Ben Towle: Cartoonist, Educator, Hobo

(Continuing my look at the minis I’ve been reading from this summer’s comics events. Earlier installment(s): Part I, Part II)

Why Did I Put this Town on My Face? – Matt Wiegle

Wiegle for Tarzan – Matt Wiegle

Seven More Days of not Getting Eaten – Matt Wiegle

I’m not sure why it’s taken me until now to become aware of Matt Wiegle’s work, but I picked up one of these minis at SPX and later when I was showing my “loot” to a friend, he recommended a few other minis by Matt that I wound up buying later. First up is Why Did I Put this Town on My Face? It’s a collection of the cartoonist’s short pieces that have appeared in various anthologies from 2002-2008. My favorite story here is the last one, The Omega Dome, which begins with a hilarious War of the Worlds gag: aliens have invaded Earth and so, hoping that the aliens are susceptible to simple Earth pathogens, a family tries to ward them off with a raw chicken, a kitchen sponge and a toilet brush.

Wiegle for Tarzan is my favorite of the three. The premise is simple and hilarious: the city of New York has an elected office of “a Tarzan” who’s in charge of dealing with jungle-related threats to the city. Wiegle for Tarzan is a political attack ad in mini-comics form, advocating for Wiegle’s election over the incumbent Tarzan office-holder. Nicely done, all the way down to details like attributing the publication to the “Matt Wiegle for Tarzan PAC” and a @WeigleForTarzan Twitter account.

Seven More Days of not Getting Eaten has a similarly-straightforward premise: it documents seven ruses a clever fish uses to get out of being eaten after being caught.  It’s funny stuff. Of the three, it’s the nicest-looking book, with a silk-screened wrap-around cover.

The only one of these I could find for sale online is Seven More Days. Get it here.

Adrift – JP Coovert

There Must be More: The Search for Bigfoot’s Box – JP Coovert

I’ve been following JP’s work for a long time. I can’t remember for sure, but I think maybe I encountered his comics when I first visited the Center for Cartoon Studies during their first year of classes. At any rate, the first thing I got from him was an issue of his diary-ish comic, Simple Routines. I recall liking the issue, but finding it very close to King Cat both in style and intent. Since then though, JP’s really come into his own and has been turning out some really nice minis on a pretty regular basis.

Adrift is one of the nicest looking minis I picked up this year. I love the cover’s simple monochromatic color scheme, the book’s rounded corners, and the interior’s rich blue ink. Narrative-wise, it’s a simple (largely) pantomime story of a stranded boater who befriends a whale. I couldn’t quite figure out why some characters speak with regular speech balloons and others have pictogram speech balloons a la Owly, but it’s a fun great-looking book for sure.

There Must be More: The Search for Bigfoot’s Box is a striking-looking book in part because of its size (8.5 x 11) but also because of its interior clear line-ish art (that’s even presented in four tiers a la TinTin). This is apparently the first of a series and just sets up the basics of the story: a human, a bird, and a mountain troll all set out to locate “Bigfoot’s box” which contains infinite wisdom, power over nature, unbelievable treasure, or… nothing at all.  The story’s just getting going by the end of this issue, but I’ll definitely pick up the next one.

Both books can be purchased here.

The Fry Cook Chronicles: Fast Food Feud – Brad McGinty

Brad McGinty’s been on a fantasy/parody tip lately. At last year’s Heroes Con he debuted his hilarious Thundarr the Barbarian-ish animated series, Mandar of Suburbia and at this year’s show he had the new mini, Fast Food Feud. In it, a stalwart fry cook/elf-like guy journeys deep within the frozen realm… of a walk-in freezer to retrieve an (onion) ring of great power, in order to defeat an enormous viking guy.  Brad’s great brushwork and amazing sense of gesture and expression are put to good use here as the story rapidly descends into a really gross but really funny knock-down viking vs. fry cook fight scene.

I couldn’t find this for sale anywhere online, so you may just have to track Brad down if you want one.

(Continuing my look at the minis I’ve been reading from this summer’s comics events. Earlier installment(s): Part I)

33 Beasties – Drew Weing

This fantastic little book combines two things I dig: Drew Weing’s art and bestiaries. Each page here features a different beast and the centerfold page folds out to a full 8.5 x 11 in “mini poster.” If you’ve just gotten hip to Drew’s work via his amazing Set to Sea from Fantagraphics,  I definitely recommend tracking down his minis. There’re a ton of them out there. You can find a few for sale here, but for 33 Beasties, you’ll have to track him down at a convention.

Robot Teenager Goes to a Barn Show – Chris Schweizer

Guess what the premise of this mini is? You’re right: A robot teenager goes to see a band playing in a barn. Chris Schweizer is a cartoonist who seems to have appeared on the scene “fully-formed” and doing his great historically-themed Crogan series. This mini is a rare chance to see him working with more everyday situations–albeit, one with a robotic teenager. As far as I can tell, you can’t purchase these from his site, so you’ll just have to pester him in person. (That pink brain is showing through a die cut hole in the cover–cool!)

Everyday – Joe Lambert

If you don’t know Joe Lambert’s work, you need to get hip, daddy-O.  For starters, feast your eyes on this photoset. Everyday is maybe a close second to my absolute favorite mini from Joe Lambert, Food/Fall.  Everyday depicts seven days that all begin the same–with a couple of roughhousing kids kicked outside by their mom. Each day’s end though, is different–and each is as surreal and celestial as you’d expect if you’ve read any of his other work. One thing that really stood out to me when I read this was some of the really cool stuff Joe’s done with the typography that begins each day’s adventure.

You can get Everyday (and Food/Fall as well) here.

Dharbin #2 – Dustin Harbin

I picked up Dustin’s great-looking new Diary Comics as well this summer, but I think I’m partial to his Dharbin series. I’d actually read most of this stuff on his website (and you can too) but I really like having a physical copy of it.  The pieces in here are thematically pretty scatter-shot, but I really like that; it reminds me of the bygone days of the “one man anthology” a la Eightball. These pieces are a bit more polished than his diary stuff and you can really dig in and admire Dustin’s formidable skills with the dip pen. This mini includes the “Warren Ellis: King of the Internet” strip that was making the rounds a while back.

You can purchase Dharbin #2 here.

A Rabbit in King Arthur’s Food Court – Josh Latta

I don’t think I’m going out on a limb when I say that most animators that try to make comics don’t do so very well.  Josh is the exception to the rule. His background in animation really shows through in things like character design, great gestures/expressions, and a wonderful sense of timing–and it all works great on the printed page.  In this latest installment of the Rashy Rabbit series (the 6th, I think, if you count the first one that’s called something other than Rashy Rabbit) Rashy is working in one of those dopey medieval-themed restaurants. The story’s typically madcap and involves a van full of purloined dope, gangsters trying to retrieve said dope, and a big potential life change for Rashy at the very end.

You can buy it here.

Well, not “summer” exactly, but close enough since I buy pretty much all of my minis either at SPX or at Heroes Con. Anyway, I thought as a motivator to begin working my way through this year’s stack of stuff, I’d try to do a quick write-up of each one after reading. So here goes…

Drop Target #1 by Jon Chad & Alec Longstreth

This is really more a zine than a mini technically; it’s filled with articles (and some comics) about pinball. Included are things like a list of basic pinball terminology, an interview with the founders of a pinball magazine called Multiball, reviews of local (White River Junction, VT) pinball machines, etc. My favorite item here, though is “Dream Machines,” in which Alec and Jon each design their own pinball machine. Jon does a Lawrence of Arabia machine and Alec a Harry Potter machine.

Buy it here.

Paranormal Hipsters and Beard – by Pranas T. Naujokaitis

Paranormal Hipsters is a short (6-page) mini that’s exactly what you’d think it is: illustrations of six paranormal creatures with hipster apparel/surroundings.  You know… a werewolf on a fixie, a bearded ghost listening to vinyl LPs.  Nicely-drawn and funny. Below is the cover and an interior spread. I would totally buy and wear a shirt that just has the word “IRONY” printed on it like that.

Beard has a great silk-screened fold-out cover. You can see the horizontal seam there where it opens once you “unhook” the nose; once open, there’s a clean-shaven face revealed beneath. This is a funny story about a boy from Beardville (a town where everyone–men, women, children–has beards) who can’t grow a beard. Coincidentally, there’s a cameo appearance by Alec Longstreth in the finale scene. A fun story with solid cartooning, the look and feel of Beard reminds me a little bit of Joey Weiser’s work.

Buy Beard here.

The Numbers of the Beasts – Shawn Cheng

The premise here is easier seen than stated, so here’s a sample spread:

Numbers of the Beasts is 12 pages, each with this number/mythological beast format. I love Cheng’s mix of cartoony character designs, clear line drawing, and decorative detailing.

Buy it here.

Comic Book by Phil McAndrew

I think this is the first thing I’ve ever read by Phil McAndrew.  I’m a sucker for “repeating panel” stories, though, which is exactly what this mini is. It’s 32 pages of pretty much the same image that you see here on the cover, but with dialog over top (and an occasional coffee sip from the woman on the right). It’s a pretty funny gag and I love McAndrew’s character designs and “jittery” line-work.

Doesn’t look like he’s got a store anymore, but when/if it returns, it’ll be here.

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Summer of Minis 2010, Part II coming whenever I read through my next batch…