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THE PLOT THICKENS #3
by Gavin Burrows and co.

(£2.50/€5,00 from Armchair Comics / 8 Brewer St. / Brighton, BN2 3HH / ENGLAND or $7.00 from Top Shelf)

Review by Mark Campos

Rare, but becoming more common, are collections written by one creator and illustrated by several artists. Let's call them Pekars.

Here's a Pekar from the UK, all written by Gavin Burrows, whose cheeky take on pop culture is a match for Sugar Buzz's Ian Carney's clever work: monsters take a night off and watch game shows, a man in a suit facilitates a group session between torturers and torturees in Hell, a gung-ho commander annoys the bored residents of Moonbase Alpha.

An ocean's eleven of artists chip in solid cartoon support. Best in show: the James Parker-illustrated "The Applicant", in which two elegant supervillains interview a possible new member for their secret evil society; he turns out to be a bit of an oik, a wide boy. "What if you were to catch one of those Secret Service chappies here?" "I'd fackin' 'ave 'im! Fackin' do th' bastad!"

This is a good index of some talented new folk from the UK. Watch for them.

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DUMBASS COMICS #3
by Neill Cameron

(£2.00 from Neill Cameron / 70 Godstow Road/ Wolvercote, Oxford / 0X2 8NY/ ENGLAND. Web: planetdumbass.co.uk)

Review by Steve Keeter

The cover warns you right away: "contain bad words," (and there's that title too, after all) – and there's a full-page advertisement in which writer/artist/editor Neill Cameron mocks his own comic for "the blend of gratuitous swearing and semi-competent derivative art." And, one might note, the lettercol demonstrates that some of the readers really like what Neill is doing. So right away it is clear that we have a comic that some people will love and some people will hate. Well, I will say that the artwork is pretty good, with some very nice dramatic layouts, good use of solid blacks, and the artist is particularly adept at facial expressions (you can see the pain, you can see the laughter, you can see the rage and consternation in various character's faces). But the "gratuitous swearing" is indeed just that, and overdone certainly beyond the point of being merely annoying, which ultimately is very sad. Because you have here a creator with the raw talent to produce something very special in terms of creative, artistic, and even relevant comics, and he chooses instead to fill every panel with an excess of really vulgar language, detracting attention from the fine artwork, and relegating it to secondary status behind the constant barrage of obscenities. And then there is the obvious attack on religion – and particularly the Catholic Church – in a way that is offensive to even non-Catholics such as myself, by stereotypically portraying those within the church as extreme fanatics and then giving us ninja-nuns in suggestive costumes and such dialogue as "for some crimes there can be no forgiveness" (certainly untrue, in the context of what Christians actually believe). The end result is that one leaves this comic wondering – why? Why waste such obvious talent throwing around obscenities and attacking such obviously easy targets (to a certain group mindset) as the Pope (the revelation that the Pope of the future is "the world's first one-eyed, half-blind, amputee immigrant lesbian Pope" is neither funny nor in any way clever, artistic, or imaginative). My own initial thought upon completing this painful read was – wow, what a shame. But, as I said, some people will love it, and to each his own.

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THE PASSION OF THE BREAST
by Ben T. Steckler

($1.50 from Ben T. Steckler, www.geocities.com/bent4toons)

Review by Rick Bradford

One thing I like about Ben Steckler is he's not afraid of a nutty premise (or a bad pun either, for that matter). Hot on the heels of Janet Jackson's Superbowl 2004 appearance, BenT crafted this little satire of the media frenzy surrounding the pop singer's right breast. In this comic, the breast ("R.B.") leaves Jackson for a solo career and even campaigns for the presidency ("What's one more boob in office, really?"). Now if that's not a nutty premise then I just don't know nutty premises. But BenT makes it work. In fact, it's much funnier than I thought it might be. And even with no facial features that breast is such a well-designed character (so kudos to Janet Jackson's stylist, I guess). This is my new favorite Ben T. Steckler comic.

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BAKA GETA
by Onsmith and Ryoko Oguchi

($1.00 from Onsmith, www.onsmithcomics.com)

Review by Rick Bradford

Onsmith and Ryoko took a trip to Japan (Onsmith's first time) and decided to make a mini-comic about it. It's part travelogue and part tribute to Japanese culture but all fun. There are drawings of popular cartoon and advertising characters, a dream, a zinger from Doraemon and more fun stuff. If you think you'd prefer the cuter side of Onsmith, this is it. Myself, I love when people produce comics and zines in reaction to travel experiences. Baka Geta is a nice vicarious read. And although I was already a fan of Onsmith's work, I also really dig the drawings by Ryoko Oguchi, which are quite nice.

Be sure to check out the website. Onsmith's got lots of great mini-comics available, including The Rouge Knuckle Gang, an assortment of portraits of a rough 'n tumble gang of thugs. Remember the Sharks in West Side Story? Well, it's nothing like that. Anyway, all of his minis are recommended by yours truly.

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MUSICAL LEGENDS
by Justin Green

A Groovy History of Pop Music in Comix Form

($24.95, Last Gasp)

Review by Bruce Chrislip

Many people wonder whether the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll is still alive. I don’t know. But I have made some definite Elvis sightings in the last few days in the pages of Musical Legends by Justin Green, an entertaining collection of comic strips depicting the lives of pop music stars. The "Musical Legends" series first appeared in Pulse! Magazine, the late, lamented music magazine from Tower Records. Hopefully, this collection will make some new fans for the comix and the artists portrayed.

These fly-on-the-wall one-page comix biographies of singers, songwriters and musicians offer a fascinating look at the world of music and the people who created it – encompassing blues, jazz, rock ‘n’ roll, country and pop. If you ever wondered where the music came from, get this book!

You’ll see Elvis Presley repay a musical debt to jump blues shouter Roy Brown by writing him a $3,000.00 check on a potato chip bag. You’ll hear the insults that transformed Wayne Newton from top-40 wimp to Las Vegas macho man. Justin shows us why jazz violinst Joe Venuti stopped taking audience requests and how Alvin and the Chipmunks were “born” in the recording studio.

In these pages, Iggy Pop shares space with Stephen Foster; Mickey Rat cartoonist and Cheap Suit Serenader Bob Armstrong attempts a meeting with fellow musician Leon Redbone; Rancid and Jimmy Buffett mix it up with Jimi Hendrix, Dinah Washington and Bix Beiderbecke. Here’s the inside scoop on Peggy Lee, Leadbelly, Philip Glass, Irving Berlin, the Beach Boys, the Beastie Boys, Joni Mitchell, Fats Waller, Louis Jordan, Janis Joplin, Captain Beefheart, Blind Willie McTell, Ukelele Ike, Nina Simone and many more.

Justin Green, the underground cartoonist who invented autobiographical comix with Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary, has given us the ultimate pop music history in comix form. Check it out. I guarantee you will dig it!

[Musical Legends is available from the publisher Last Gasp for $24.95 plus shipping. (Last Gasp of San Francisco, 777 Florida St., San Francisco, CA 94110 or www.lastgasp.com). Copies are also available at www.amazon.com for $16.47 plus shipping but note that it’s listed under the title “Justin Green’s Music Legends.”]

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PUSSIES
by various

(Josh Simmons)

Review by Rick Bradford

If you ever saw Josh Simmons' (now defunct) anthology All About Fuckin', this one's got a similar vibe but with a more focused concentration. As you may surmise from the title and cover illustration, Pussies collects visual interpretations of female genitalia by around 50 artists. Whether or not this work is offensive is, I suppose, up to the reader. Personally, I don't find anything here to be legally (ha, or otherwise) pornographic but then again, I'm okay with pornography and my definition is pretty liberal.

I don't know how the contributors were approached but the general treatment of the subject matter is quite respectful (despite the impressive list of euphemisms on the inside front cover). In fact, if you found the other anthology to be in poor taste, you might give this one a try. I'm wondering, too: Could another volume titled "Dicks" be far behind?

Regardless of content, though, the real reason to hunt this one down is the contributor list. Aside from Simmons himself (who contributes lovely front and back covers), you'll find Nick Bertozzi, Anders Nilsen, Sam Henderson, Dave Kiersh, Doug TenNapel, Rebecca Dart, Craig Thompson, Andrice Arp, Ron Rege Jr., Jaime Hernandez, Renée French, Souther Salazar and tons more.

The unfortunate thing about this review is that I believe Pussies is already sold out of its initial run (it didn't take long). Last I heard there were no plans for another printing, but drop Josh a line to find out for sure.

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I LOVE THE SMELL OF X-TOL IN THE MORNING
by Jason Overby

(Free when you e-mail Jason Overby / 4911 SE 72nd Ave. / Portland, OR / 97206 USA. E-mail)

Review by Mark Campos

Super-abstract art, but just when you think you've been dropped in the deep end of the pool the story kicks in, and it all snaps into focus. Jason's Klee-like characters go to the beach, but even the simplest of plans can be complicated by emotions and worries. A well-tuned anecdote, a meditation on friendship and the ontology of restaurant food, a veritable New Yorker short story of a mini-comic.

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GLÖMP #6
by various

(Boing Being; also available in the Poopsheet Shop and through Top Shelf)

Review by Mark Campos

"GLÖMP (glœmp): 'like something heavy dropping in oil'"
– from the press release

This anthology is like a Finnish Rosetta, a satisfying thick trade paperback, a glossary of styles from realism to abstraction, from charming to grisly. English captions on each page translate the text for monoglots. (My only caveat about this book is, as an English-only reader, I have to either read the translation all at once then read the page, or keep ping-ponging my eyeballs from original text to translation. It puts an unwelcome level of filter between me and the stories. Oh, that I had studied Finnish more carefully in high school!)

The quality is exceptional – everything connects. I'm memorizing the names and styles, so in future if I run into work by Sami Aho or Ville Rauta, I'll be able to remember where I saw them first. Personal faves: Henna Raitala's honest look at the sex life of a single mother; the two lighthearted "Ovella" pages by Heta Iimonen; Marko Latva-Nikkola's tale of a modern couple being wedged apart by Matthew Hopkins, Witchfinder General; Jari Vaara's depiction of one day in the life of a coffee cup; a sweet party anecdote by Inan Kylanen. Roope Eronen's drawing of a monkey on a boat dropping its brain onto the strings of a zither deserves to be seen by everybody.

As well, a seventh volume will be out in 2005.

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NUT (New Untold Tales) #1
by Larned Justin

($2.00 from Larned Justin / PO Box 471 / House Springs, MO / 63051 USA. Web: www.candidcartoons.com)

Review by Steve Keeter

The frontcover of NUT #1 is just a riot: would-be Napoleon standing (literally) on a soapbox, proudly proclaiming "small press comics will rule the world!" (which they will, of course), as the guys in the white suits creep up behind with butterfly nets. And that's just the first of many fine moments in this wild anthology, written and drawn entirely by Larned Justin. Another truly hilarious moment occurs during a Flash Gordon satire called "Ralph Needleman, Outer Space Accountant." The business-minded individual of the title infiltrates the lair of "Mink the Merciless," who has been trying to activate a death-ray to destroy the Earth for 50 years. Needleman tries to use Mink's machines to research some finance records, and guess what he accidentally triggers?! I laughed out loud at this one. A bit of running craziness concerning Noah's Ark pops up here and there throughout the issue... Noah's sons argue over who has to secure the two skunks for the Ark, Noah's wife argues about the two required cockroaches for the ship, etc., and these are all very funny. There's plenty more, including a takeoff on Once Upon a Time in Mexico in which Daffy Duck and the other Warner Brothers cartoon characters play all the parts, new episodes of "Stickman," and some very nice reproduction of Larned's pencil art in the weird comic mystery "Lane Brain, 19th Century Detective." Larned tackles a number of art styles in the issue, and pretty much is successful with each attempt, including a jazz/Picasso backcover. A wonderful, enjoyable comic, recommended.

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