Happy Halloween, everybody.
I’ve been reading too many Hark, A Vagrant comics. I had to force myself to use punctuation.
Archive for the 'Comics' Category
15
May
11
More Plugs!
My badgering broke my friend Whitney down, and now he has his own Zazzle store! Buy stuff!
Stuff like this!
16
Apr
11
The Scar
Hey! Are you ready to hear a riveting tale about our trip to the creation museum?
Well, tough. I’m making it into a Powerpoint, and it’s not ready for primetime yet. I made a completely apolitical comic instead! It’s below the jump and I hope you dig it!
People people people. I know that most of you, liberal or conservative, straight and queer, all nations and colors and creeds, the whole lot of you hate Westboro Baptist. As do I.
Also, the whole lot of you think that the Supreme Court made a terrible decision ruling in their favor. You are wrong.
“Oh geez, not another literal First Amendment humper,” you think. “What about shouting fire in theaters, the right to assemble peacefully bwap bwap bwap bwap bwap…”
You misunderstand! Those are important, sure, but there is something you forget.
If the Supreme Court had ruled against funeral protests, we wouldn’t be able to protest Fred’s funeral in time for National Asshat Day.
Are you so hasty to spite WBC that you’re willing to forgo the ultimate prize? BIG PICTURE, PEOPLE!
24
Jan
11
Yet Another Lame-O Comic
My comic class final below the jump. Rated NSFW for tiresome anti-theistic sentiment, language, nudity, and dirty linework.
Guaranteed not to be as bad as the Holocaust.
12
Jan
11
Thumbs Up
This story has sucked the joy out of me.
c/o Steve Benson.
But now I’ve gotten some of it back.
Merry Giftmas, everyone! Your gift is below the jump.
(comic NSFW for festively harsh language and surly demeanor)
Heimdall as a fierce manly white man! FIERCE!
I haven’t read any of the Thor comics, so I wasn’t planning on seeing the upcoming movie. But goshdarnit, someone’s decided to boycott it. Now the wafting fumes of controversy strangely compel me to pay attention to a pop cultural phenomenon I would have otherwise ignored.
O Hollywood! Whose wrath have you provoked with your unwitting meddling?
Turns out its our very own Council of Conservative Christians. They’re mad because their second favorite religion (next to the cult of their wounded pride) is getting peeceeified with the casting of (I assume) a socialist Kenyan secret Muslim as Heimdall.
The Missouri-based Council of Conservative Citizens, labeled as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, writes that Marvel has “[declared] war on Norse mythology” by giving the pantheon “an insulting multi-cultural make-over” in the form of Idris Elba, the English actor known for his roles in The Wire, The Losers and The Office.
Hold up! A SCANDINAVIAN god is being played by an ENGLISH actor? What is Hollywood THINKING?!?
Normally I’m not a fan of racebending, but I’m more willing to let it slide if A. It’s the privileged actors who get the shaft, and B. It annoys white supremacists. Who wants to go see Thor with me?
This comic lay unfinished in my basement for two years. I thought it was somewhat topical, so I dug it out and did a rush ink job. It’s super sloppy and still has pencil marks and doesn’t have much of a punchline and may be interpreted as a threat, but eh.
THIS COMIC HAS NAUGHTY WORDS. ENJOY! (it’s below the jump)
Me and my friend Whitney freaking love Hurley’s Heros, and so should you. It’s by far the most fun store in Joplin that doesn’t sell vibrators. If you love alternative comics, there’s no doubt that this is the place you should hit first.
As much as we love it, this store is probably bad for our financial health. You see, me and Whitney, we are whim purchasers. We can’t enter this store without buying something. Sometimes it doesn’t pan out so well (coughcoughJurassicParkRedemptioncough), but Hurley’s is so awesome that we rarely regret our impulse purchases.
Here are my top five trade paperbacks and graphic novels that I discovered at Hurley’s.
The Five Fists of Science
This is right up your alley if you like League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, H.P. Lovecraft, or the mere thought of Nikola Tesla and Mark Twain fighting evil with steampunk mechs. For lo, that is the plot.
Also, this is of somewhat local interest, for Matt Fraction and Steven Saunders are from KC, Missouri. If you frequent Hurley’s enough, one day you may come across these gentlemen in an autographing mood. And Steven has a dope-ass mustache. You have to hunt him down and see it for yourself.
4. Harlan Ellison’s Dream Corridor Volume 1
Harlan Ellison's Dream Corridor
This was my first whim purchase at Hurley’s. It was on the bargain rack and I couldn’t understand why. Harlan Ellison? I don’t care how short and grumpy the man is, you don’t put him in the bargain rack!
So I promptly removed him from the bargain rack. With my money.
HEDCv1 (sounds like a viral strain if I put it that way) is an anthology of Ellison short stories adapted in comic form (doy) by various artists. They’re all introduced by Ellison, in a wraparound comic where he gives you a tour of his “dream corridor”. Most of the stories are of a speculative fiction bend, and they range from great to putrid to incomprehensible. Harlan doesn’t limit himself to just sci-fi though; one of the best tails (PUN DEFINITELY INTENDED) concerns a man who takes his revenge on a man with a rat phobia.
Along with the comic adaptations, there’s also some original stories given the text treatment for dessert. What? People still read stories that aren’t broken down into comic panels? How quaint!
3. Street Angel
Street Angel
This one kind of doesn’t count, since I had heard whispers of it on girlwonder.org beforehand, but cripes, I never expected to see a trade paperback of it on the shelf in Joplin. The finding and purchasing of this book all occurred in 2.3 milliseconds. It would’ve been 2.2 milliseconds if the Hurley at the desk didn’t drag his ass. DAMN YOU HURLEY *shakes fist*
Street Angel was a SLG series whose lifespan was inversely proportionally to its badassitude. It was about this 12 year old homeless girl who spent her time digging through dumpsters, skateboarding and destroying living beings with her flailing limbs. For you see, Jesse Sanchez is a world class martial artist. And she likes to kick hinders.
Some of the varieties of hinders that Jesse kicks in this book:
- Ninja hinders
- Mad scientist hinders
- Pirate hinders
- Satanist hinders
- Satan’s hinder
- Machinegun hick hinders
- Robot hinders
- Future self hinder
- Your hinder
Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites
2. Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites
I got this one last night, but I had been eyeing it for several weeks. Does it still count as a whim purchase if I take my time, ponder my options and make a conscious effort into making a wise purchase? Probably not. In fact it’s probably the mutually exclusive opposite tactic. Well tough. THIS IS MY BLOG AND WE’RE DOING IT MY WAY.
Beasts of Burden is your typical mystery-solving-paranormal-investigators-living-in-a-town-with-spooky-occurrences tale, crossed with a Don Bluth movie. For you see, the paranormal investigators in this tale aren’t humans or tormented human/monster halfbreeds, but neighborhood dogs and cats.
This is not like Ghostbusters, however, and it’s not for kids (unless you and your kids are cool and can handle such things). This comic has several outright gory moments, not to mention moments where you don’t see anything and it’s a helluva lot worse. Even worse for any child’s mind than gratuitous violence, the animals often use (gasp!) foul language. Even disregarding the superficial parental boogeymen of violence and obscenities, the book is more like Watership Down then Bugs Bunny. You will cry at least once while reading this book.
I just realized, I’ve been hawking comics while neglecting to mention the artwork of any of them. I should get on that. Ahem.
OH MY GOD THE ART IN THIS IS AMAZING. It’s all watercolor paintings by the amazing Jill Thompson (of Scary Godmother fame).
OH WOW OH WOW LOOK AT THIS
The only big drawback to this book is the abrupt ending. Hopefully, Mr. Dorkin and Ms. Thompson are following it up!
Mysterius the Unfathomable
You know by now that I’m not a big fan of belief in the supernatural in real life. But damn howdy, do I love it in my comics!
Plot rehash: After covering a seance gone wrong, reporter Ella discovers that the womanizing jerk Mysterius is not only a real semi-ageless magician, but that she’s predestined to be the newest in a long line of assistants. A plot involving witches, hellish dimensions, a children’s book author, a cult figurehead, and all sorts of goofy stuff follows.
This book is freaking hilarious, the art is like stuff from MAD magazine (i.e., good), and the story and characters are all top notch.
Mysterius is especially great for those who are into stage magic (you hear that Joe?) as well as the plain old occult. A lot of characters in this book have real-life counterparts in the world of magic, such as David Blaine and Anton Levay. My favorite is John Darby, an obvious take on James Randi of the $1 Million Paranormal Challenge. Of course, in this book he’s a big, mean, unreasonable jerkass that all skeptics in supernatural fiction are. Reports tell me that James Randi is actually a swell, charming fellow. I hope I can confirm it for myself at this year’s Skepticon.
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