Pinky & Stinky are two cute little pigs who also happen to be astronauts. They’re on their way to Pluto when they crash-land on the moon and get captured by moon-men. Now, you’re either thinking “that sounds cute” or clicking to another review in disgust. James Kochalka’s work often works that way. This isn’t a [...]

Tony Consiglio’s 110 Percent may have been overlooked by many readers because of its subject matter. It’s the story of three middle-aged women who are fans of the boy band 110 Percent. Although many comic readers will understand and perhaps sympathize with the dedication and even obsession of these women, it takes a willingness to [...]

Big Clay Pot is set in 200 BCE on one of the (then fairly new) Japanese islands. A girl, outcast from her Korean village, seeks shelter with an old man. Her clumsiness and the way she’s easily distracted make her a less-than-ideal companion, but with patience, she can be taught. Slapstick is difficult to do on [...]

Reading the description of this graphic novel’s premise — three teenage boys hang out and play video games until one decides to pursue the girl he’s got a crush on, resulting in (according to the publisher) “a giant rock ‘n’ roll videogame adventure!” — one might be forgiven for thinking that Oni is trying to [...]

This is the fourth collection of the webcomic series about a public library and its workers. (I’ve previously reviewed the first and second volumes, and here’s a link to the third.) The usual cast of characters returns — Dewey, smart alec geek; soft-hearted vegetarian Tamara; the guy who’s always wearing the beaver costume; and naked, homeless, [...]

Dylan Horrocks’ Hicksville opens with a quote from Jack Kirby: “Comics will break your heart.” Horrocks goes on to prove that epigram true, although in an unexpected way. Journalist Leonard Batts is in search of information on Dick Burger, “the most influential comic book creator of [this] generation”, a man whose Captain Tomorrow graphic novel [...]

Scott Chantler’s historical adventure series concludes in this volume. Charles Lord is preparing to attempt to take back the Canadian fort previously captured by a band of mercenaries. His English nephew, jailed by the interlopers, is plotting an escape plan with Lord’s half-breed son. Fur traders who want to stay out of political disputes (especially [...]

In this original graphic novel by Queenie Chan, twin girls enter a remote boarding school in the Australian wilderness. From the beginning, there’s an air of something wrong. The girls are warned that they must pretend they’re not twins, only sisters, because of an odd prejudice on the vice-principal’s part. Their aunt, headmistress of the [...]

This book fails the flip test. If something’s title includes the word “Illustrated”, you ought to see pictures when you flip through it. I didn’t. There are only 40 pictures in a book of almost 400 pages. No wonder I didn’t see them! Once I went looking for them, I found them generic: a horse’s [...]

This anthology of eight stories about slayers other than Buffy boasts some impressive talent. The writers have all worked on the TV show, including three tales by Joss Whedon (series creator) and one by Amber Benson (who played Tara), while the artists are the cream of the crop. Tim Sale provides the cover and illustrates [...]

Simpsons Comics Madness collects stories from the comic series by a variety of talented writers and artists. (They were previously printed as issues #43-48, but it’s completely unnecessary to know that, since all the tales stand alone.) I felt like these stories could have been Simpsons episodes, and that’s the highest praise I can give [...]

Like Autobiographix, Spark Generators 2 is a collection of real-life tales, but these have a tighter theme. Cartoonists were asked to do stories about their artistic influences. Edited by Jon “Bean” Hastings, the book benefits San Francisco’s Cartoon Art Museum. The first piece, by Andrew Farago, sums up the mission of the organization and key [...]