches. The watercolor art is gorgeous. He uses a neutral, stiff card stock for the cover with plenty of information for the reader inside the back cover.

This goes triple for issue three. Oliver is a little more adventurous in his panel layouts this time around. There's a very funny bit where he encounters a lady jogging; he throws you off a bit until your eyes hit the last panel at the bottom of the page.

Oliver's website is here. Click on any of the three issues (the man is leaning on them) for page samples and ordering information.

This is Still America: Part Two by George
Last September, we took a look at This is Still America. I recall being very surprised by the line art. George has a very distinctive way of drawing his lines, especially in the background. Forms are not fully drawn; they're more like suggestions of a drawing.

That's been toned down a bit in the second issue, subtitled "Where the fuck is everybody?"
This issue is much more grounded in reality than the previous one. George concentrates on the dreary past with his overbearing and physically abusive father. There's less of the soaring dream sequences and more pain. The father is mentally and physically abusive to the son, showing you how easy it is for the child to seek an alternate reality.
Things do get very weird in the end when the father makes a bonfire with his son's toys. Any reality melts under the pressure of so much anger.

Like the first issue, this one is only $2. It's 32 pages of black and white art with a very cool blue edge to each page. The first issue featured red bleeding edges on all the pages. These little details really make George's minis stand out. You can get your copy at Bodega Distribution.

Only Skin by Sean Ford

Only Skin: New Tales of the Slow Apocalypse is a pretty large mini-comic. It's oversized comic size, kind of like a Golden Age comic. It's designed well, from the Chester Brown inspired cover to the title page echoing Anders Nilsen's Big Questions. I also like the recycled off-white paper that reminds you a bit of newsprint.

Inside, Sean crafts a 36-page mystery involving grisly disappearances at a remote gas station.

Single mother Cassie and her son Clay tend to the gas station. Meanwhile, folks in the town are starting to organize and discuss the disappearances. Sean has a wonderful night scene where Clay is woken by a ghost. The ghost is of the "charming Peanuts ghost at Halloween" variety and makes a nice contrast of white against the black of the woods.

Only Skin is a great start to a well made comic series. It ends with a heck of a cliffhanger, so I can't wait to see issue #2. You can check out Sean's blog for more samples of the art. He's even got some cool color pages on display. You can get a copy of Only Skin at Quimbys or I Know Joe Kimpel for only $4. I think you'll probably be seeing a lot more of Sean Ford.