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THE INK #2
edited by Aaron Burgess

($7.00 US/world from Aaron Burgess / FlatFly Media / PO Box 193 / Kings Meadows, Tasmania 7249 / AUSTRALIA. E-mail)

Reviewed by Rick Bradford

The Ink is a music-themed anthology which is a fine idea, and I'm always keen on reading anthologies from outside of the US. Unfortunately, there aren't too many pieces in here that really knock my socks off. (However, I've been reading Kramers Ergot lately so perhaps there's a bit of unfair subliminal comparison going on.) The pieces that do stand out, for various reasons, include: Ian C. Thomas' "Riffin' to Oblivion", which is a fairly well-drawn (and lettered) soap about a band trying to perfect its sound; Tonia Walden's "The Girl and the Nightingale", a cautionary tale about getting what you wish for; Bobby Nenadovic's "Isolation Room" (nothing really happens but I like the look of it a lot); David Blumenstein's "Wanky Solo", which I'd seen before but it's still funny; Jase's Biffo the clown bit (nicely drawn); Dave Hodson's "The Book of Joe", the crazy misadventures of a band (I like that he's clearly comfortable in his hand-drawn cartoon element); and the one that really doesn't seem to fit, but in a good way, Daniel McKeown and Jeremy MacPherson's "Uncredited Musicians", a short humorous bit about musicians lost in the technological onslaught. There's plenty more work in the issue, too, by Bernard Caleo, Doug Holgate, Edward J. Grug III, Ryan Vella and others.

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WATUSI THE TALKING DOG #9-13
by Dale Martin and pals

($1.00 + a stamp each from Dale Martin / PO Box 442612 / Lawrence, KS / 66044 USA. Web: home.swbell.net/grizmart/watusi.html)

Reviewed by Rick Bradford

With the bulk of this latest batch of Watusis Dale Martin takes on the admirable task of combining jam comics and comics education. The Watusi concept is this: Each four-panel, one-page strip is begun by Dale, who sets the premise with the first panel, then it's passed on to two other artists who each do a panel and continue the narrative. After that it goes back to Dale, who then wraps it up with the final panel. It's a fun project and one I'd like to see others try. In fact, each issue features a couple of unfinished strips to encourage readers to join in.

Now, the jamming interactivity is enough for me to be interested but Dale has really doubled the value of this project by making a point of getting kids involved (in addition to younger cartoonists already a part of the small press scene). Issue 10 contains jams with students from some of Steve Peters' (Awakening Comics) cartooning classes and issues 11 and 12 feature students from Dale's own cartooning classes at the local library. Getting kids interested in comics and drawing is pretty exciting itself but it's even better seeing kids take a stab at advancing a story. How many comics have you read lately with work by 7- to 11-year-olds?

I commend Dale for his Watusi project and I hope he keeps it going a long while.

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ALL SKEWED UP Vol. 1
by Mike Twohig

(82 pages, $4.00 or equal trade from Mike Twohig / 72-1 Meadow Farm South / North Chili, NY / 14514 USA. Web: www.angelfire.com/ill/miketwohig)

Reviewed by Matt Dembicki

Subtitled “Musings on coldhandsdeadheart and Selections from #1-14,” this hand-bound book is a collection of artist Mike Twohig’s sketches, done during his college days spent at a local coffee shop. The handwritten commentary peppered between the drawings give the book a skateboard/punk zine feel. (There are plenty of doodles of guys playing guitars and some political sketches.) It’s worth a look, especially if you’re a zine fan.

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PANEL: HOME
edited by D. Tony Goins and Tom Williams

($3.00, b & w, 44 pages; published by Ferret Press / 600 Markview Road / Columbus, OH / 43214 USA. Web: www.ferretpress.com, www.panelcomix.com. Also available in the Poopsheet Shop)

Reviewed by Mike Hunter

This "Home"-themed anthology - varied graphics within echo this concept - is loaded with consistently strong, stylistically varied work. To focus on a few offerings:

Andy Bennett's "Inside Out" chronicles the adventures of a small black cat who wanders out of his/her cozy home. Vibrant, brushy inks nicely capture the feline's subtleties of body language - ears flattening in dismay upon realizing it is locked out, focusing upon and stalking prey, and that most cat-like trait of moving from action to settling down for a snooze. A slight tale, aided by exceptional art and a satisfyingly circular narrative.

In "Buried Talents," Craig Bogart's art is reminiscent of Paul Grist's style, and is well attuned to conveying the drama in his tale. A man who's led a play-it-safe life returns to old "stomping grounds" for a class reunion, and is confronted by a murderous doppelganger, who wishes to slay and replace him, and follow the more adventurous "road not taken." Crisp, well-composed art, strong usage of blacks, though the words are marred by being typeset in a font too small and with excessive "leading" (space between the lines). The story - though a bit melodramatic at times - is effectively told, most events occurring in flashback from the violent encounter.

Tom Williams' "Cribs" displays an antic, bizarre sense of humor. MTV improbably decides to focus on the cartoonist's domicile. A roommate whose pastime is shooting at squirrels, adjacent cemetery ("Doesn't that view scream good mornin'?"), a monkey who's Williams' new colorist (don't ask what it uses for paints!). All quite madcap, enhanced by artwork that's expressionistic, yet anatomically solid.

In "Xiang/Home," the most heartfelt piece here, writer Sean McGurr meditates upon his return to his roots in Ohio, purchase of a home there, and the adoption by him and his wife of a baby girl, who was abandoned outside an orphanage in China. He plans how they'll "...incorporate some Chinese culture into her life," shares anxieties "about being a good parent...concern that your child won't love and respect you..." Dan Barlow's strong, assured artwork reminds of David Mazzucchelli and Tony Salmons, which is a very good thing indeed. A family gathering and crowd in a ballgame are packed with vitality, without excess of sappy sentiment. In the panel where McGurr expresses his tribulations about being up to the challenges of parenting, Barlow wittily depicts McGurr incarcerated, the silhouetted bars of a crib he's assembling held up before his face.

This lively, enjoyable anthology gives exceptional value for your money. Other Panel offerings seem equally promising...

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TALES OF FANTASY #25: "The Seeing Eye"
by Larry Johnson

($2.00 ppd from Larry Johnson / 9 St. Peter St. #4 / Jamaica Plain, MA / 02130-4907 USA. Web: groups.msn.com/LarryJohnsonart)

Reviewed by Evan Keeling

Don't all eyes see? Badump bump. Sorry, now that that's out of the way, on with the review. Tales of Fantasy seems to focus on the supernatural exploits of reporter Lew Brown. This issue was about Lew's investigation of Thee Seeing Eye Institute and the man who runs it, Dr. Ocular. This organization, despite its vision related name, claims to cure mental illness. But there is no cure to be found, just inhabitation by communal parasitic alien eyeball creatures, who may or may not be trying to take over the world. While this is a fun read it is not a terribly original plot and not very developed.

The art in Tales of Fantasy is good. Larry Johnson has a clean and simple style reminisent of golden age comics. It is too bad that he doesn't print the book in color because the color pictures he has on the cover are great. They have a depth and presence that his black and white line art doesn't achieve. While he's no Dave McKean the multimedia image on the cover is quite striking and definitely draws one to the comic.

One thing that I disliked about this comic was its inclusion of not one but three "it was all a dream, oh no it wasn't" twist endings. The twist ending is very overdone and has been beaten into the ground. So a lot of times one is too many, but when you get to three it starts to seem like a waste of space. Now I'm not saying that any part of the comic was a waste I just wished that Larry Johnson had spent those twist ending pages talking about the Oculans. I wanted to know more about why they landed on our planet, why they need or want to bond with humans and what their goals were. I know this is an ongoing series and it may be discussed in a later issue so I should just keep reading and find out.

Something that did make me interested in continuing the series was the gigantic letters column. I personally found some of it hard to read and didn't really finish all the letters, but I was impressed by the depth of the philosophical and psychological discussions the readers and Mr. Johnson engaged in through the letters. It made me feel that there was a deeper meaning behind the stories; I didn't get it as far as this one was concerned, but it was there nonetheless. His readers did seem overly concerned about the use of nudity in the comic though.

The last part of the book was "Every Saturday", one page where Mr. Johnson reprinted two short articles from the 1800s. While they were completely unrelated to the story they were a fun read and a nice ending to the comic.

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FALAFEL FALL-OUT
by Gavin Spielman

($3.50 from Gavin Spielman, www.citycomix.com)

Reviewed by Mark Campos

One of the most disillusioning things you learn as you go along is that even the coolest-seeming people can, deep down, be hideous creeps. It's a lesson that Gavin learns in this autobio comic: he loans out his car to a cool friend .. two hours go by .. he fears the worst, and what happens is pretty bad.

Gavin's art is loose and relaxed, impelling the sort of talky tale along nicely. Worth a look at.

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