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Vice Blog

NICK GAZIN'S COMIC BOOK LOVE-IN #19

Dear Comic Booksters,

In my last column I made a casual reference to "Gary Panter's jerk daughter." I'd like to apologize and clarify that Olive is no jerk. Now, onto the reviews!

See you in the funny pages,
Nicholas

(Send all review materials to Nick Gazin c/o Vice Magazine blah blah blah)

1)
Popeye: "Wha's a Jeep?"
E.C. Segar
Fantagraphics
Whenever Fantagraphics releases a new Popeye book it's cause for manic joy, but this one is extra special because it introduces the mythical beast known as Eugene the Jeep who was possibly the namesake of the car/jockmobile. It also introduces Popeye's foul-tempered father, Poopdeck Pappy, who dislikes Popeye and punches Olive Oyl in the face.

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As I've mentioned before, the Popeye cartoons are not like the comics. Whereas the cartoons usually told the same story over and over again with changing locales, the newspaper strip showcased all kinds of zany adventures and ridiculous character arcs. Popeye usually doesn't need spinach to provide him with strength but he does like it very much. This volume is pretty special.

The book starts off with Popeye crowned king of a woman-less place called Spinachova. The men who live there are lonely and fall in love with mermaids. Popeye obtains Eugene the Jeep who helps him find his father, then tells him he is ugly and that he does not like him. I've reviewed every book in this series and have run out of things to say about it. Oh well.

My favorite sequence is one where Popeye gets eaten by an "octipuss" and casually hangs out inside its tummy until Olive brings him spinach and the octopus explodes like a balloon.

2)
The Amazing Screw On Head
Mike Mignola
Darkhorse
Mike Mignola is great and everyone loves him. He is a master of poses, effiicient lines, cool compositions, fun adventure, creating stories with an interplay of humor and horror, and I get the sense that he can work pretty fast since he does covers for half of Dark Horses comic books these days. Every so often, I'll get some comic with a great Mignola cover showing off a statue and a knife and a monster and think, "Hoorah!" Then upon opening it I realize it's actually by some other artist. I like it when Mignola actually draws comics. Everyone does. So I saw this in the gigantic crate that Dark Horse sends over each month and thought,"I wish this was a real Mignola book"--and it was!

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This volume is a steampunky story about a guy who's just a head with a screw for a neck and an assistant named Mr. Groin who puts him into one of his robot bodies. It almost feels like a parody of Hellboy but is more likely just Mignola making up a comic as he draws his favorite things to draw. When non-greats do this it's boring, but when Mignola does it it's beautiful and hilarious. There's also a funny little Mignolian retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk. Then there's a beautiful short comic written by Mike Mignola's seven-year-old daughter about a magician and a snake who love each other. There's also a story about ghosts and Mars that reads like a goofy Bradbury story. Then there's a page with Mignola's notes on how he came up with all of these comics and 13 pages of sketches by Mignola. The only complaint I have about this awesome hardcover (which is totally a steal for $17) is the ads for other Dark Horse books not related to Mignola. That ain't classy, and hardcovers as a rule should be classy.

I don't throw the word genius around often and I'm not going to now, but I will say that everything Mignola makes is beautiful. Whether I'm looking at some complex, highly finished cover work or some dashed off convention sketch, when I look at Mignola's drawings I am learning. He may or may not be a genius. He is definitely a master in this field of comics.

3)
Lil Abner: The Complete Dailies & Color Sundays Volume One 1934 -1936
Al Capp
IDW
Al Capp is one of the best American cartoonists of all time and this 269-page book containing the first two years worth of Lil Abner strips is pretty much a must-have for all you Seths out there. The only thing that sucks about it is the horrible cover and icky color palette. Otherwise, it's totally perfect. There's a good number of pages dedicated to discussing Al Capp and the development of the Lil Abner strip, which is pleasant, and then two years worth of Lil Abner: the sweet and stupid mountain man who is insanely strong and lives in a shack with his two insanely strong old parents.

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Once upon a time newspaper strips weren't repetitive neutered garbage aimed at horrible old bitties and office trash. Al Capp would make fun of everything and everyone, draw sexy girls and create national crazes and traditions on a semi-regular basis. Sadie Hawkins Day Dances, which made more sense back when dating rituals were drastically different than they are today, were based on a Li'l Abner storyline. The Shmoo, a mythical animal whose existence turns the world into a utopian society and destroys capitalism, became a national craze that was bigger than Mickey Mouse. There were popular Shmoo dances and songs, every kind of merchandise, and--most hilariously--a garment referred to as "shmooveralls."

What I love most about Al Capp is his lines. His humor and drawings are great but he can make a line do some complicated and sophisticated things. The strip starts out good but a little scratchy looking. About three quarters into this book, everything turns to solid gold and gets so slick it's hard to understand how he's making the lines do what they're doing. If you don't know about Li'l Abner, that's a shame and you should repent. Do it through this book. Also, throw the dustjacket away on your way back from the store.

4)
Mister Wonderful
Daniel Clowes
Pantheon
I'm used to waiting ever longer between Clowes' comics so it's pretty rad that he's following up Wilson with a new book so soon. The New York Times Magazine serialized this and now it's in a book. Hooray. Clowes puts another notch in his stories-about-neurotic-middle-aged-men belt.

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Clowes has mentioned that when he made Ghost World the character he most related to was Josh, the blank young guy who is treated like a patsy by Enid and Rebecca, but when he reread it he most related to Enid's dad. It seems like his comics have always had kooked up loner adult men lurking around somewhere in the back. David Boring was the last comic that dealt mostly with a young protaganist. Ice Haven didn't have a main character but it did have one old guy. Death Ray was told from an old man's point of view. Wilson was a bleak failure trip. And here we are at Mr. Wonderful. No more cute teen girls wandering around and figuring out the world as they try to distract themselves from the fact that they no longer have anything in common.

This is the story of Marshal, a sad and lonely man going on a blind date with a girl with whom he falls instantly in love and tries his best not to creep out. We see his flaws and shortcomings. There's some stuff that is familiar to people who love Clowes' work. He does a great job showing people's thoughts and fantasies and how these things are triggered by their real-life interactions. He's also got the storytelling device where objects have a certain power to them. Whenever the main character retrieves his date's red purse, it culminates in a fight. I guess that could be a yonic thing or maybe it's like her heart. It's not my all-time favorite Clowes comic, but I sure liked it and you sure might. It's Dan Clowes, talent haver.

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5)
The Lost Beatles Photographs: The Bob Bonis Archive, 1964 - 1966
Larry Marion
it Books As I flipped through this book I thought, "Holy Moly, these are some amazng shots of the Beatles that I have never seen before." There's outtakes from the session where the photo of Ringo holding the pistol to his head was taken. There are photos of them playing with a balloon. And then there's a lot of photos of the Beatles performing live in bad lighting, out of focus, or making awkward faces. I guess this is why most of them were "lost." There are a lot of photos of the Beatles wearing outfits I'd never seen them in before and documentation of a phase George went through where he was sporting the teeniest sunglasses you ever saw. Anyhoo, the Beatles are my religion and I can see Beatle obsessors buying it and looking at it once or twice before letting it just live on their shelves until they either die, get divorced, or lose their possessions to a fire.

6)
Palookaville
Seth
Drawn & Quarterly
Seth's still beating off to the past in this new hardcover issue of Palookaville. I imagine him jaggin' it while staring at a calendar with a sexy lady on it from 1937 and as he shoots his jazz he exclaims, "Oh 1937!" because he was more turned on by the year than the girl in the calendar.

This volume contains an instantly forgettable comic about a failing fan business. The rest of the book is text, photos of Seth's sketchbooks, and photos of the model town he made. Seth's miniatures might be my favorite thing he's done. There are photos from a show for his original art, model town, and some gallery-transformation work. Seth makes more sense as an installation artist than a cartoonist to me since he so desperately wants to travel back in time and live in a world of his own design.

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7)
Burning Angel
Lovely Brenda
Goliath

I still don't understand why women get chest tattoos. Why ugly up the tits? Adahlia, Riley Mason, and Azrael are all super hot. The photos in this book are all OK. I don't know who's beating off to this thing but it's not me.

8 )
The Guild
Felicia Day and Jim Rugg
Dark Horse

A young awful woman has a terrible life and a gay boyfriend in a very corny and stereotypical world. Then this unlikeable and charmless woman literally bores an old woman to death while talking about herself. Then she burns down some generic rock club to make herself feel better. After burning down the club she is forced by a judge to replace a fancy cello and is fired from her job. This comic teaches horrible lessons and is probably intended for people whose lives have been ruined by playing World of Warcraft all the time.

9)
Graffiti Alphabets Street Fonts From Around the World
Claudia Walde
Thames & Hudson
When I got this thing I was really ready to hate it, and I do! People who follow the laws of graffiti are the pits. Putting arrows on everything? Drawing some poorly done cartoon that has 'tude? Fuck that. It is the very worst. Other stuff's OK, but I can't talk about graffiti anymore. If you're a teenager it can be cool. If you're a 40-year-old man from Queens who shaves their head to preempt baldness then it's gross. European adults who obsess about this are the very least in-touch people who ever existed. They have as much in common with New York's graffiti scene of the 70s as Ren Faire people have in common with people from the actual Renaissance. There are some OK guys in here but most of this is awful and everyone who's any good in this book would probably be doing better shit if they moved to something other than typography.

10)
Man Up!
Paul O'Donnell
Artisan
I've seen books like this before. There's that one about how to survive terrifying scenarios like if you're in a sinking car or if a zombie attacks. Instead of dealing with unlikely horrors or impossible horrors this book attempts to confront the horrors of adulthood. Purportedly. As I was flipping through I noticed the book starts with a guide on how to dye your hair punky colors and give yourself a faux hawk. There's one spread where the left page answers the question "Should I trim my body hair?" and the right side answers the eternal quandary, "Can I wear pink?" Tip no. 45 answers the question,"How do I order stationery?" There's also lists that tell you which ten rock, rap, and jazz records every man has to own. Did you know that every man should own a copy of Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot? Coincidentally most of these lists of rock, rap, and jazz records a man must own are the same as a list of the rock, rap, and jazz records that have sold the most copies.

I'm getting the sense that this book is intended to be given to children at their bar mitzvah or more likely, their father's funeral. "Clifford, your father's gone now and I don't like you so here's a book that will tell you that you should download Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'." Or maybe this is intended for female to male transgenders. Anyway, if your dad just died or you weren't born with a dick but now identify as a man then this book is for you. Also, if you are retarded. This book is a must-read for mental retards.

See you real soon!
NICHOLAS GAZIN