IN A BROWN COLORED WORLD

It was a late summer day and as I worked behind the counter of the comic shop when a certain young lady with a desperate look in her eye asked me for Jeffrey Brown's newest book- moment of panic-desperate look transferred to my eyes as I googled at the speed of light-
"Who the HELL is Jeffrey Brown!!?? "
Yes it's true I hadn't heard of him and I vowed to put an end to that asap! In the light of never wanting to look stupid again I ended up finding a new favorite in introspective, personal comic storytelling such as I had found with the likes of Liz Prince and Craig Thompson. So are you now asking who the hell is Jeffrey Brown?? good because you should. His latest book is titled
CATS ARE WEIRD I hate to admit I'm a crazy cat person who shows off his pictures of his cat on my phone to anyone who will humor me, I stand up to dirty looks and half smiles because until I have real children these furry freaks will do. After reading this sweet sentimental look inside the feline mind I can tell Mr. Brown is one of those crazy cat people as well and now I don't feel as alone.

If you like comics straight up that just reflect the absurdity and frustrations of daily life without over saturated negativity then Brown might just be what you are looking for. It's as if I'm looking into a mirror in his work from FUNNY MISSHAPEN BODY- (* side note*if you have been to art school you'll love it!) So thank you desperate girl who didn't find then what we now cannot live without and thank you Jeffrey Brown for letting us in and making this guy feel not so alone and not so crazy!

To find out more about Jeffrey Brown's work visit his website at: http://www.jeffreybrowncomics.com/
or visit his blog at:
http://jeffreybrowncomics.blogspot.com

A PRINCE AMONG MEN

Comics aren't just for boys, just ask Liz Prince who is all woman and she's not afraid to show you how true that is. From her auto bio comic WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME IF I WET THE BED to DELAYED REPLAYS, she's telling it like it is and carrying no shame along the way. It's not easy to hold a window to ones personal life and shine a light on it for others to see especially those moments we usually take for granted but PRINCE shines a very bright light and gives us a glimpse into her nerdy, quirky life that is both sweet and touching as well as uncomfortable and edgy. There's something very engrossing about PRINCE'S artwork that is cuddly and itchy at the same time switching gears without a moment's notice turning ugly into beautiful and funny into sad. The comics are a roller coaster through a very real persons eyes without a whole lot of fluff and I for one enjoy the down to earth sincerity of it all. I recently read WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME... in bed with my wife and it began to seem as if we were looking into a mirror, we laughed and at times looked at each other through the corner of our eyes quizzically and perhaps with a trepidation to see each other's warts and all but if LIZ PRINCE can do it then dammit so can we! You can see more of Liz prince @ her website : http://lizprincepower.com/

THE FICKLE WORLD OF HAM!

It's been too long since Ive traveled out in search of something indie/local to catch my fancy but this week i could no longer avoid the Fickle world of Torrey Ham. He is as local as it gets and I doubt he even cares if you read his web comic or not. FICKLE PICNIC is the title of Mr. Ham's mental escapades in singular vector glory. It's clear there's nothing pretentious here just the truth as Torrey sees it, funny , sad or just painfully true. The chalkboard like drawings and the subtle t shirt references make this a fun read. I love hitting the random button as if there was any sequence to Torrey's views on IKEA, FACEBOOK and ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT. FICKLE PICNIC is a simple yet witty romp through modern culture with a tongue in cheek sense of humor. Thank you Mr. Ham for the smile you've put on my face! Check it out for yourself: http://www.ficklepicnic.com/

ARTHUR DE LA CRUZ IS NOT EMPTY!

I love Tuesday's because that's when I get to scour the Internet for underground comics that I have yet to read. Its digital spelunking for pure illustrative gold and the payoff is ever so sweet. This week's lode of comic gold is a web comic by Arthur De La Cruz entitled, "KISSING CHAOS" and if you're fans of David Mack, Brian Wood, Becky Cloonan and Dave McKean then you are going to love this black and white comic that states, "You're too young to be this empty!"

Nothing says the history better then what I found on his website;
Kissing Chaos first saw the light of day in 2001 as an 8 issue mini series published by Oni Press. In 2002 Arthur De La Cruz was nominated for an Eisner award for KISSING CHAOS, and was listed as one of the Top Ten Comics of the year from Ain't It Cool News. Kissing Chaos: Nonstop Beauty, was a 4 issue follow up series, featuring an all new cast. This story shed more light on the ominous conclusion to the first. Arthur De La Cruz plans to continue pumping out the KC via this website http://kissingchaos.com/, continuing the series with a story arc titled KISSING CHAOS: 'TIL I DIE. As well, he plans to unveil a top secret animated story arc sometime this year. stay tuned.

To see how beautiful these illustrations are and to see why this is my underground pick of the week follow this link: http://kissingchaos.com/tx/?p=153 Arthur states the hiatus is over for more KISSING CHAOS, I do hope so. I missed it the first time around and don't want that to happen again.

THATS CHECK-EYE NOT SAJAK!

His name is JEF, that's right one "F" and his last name is CZEKAJ-that's pronounced CHECK-EYE he states and most people say it like SAJAK you know like PAT from Wheel of Fortune-wrong. Jef lives and works in Somerville, MA. and is a cartoonist, children's book author and illustrator, and musician. His comic, Grampa and Julie: Shark Hunters, ran in Nickelodeon Magazine for more than 10 years. A collection of the first three years of the comic was published with the help of a Xeric Foundation Grant and distributed by Top Shelf. Im still having a blast on JEF'S website which is a very fun interactive adventure-JEF opens up the labyrinth of his mind and shares it in virtual form and I'm still spraying graffiti all over a giant rock via a small bumble bee while listening to hip hop, yea that's right you heard me! HIP & HOP AND YOU DON'T STOP is a creation of JEF'S and features the creatures of SLOWJAMZ SWAMP and BREAKBEAT MEADOW. It's a modern re telling of the Tortoise and the Hare this time its taken to the streets of free style jams and hip hop warfare. What happens next could change OLDSKOOL COUNTY forever! It's an all ages book that deserves your attention and respect as the rap off of the year gets underway. And don't forget to check out Grampa and Julie: Shark Hunters, R2D2 is an Indie Rocker later retitled Hypertruck and the Circulatory Story.
You can read a great interview with Jef at this link
http://reglarwiglar.com/RWone_two/jefczekaj.html
or visit his website at : http://www.czekaj.com/index.html

DRAWING CURES CANCER!

Well I'm not sure if drawing really does cure cancer but looking at Ryan LaMunyon's drawings cure me of my ills as I'm transported away into the frenetic, amped up world of Ryan's twisted imagination. Ryan is in the process of his first comic which I have included an image. Be at Coast City Comics on June 19th where I hear he might be debuting this amazing new body of work! I first met Ryan over coffee a year ago and was blown away by his electrifying style that feels like the page is plugged into an amp and cranked up to 11. All of his sketches have a reverence to European classical styling but given a modern make-over, infused with a introspective humor that will make you want to take it in over and over again!

I wish there were shelves full of Ryan's artwork in graphic novel form but we can only wait patiently until that day arrives and it may not too far away! In the meantime check out Ryan's blog and his website where you can see the variety of illustrations he's been working on for the last few years!

http://www.ryanlamunyon.com
http://ryanlamunyon.blogspot.com/

TOM NEELY WILL DESTROY YOU

When I first saw the Blot I knew I had to have a copy. Even without knowing the story I could see from the sample pages online this wasn't just your run of the mill indie comic. In fact I was right and the Blot is something special. Tom Neely, a painter and cartoonist living in Los Angeles, is the creator of this graphic novel. The Blot was featured in our shop as part of Indy Comic Book Week and was the first to sell out and there's so many reasons why. The art inside this book is astounding. Its black and white with clean lines but starts to be taken over by an inkblot that changes shape and Neely uses a variety of techniques within the panels that keep you glued to each one. Its the contrast of the Blot and the stark clean pages that create a fantastic world of metamorphosis and struggle. Its like a vintage comic strip come to life in the now, blending tongue in cheek humor and cartoonish sentiment. Even after having read this book a dozen times I'm ready to read it a dozen more, if you haven't seen this book yet come by the shop. We just ordered a bunch more for you all. You can also visit Tom at his website: http://www.iwilldestroyyou.com