Category Archives: mini comics

February 21, 2019 · 11:30 am

Review: THE WIZARD and WOMP WOMP by Brandon Lehmann

THE WIZARD and WOMP WOMP by Brandon Lehmann

Which is funnier, The Wizard or Womp Womp? This is NOT a trick question. If you’re familiar with the work of Brandon Lehmann, then you know it’s BOTH! Yes, both are full to the brim with quirky goodness. Mr. Lehmann has, deep in his DNA, the trait to make with the funny in as funny a way a possible. The jokes are not just jokes but part of some greater surreal universe. The more obscure and offbeat the better while also in tune with a contemporary sensibility. Quick. Sharp. Sly. That’s why they find such a nice home on Mr. Lehmann’s Instagram account. And that’s why they do so well in a collected format, like the books he has on sale at his site.

From THE WIZARD by Brandon Lehmann

You’ll find Lehmann’s comics in various formats. Some begin their lives as digital entities on the mighty Web. Others might leapfrog right into the pages of a mini-comic. Eventually, some of this material is deemed worthy of the ultimate honor, collected into a perfect bound trade paperback. Lehmann collects these gems under his own micro-publisher brand, Bad Publisher Books, which is based in Seattle and specializes in local mini-comics. That brings us back to such titles as The Wizard and Womp Womp. Given that Lehmann is such a prolific cartoonist, these two titles prove to be excellent introductions. The Wizard book that I read, is the second compilation of Wizard comics. In that book, you will find a cantankerous old wizard with the temperament of teenager. In fact, all the characters are a bunch of malcontents: a wiener dog, the Minotaur, even Satan. If you like the sarcastic bite of shows like Bojack Horseman and Rick and Morty, then there’s something here for you.

From WOMP WOMP by Brandon Lehmann

Womp Womp collects some of Lehmann’s best online comics and definitely deserves a careful reading. Or read it as casually as you like. Either way, you will be swept up by the crisp timing. Lehmann taps into what can be magical about comedy: the surprise followed up by another surprise that somersaults into an impressively sustained narrative. It looks so easy, right? Take one of these multi-panels for example, “The Coolest Phone of 2009.” The first panel, the only one in color, depicts an awkward-looking young woman holding up a flip phone. The rest of the panels depict a police crime drama. At the scene of a heinous act, one cop proceeds to call it in using his Hitachi Woo Ketai H001 flip phone. This triggers a discussion on the growing trend to abandon the self-absorbed smartphone lifestyle for the simpler pleasures of a basic phone. It’s a funny premise to begin with and Lehmann plucks it like heavenly harp strings.

Lehmann’s work has appeared in Thick As Thieves, Intruder, and Seattle Weekly. I’m sure you’ll be seeing more of his work in the years to come. So, if you enjoy brilliantly weird humor, go check out the work of Brandon Lehmann.

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Filed under Brandon Lehmann, Comics, Comix, Humor, Instagram, Intruder, Intruder Comics, mini comics, mini-comics, Minicomics, Satire, Seattle, Seattle Weekly, Social Media

Tagged as Brandon Lehmann, Cartoonists, comic books, comics, Comics Reviews, Comix, Entertainment, graphic novels, Humor, Instagram, Media, Pop Culture, Publishing, Satire, Seattle, Social Media

November 3, 2018 · 12:15 pm

Comics Review: ANDROMEDA by Zé Burnay

ANDROMEDA by Zé Burnay

Editor’s Note: There is a crowdfunding campaign going on for this book thru Dec 14, 2018. For more details, go right here.

Cartoonists are instructed and encouraged by their mentors to construct comics that not only fill the page but interact with one page to the next. Few artists heed that sage advice so well as Zé Burnay. You can clearly see that he is playing off what’s going on one page onto another page. The forms, the compositions, the very structure, is interconnected from one panel to the next, from one page to the next. Every bit building into a beautiful fever dream byway of the dazzling tattoo parlor with a detour through an enchanted forest and a side trip into a magical castle. Zé Burnay knows comics and how to turn them into psychedelic entertainment. So, I’m telling you right now, the book to get is Andromeda by this groovy dude, Zé Burnay, an up and coming and most excellent illustrator and cartoonist from Sintra, Portugal.

Visual delights throughout.

I swear to God, my next major tattoo is going to be a three-headed snake by Zé Burnay! This is an artist who spends the required amount of time immersed in the stuff that dreams are made of. That’s good for him–and good for us. Andromeda collects three works that all share the same main character, a Christ-like figure who is wandering and searching. In the process, he comes across numerous symbolic creatures and numerous classic tropes. He battles an eagle, a lion, a bull, and so on. I begin to lose count but that’s okay. He enters an old Victorian mansion and becomes acquainted with its strange inhabitants. Every scene quickly becomes ethereal and hallucinatory. It’s a virtual Cornucopia of visual delights. Burnay keeps the fireworks going from one page to the next.

The energy from one page resonates onto the next.

A comic from a true visionary is something very special and Zé Burnay delivers a marvelous book with Andromeda. It is a wondrous visual feast inextricably linked to a haunting narrative. Burnay was born in 1991 in Portugal and grew up fascinated by the woods and castles of Sintra and its unique and mysterious aura. Clearly, that inspiration can be found on every page of his work. Burnay states on his website that his love of drawing was kindled from “inheriting my father’s extensive collection of Franco/ Belgian comics and by spending time on my Grandfather’s antique shop.” All of this has added up quite nicely. He goes on to say, “In between working on my own comics, I draw comics for other people, design logos, posters and cover art for numerous bands.” Burnay is definitely on the right course!

A very cohesive and richly structured work.

Be sure to visit Zé Burnay at his website right here.

And visit the Indiegogo campaign for this book right here.

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Filed under Alt-Comics, Alternative Comics, Comics, Comix, mini comics, mini-comics, Self-Published, Zines

Tagged as Alt-Comics, alternative comics, Art, arts, comic books, comics, Comics Reviews, Comix, Entertainment, graphic novels, Independent Comics, Media, Pop Culture, Publishing, Self-Published

September 16, 2018 · 10:00 am

SPX 2018: Observations & Recollections

SPX 2018: “Three tickets, please.”

Whenever I go to anything creative, be it a play or a reading or a comics art festival, I do a lot of processing: What have I learned? How does this fit into the world? So, Small Press Expo is no different in that regard. Once you drop into SPX, it is like being inside a giant pinball machine as you’re being thrown in one direction after another. For me, with many years of experience in creating comics and writing about them, I rely on my internal database to make sense of it all.

For this post, I will introduce some pieces of the puzzle that I will discuss further in upcoming posts. I’m as much cartoonist as journalist in the sense that I feel most alive when I’m tackling a project that requires a good bit of deciphering.

It is my strong belief that you can’t study the art of comics inside a comics bubble. I mean, you run a high risk of doing yourself and the reader a disservice if you come to the subject of comics only as a comics enthusiast. I’m digressing here a bit but I’m just trying to say that comics fit into a much bigger picture. You can, as the saying goes, lose the forest for the trees. Where do you begin with such a colossal subject as comics? You look at it, walk away for a while, then refocus–and always keep in mind those outside of comics or just entering the world of comics.

One thing I do know is that people still read. And I’m always pleased when some folks make their way over to my posts. I do my best to provide concise text with a decent sampling of images as needed. Here I will post some creators I will spotlight in some upcoming posts. I think this will result in giving a sense of the wide range of activity and talent at Small Press Expo. Here are some representative talent: Kati Lacker, Luke Foster, and Sophie Goldstein:

Kati Lacker

Luke Foster

Sophie Goldstein

Let’s make a quick detour. I want to share with you a little taste of the comics workshops at SPX put together by Comics Workbook. I had the honor of participating in one led by Dash Shaw. We covered quite a lot of work in one hour! I include a sample in this below video. I even got a chance to participate in the informal Q&A. I wasn’t planning to but then I did.

I put a question to Dash Shaw: “This may sound silly but is the only true work in comics created by one person?” His response was interesting: “It’s great that a work in comics can be created by one person. Not all things can be created by one person. You can’t make a baby with just one person.”

Dash Shaw leading a Comics Workbook session at SPX

I enjoyed that response very much. But it was only the next morning that I thought of a much better way to frame the question–or my own answer back: “It can hold true that, just like the lone painter creating a painting, and we see painting as the act of a singular vision, so too can we see that in the creation of comics, there is a singular vision by one creator.” That is exactly what each student was doing in that session with Shaw: creating one work by one person. So, anyway, that for me was good to think about. Of course, there can be other factors that come in, like hiring a colorist. In the end, comics are about a driving force and that usually means one very determined creator started the ball rolling or kept the ball to themselves.

SPX 2018: Time for Small Press Expo, September 15-16!

SPX illustration by Molly Ostertag

Time for Small Press Expo, September 15-16! SPX, created in 1994, is the cornerstone to the comics community. It is at the forefront in promoting and providing support. Each year, more than 4,000 cartoonists and comics enthusiasts gather in Bethesda Maryland for North America’s premiere independent cartooning and comic arts festival. Let the latest news speak for itself. This is from a press release that just came out:

“Small Press Expo announced that it will immediately make available $20,000 and also launch a legal aid fundraising vehicle to support members of the SPX community who are currently facing a defamation lawsuit. The fundraising vehicle, administered by SPX, and created in consultation with the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, will be established for the purposes of defraying the cost of legal representation for the eleven members of the independent comics community named as defendants in the ongoing lawsuit.”

So, yeah, it’s September and that can only mean one thing for die-hard indie comics fans: Small Press Expo! Yes, indeed, each year Bethesda Maryland suddenly becomes, for one weekend, the lightning rod for some of the most cutting-edge comics. If you’re in the area the weekend of September 15-16, then come out to this event and check out some awesome alt-comics.

Now, I must admit that, although I’ve gone and I’ve participated in numerous comics festivals and events as a journalist and as a comics creator, I have never gone to Small Press Expo. Some folks there will have heard of me and some know me from years back. But that doesn’t change the fact that I’m new to SPX. So, I hope to do my best to provide some stellar coverage to this most venerable and respected gathering. Small Press Expo is where much of the indie comics scene gained traction and it remains the jewel in the crown.

So, say hello if you see me and we make eye contact or somehow slip into conversation. We’ll figure it out. Or say hello here at Comics Grinder. If you’re a creator, let me know what you’re up to and maybe we can set up an interview or I can plan to review your work. I don’t exactly expect an avalanche of responses– but I always end up making a decent number of connections at these events. I understand that things will get hectic and maybe you’re shy to begin with. I understand– and I can only focus on so much myself. The main thing is to have fun and to always strive for authenticity. The rest works itself out.

The full press release on the Legal Aid Fund for Cartoonists follows:

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