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WIDE AWAKE #4 & 5
by various
(Wide Awake Press / PO Box 14234 / Greenville, SC / 29610 USA. Web:
www.wideawakepress.com)
Review by Rick Bradford
Wide Awake Press represents a group of Southern misfit artists based in South Carolina. A handful of their solo publications have been reviewed here recently so now let's take a look at their flagship anthology.
First of all, check out those covers. They both sport wraparound silkscreens that look great. I know if I was part of a region-centric zine I'd want to be represented that well. And the insides aren't too shabby either. In fact, considering that space is apparently limited to locals, the cream-to-crap ratio is much better than one might expect.
Number 5, the most recent issue, contains work by several people you may know of or soon will. Some of the stuff that stands out: Publisher/designer J. Chris Campbell contributes a couple of fun comics and an appreciation of Ernie Kovacs (with a great illo), among other things; Duane Ballenger's got a few of his "Sux Me Eggs" strips (goofy fun) and a ghost story/horror tv send-up called "The Old Dark House" that's pretty funny and done completely in pencil (this charms me for some reason); Josh Latta's strip about a lovelorn G.I. writing to his girl that's really punctuated by the tiny strip below it titled "I Think We Should Just Be Friends"; Jason Gammon fiddles with visual conventions in an amusing way; funny fake ads for Upstate Savings Bank, this issue's alleged sponsor; Ashley Holt's cartoons, several of which have "Southern" written all over them (not literally, you understand); and Andy Runton's "Owly and Wormy". Plus, the toenails on the cover are scratch 'n sniff (they smell good to me – is that wrong?) and there are toilet paper endpapers. What more would you want?
In addition to the stuff above there's plenty more fun between these two issues: a few
Onion-style articles, impressive drawings (JP Eisenberg, Gary Goodfleish, Rob Patterson), Heavenly Friends (Andrew Davis), a really creepy photo by Amanda Wilson, Chris Harber's "Aliens in the Office" strip which shouldn't work but just does, and much more. Oh, and #4 also includes an envelope of goodies. Mine held the first version of Campbell's
Travel mini-zine, a sticker, a couple of tiny video game console trading cards and one or two other bits.
The emphasis here seems to be on fun and with that these books succeed. As with any anthology it's not all ground-breaking, must-see work but there's enough here to recommend. I'm not sure what the price for these is but I suggest going to the website and having a look around.
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