< comics/x >
NEVER ENDING SUMMER
by Allison Cole
($11.95,
Alternative Comics,
Allison Cole)
Review by Mark Campos
This is Allison's first major work, and a bright example of what will eventually become known as the "emo" school of comics, unless we act now – I'd prefer another name for them, so let's call them "king-cats" for what they have in common with John Porcellino's work: minimalist art fronting quiet but emotionally intense autobio narratives. (Other adherents to this style include Jeffrey Brown, Dave Kiersh and Missy Kulik, and there are several more.)
Never Ending Summer takes place during one hectic trimonth in which Allison's boyfriend drifts out of her life, she meets another guy, the comic store she works at closes down, her friends have boyfriend trouble also and they all get plowed in the afternoon together ... No galaxies blow up or anything, and if that's what you require out of your comics you probably will concur with the
Comics Journal Board poster who termed this book "crap". Those with patience will find a generous hearted story with characters so much like people you know, you'll wish you could climb up on the roof with them, grab a Pabst, and cheer them all up. And,
TCJ Board boys, who can resist a story about a girl who works at a comics shop and collects LPs?
I admit I had a bit of trouble getting started with this book. Allison's minimalist characters are all based on the same design, and somebody described them as "yetis" but I think of them as more like thumb-heads. You have to study to remember which detail means which character; difference in hair, glasses, beard. There's a glossary of the characters on the inside front cover, which I had to keep consulting as I read, and there's at least one character (the "pee buddy") who isn't in there. The other quibble I had with
NES (and there were only two, really) was the ending, which seemed abrupt. Events are probably depicted as they happened but dramatic structure suggests at least one more scene, with Allison giving Sam the gate or at least not taking his phone calls.
(Well, OK, three quibbles – she doesn't include the track list for her ultimate summer mixtape – any Hüsker Dü or Magnetic Fields on there?)
These are minor gripes, and on the whole, I'm happy to have made the acquaintance of this book, and hope to read more of Allison's stories.
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< comics/x >
NÉNESSE, CHIEN DE VIEUX
by Olivier Ka and Mélaka
(4.00 €, roughly $4.80 US; published by
le reb’)
Review by Matt Dembicki
Ah, poor Nénesse! This Belgian collection of strips covers the mishaps of a dog named Nénesse and his elderly owners. Most of the installments are bittersweet, showing how Nénesse deals with his owners’ forgetfulness – or senility. (On the cover, Nénesse is hung up on a coat rack while his owner’s hat sits in his dog bed.) Some of the highlights of the book: Nénesse and his master play fetch but the old man doesn’t have the strength to throw the stick; He simply drops the stick at his feet for Nénesse to retrieve. The poor dog is obviously bored with this game. In another segment, his owner is chasing Nénesse because she thinks he’s literally a fish out of water. She catches him and tosses him in a pond. It’s a delightful book, bringing a little humor to getting old.
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< comics/x >
APOCALIPSTICK NOW
by Apocalipstick
(EP/CD, $10.00 ppd from Bazoom! Records / PO Box 590144 / San Francisco, CA / 94159 USA. Web:
www.bazoomrecords.com)
Review by Ben T. Steckler
There's a portion of the song "Lick" (track number two on this CD) that reminds me of the saxaphone solo on "O Bondage, Up Yours" by X-Ray Spex. That's appropriate, for Apocalipstick is a Bay Area Punk group that wears its influences well. If they have a sleeve at all upon which to wear those influences, I'm sure that it is made of leather. Singer Jackie O. Nastie is a working Dominatrix, according to the press kit.
As I listen to these five songs, I hear traces of The Plasmatics, Judas Priest, The Gits, and The Dead Kennedys circa 1980. I'm even hearing a little Devo and Primus influence in the lyrics (but not the sound) to "Whoop-Ti-Doo". (Surprisingly, it's not "Whip It" that I'm reminded of.)
This group has efficiently mined the ore of its (that sounds like "orifice") influences, and put together an entertaining sound that's camp enough and edgy without being offensive. There's the power chords and anthemic riffs borrowed from heavy metal and just sped up a bit, and there's enough sardonic wit to the lyrics to give them an angry bite, without bringing politics into the mix. If I have a complaint, it's that the vocals are a bit muddied and lo-fi, but that gives the CD more of the feel of a club gig.
I think I'd have fun at an Apocalipstick show, and I fear the experience would change me somewhat.
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< comics/x >
AN AXE FELL
by Brian Musikoff
($1.25,
www.manualcomics.com)
Review by Mike Hunter
This exquisitely produced mini - slick stock, crisp color printing - tells parallel stories. The drawings deftly depict the familiar tale of the sinking of the Titanic in a dozen images. The accompanying narration tells an apparently autobiographical account of Brian Musikoff's experience in landing a comfortable job in New York. "After a few promotions I was living more comfortably than I ever had in my entire life...As far as I could tell I would be living the good life for years to come." Meantime, the passengers of the ill-fated ship clink glasses of bubbly and sail blithely on. As the iceberg is spotted, Musikoff writes, "Out of the blue, a friend in human resources tipped me off that the company was not doing so hot." He ends up "...tossed into the freezing black sea called unemployment...", a Titanic passenger clutching a life preserver as he plunges into the waters. The present is shown in the drawings for the first time, the World Trade Center towers billowing smoke, "...throwing our city into a nauseating tailspin." The Titanic survivors shoot flares into the night sky, while Musikoff sends "...out resume after resume...to no avail..." The present appears again in the artwork, now combined with the sinking-ship symbolism, as the narrator clambers aboard a lifeboat: "...two friends offered me full time work in their bar..."
Now Musikoff's given up on a corporate career, and settled in a stable bartending job, which "...also affords [him] time to return to...cartoon work." (And should provide some great material for future comics.) Yet the chilling memories of scrambling for a job to survive remain: "The freezing black water is so close I can taste it."
Musikoff's comparison of his unemployment with a shipwreck may strike some as excessive, but - particularly with the social safety net grown so increasingly frayed - it aptly invokes the clawing-to-survive, helpless dread of the experience. Special praise must be given to the cover, which lovingly simulates the leather binding of a battered old book.
An Axe Fell can be also be seen
online, but fanciers of minis owe it to themselves to order the beautiful printed version.
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