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MOPY #11
by Darren Schroeder
($1.50 US/$2.00 NZ from
Moonrocket Distro or Darren Schroeder / PO Box 1961 / Christchurch Mail Centre / Christchurch 8015 / NEW ZEALAND. Web:
http://mopy.comics.org.nz)
Review by Rick Bradford
After editing the New Zealand anthology
Funtime Comics for several years, Darren Schroeder decided it was time to start making his own comics and
Mopy is the result. Although the drawings are somewhat crude and simplistic there's much to recommend in the writing. Don't get me wrong; the artwork does the job and it shows that the artist has studied the form. For example, the first piece in this issue, a one-pager, juxtaposes narration that must surely be by someone who's been put in a nursing home with visuals depicting the growth and removal of a tree from a yard, it's lifelong home. The text and images have nothing to do with one another, yet they do. This, by the way, is my favorite strip in the issue.
My second favorite is a two-page autobio bit about running into a "lost love" in a train station, the woman represented by Venus de Milo. It's charmingly effective even if it is slightly over-romanticized.
From having read a couple of previous issues I know that I haven't much cared for the previous "Stand-Up" strips as they've simply been vehicles for corny one-liners. I was pleased, however, to find that this issue's stand-up routine is interrupted for an actual story. What does a bad comedian do when he's finally told he's not funny and shown the door?
I enjoyed this. I think Darren's up for trading comics, too, so I'd encourage you to drop him a line and check these out.
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