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BLACK SHEEP #1
by Fredo

($4.00 from Fredo, www.altgeek.net)

Reviewed by Matt Holdaway

If you haven't already, you really need to check out Fredo's Black Sheep #1. This is the beginning of a new storyline and a new approach, really, for Fredo. There are two stories. One is well-rendered but I'm not exactly crazy about the ending. But "Neighborhood of the Beast" is fucking great. Visually this is Fredo's strongest representation of his talent that I have seen in print. It starts off strong and there is not a single panel that I can say isn't correct. What I really enjoy about this new Black Sheep is Fredo's sense of pacing and the delivery of his story. There were hints of his storytelling ability in Fellowship but I feel this is where it finally really emerges. I am very interested to see the progression of this story — you have a chance to see it in the beginning.

I should mention that the cover alone is worth the four bucks. A wraparound hand-printed 4-color silkscreen. The cover as just a print would look beautiful framed.

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A HUNDRED DOLLARS AND A T-SHIRT

(83 min. DVD, $10.00, Microcosm Publishing)

Reviewed by Rick Bradford

Microcosm describes this documentary as a "cultural analysis of what causes zine makers to tick, what the hell zines are, why people make zines, the origin of zines, the resources and community available for zine makers, and the future of zines." That's a pretty good description. A Hundred Dollars is something of a snapshot of the zine scene in the Pacific Northwest but its real value is as an introduction to the subculture. It's something you can show those perplexed friends and family members who don't understand what the zine thing is all about.

Around 70 zinesters (including some no longer zining) offer their perspectives on the many aspects of what is for some a hobby and for others a lifestyle. Some of those featured include Shawn Granton, Alex Wrekk, Donna Kossy, Greig Means, jack saturn, Shannon Wheeler, Dave Roche, Nicole Georges, Moe Bowstern and Icky Apparatus.

It's really a pretty interesting DVD and, believe it or not, the first zine documentary I've had the pleasure to watch (although I know others are out there). Also on the disc is 20 minutes of bonus footage such as a trailer for the film and a cut segment on Sean Tejaratchi's KOOL Man. My only disappointment is that they didn't also include a gallery of zine covers. Most of the zines discussed in the film get some amount of screen time, but I would love to have seen a gallery of them, plus other notable zines from recent years. Still, this is only a minor complaint. Go get this DVD — it's a good way to spend an hour-and-a-half or so.

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DRAW OR DIE #1
by Jon Chandler

(£1.50 from Jon Chandler, www.bonehousebooks.co.uk)

Reviewed by Mark Campos

Ripper, who is a small-nosed humanoid elephant guy in a tracksuit, is given a creating machine by his pal Particle Man, and uses it to create the perfect underground comic: two demons, in a static panel repeated 28 times, tell a really funny dirty joke about a lion and a nasty monkey.

Very eccentric, in that British way — the story has the dry surrealism of one of Robyn Hitchcock's improvised onstage stories, spinning out in wider and wackier orbits. NB: this story's dated 2003, and so the artist probably has gobs of new work to show — write for more info.

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AN ABSTRACT LIFE
by Andrei Molotiu

(28 pages, b&w, Andrei Molotiu. E-mail)

Reviewed by Mike Hunter

The "stories" in An Abstract Life fascinatingly employ different modes of abstraction. In "Cells," there's a sensation of moving through biologic forms, which could also almost be topographic relief maps of terrain like Monument Valley's as well. The shapes are computer-generated, areas tinted for differentiation from others.

In the hand-drawn "Growth," a small lumpy shape floating in empty space develops, extrudes a shape like a horse's leg, extends "limbs" until, transformed into a sprawling network, it fills the last page of its narrative.

"The Rules of Attraction," reminiscent of Saul Steinberg's visual play with varied drawing-styles, shows a series of shapes, roughly similar in size and form, but with wildly differing textures: crystalline, furred, lumpy, flowing. Arrows point out the possibilities of interaction.

"Love" uses the most comics conventions, as two figures like crumpled paper, their forms changing, approach in a barren landscape. Word and thought balloons bear alien glyphs, one being sweats nervously, and as they finally join, hearts hover above their forms.

Lumpy figures — one reminiscent of the "Venus of Willendorf" — strain and recline, fly through space, and finally dance in "Work & Play." Some shapes are more suggestive of human forms, though much distorted.

"War" shows a foreboding landscape, a striated, puzzled-looking "face" with a question mark beside, background suggesting a gathering storm. Shapes seem to set out, arrows indicating the direction, unreadable "writing" placed about the panel. Finally the piece concludes with an explosion/release of energy.

"Birth" — the longest work here — shows a series of slightly kaleidoscope-like, computer-generated abstractions. Though we're not really "zooming in" on them (each panel bears only a passing resemblance to the previous), the feeling of forward movement is inescapable. The effect's enhanced since "Birth" starts with simple shapes, then moves on to more complex forms, as if we're approaching a great mass and discerning more and more detail. The panels grow larger, the shapes more complex — one can't help but be reminded of the "trip" sequence in 2001 — and, finally a form emerges from an abstraction: a reclining nude woman, back to us. Seen in high contrast, then with a more nuanced mezzotint effect, the only recognizable shape in the book.

Molotiu's an exceptionally gifted artist — see his expressive, sculptural abstract shapes in "Yam Seal Land,"* with chiaroscuro beautifully deployed, or his very fine color abstract comics in that site's "Gallery" section, which also shows nudes strongly rendered from life, convincingly drawn with a few strokes — and his work in An Abstract Life shows considerable intelligence as well.**

I'd have preferred the book to be more purely abstract imagery, by leaving out the titles of each of the sections (the drawings get the themes across quite nicely by themselves), or the arguably unnecessary comic-book conventions featured in "Love." Yet Molotiu might understandably have wished to make his book a tad more accessible, and in "Love" play with tools of the medium such as word-and-thought balloons, thoroughly defensible creative choices.

In his abstract comics, Andrei Molotiu is exploring where Medieval maps of the world warned, "here be monsters." For those interested in the varied aesthetic possibilities available in the medium, the bizarre bestiary of An Abstract Life is well worth checking out.


* http://www.getsivizion.com/guests/molotiu/intro.htm

** Don't just take my word for it! See his article, "Focillon's Bergsonian Rhetoric and the Possibility of Deconstruction". And this site tells of the "History of Comic Book Art" class taught by Professor Andrei Molotiu...

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WRITER'S BLOCK
by Diana Tamblyn

($3.00 from Diana Tamblyn, www.speedlines.com)

Reviewed by Mark Campos

A short, literate story from Canada. Al's a writer whose first book is wildly successful — so what does he write for a followup? The question sends him into an emotional tailspin, while his niece and nephew try to help by suggesting possible topics to write on: "Snowglobes? Bingo? Ethel Merman?"

Diana illustrates in a dense-lined realist style, and she experiments with framing the characters uniquely in the panels: a long sequence of various people talking on phones never looks static. NB: this story's dated 2003, and so the artist probably has gobs of new work to show — write for more info.

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N.I.N.N.Y. #1
by Randall Fleming

($3.00 US / $4.00 WORLD postpaid, cash only, or pre-arranged trade from Randall Fleming / Po Box 625 / New York, NY / 10276 USA. E-mail)

Reviewed by Eric Lyden

The title of this zine stands for "Now I'm IN New York". You sort of have to ignore the first I, but it's a catchy enough title so we'll ignore that. Future issues may be titled "Now I'm Not in New York" (in which case you'd have to ignore the second i) depending on Randall's geographic location at the moment. Other than a few poems Randall sneaks in here, I like this zine a lot. It's mostly about New York City ("No shit, Sherlock. I thought it was going to be about Atlanta, GA." is what some of my more smartassed readers are saying right now.), my favorite articles being an interview with NYC train conductor and zinester Fred Argoff and an article entitled "Where the Hell Have I Going? Where the Hell Am I Been?" which compares NYC and LA. Yeah, good stuff. This is the type of thing I enjoy reading on the shitter. Don't ask me why I think it makes good shitter material, but to me it does. And in my mind saying something is good toilet reading material is a high compliment indeed.

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AIR GUITAR #5
by Mike Gorman

($2.00 ppd from Mike Gorman / 6 Brown St. / Westbrook, ME / 04092 USA. Web: www.mikegorman.com. Mature Readers)

Reviewed by Henry Chamberlain

Mike Gorman definately has chops. There's no doubt about it. Take a look at his website and there will be no surprise this man is a successful illustrator. At first glance, especially on the cover to Air Guitar 5, and the first story about a miserable misfit who masturbates in public, you can't help but think of a Dan Clowes influence. Then there's another misfit story, with excellent illustrations as well, and here I began to wonder if this book was really just a mini-portfolio by an amazing illustrator but then I read the next story, "The Amazingly Stupid Adventures of Super Douche and his buddy, Harry Burrito!" and I knew there was more than first met the eye.

In "Super Douche," Gorman is in full control of the retro vocabulary. The drawings are more simple with clean cartoony lines. Unexpected fun and undeniable wit prevail. Hanging out in a dingy apartment are two very weird losers: one unemployed superhero type dude and a mass of hair with sunglasses resembling Cousin Itt from the Addams Family. They argue with another freaky character, possibly a Tarzan wannabe, make lunch, burn the TV, go shopping, and humiliate an old high school classmate they always hated. This goofy stuff is razor sharp and gives Gorman genuine cartoonist cred.

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YOU'RE NOT CREEPY AT ALL!
(BIGFOOT COMIX #9)
by DC McNamara

(50¢ or trade from DC McNamara / 2228 Dayton Ave. / St. Paul, MN / 55104 USA. E-mail)

Reviewed by Mark Campos

For your 50 cents DCM will send you five witty cartoons, and at a dime per chuckle that's good value.

The last page lists eight other Bigfoot books and two volumes of Mox Nix. The descriptions of some of these books, as supplied by DCM, will present a better idea of his ideas than if I tried to summarize the present volume.

"Bigfoot 1: Bugs talking about work.
"Bigfoot 7: Everyone's like, 'I don't get this one.' Insects, helicopters.
"Mox Nix 2: Linnaeus liked boobies."

And each is only 50 cents! That's a $5.50 investment to get them all, and I'm sure it'll be worth the splurge.

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