Week of 11/4/2024
The Annual Anniversary Special comes to end this week on The Shapes and more. Meanwhile, I review Sean Knickerbocker's exceptional anthology The Rust Belt Review Vol 6 on Sammy the Critic!
The Shapes
Annual Anniversary Special 15
Talk a Walk on The Far Side
News
Gutter Pop Comics
Great news, Buffalo people! Gutter Pop Comics just stocked up on all The Shapes 4 issues, so grab ‘em while they’re still on the shelves!!
Sammy the Critic
Rust Belt Review Volume 6 Review
Sean Knickerbocker is back with a new issue of his 9.25x12 sized anthology periodical Rust Belt Review featuring comics talent from or with Rust Belt regional vibes, and it absolutely delivers!
The Kingdom by Jay Lynn Allie — When you take Raina Telgemier’s artistic sensibilities and strip it down to black-and-white with a gritter touch, this is what you get. It’s the summer of 1999 in rural America as we follow best friends Nico and Chrissy who share a good girl/rebellious girl dynamic, one of my favorite duo tropes. Nico is your normal reserved kid who’s fine playing by the rules while Chrissy is the adventurous, snarky who likes defying authority, which is just another way of saying trying to do stuff that’ll piss off her otherwise laid-back mother like stealing her bag.
However, at Chrissy’s house, there’s a man named Hollis said to be one of her parents’ friend crashing in. He’s the hippy slacker kind of dude complete with a headband, messy hair, beard, and all of that funky jazz as well as the source of thematic conflict. Throughout the story, we mostly see him hanging around often popping in on Nico and Chrissy’s day-to-day games together and asking questions that range from seemingly innocuous like whether they have a Pokemon trading card collection to mildly personal such as whether Nico’s parents were looking for any work at their farm. He never does or says anything outright egregious, but his characterization oozes sleazy energy that makes his presence unsettling in an anticipatory way where you’re constantly on the edge of him actually doing something predatory. If you have ever recalled that one eccentric person who seemed to be in your life as a child who just disappeared for no given reason, then this is the comic version of that.
Playboy Dan by David G. Caldwell — Remember when conspiracy theories used to be innocent fluff like the lizard people and the Illuminati? I don’t, but Pepperidge Farms does and so does Mr. Caldwell who recounts his time working at a retail store regularly interacting with a customer who would frequently buy several VHS tapes and Playboy issues hence the titular nickname. Dan would entertain the retail employees with his wildest conspiracies. In turn, for kicks, Caldwell ideated his own conspiracy theories about who Playboy Dan really is and what he did with his purchases, a relatable scenario if you’re the type of person who wonders about what random oddballs do behind closed doors. I also loved how the art changed to more chibi-ish during the theorizing scenes.
Sorority Girl Book Club by Brian Canini — Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the campiest of all? Hear ye, hear ye, this one is, for anything with “sorority” in the title is bound to be a winner! From the beginning, I knew I was in for a helluva ride when the gals were analyzing the supposed themes of class struggle in Twilight as if it were fucking leftist literature. This is arguably the least weird thing to happen before things quickly escalate to human sacrifice occult levels of craziness.
How to Walk by Valerie Light — The art of performative dance is a delicate balancing act of leaving an impression without missteps or overacting to the judgment of one’s audience, and so is existing as a girl in a patriarchal society as Light demonstrates from her experience growing up as a 90s teen. While it may be the modern era where girls are told they can be anything, there are still underlying social rules of etiquette and presentation they’re expected to conform to. These deep-seated perceptions are explored through the simple everyday act of walking which, come to think of it, is the basis for much of our first impressions of people.
Brain Bleed by Alex Nall — This may as well be titled The Ramblings of a Meatheaded Jock. Not that it’s an inherent insult as many works I enjoy like Loren Bouchard’s shows and Downtown involve characters rambling about random stuff. The issue is when the character is someone who I couldn’t give a rat ass about even if I abused enough substances to cloud my better judgment. Sorry, but Brian Yarde just doesn't have the charismatic graces of a Ferris Bueller or the Fonz for me to be interested in his exploits of inebriation, scoring dope, talking shit, or fucking around. To Nall’s credit though, he knows how to make the jock’s point-of-view damn convincing.
Lemurman 2 by Andrew Greenstone — I’m quite fond of Greenstone’s contributions to The Nib (2013-2022 RIP) making comics primarily themed around urban legends. His meandering writing style in combination with grossly exaggerated and overwhelmingly packed illustrations normally weave together in a miraculously seamless way that fits with the recurring themes present. That said, I did not find this to be the strongest example of Greenstone’s craft. While I tend to favor black-and-white’s ability to convey the rough and rowdy details, his comics are some of the few where I think color makes the visuals more discernable. Story-wise, even though it is thematically consistent with Greenstone’s usual fare, it’s not nearly as enjoyable to read within a purely fictional context since much of his draw for me is seeing real people obsess over cryptozoology.
Those Fucking Eyes by Maggie Umber — This was included in Umber’s short comics collection Chrysanthemum Under the Waves which I reviewed a few weeks ago. I’m too lazy to paraphrase the deets, so here’s a quoted excerpt from the review:
"Illustrated with rough black-and-white contrasts amidst a minimalist backdrop, we follow a woman, who I assume is based on Jane Reynolds, in a series of loosely connected vignettes containing vaguely sensual imagery.”
What Happened to the Gurus? by Ana Pando — A short but very relevant two-pager posing the titular question of what happened to our gurus after the internet. These gurus may not literally be the hairy wise men depicted on the page, but they come in the form of community figures like our abandoned wise elders.
OkCryptid by Matt MacFarland — The longest comic collected here at a whopping 36 pages, MacFarland takes us on the wry ebbs and flows of a middle-aged cryptid man’s passing romances. He’s what I would describe as an older everyman personality. Despite having vulnerabilities (like anyone else), his failed relationships never feel like a self-pitying cry for help, but he’s not an overconfident sleazeball or loser either. You could say everything was just right for a pleasant read that passes quickly before you notice how lengthy the story is.
The Double Life of A.P. by Ana Pando — Pando frequently runs into her namesake in a new neighborhood who also happens to be the same person in the photo frames in her apartment. This is one of those anecdotes that’s interesting because even though there’s a strong likelihood it’s true, there are enough far-fetched circumstances that make you question how much the author is taking liberties with the facts/her memories.
Best of Three by Sean Knickerbocker — Three hicks in a pickup on the rugged roads. What for? A swindling scheme gone awry I surmise. I can sense this comic is tightly plotted, but it definitely feels like it’s part of a bigger story that’s been serialized in previous issues thus it wouldn’t be fair to comment beyond these brief thoughts.
Routine Pleasures by John Sammis — The imagination is the limit in this whimsical one-pager of a man’s child play. This is one of the two comics alongside “Best of Three” that uses color albeit a limited and muted palette, but not a smudge of lead was wasted in drawing this visual euphoria.
Untitled Ana Pando Comic — We conclude this anthology with another charmingly eccentric Pando comic this time about animal figurines growing and coming to life.
Comics Ranked (from favorite to least favorite):
The Kingdom
Routine Pleasures
Playboy Dan
Sorority Book Club
OkCryptid
What Happened to the Gurus?
The Double Life
Untitled Ana Pando Comic
How to Walk
Best of Three
Those Fucking Eyes
Lemurman 2
Brain Bleed
Overall, I loved The Rust Belt Review Vol. 6. Sean Knickerbocker curated an eclectic selection of some of the most innovative cartoonists. Even the bottom three weaker comics had something unique worth remarking about. I can confidently recommend this to readers looking for a sampler of alternative comics that are still written at an accessible level. You can buy a copy on Sean Knickerbocker’s website!
Thank you Sean Knickerbocker for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.