Meta tags:

Headings (most frequently used words):

may, 2011, new, post, tcj, of, high, low, tuesday, comics, minis, review, from, the, minicomics, sunday, thursday, monday, my, top, and, volume, 31, 29, 26, 23, friday, 20, 17, wednesday, 11, saturday, support, patreon, just, click, below, 75, blogs, about, me, donate, via, paypal, followers, other, writings, news, commentary, blog, archive, subscribe, to, various, artist, sites, sequart, 159, heroes, con, melvin, monster, taking, stock, smoo, public, service, susie, cagle, exploring, past, with, colleen, frakes, nomi, kane, another, worthy, kickstarter, effort, zak, sally, habitat, developments, arrested, mid, life, reunion, trials, sir, christopher, aaron, cockle, at, 25, 2010, blammo, tomb, horrors, dungeon, quest, laura, terry, ross, wood, studlar, bill, volk, sean, ford, steve, seck,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (523), and (265), that (165), his (144), with (116), her (83), this (82), for (70), from (62), are (62), there (57), was (55), she (54), comics (52), more (51), but (51), story (51), has (44), about (40), one (36), like (36), new (35), who (35), may (34), work (31), out (31), much (30), page (30), line (30), first (29), comic (29), book (29), cagle (25), their (25), while (25), issue (25), not (25), life (24), time (24), some (24), what (22), rob (21), #frakes (21), have (21), because (21), they (21), how (21), them (21), reader (21), when (20), see (20), characters (19), than (19), had (19), all (18), clough (18), him (18), own (18), being (18), here (18), july (17), august (17), bit (17), art (17), where (17), narrative (17), even (17), its (17), panel (17), december (16), june (16), september (16), october (16), november (16), minicomics (16), kane (16), posted (16), series (16), pages (16), particular (16), character (16), way (16), comments (15), february (15), march (15), april (15), labels (15), both (15), these (15), stories (15), ollmann (15), olsen (15), minis (14), 2011 (14), part (14), into (14), were (14), january (13), volume (13), review (13), cockle (13), especially (13), best (13), also (13), gets (13), experience (13), girard (13), artist (12), post (12), tcj (12), will (12), humor (12), form (12), makes (12), been (12), self (12), lot (12), two (12), most (12), island (12), little (11), seck (11), mini (11), young (11), just (11), sense (11), interesting (11), cartoonist (11), eye (11), which (11), different (11), well (11), daly (11), every (11), times (11), simon (11), high (10), second (10), center (10), other (10), any (10), can (10), get (10), clear (10), only (10), quite (10), uses (10), world (10), terry (9), over (9), very (9), each (9), would (9), take (9), style (9), off (9), after (9), throughout (9), next (9), through (9), drawn (9), making (9), men (9), feel (9), less (9), single (9), doesn (9), langridge (9), fred (9), ford (8), something (8), funny (8), great (8), simple (8), end (8), point (8), others (8), order (8), many (8), those (8), personal (8), use (8), future (8), panels (8), storytelling (8), indeed (8), going (8), sally (7), ullman (7), party (7), john (7), colleen (7), laura (7), top (7), another (7), heroes (7), con (7), full (7), sometimes (7), living (7), good (7), still (7), around (7), volk (7), always (7), nature (7), trying (7), down (7), given (7), say (7), kind (7), creating (7), along (7), far (7), white (7), space (7), really (7), strips (7), reunion (7), approach (7), family (7), low (6), cartoon (6), cartoonists (6), dungeon (6), christopher (6), past (6), nomi (6), public (6), monster (6), home (6), ccs (6), drawing (6), thick (6), park (6), feels (6), people (6), action (6), create (6), could (6), talking (6), able (6), studlar (6), long (6), collection (6), nice (6), try (6), touch (6), fight (6), nine (6), final (6), actual (6), detail (6), themselves (6), fact (6), information (6), person (6), group (6), ways (6), feeling (6), such (6), loose (6), images (6), scenes (6), used (6), thought (6), bacon (6), zak (5), steve (5), joe (5), studies (5), atom (5), posts (5), 2010 (5), quest (5), mid (5), blog (5), reading (5), number (5), figure (5), expressive (5), draws (5), key (5), set (5), underground (5), years (5), brownie (5), charles (5), slightly (5), hilarious (5), fights (5), wife (5), sort (5), mostly (5), visual (5), recent (5), right (5), sees (5), fashion (5), heart (5), instead (5), having (5), short (5), terms (5), lake (5), several (5), wants (5), together (5), read (5), anthology (5), superhero (5), takes (5), light (5), continue (5), didn (5), manages (5), whose (5), food (5), though (5), books (5), deal (5), fantasy (5), punchline (5), third (5), text (5), old (5), aspects (5), real (5), said (5), few (5), king (5), curious (5), himself (5), tries (5), gag (5), tell (5), state (5), smalls (5), feelings (5), image (5), herself (5), government (5), gallons (5), longstreth (5), indy (5), sparkplug (4), sean (4), press (4), michael (4), know (4), ross (4), wood (4), aaron (4), kickstarter (4), effort (4), susie (4), things (4), journal (4), you (4), com (4), including (4), between (4), found (4), draftsman (4), too (4), whole (4), anthropomorphic (4), objects (4), figures (4), lines (4), lost (4), job (4), pathetic (4), adventures (4), relationship (4), true (4), rock (4), tree (4), side (4), same (4), voice (4), bad (4), rambling (4), place (4), effect (4), dialogue (4), level (4), continues (4), already (4), done (4), degree (4), clever (4), left (4), present (4), childhood (4), seems (4), interested (4), longer (4), labored (4), observations (4), amusing (4), alt (4), looks (4), last (4), chapter (4), events (4), environment (4), man (4), head (4), then (4), reveal (4), physical (4), video (4), game (4), actually (4), thing (4), completely (4), visually (4), constant (4), faces (4), nose (4), leaves (4), focus (4), matter (4), member (4), creatures (4), tiny (4), make (4), turns (4), comedy (4), coming (4), woman (4), drawings (4), sequence (4), refers (4), derring (4), wonderfully (4), year (4), silent (4), quality (4), moments (4), finds (4), brings (4), frequently (4), away (4), close (4), certainly (4), caricature (4), crush (4), never (4), without (4), weight (4), gags (4), moment (4), enough (4), did (4), show (4), selling (4), before (4), certain (4), political (4), roommate (4), census (4), maria (4), sputnik (4), wiegle (4), schulz (3), bodega (3), kupperman (3), matt (3), kerschbaum (3), dan (3), questions (3), 2008 (3), blammo (3), trials (3), sir (3), habitat (3), exploring (3), service (3), taking (3), smoo (3), melvin (3), sequart (3), view (3), writer (3), strengths (3), hatching (3), eyes (3), gives (3), cartoony (3), grotesque (3), standard (3), creates (3), follows (3), city (3), friend (3), lives (3), peace (3), flower (3), savage (3), doing (3), reason (3), winds (3), clean (3), course (3), moving (3), conflict (3), energy (3), looking (3), structure (3), feature (3), tend (3), does (3), greatest (3), ridiculous (3), slice (3), shows (3), potential (3), put (3), weird (3), awkward (3), hate (3), bohn (3), bill (3), girl (3), reveals (3), depiction (3), movement (3), using (3), depict (3), engage (3), seeing (3), directly (3), prose (3), slight (3), come (3), clearly (3), version (3), three (3), must (3), despite (3), plot (3), age (3), stranger (3), knights (3), written (3), soper (3), remarkable (3), scene (3), entirely (3), issues (3), sam (3), distinctive (3), career (3), strong (3), storyteller (3), devotion (3), generally (3), song (3), example (3), playing (3), unfold (3), meet (3), understand (3), tuesday (3), beginning (3), adventure (3), main (3), backgrounds (3), couldn (3), likes (3), during (3), giant (3), night (3), starts (3), until (3), explore (3), interview (3), motivations (3), find (3), days (3), wanting (3), latest (3), column (3), related (3), dread (3), atmosphere (3), differing (3), tension (3), huge (3), powerful (3), neat (3), report (3), blacks (3), rendered (3), simply (3), thoughts (3), allowed (3), artists (3), look (3), former (3), otherwise (3), since (3), darker (3), dragon (3), itself (3), someone (3), perhaps (3), want (3), pascal (3), autobiographical (3), children (3), unusual (3), obsessed (3), captions (3), decides (3), delightful (3), help (3), once (3), author (3), lessons (3), etc (3), sure (3), result (3), again (3), youth (3), however (3), tie (3), ends (3), admire (3), fully (3), pretty (3), autobio (3), modern (3), wanted (3), back (3), felt (3), day (3), interest (3), detailed (3), now (3), experiences (3), diabetes (3), working (3), organization (3), greater (3), emotional (3), striking (3), emotions (3), wherein (3), frustration (3), phone (3), fans (3), clown (3), ability (3), classic (3), hope (3), history (3), phase (3), davis (2), secret (2), acres (2), reed (2), mary (2), lauren (2), weinstein (2), kevin (2), huizenga (2), katie (2), ink (2), flog (2), fables (2), evan (2), dorkin (2), dylan (2), chapel (2), hill (2), alex (2), subscribe (2), tomb (2), horrors (2), developments (2), arrested (2), worthy (2), stock (2), 159 (2), 2012 (2), robot6 (2), poopsheet (2), foundation (2), exquisite (2), commentary (2), writings (2), complete (2), available (2), subject (2), sent (2), contact (2), gmail (2), address (2), older (2), graduate (2), crafting (2), slacker (2), cross (2), hide (2), ugly (2), deficiencies (2), rendering (2), technique (2), drunken (2), increasingly (2), manner (2), reminds (2), involves (2), bringing (2), sewer (2), gator (2), social (2), unity (2), business (2), surprisingly (2), pours (2), partly (2), keep (2), stand (2), liven (2), layouts (2), pick (2), reality (2), logic (2), heads (2), funniest (2), trial (2), snake (2), situations (2), lacks (2), development (2), hard (2), sunday (2), casey (2), featuring (2), opening (2), confident (2), techniques (2), across (2), based (2), broken (2), jump (2), attend (2), school (2), unsurprisingly (2), tends (2), forward (2), previous (2), looseness (2), eight (2), crater (2), folklore (2), interests (2), average (2), unique (2), restrained (2), tales (2), myth (2), smart (2), depicting (2), shamash (2), god (2), turn (2), favor (2), whimsical (2), tight (2), combined (2), mind (2), evil (2), similarly (2), guitar (2), unlike (2), stays (2), remarkably (2), fusion (2), enjoyable (2), collected (2), gaskin (2), ken (2), dahl (2), says (2), notes (2), film (2), ultimately (2), destructive (2), human (2), setting (2), burned (2), seen (2), refine (2), composed (2), convention (2), function (2), morning (2), rodent (2), four (2), musician (2), feast (2), sheer (2), commitment (2), meta (2), millennium (2), boy (2), reach (2), forest (2), reasons (2), attention (2), hatched (2), immediately (2), mouth (2), lots (2), area (2), easy (2), follow (2), stoner (2), message (2), combat (2), yet (2), created (2), excellent (2), revealing (2), idea (2), driving (2), behind (2), major (2), experiencing (2), quests (2), encounters (2), absurdism (2), assemble (2), devoted (2), published (2), sensibilities (2), tom (2), spurgeon (2), noah (2), van (2), sciver (2), thursday (2), comment (2), paranoia (2), punchlines (2), diplomat (2), exchange (2), beard (2), levels (2), privilege (2), compositional (2), device (2), jarring (2), made (2), helps (2), worst (2), keeping (2), allows (2), mixed (2), headed (2), negative (2), office (2), possible (2), typically (2), reports (2), account (2), dream (2), creation (2), despair (2), complex (2), stage (2), dune (2), science (2), fiction (2), called (2), our (2), early (2), somewhat (2), odd (2), compared (2), immersive (2), told (2), exceptions (2), annotated (2), born (2), national (2), writing (2), month (2), exercise (2), wit (2), tortured (2), overly (2), imagine (2), tendency (2), move (2), winding (2), happy (2), daughters (2), crisp (2), kills (2), punctuated (2), becoming (2), squiggles (2), bodies (2), isn (2), composition (2), problems (2), carries (2), monday (2), similar (2), accounts (2), successful (2), winner (2), whom (2), lose (2), fifty (2), offend (2), meaning (2), friends (2), positive (2), bold (2), defend (2), half (2), sexy (2), classmates (2), pain (2), legs (2), either (2), genuinely (2), comes (2), went (2), laugh (2), foibles (2), funnier (2), skill (2), filled (2), learned (2), inherent (2), structured (2), obvious (2), intensely (2), hair (2), unfortunate (2), carry (2), brutally (2), wished (2), smaller (2), grid (2), let (2), slow (2), passed (2), due (2), adult (2), should (2), type (2), exactly (2), subtle (2), current (2), centered (2), simultaneously (2), details (2), cliche (2), york (2), lack (2), guilt (2), middle (2), flat (2), leading (2), hotel (2), package (2), plans (2), trip (2), opener (2), lets (2), willingness (2), dunja (2), jankovic (2), anyone (2), columns (2), sammy (2), link (2), known (2), dark (2), uncomfortable (2), usually (2), relative (2), think (2), regarding (2), prison (2), rest (2), preserve (2), decided (2), closing (2), tour (2), ocean (2), incredibly (2), knit (2), memories (2), share (2), documents (2), status (2), growing (2), cleverly (2), vignettes (2), anxiety (2), framework (2), gave (2), lettering (2), design (2), combines (2), obviously (2), talent (2), case (2), car (2), wish (2), tone (2), sugar (2), among (2), variety (2), cause (2), field (2), leftist (2), adds (2), starting (2), bombs (2), non (2), hunger (2), explores (2), decrying (2), problem (2), fnb (2), inspired (2), goes (2), face (2), critique (2), took (2), chain (2), command (2), couple (2), give (2), unclear (2), shown (2), memory (2), eventually (2), period (2), tool (2), audience (2), depictions (2), observational (2), stanley (2), roger (2), alec (2), today (2), movies (2), nude (2), tables (2), row (2), publishers (2), picturebox (2), effects (2), imagination (2), excels (2), underpanting (2), sell (2), soon (2), funnies (2), shifts (2), crustacean (2), bomb (2), bikini (2), horse (2), skip (2), loading, vanessa, trevor, alixopulos, beat, ted, bissette, library, satisfactory, robin, enrico, jackson, raina, telgemeier, percent, meathaus, feazell, fleener, marcel, guldemond, otsu, lillie, carre, skelly, karen, sneider, juliacks, julia, wertz, fart, josh, neufeld, joel, priddy, jesse, reklaw, studs, panthers, podcast, kimpel, fanboy, ellen, lindner, eleanor, horrocks, drew, weing, dean, haspiel, dash, shaw, zettwoch, damien, jay, covered, chuck, forsman, ariel, schrag, robinson, kim, various, sites, 164, 2009, studla, reu, 114, 171, 240, 2013, 182, 2014, 120, 2015, 167, 2016, 177, 2017, 116, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, archive, muster, list, marc, sobel, jog, jeet, heer, worth, reporter, chris, butcher, flume, news, followers, donate, via, paypal, profile, hire, fields, feisty, kiddo, test, kids, receive, happily, robcloughacc, info, blogs, support, patreon, click, below, newer, currently, webcomics, described, clinic, weaknesses, highlighting, competent, unremarkable, relies, shading, detriment, understands, compensates, animals, bizarre, ease, vertical, topped, horizontal, eyebrows, quick, total, mastery, facial, expressions, reactions, mixing, imagery, playbook, forty, breathes, formula, thanks, voices, exploits, beer, bottle, alligator, pond, uptight, reckless, stupid, buddy, bradley, stinky, brown, friendship, antipathy, lowlifes, hypermasculine, idiot, loves, drunk, literal, pissing, matches, challenge, spectrum, common, law, respectively, sets, satire, impotence, aggrandizement, lefty, academic, types, unctuous, marvelously, slimy, manipulating, passive, aggressively, browbeating, mate, correct, ruining, bookstore, mocking, merely, vegan, later, poignant, affecting, invective, deeply, amusingly, flawed, spectacularly, choices, sitting, judgment, negotiates, unemployed, spokesman, protest, organized, responsible, wrecking, interacting, jokes, allow, stretch, limits, peter, bagge, retaining, internal, static, relegate, upper, corners, blunting, impact, crazier, advantage, influenced, looney, tunes, simpson, killing, prospector, donning, disguises, jammed, pops, puns, informs, maintains, higher, manic, grow, humorist, stronger, build, developing, refinement, increasing, difficulty, sweetie, pogo, alumni, wrap, cardstock, cover, girls, front, flap, changes, picture, overall, chops, improved, thinner, zig, zag, semi, auto, bio, liked, resolves, rather, pitying, note, cheer, platitude, unites, petty, revenge, ready, tackle, ranger, happened, step, reviewed, match, small, birds, eagles, leaps, aerie, diving, ducks, plowed, dozen, feet, crystal, devour, fish, piece, connecting, mythology, unpredictable, threatening, storms, hints, anecdotes, linked, prudent, editing, produce, artifact, mythological, compelling, raven, crayfish, avian, edited, grungy, unglamorous, ass, kilter, mesopotamian, justice, midway, ask, grandfather, enlil, insists, potato, chips, trappings, silver, marvel, interpersonal, squabbling, teammates, angst, incantrix, sci, clouding, abilities, defeat, alien, dinosaur, prophecy, turning, exceedingly, fine, breezy, quirky, depicts, electric, crude, golden, week, crank, primitive, wouldn, scores, emerged, encountered, kept, mood, aware, telling, storyline, publisher, released, collections, joseph, lambert, tangentially, won, denouement, explosive, dividing, zombie, win, lucky, alive, literally, society, obliterating, elements, ones, mirror, bleak, shots, desolate, smeared, pencils, eerie, shifting, salvo, beautifully, balanced, demonstrate, newfound, craft, refer, flashier, gimmicky, fold, gimmick, serves, appear, fiddle, gently, nuzzles, wildlife, sleep, wakefulness, tucked, cute, cardboard, pull, dawn, finally, length, wordless, thirty, seconds, folding, unfolding, passage, skin, fantagraphics, unequivocal, delight, role, send, tribute, mere, junk, adventurous, encounter, care, scenarios, straightforward, clue, began, hero, blows, homework, search, suburb, depicted, entered, exciting, lavishes, tremendous, amount, densely, vegetation, loving, monsters, vividly, motion, simpler, dots, squiggle, simplicity, naturally, dense, languid, laughs, employ, visceral, crudeness, capsule, flying, anus, basic, bathroom, presaging, clash, spiders, processing, stoned, contemplating, hoping, better, weed, elaborate, pipes, cocaine, bullying, talks, incongruous, deadly, seriousness, fits, nicely, adventurer, rpg, bored, building, exploration, core, debt, owes, fort, thunder, mat, brinkman, brian, ralph, spaces, fusing, deliberately, aesthetic, force, mimics, acquisition, cataloging, leveling, rush, ancient, ruins, completing, commenting, player, might, serious, infuses, atlantean, resonator, silly, name, distinct, indulging, guess, indications, talky, trondheim, sfar, blunt, directness, teratoid, heights, climbing, listing, plus, represent, arm, elliptical, poetry, suffused, absurd, punctuates, unexpected, proto, reactionaries, visiting, held, concentration, camp, monstrous, wide, conspiracy, bees, prisoner, broccoli, absurdist, defining, providing, leads, killer, minimalist, swaths, bottom, pushing, square, gutters, forces, intentionally, stillness, kinetic, charge, nonetheless, believe, contains, essential, trick, inculcate, expect, fly, detracted, tried, espionage, agents, activities, aims, baffling, shock, acting, grim, notebooks, implied, date, dips, uninked, pencil, media, jamming, reclaiming, possibility, forced, lynda, barry, suck, process, strangle, creativity, lead, simplifying, hopefully, subtitled, listed, includes, micropolitan, sketchy, brendan, leach, favorite, contribute, oblique, futuristic, topics, laurus, offers, yorker, positing, topical, superficial, trends, ray, bruwlheide, floyd, gottfredson, wear, tvs, rhythms, animation, plays, expected, distopic, genuine, pleasure, rae, grant, fourth, dimension, involve, asking, 4th, 5th, dimensional, spheres, engaging, matthew, phelan, bruwelhelde, conventional, narratives, cliched, stakes, capitalist, sara, lautman, scribbly, difficult, fascinated, scribble, fricas, santa, christmas, duck, employing, black, psychedelia, letters, become, coherent, production, values, complementary, styles, chapters, pet, peeve, mine, cohesive, leaving, hanging, bothersome, pterodactyl, hunters, saturday, novel, nanowrimo, consecutive, span, 100, carefully, crafted, multiple, complexity, pleasant, lark, fabulously, conveying, grace, purpose, exercises, excise, precious, ocd, tools, thin, pen, thicker, falls, favored, bailiwick, fractured, fairy, tale, enjoys, mining, edges, endings, hapless, knight, charged, rescue, initially, roundly, defeated, princesses, misadventures, lady, aids, ending, downbeat, sailor, oracle, inadvertently, unleashes, sillier, wandering, hitched, points, contain, substance, fluid, spontaneity, proceedings, curves, bring, selective, drop, expressiveness, irrelevant, conversation, relation, geometric, object, establishes, success, flow, smooth, nor, beautiful, model, solve, fast, quarterly, approaches, deprecatory, flagellating, emotionally, stunted, facing, crises, creative, license, stitch, emphasize, humorously, protagonists, faced, ten, dad, smitten, music, performer, dissatisfied, bourgeois, perfectly, satisfying, nagging, ideal, predictable, appearance, sabotage, fantasies, wind, humiliating, spectacular, torn, sketchbook, separations, open, organic, relaxed, belies, relentlessness, comedic, assault, upon, introduces, stubbly, presence, considered, lured, email, harbored, hides, girlfriend, pounds, triggers, yiddish, schlemiel, schlemazel, annoy, acquaintances, luck, 156, material, embues, trait, your, protagonist, thoroughly, loathsome, throw, cruel, exaggerated, chin, sweat, stains, clothes, preparing, anticipating, facebook, photos, fantasizes, desired, lucie, tooth, cramping, loses, ignore, wart, finger, jutting, jaw, ever, pronounced, everyone, dinner, dragged, embarrassing, socks, holes, shoes, arrives, overdressed, proceeds, abuse, abused, ignores, interrupts, conversations, overreacts, perceived, slights, climax, cramps, glasses, friendly, squirms, bench, photo, lectures, focusing, appearances, worried, cop, namesake, pat, learning, piles, topper, grind, dependent

Text of the page (random words):
opener for him and he owed his wife honesty sure there s a plot derailing bit at the end but it still feels a bit like ollmann lets his character off the hook more than a little and certainly much more than girard did there s still a lot to like in this book and i admire ollmann s willingness to flog himself for humor as much as he did but the book would have benefited from a less is more approach posted by rob clough at 12 31 am no comments labels drawn and quarterly joe ollmann pascal girard monday may 9 2011 new post the trials of sir christopher the trials of sir christopher by colleen frakes is a collection of two stories born out of national novel writing month nanowrimo written in drawn in consecutive years in the span of a month frakes created a 100 page story from beginning to end as such this book has the feel of a drawing writing exercise more than a carefully crafted work with multiple levels of complexity compared to frakes woman king for example this book is little more than a pleasant lark that said there s much to like here the art throughout is fabulously loose and expressive conveying information with grace and wit no line feels tortured or overly labored which i imagine is the purpose of exercises like this to excise an artist s tendency to be overly precious or ocd about particular panels or lines and instead focus on images that move along the narrative frakes clearly uses different tools for each of the stories the first story looks like it s drawn with a thin line pen while the second story is drawn using a thicker line looking more like frakes standard work the book very much falls into frakes favored storytelling bailiwick the fractured fairy tale frakes enjoys mining the darker edges of such stories with few of her stories winding up with happy endings the narrative follows a slightly hapless knight who s charged by his king to rescue his daughters from a dragon he initially is roundly defeated by the dragon who has already burned the princesses to a crisp after a series of misadventures a lady in the lake aids him and he kills the dragon the ending is quite downbeat even as it s punctuated by odd moments of humor the second issue finds christopher becoming a sailor and going to an island where he encounters an oracle and inadvertently unleashes a monster this chapter is sillier than the first and there seems to be a lot of wandering around hitched to a few plot points if the story itself doesn t contain much substance the actual storytelling is remarkably fluid the spontaneity of frakes line brings a lot of life to the proceedings her thick squiggles and curves bring christopher to life and her selective use of backgrounds creates a world for him to explore the backgrounds frequently drop away on the page when we close in on christopher talking to someone but the expressiveness of those scenes makes that irrelevant there are few true talking head scenes when there s a conversation we generally see full bodies and the characters do something interesting in relation to each other creating a geometric space in those panels between the characters and perhaps a single object establishes a nice tension that makes the reader want to keep going even if there isn t true action on the page that tension may well be the key to this book s success the actual panel to panel flow isn t especially smooth nor are the actual fight scenes but the beautiful panel composition is a model of how to solve storytelling problems i ll be curious to see how she carries over these fast moving techniques to her future work posted by rob clough at 4 41 am no comments labels ccs colleen frakes saturday may 7 2011 new post minicomics from aaron cockle annotated 6 by aaron cockle and derring do 5 derring dune represent a new arm of elliptical storytelling and comics as poetry cockle s latest issue of his one man anthology annotated may be his best yet as always his comics are suffused with dread paranoia and the absurd but this issue punctuates this atmosphere with unexpected punchlines the first story the proto reactionaries is about a diplomat visiting a writer held in some kind of concentration camp the two men exchange information about some kind of monstrous world wide conspiracy the diplomat has a beard of bees while the prisoner has a beard composed of broccoli that tiny absurdist touch not only winds up defining the differing levels of privilege of the two men as well as providing a point of tension it also leads to a killer punchline throughout this mini cockle uses a more minimalist line and an interesting compositional device every page has huge but even swaths of white space at the top and bottom pushing the panels into a single square in the center of each page thick gutters make it easy to go from panel to panel but the way cockle forces the eye in the action of the page in its center is intentionally jarring despite the stillness of his storytelling style indeed this comic lacks a kinetic charge the reader is nonetheless made to believe that every single panel contains powerful essential information it s a neat trick that helps inculcate that sense of dread and paranoia in the reader making them expect the worst on any given page keeping his art and figures simple also allows the reader to fly from panel to panel in the past cockle s deficiencies as a draftsman sometimes detracted from the atmosphere he tried to create take for example this is another slice of espionage mixed with absurdism as two agents report to giant headed creatures about the activities of a group of people cockle s use of negative space and blacks here aims at baffling the reader until the final reveal and punchline turns this into an office comedy the figures are rendered as simply as possible with the reveal of the giant headed creatures coming as a shock but acting in a matter of fact fashion 1 15 is a more typically grim cockle story about a report on a woman who makes reports in notebooks it s implied that the third person narrative is really a first person account of her own thoughts visually it s the most interesting thing cockle has done to date as he dips into uninked pencil drawings for a dream sequence and mixed media combined with text jamming in a panel about reclaiming old text at its heart this story is about the possibility of creation and being forced to deal with what lynda barry refers to as the two questions is this good do i suck in the process of trying to create these are the questions that strangle creativity and lead to despair by simplifying his line cockle has allowed more complex aspects of his work to take center stage hopefully we will continue to see him continue to refine his line derring do 5 subtitled derring dune is listed as the science fiction issue the anthology includes cockle s here called the micropolitan as well as a wonderfully sketchy story by brendan leach whose pterodactyl hunters was a favorite comic from last year most of the other artists contribute wonderfully oblique stories that each touch on futuristic topics in different ways laura laurus offers two future strips from the new yorker positing a kind of topical humor based on superficial future trends ray bruwlheide s work uses floyd gottfredson style art in its depiction of a future where we all wear tvs on our heads that depict our thoughts it s a silent story that uses the the rhythms of early animation that plays out in an expected distopic fashion but is a genuine pleasure to look at michael rae grant s fourth dimension strips which involve asking 4th and 5th dimensional creatures what it s like in their spheres turns out to be hilarious and visually engaging matthew phelan s story and bruwelhelde s party are far more conventional narratives with the former in particular feeling somewhat cliched in creating its high stakes future capitalist atmosphere sara lautman s strips are scribbly to a degree where it can be difficult to engage them though i was fascinated by the nature of that scribble katie fricas santa s first christmas is an odd duck even compared to the other stories employing white on black psychedelia with an immersive quality as its letters become part of the art all told this is a surprisingly coherent minicomics anthology with nice production values and differing but complementary styles of art and storytelling the only real negative is that several of these stories were the first chapters of longer stories which is a pet peeve of mine for anthology series with some exceptions in what was otherwise a cohesive reading experience leaving the reader hanging was bothersome especially since one was left wanting more posted by rob clough at 4 10 am 1 comment labels aaron cockle ccs thursday may 5 2011 new high low at tcj top 25 minicomics of 2010 here s my latest column at the comics journal listing the top 25 minis of 2010 plus some other related comics posted by rob clough at 1 38 pm no comments labels minicomics tcj new review tcj blammo 7 here s my review of noah van sciver s blammo 7 over at the comics journal posted by rob clough at 1 37 pm no comments labels noah van sciver tcj new post tomb of horrors dungeon quest volume 2 joe daly s comics are an unequivocal delight the second volume of his role playing video game send up and tribute dungeon quest is a visual feast from beginning to end of course this feast may be mere junk food but his sheer commitment to the adventurous reality that his characters encounter makes the reader care about the most ridiculous of scenarios this volume is actually far more straightforward as an adventure story than the first volume it s much less meta for one thing a new reader would have no clue that the story began when main hero millennium boy blows off his homework in search of adventure in his suburb by the time we reach the forest depicted in volume 2 it s as though he and his party have entered a completely different world dungeon quest is visually exciting for two reasons first daly lavishes a tremendous amount of attention and detail on action backgrounds and setting the forest is densely hatched and cross hatched the vegetation is given loving detail the monsters are vividly drawn and in constant motion second the characters themselves are drawn in a cartoony style that draws the eye to them immediately their faces in particular couldn t be any simpler dots for eyes a line for a mouth and a squiggle for a nose that simplicity leaves lots of white space in the area of the characters faces naturally drawing in the eye to focus in on them that one technique makes every fight easy to follow no matter how dense the action while there s less of the languid stoner sort of humor in this volume that s not to say that there s not a lot of laughs to be found daly likes to employ a matter of fact and visceral crudeness in his stories from a message capsule flying out of one character s anus during a fight to basic bathroom humor presaging a clash with giant spiders in between combat daly has his characters engage in information processing in the form of stoner slacker humor the party gets stoned one night while contemplating their adventures hoping that they will get even better weed and more elaborate pipes in the future after another fight one character gets high on cocaine and starts bullying another party member until millennium boy talks him down the dialogue is incongruous with the deadly seriousness of the fights themselves yet fits in nicely with the world daly has created at heart every adventurer in a rpg is a bored person who s looking to explore their world world building and exploration of a space is at the core of dungeon quest in an excellent and revealing interview with tom spurgeon daly reveals the debt he owes to fort thunder cartoonists like mat brinkman and brian ralph books like climbing out and teratoid heights feature simple characters with simple motivations who explore spaces and deal with the creatures they find by fusing this idea more deliberately with the video game aesthetic that s also a driving force behind this comic daly creates an experience that mimics the experience of driving a character or characters through their world down to the acquisition and cataloging of objects as well as leveling up after a major fight while the characters are experiencing the rush of exploring ancient ruins and completing quests there s also the sense that they are experiencing and commenting on this experience the way a video game player might while the encounters and fights are serious daly infuses the whole comic with a sense of absurdism from the nature of one of their quests to assemble an atlantean resonator guitar to the silly name of the objects they pick up that interview notes that daly wants each volume to have its own distinct feel with some being devoted to fights and others indulging in more humor and one would guess meta humor it s clear that this volume is one that was all about fights and there are indications that the next volume will be more talky while there are a number of alt comics fantasy series being published these days with trondheim sfar s dungeon the best daly s fusion of underground comics sensibilities with the blunt directness of the video game playing experience is unique and leaves the reader wanting more posted by rob clough at 8 41 am no comments labels fantagraphics joe daly tuesday may 3 2011 new post minis from laura terry ross wood studlar bill volk sean ford here are some recent minicomics by alumni from the center for cartoon studies stranger knights by bill volk mary soper casey bohn this is a slight but amusing anthology edited by volk an artist who seems drawn to a grungy and unglamorous version of folklore and myth making all three feature smart ass and off kilter superhero stories volk uses a clear and clean line in depicting the adventures of shamash the mesopotamian god of justice midway through the story takes a left turn as he must go home to ask a favor of his grandfather enlil who insists that he try some potato chips despite the story s whimsical trappings it has the tight plot of a silver age marvel story right down to the interpersonal squabbling of shamash s superhero teammates in the stranger knights that light touch combined with just a touch of angst continues in the volk written soper drawn story of incantrix x this is a sci fi superhero story about a character who uses her mind clouding abilities to defeat alien dinosaur men but is given a prophecy about turning evil in the future soper s line is expressive and exceedingly fine which gives the whole story a breezy feel bohn s work is similarly quirky as he depicts the adventures of a superhero who uses an electric guitar to fight evil his art is crude not unlike a golden age cartoonist who had a week to crank out a nine page story but it has a primitive energy and stays remarkably clear i wouldn t say that stranger knights is a remarkable comic given the...