Jeff Smith Interview

Public library book distributor BWI has an interview with Bone creator Jeff Smith on the occasion of the release of the colorized Bone from Schoolastic.



Not much new in the interview, but it's interesting to see how Smith and Bone are being positioned to the mainstream market, especially in light of responses like this:

Nowadays, I'm still very much into comics. I like Paul Pope, who does graphic novels. His work just flows. There's a cartoonist from Canada by the name of Seth, who just had a piece in the New Yorker, and he's designing the Charles Schulz Complete Peanuts books. There's Jim Woodring. Fantagraphic [sic] just published The Frank Book. Those are just transcendent comics.

I now have visions of public librarians buying The Frank Book for their collections and twisting the minds of tweens across the country...

Quick Mini Comic Reviews

Obsessive Crush

by Pat Lewis

Gina is a pretty folk singer who plays sets at the local college coffee house. Doug is a grad student in science! who creates a potion that will transform him into 'the coolest guy on campus'. Sharon is Doug's robot assistant, who is tired of being ignored so hse creates for herself the body of a giant killer robot. In other words, it's your typical comic book love triangle :) Lewis's comic is fast-moving, funny, and a wee bit insightful, and his cartooning fits the story perfectly

Rating: 3.5 (of 5)




Thankless Job

by Pat Lewis

The evil mastermind Iron Marauder has defeated his arch-nemesis, the heroic Retrobutionator, and now nothing can stand in his way of taking over the city. Except that is for a clueless temp who manages to accidentally delete the Marauder's entire ill-gotten fortune. Now Abe (the temp) is a hero, but has incurred the wrath of the now-penniless Iron Marauder. It's another fun outting from Lewis that makes fun of both the conventions of super-heroes and the cult of instant celebrity.

Rating: 3 (of 5)




Horus #1-3

by Johane Matte

Nofret is a typical teenage girl: adults, especially her parents, dont' understand her, and she hates kids, especially her brat of a younger bother. Of course, she lives in ancient Egypt, where finding a kid with the head of a falcon abandoned by a river bank is, while not a normal occurance, not cause for immediate alarm either. That is until two talking hippos kidnap the hawk-headed kid and Nofret's little brother, and she has to save them both. I love Matte's art; it's cartoony and full of dynamic action, and fits the story perfectly. The story mostly holds together, though at times take s acouple of jumps and delves off into a couple of unnecesary sub-plots. It's an odd thing to say in this day and age, but this comic seems awfully compressed. Horus might work a little better if Matte slowed the pace down a bit and allowed for the laughs and drama to develop a bit more, instead of rushing headlong to a conclusion.

Rating: 3 (of 5)




Distribution of mini comics can be very spotty, but all of these comics can be purchased online from the creators: Pat Lewis's books can be found at Lunch Break Comics, and Johana Matte's at Ruff Toon.