Gulatta! #1
In case you're wondering, "Gulatta" is apparently a nonsense word that Joseph thought sounded cool, so don't take the time to try and look it up. This is the story of a professor (who appears to be half dinosaur), an Impossicube (not to be confused with the Cosmic Cube from all those Marvel comics), a team of super villains sent to steal the cube, and a loosely organized team of "heroes" who arrive to save the cube. If you're looking for plot or much in the way of dialogue, it's best to move onto another comic. If all you're looking for is a 12 page fight scene, you're in luck! Joseph does manage to come up with some interesting super powers (the guy with the three flaming tongues was at least unique), but he needs a spell check in the worst way. All told it's a fairly forgettable comic, which is a shame because I liked his part work well enough. Ah well, let's just call it an off-comic and leave it at that, as I think his past work shows he does have something to say about super heroes. Better luck next year, for my yearly pickup at SPACE… $1
SDF: Space Cadet
I'm breaking with tradition a bit in using the last page of a story for a sample, but I thought it was funny and the rest of the story was sheer blood and guts mayhem, and how do you only sample one page of that? It's a story about Cactus Joe the Clown, wandering around aimlessly with his… well, let's just call it a penguin wearing slippers. He runs into a couple of thugs who want to kill him for their master, they both change into monsters and let the bloody mayhem begin! Next you have a one page "author's aside", telling us a bit about the book, followed by a silly, cartoonish story about doing some farm work that seemed drastically out of place compared to all the violence. Of course, it's his book and he can do whatever he damn well pleases with it so who am I to say that a cartoon cat just looks odd next to a creature getting his legs ripped off at the knees? Next up is a wordless space fight involving something vaguely resembling the Silver Surfer (but only slightly) and a giant outer space fish. Next is more cuteness, so I guess I spoke too soon about it being odd, and finally Frimpy. I ended up liking the varying violent and non-violent stories by the end, so I'd say he's doing something right. If you like mindless mayhem mixed up with some even more mindless cuteness, check this out! Oddly, the website doesn't seem to have any way for you to buy his comics, but maybe I'm just missing it. Oh, and this issue I think was put together specifially as a sampler for cons, just so you know, and I think it was a measly quarter although I could be wrong on that one…
SDF Sampler
Another year, another SDF sampler from Joseph. No idea why I don't just spend a few bucks and get a real issue, chances are I'm just broke by the time I get to his table, or I'm trying to horde a few bucks so I can get something from the Top Shelf table, which never works out. Anyway, here's another shortie. The main story in here is about Walt and Sped Cornhusker (who aren't sure how they're related) finding a hole in their pantry. It leads to a den of raccoons who have stolen their pork rinds, and mayhem ensues from there. There's also a fairly pointless little story about Frimpy, a pathetic little… um, bow tie? No idea what he's supposed to be, if anything. Rabbits hate him, that's all I'll say about that. There's hardly enough here to qualify for a sampler, at least to a greedy bastard like myself, but I'll make every effort to get an actual comic next year. For now my opinion is the same as it was then: I'm intrigued and would like to see more.
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