Review: The Littel Dragun.

The Littel Dragun. 
Chris Downes. 
Self-published, 2010, 20pp, A6. 
www.sirwdchosen.blogspot.com  

With mini-comics currently appearing in my mail box from the latest incarnation of The Mini Comic of the Month Club, it seemed appropriate that I post up this review from one of the minis I got from it's initial iteration. The Mini Comic of the Month Club was a simple and brilliant idea from Australian comics and zine maker Pat Grant (original pitch here). (Caveat: Maybe it wasn't his idea, maybe he appropriated the idea. Regardless…) Basically, I joined the club for $20, and then received a mini comic in the mail every month for 12 months. (Or that was the plan anyway.) There was a limit to the number of members (50 I think, including the 12 contributors), which added an alluring tinge of exclusivity to the whole deal. The fact that the mini is delivered in the mail each and every month adds a lovely sense of anticipation too, waiting for an exciting little comic book jewel that could arrive at any time. Andrew Fulton has resurrected the idea and the gems are currently arriving ever four weeks or so now. If you see this being offered again (maybe at the end of the year, or next year) jump on it. 

The first mini that I received was by Chris Downes titled The Littel Dragun. (The misspelling is intentional, cute, and persistent throughout the equally cute mini comic.) Downes is an amazingly talented illustrator from Tennessee, USA, now residing in Tasmania. I feel a little mean reviewing this mini because I don't think there's any other way to get it except at the time through The Mini Comic of the Month Club, so I'll be brief but glowing in the hope that you'll track down other things that Downes might do in the future. 

From the personalised title page all the way through to the hilarious ending, this is indeed a little gem. Quick, witty, cute, surprising, and charming. I tend to feel that it may have been quite quickly created, but there's no complaints about that, as that's probably an important factor in the writing of it. The cartoony art has a chunky, rushed line, a brevity of detail, only depicting what's necessary, and a cute style that plays directly into the faux-storybook plot and telling. Using a landscape A6 format, Downes has a maximum of three panels on a page, but prefers to stick to just one. As such you would think the story moves very quickly through the 16 pages, but due to the captivating nature of the drawings and the great acting, you can't help but slow down to take it all in. That is, until the final few pages which really fly by, appropriately, to the hilarious crashing halt. A very well crafted tryst.

The aforementioned title page is but one small part of the greatly appreciated attention to detail and design for this — good lettering that is story-supportive, nice "end-papers", design elements like an ex libris page and corner frames on the front and back covers, etc. 

So as a reader hopefully now interested in picking up a copy of this comic that's not available to you, I do suggest that you get along to Downes' blog, where he currently mostly posts his editorial cartooning, and see what other comics he may have there for you to enjoy. 

Above: Trevor and the Littel Dragun. I did this totally digitally on a Wacom DTF-720 digitising screen. 

Review: Love Puppets #s 2 & 3.

Love Puppets #s 2 & 3. 
Jessica McLeod and Edward J. Grug III. 
Monster Robot Industries, 2008 and 2009, 24pp each, A5, about $5 each.  
http://www.etsy.com/listing/27943488/love-puppets-3-pack-with-badges
http://www.webcomicsnation.com/jessica/
http://www.webcomicsnation.com/grug/

Although I'm reviewing both of these issues at the one time, they are a little different from each other. Love Puppets #2 and #3 don't feature the same characters or storyline, but they are both created by McLeod & Grug, and they both inhabit the same world — a world where everybody are puppets. That's the interesting and catchy thing about this series: all the characters are some sort of puppet; a glove puppet, a string puppet, a full-costume puppet, etc., but definitely a puppet. Why is that? No reason I suppose. A stylistic choice would be my guess, just as some people draw comics where all the characters are animals for no reason other than stylistic choice. I suppose there's also the possibility of a shortcut to character and personality through the type/look of puppet. Or maybe the 'G' simply fell off the term 'Glove Puppets'? It definitely makes the whole thing a heck of a lot cuter! And boy, is it cute! 

Issue 2 is a lovely tale that takes place in the same café as issue 1 did (if I remember correctly), and concerns the boss, a book signing, and food. To say any more would probably give too much away because, although these comics are about 24 pages long each, they're definitely quick reads, which, as well as being light and airy, are quite linear and to the point plot-wise. This is not a complaint, it's storytelling that's well suited here, successfully getting the single-issue tale satisfyingly told. To be honest, my memory of finishing issue 1 was that it looked like I was in for a continuing soap opera style storyline, and I'm pleasantly surprised that it's not the case; I'd much rather see what other inhabitants of the Love Puppets world are also up to. 

While issue 2 is quite cute and quaint, issue 3 has a slightly darker tone to it. I really hesitate to use the word "darker" at all because really there's almost nothing in these comics that could be called dark in any way, they're so lovely. Issue 3 however does feature a character who's quite distasteful and a sexual opportunist, which puts more of an anxious edge to the general feeling of the issue.

The art in both is bold and cartoony, with an unlaboured mono-weight pen line throughout, sometimes with a thicker line for emphasis or to make a character stand out from the background. The layouts are all clear and usually easy to read. It's all very unpretentious and honest with not a ruled line or computer typeface in sight, which helps add to its likeable indy flavour. 

For a bunch of "puppets", there's an awful lot of emoting and acting on each page. A lot of this is due to pacing and layout, with a fearless use of silent panels at the right times and places. A lot of it is also due to nice character work and acting in the drawing. It may be simplistic in style, but I think deceptively so, with so much information, both plot and emotion, being communicated very directly. There are a few times where the draftsmanship looked a little on the clumsy side for my liking, but I'm sure that would once again be chalked up to the indy style of the work, and I only noted it in a panel here or there. 

Between the two of them, issue 2 was my favourite, if only because of the lovely way the story unfolds – cockle-warming, if you know what I mean. That being said, it's certainly not as if issue 3 is a disappointment in any way, just a different story with a different set-up.  

The cute style, idiosyncratic story telling, and the effortless way the puppet characters are made believable make these books worth your while picking up or ordering from the creators. I enjoyed them and so did my (then) 11 year old daughter. Make sure you get number 1 while you're at it too.

Review: In For The Krill #s 1 & 2.

In For The Krill #s 1 & 2. 
Jill Brett and Greg Holfeld. 
Panic Productions.  
inforthekrill.blogspot.com.au
www.panicproductions.com.au

This is a really fun and interesting comic. It centres around Max, a haiku writing emperor penguin who smells a rat. Killer whales are making deals with seals; sea life is turning up dead with strange canisters tied to their necks; penguins are being strangled before being eaten; the supply of fish has just run out; and no one's talking. A mystery is afoot, and Max is the only one who can see that it's all somehow related. 

In For The Krill is one of those good comics that just doesn't have enough pages. I got to the end of each issue before I realising it, wondering why it was so short, only to find that there was actually over 30 pages of story in each! There's two reasons for this: the style of the story-telling; and it's high quality. This high quality means that "time flies when you're having fun". 

The story-telling style is certainly never overly wordy, and often whole scenes – pages worth – are totally wordless. This makes time fly as well since it has a tendency to burn through pages, but it's the brave kind of "let the pictures tell the story" type of story telling that I like. There are plenty of silent "pause" panels, pregnant with acting and meaning, never wasted or useless, but always important steps in the playing of the scene. There's also many scenes of very good dialogue and witty, revealing interplay between characters. These do a great job of naturally presenting character, personality, motivation and the relationships not only between the characters but also to the whole setting and plot, while being entertaining in their own right along the way. 

In the first issue we're given large amounts of backstory and character history in very economical and enjoyable ways: some poetry, some action, some banter, some animosity. We learn that the main character is penguina-non-grata, has a penchant for haiku and conspiracy, and regardless of past indiscretions still seems to engender loyalty from at least one friend and a politically/socially powerful ex-girlfriend. That's an awful lot of character info delivered extraordinarily painlessly. 

There's a number of times where staging and exposition get downright and wonderfully surreal! There's a sense of theatre (stage and audience) in these particular passages, and a narrator-like soliloquy to their delivery. It's done boldly, with no hint of apology, and as such this reader happily accepts the conceit. I found it refreshing and very agreeable. 

The story employs that strange but wonderful type of anthropomorphism that puts the animal characters very much in their natural habitat but also builds in the trappings of human society. For example, they're definitely living on an arctic ice shelf, but they also have an art deco styled bar and night club with the societal customs that go along with it: bouncers, barmen, etc. 

I love the art. The character designs are solid, elegant, dashing and forceful, with plenty of scope for the type of rubbery faces and movement you might see in a Looney Tunes cartoon. Holfeld's animation experience shows in the fabulous character drawing and acting. His energetic drawing gives the characters wonderful exaggeration in physicality and expression that matches the story and cartoon exaggeration of the plot. And there's as much fluidity, stretch, malleability and intelligent design to each page and panel as there is to the drawing of the characters. We're often treated to some wonderfully classy and clever seamless scene transitions utilising the sweep of characters, action, and/or other shapes to do what might otherwise have been don with a wipe or dissolve if this were a moving picture. 

There's a solidity to the line, a concrete strength, even as it flows and bends and has life, which creates volume and weight to characters and environments. It looks like it may be a combination of dip pen and brushwork. There's a complete absence of cross hatching or feathering, with just enough actual linework curving around forms to give them interest, style and volume. Solid, weighty blacks anchor a lot of the panels and in turn, the figures within the panels. Unbroken expanses of white not only evoke the environmental setting but often are used for the sake of simplicity and clarity as well. 

It's a black and white comic and there's a large amount of skill being shown in the design and layout of the pages. The drawing often employs omissions of linework, leaving the indication and implication of solid form to the tapering off of contours or solid blacks or the judicial use of silhouettes. This is all in unison with the well employed use of black and white, in large doses and small, as positive or negative space, in detail or the complete lack of it: all adding up to interesting, purposeful, story driven drawing. 

Holfeld seems to have that uncanny ability to enable the words coming out of a characters mouths to immediately have a tone and accent, and not just because of the witty writing and dialogue from he and Brett, but also because each character design makes it so. Not easy when working with the seemingly invariable look of the Antarctic emperor penguin, but done delightfully throughout creating a unique look and voice for each of the principals as well as almost any incidental character that has a speaking part. 

The easiest way to get a hold of In For The Krill is probably via the Panic Productions website, and it's well worth the effort. I have read the first two issues, but I've just bought numbers three and four. I can only hope that forthcoming issues are created faster than these first four, but regardless, you do yourself a disservice if you don't pick these ones up.

Review: Lumpen #8

Lumpen #8.

By Pat Grant.

Published by Pat Grant.

patgrantart.com

"Lumpen" is the name Pat Grant gave to his ongoing series of zines and comics, of which this is #8. I assume most of them were available where you would normally buy zines and the like, but this particular edition was only available through another of Grant's brainchilds; The Mini Comic of the Month Club — a limited edition subscription to a different creator's mini-comic every month for a year during 2010. (http://www.patgrantart.com/mcotm/page.html)

As might be expected from a true zinester, this has a real hand-made quality to it, from the pages that were obviously hand trimmed, to the silk-screened cardboard covers that look like they may even be left over off-cuts from previous projects.

The story is witty and whimsical, with a tinge of Dr. Seuss. Is it a commentary on the west's obsession with ownership, especially of land? Is it a commentary on the fleetness and ultimate futility of life? Or perhaps it's simply a humourous story, making a few wry observations about growing up and growing old. Regardless, it's well crafted and well told.

The artwork is very simple — really only stick figures — but the characters are imbued with amazing life and expression. To do any more with the art, to be more elaborate or ornate, would only detract from the "silent movie", pantomime feel of it all which is not only charming, but also helps make a potent distillation of the character's journey over the 20 pages. This style of cartooning, and of course the addition of a top hat, gives it an almost timeless feel.

The format is A6, and being reasonably there's a lot of whole-page panels. These are never used lazily however, always appropriately in service of the story. There are also numerous pages where multiple panels per page are used as required by the pacing needed for the storytelling.

It's a quaint little gem of a comic (although Grant calls it a zine, even though I think it's obviously a comic) and even though you couldn't get it except through The Mini Comic of the Month Club, Grant has made a number of other brilliant little zines and comics. Of course he currently has a magnum opus on the stands called Blue which I'll no doubt review sooner or later. Get along to his website and see what takes your fancy.

http://patgrantart.bigcartel.com/

Review: Digested.01

Digested.01.

By Bobby Nenadovic.

Published by Gestalt Publishing.

http://www.bobbyn.com/

http://www.gestaltcomics.com/

http://www.gestaltcomics.com/store/digested/

I've tried to keep an eye on Bobby Nenadovic's work for a number of years now, but from what I can remember his published pieces before this had been pretty sporadic. That's why I was so pleased to hear that he was finally going to begin some serialised publishing — a commitment to getting stuff out there on some sort of a regular basis. Not that commitment is an issue when it comes to Nenadovic, as I believe he is a diligent creator and that he works quite hard on his comics. I think that's really paying off here.

This first issue of Digested is made up of three parts: the lead piece which will be a serialised, long-form story; two short, self-contained stories; and then a text piece which is a conversation between Nenadovic and Tom Bonnin, another Australian comics creator.

Nenadovic's art style is cartoony, and quite idiosyncratic. Although his cartoon style may seem broad, it's also quite calculated and finely presented. He obviously loves the black & white medium and really knows how to use his fine pen line, spotting of blacks and cross-hatching/grey-toning. The cartoon style, black & white art, conforming to a grid, and deft use of silent and/or repeated panels are all ingredients that Nenadovic knows how to employ for well paced, well told, quirky stories. Add to this the ability for his characters to do some wonderful acting, either in broad, cartoony sweeps or with more subtle and fine mannerisms, and the storytelling is very enjoyable and accomplished.

The presentation of Digested is very handsome. It's a square format floppy of 24 pages, with a colour cover, all professionally printed on quality, low-gloss paper. Nenadovic's ability as a graphic designer is evidenced in the design of the whole thing — it's nicely understated and straightforward, much like his cartooning and storytelling. It makes for a very smart package.

It's hard to comment on the story content of the opening pages, which are the beginning of the ongoing serialisation of "Oxygen", as there's almost nothing of it. Looks good, but the story could be absolutely anything at this stage.

The second section has two shorts, which are good, well told stories in themselves, but I'm not overly keen on the the whole genre of short autobio pieces that often leave a story feeling half finished. The first one here, an overheard conversation called "Train Ride", does finish with what I would call an ending, while the second short, "First Date" ends just at the point where the hinted mystery hits an interesting high. Sure it's a "Wha--?!?" kind of moment, but I really really want to see how that then is played out — how did the characters involved handle the revelation in the last panel and what are the consequences? If I were being told this story at the pub or over lunch I'd certainly be asking "So what did you do then?!? What happened next?!?" I simply feel like it's a story begun but not finished.

The final section of the issue is an interesting exchange via email between Nenadovic and comics creator Tom Bonin about their influences, practices and other thoughts about comics. Worth reading, to be sure, and a great addition to the book as a whole, but I'd rather be reading comics. (My last comment there is a little tongue-in-cheek obviously. I'm here for the comics Bobby!)

Probably the only disappointing thing about Digested #1 is that it's very short at 24 pages, and somewhat dissatisfying in that. It's a good thing that I'm dissatisfied with that because it means I was enjoying the work so much that I wanted more than the 15 pages of comics therein, but dissatisfied none-the-less. That's not to say that I feel ripped off, at only $2.95 it's certainly not too expensive for the quality that is on each and every page of art and production.

I was certainly looking forward to issue 2 and beyond at this stage, and I'm so glad several issues have materialised since this first. All of them are well worth buying, and that is most easily done through the Gestalt Publishing website. Get the whole series! http://www.gestaltcomics.com/store/digested/

Review: Kookabarry: The Collected Strips.

Kookabarry: The Collected Strips.

David Follett.

www.davidfollett.com

I don't usually buy books that are collections of comic strips. In fact I almost never do. I don't have anything against strips as such, but I'm definitely a comic book (or graphic novel) kind of guy, not a comic strip kind of guy. I bent that rule at a Supanova Sydney by picking up a copy of David Follett's collection of Kookabarry strips from the cartoonist himself. I was buying just about everything else he had for sale, so I thought I may as well get it too. I'm glad I did.

The reason why I was buying up everything Follett had on offer was the brilliant quality of the artwork. As a cartoonist he is world-class, with slick, inky brushwork that invokes the feeling of classic 'toon illustration but still has as a very modern style to it. His art is, in a word, tops!

However, the reason I don't often buy collections like this is that I'm not a fan of the gag-a-day, stop-and-start feeling of reading such things. That being said, Follett had me amused through most of this book, especially with attempting to produce continuing 'story lines' at various times, while effectively gaining multiple laughs from the one situation. That's not a new technique in comic strips, but certainly one used well here.

The strip follows the antics and interactions of a group of outback animals. Louise the koala, Sebastian the platypus, Grub the witchetty grub, and of course Kookabarry the kookaburra, to name only a few of the largish cast. It's one of those strips where, despite the naturalistic setting, playing cards, picture frames and other human props are on hand if needed. Some of the punchlines may be a little obvious, but most of the time Follett delivers the funny, and often he does so with a slight pinch of satire or commentary.

The other notable point is the lovely Aussie feel to the art and writing. I know the animal characters are all obviously Australian, but there's something beyond that in the line-work and dialogue which also marks this as plainly, but not obtrusively, Australian in a great, positive way.

This 52 page book (printed on recycled paper) collects everything that was printed in Sydney's Sunday Telegraph as well as a run of strips not seen before (a satirical dig at modern art), and has a cover price of $8. I'm not sure that you can buy Kookabarry: The Collected Strips by itself, but there is an option to buy it along with some of Follett's other fabulous work on his blog here: davefolletto.blogspot.com (look for the 'COMPLETE COMICS PACKAGE!' in the sidebar). Or drop him a line through his website. It's well worth the read.

Above: An illustration I did for the heck of it featuring Barry, a goanna, and of course Greener Pastures' Trevor.