Confessions…
is an anthology of high school and college memories written by
professional Rob Maisch and illustrated by students from an American
university. They are well-written, accurate, hut unpleasant memories.
"Taking pride in your bad behavior," writes Maisch, "and
the wretched excesses of a life misspent is grist for stern sermons from
the pulpit or, in our case, twisted little tales told to amaze and amuse
our twisted little readers...."
"Daniel's Den" recounts high school boys at a night club in
search of cheap thrills and Rock 'n Roll.
Two roommates fill their first three days at college with an escalating
inter-dorm fracas, a drunken bash and indecent exposure in “Movin'
In".
In "Scott's Jock", a father publicly embarrasses his son while
buying athletic supporters, and “Two in A Canoe" is the story of a
first attempt at sex between two teenagers.
Artistically, the best of the batch are "Daniel's Den" and its
muscular, angular art, and "Movin' in" which is full of heavy
lines, ink washes and attitude. Both emphasize style over accurate
portrayals of reality, and are technically flawless.
Confessions… deserves an adult audience not because of profanity
and smarmy situations, but because neither are exploitive. And, once
again, NBM deserves applause as one of the rare comics publishers that
under-stands "adults only" is not always a synonym for
gratuitous sex, violence and profanity.
Review by Michael
Vance
Confessions of a Cereal Eater is priced at $2.95. It is 32 pages in length and published by NBM. It is sold in comics shops, by mail, and on the internet.
Published by Dark Horse as #1 of a 4-part series. An e-comic (a "weird hybrid of still pictures, animation, music and text" created on a computer) released as a comic book about a villain who steals parts of the past as a hero tries to stop him. Regrettably, the villain won't steal your disappointment.
Its
art, an uneasy wedding of computer graphics and traditional paper and ink,
is barely less confusing and just as uninteresting as its muddled dialog
and plot.
Review by Michael Vance
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Light's End
Horror short
stories
by Michael Vance
Science fiction,
fantasy and horror short stories; poems, photos, art, and
maps from "Tulsa's Master of Suspense." Some
material will be published here and not in future editions.
Numbered and signed and dated by the author. BKSALE $15.00.