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PEEPS ET BEANS
by Ben T. Steckler

(10pp mini with fold-out centerfold, $2.00 from Ben T. Steckler, www.geocities.com/bent4toons)

Reviewed by Alan Rankin

Once again, Ben Steckler wins points right off the bat for simple originality. I mean, you’re not going to pick this up and say, “Ho hum, another story about open warfare between marshmallow ‘Peeps’ and paramilitary jelly beans!” To top it all off, the whole thing is in French, although you need not be bilingual to follow the story, any more than you need Spanish to understand “Bumblebee Man” on The Simpsons.

Beyond the audaciousness of his approach, I have to say that the twist ending certainly caught me by surprise. Far be it from me to reveal the twist; I’ll just say that you’ll never look at Easter candy (or your microwave) the same way again. “BenT” has certainly earned his nickname with this one.

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MISTAKES AND REGRETS
By L. O'Moore

(£1.00 from L. O'Moore / 145 Clydesdale Rd. / Byker NE6 2EQ / ENGLAND. Web: www.lomoore.com)

Reviewed by Evan Keeling

I promise that this review won't be about how I really wanted to read about sea monsters (but I really did), but I digress. Mistakes and Regrets was overall an enjoyable read. I like L. O'Moore's drawing style a lot. She has a nice simplistic cartoon-like style but still manages quite realistic poses for her characters. She has a great approach to light and dark and negative space. The structure of the story was interesting; it told the same story twice from the perspective of both of the people in the relationship, utilizing the technique of one story going halfway then you flip the book around and read the other story. L. O'Moore also managed a nice juxtaposition between the thought processes of the two characters and how often they were thinking almost the same thing. What I didn't like about the comic was that it suffered from the clichéd problem of "slice of life" comics: Why should I read about someone else's crappy life when I can just go about living my crappy life. I was not given much reason to like or worry about the outcome of either character's story. Both characters spent most of the story fretting about bad decisions that they've made particularly in regards to one another, but I found myself not caring if they resolved any of these problems. At the end of the comic it felt unresolved, maybe this is just my own taste but I usually feel that if I'm going to listen to a character whine I want them to come to a realization about themselves or learn nothing and fail. While I know that life doesn't have nice wrapped up endings I found that Mistakes and Regrets left me wanting just a little more story. In conclusion I think this was a very solid first attempt at a new kind of story for L. O'Moore and I look forward to seeing more, but I really did want to see sea monsters.

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THE LEGEND OF WILD MAN FISCHER
by Dennis P. Eichhorn, J.R. Williams, et al

($7.95, Top Shelf Productions)

Reviewed by Mark Campos

Larry "Wild Man" Fischer was a phenomenon in the late '60s, a street person who used to stand on the Sunset Strip and improvise songs for change; then a double album of his songs was released on Frank Zappa's Straight label (his labelmates: the GTOs and Captain Beefheart), and he suddenly found himself a counterculture icon. His songs were featured heavily on the "Dr. Demento" radio show in the '70s; he recorded the first single released on the Rhino Records label; he recorded a duet with Rosemary Clooney. But art is fleeting and life is long, and having burned a lot of bridges behind him as a result of his mental illness, he still lives on the streets of LA.

Still, the present day Wild Man refuses to die, and there has been a resurgence in interest in him recently. A chapter in Irwin Chusid's Songs In the Key Of Z book reawakened interest in his work. Rhino released a CD collection of his latter-day work. A campaign is afoot to get his Straight album reissued on CD (bad blood between Larry and the Zappa estate hold this effort in limbo for now). A documentary film is being produced on his life. And Top Shelf has released this book, collecting the stories about Larry that appeared in Dennis Eichhorn's Real Stuff comic.

As depicted by JR Williams and Holly Tuttle, Larry is a grown-up "Bad Boy", prankish and Puckish but never mean-spirited. Dennis, who at the time of the stories (1971) was a small-time rock promoter in Idaho, curated a show featuring Larry; the show was a success but Larry lingered on, annoying everybody. Most of Dennis's friends who share his adventures with Larry wound up telling him, "Don't contact me again"; and Eichhorn's wife, who got pranked at a very private moment by the Wild Man, divorced him soon afterward. Dennis bears no grudge, however, and his retelling of these stories consolidates the legend.

As a bonus, a balance of the profits goes directly into Larry's pocket (as documented in the back), so you'd be doing him a good turn to buy this.

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HORROR CLASSICS (Graphic Classics Vol. 10)
edited by Tom Pomplun

(144pp trade paperback, $9.95 from Eureka Productions / 8778 Oak Grove Rd. / Mount Horeb, WI / 53572 USA. Web:www.graphicclassics.com)

Reviewed by Alan Rankin

Another terrific entry in Tom Pomplun’s Graphic Classics series, Horror Classics alters the winning formula of great-stories-plus-great-artists slightly. Instead of focusing on a single author as in previous volumes (Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain, etc.), it collects horror stories from diverse writers such as W.W. Jacobs, who created the creepy classic “The Monkey’s Paw.”

The book starts off with H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Thing on the Doorstep.” I happen to think Lovecraft is one of the great horror writers of all time, and “Doorstep” is proof of it. Other writers have explored the central idea – an evil wizard projecting his mind into an innocent victim – but none have given it such a genuinely disturbing outcome. The story is illustrated by Michael Manning, most noted for elegant erotica such as the beautiful Spider Garden. Manning’s work here is not as symmetrical or detailed as Garden, but suits the grisly story just fine, retaining most of Lovecraft’s distinctive prose.

Other stories combine horror with humor, including those by Saki, Bret Harte, and Edgar Allan Poe, of all people. (Not someone you usually associate with whimsy!) These alternate with tales of full-on horror, including John Pierard’s version of “The Monkey’s Paw” and Jack London’s “Keesh, Son of Keesh.” That latter story, adapted in scratchboard by Ryan Inzana, is one of the book’s artistic highlights, comparing favorably with the work of Eric Drooker. Another is Marc Dancey’s one-page adaptation of “The Thing at Ghent.” In a mere fifteen panels, without captions or dialogue, Dancey presents Balzac’s story of avarice and murder with an economy that can only be admired.

There’s not much bad to say about the Graphic Classics line. If I did have a complaint, it would be with the almost-total lack of female authors in the series. How about some Virginia Woolf, Tom?

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BIERSUPPE Summer 2004

(Authentic Ink, biersuppe.com)

Reviewed by Mark Campos

This small, slickly produced mini comes with no information as to who's responsible, and the website is no help either. Authentic Ink is the Residents of comics.

The story is the first part of a struggle between a hunter and his prey, a strong and resourceful buck deer named El Toro. A couple of patient buzzards observe the battle and comment on the action. The art is manga-influenced, stiff in spots but nice throughout.

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