The Unforgiven

 

I had the pleasure of meeting Tyler Ruff last March at Wizard World St. Louis.  It was there that I received copies of his comic, The Unforgiven.  

The book is a dark science fiction/fantasy that appears to draw influence from books like Judge Dredd, Hellboy, and probably some other post apocalyptic totalitarian government comics I can't think of at the moment.

As always, I'm impressed when one person can craft a whole comic single handedly, and that's what's going on here.  Ruff's art has a unique indie "comix" feel.  His pencils are incredibly detailed and there are no inks, which gives the whole comic a gritty, smeared feel that I like very much.

You can read The Unforgiven on Ruff's website, or you can buy physical copies at his Indy Planet store.

Be on the look out for this comic, it's worth reading. 

What I Am Reading - Breathers

Breathers by Justin Madson

I met Justin a few months ago in Chicago.  He's a very nice guy.  I've seen this book talked about in a few places around the web and I'm surprised I haven't seen it talked about more because I liked it a lot. 

Breathers is is a beautiful blend of indie drama and neo noir science fiction.  The story is told in small vignettes that follow a few different characters and how they get through their lives in a world where the air is poisonous to breathe.  This comic is light on text, more focused on the character's emotional drama than it is on the storyline.  It all plays well with Madson's cartooning.  The light line work combined with the stylistically long limbs give the characters a surreal, airless feeling.  They float on the page like their float through their lives.

This is a fantastic self published book.  You can purchase the 426 page collection here.  I highly recommend it.

Yeti Press

Yeti Press is a small publisher out of Chicago who publish a slew of quirky comics.  I don't have a whole lot to say about them, since I've only read one of their books, but I like the look of their website.  When I was at Wizard World, I had the pleasure of chatting with RJ Casey and Eric Roesner who sold me on their book, Pecos.  This is a fun comedy/western story that stars the eponymous Pecos Bill, a mythical western hero with a great mustache.  Roesner's cartooning carries the comedy really well



I liked this comic a lot, though if I'm being honest I think it's priced a bit high for a 16 page black and white book.  It is printed in an over sized format, but feels a little light.  Still, it was good and I'd like to read their second Pecos book.  I don't know if I'll order it from their store, but I'll look out for them at the next con I go to.

Russell Lissau and Pop! Goes the Icon

Russell did a good job of selling me a lot of comics.  He's done some work for an anthology called Omega Comics Presents which is put out by Pop! Goes the Icon.  I picked up the Best of Volume One collection, as well as the first issue of Volume Two.  I also bought two mini comics he had done, which were pretty good.

The Omega Comics Presents books were both good looking comics.  I thought the Volume One collection was a little uneven, but it had some entertaining short stories and a slew of talented artists scattered throughout it.  It was an entertaining read, but nothing really jumped out at me save for a few artists.

Volume Two, on the other hand, was really fantastic.  This is a really strong issue that stands high above any of the previous stuff, possibly due in part to the coloring.  The lead story, Bluetick and Redbone, is a beautiful comic about a two small town roughnecks who get wrapped up in some criminal doings.  The story, written by Alex De-Gruchy, is paced really well and has a good flow.  The real star of the book is artist, mpMann, who was also one of the stronger aspects of Volume One.  He's got a real loose and playful cartooning style that has a lot of character.

The back up feature in Vol. 02 Issue 01 is written by Russell Lissau and drawn by Justin Castaneda called Down Time.  It's a lighthearted look at a supervillain who looses all his mercenary work after a humiliating defeat at the hands of an old bank security guard.  I always like stories that look at the mundane aspects of being a superhero or supervillain, and this one is good for a laugh.

Russell's two mini comics, One Last Thing and Daily Grind are both illustrated by mpMann and are also both good reads.  They are both short stories that focus on a small moment in a character's life in the middle of a big situation.  They play very well.  One Last Thing is a western interpretation of the music of Chris Mills, where as Daily Grind is the existential introspection of a middle aged man who hates his life. 

I've never been too huge on mini comics, mostly for the same reason I have eased off of regular monthly comics, but the personal aspect of meeting a comic creator and buying something from him personally more than make up for it.

The Honor Brigade

 From Spinner Rack Comics comes The Honor Brigade.  I met Tom Stillwell at Wizard World in his home town of Chicago and picked up three issues from him, the first issue of his new Honor Brigade series, as well as two Toy Boy specials.

I have seen Tom's work advertised around the web and on Digital Webbing, so I was not entirely unfamiliar with the books, but I had not read any of them.  I was particularly interested in these three issues because they were drawn by Jethro Morales, who is a fantastic artist.  Jethro drew a couple chapters of our own, The Celestial, and will have a few pages in my upcoming Zero's Heroes book.  So, needless to say, I'm a fan of his work.  And it's clear to see why in these issues because he knocks it out of the park.

The Honor Brigade is an all ages superhero comic that plays to all the genre tropes and styles very clearly.  These are really good looking comics, extremely well paced and dialoged.  When you read these books, you know exactly what you are getting.  They feel like classic comics, which I would say simultaneously works for and against the book.  This is the kind of comic that could slip under the radar of the average superhero comic fan who's more interested in whatever wacky idea Brian Bendis or Grant Morrison are going to come up with next.  This is unfortunate because these books have  lots of action, adventure, and fun characters. 

I liked the two Toy Boy specials, partially because of my preference for single issue stories, which Stillwell and Morales handled deftly.  It's clear that Toy Boy is the most interesting character on the Honor Brigade team.  He's a funny, wise cracking, former thief.  The character is slightly more wacky than Spider-man but not as dark as Deadpool.  He falls comfortably between the two classic Marvel characters and it works nicely.

Stillwell is currently publishing The Honor Brigade: Space Fight, which you can purchase from Indy Planet (along with his other books).


You can also read old issues of The Honor Brigade at http://www.honorbrigadecomic.com/

The Carriers

I had the pleasure of swinging by Wizard World Chicago last weekend.  While I didn't have time to soak up the majority of events the con has to offer, I did get to root around Artist Alley and fill my bag with comics aplenty.  I'm going to spend the next few weeks talking about some of the self published comics I picked up.

One of the things I was looking forward to the most was meeting a certain Mr. Kevin D. Bandt, whom you'll recognized from my previous post as an artist who drew a two page story set to appear in the upcoming Zero's Heroes archive book.  I picked up the four issues of his book, The Carriers, and here's what I thought of them.

I'm a big fan of Kevin's art, which I make no secret of, and it is on full display in these books.  He's been working on this book for many years now, and as you read through the book you can see his art evolve and grow.  The first issue is a little rough around the edges, but there's still a strong sense of style.  By the fourth issue, Kevin's art is sleek and flashy with strong, bold lines and bright, vivid colors.

So, what is The Carriers about?  Here's a striking page from the fourth issue.

The Carriers is a kind of surreal, punk rock, fantasy epic.  It's a pretty light read, but there's a lot to look at.  The book tells to tale of a group of people called "Carriers" who, for lack of a longer explanation, have magical abilities.  There's an evil queen sucking the life force of her victims, a rebellion trying to overthrow her, and of course, giant monsters and stuff.  The story is ongoing and clearly not finished, so I'm eagerly waiting for the next issue.

The Carriers is for sale at Cuddlefish Comics' store, http://cuddlefish.storenvy.com/