Author: Spandexless

Review: “Spaceman” #1

Review: “Spaceman” #1

We all know Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso work well together. Uttering the duo’s name automatically triggers thoughts of quality. I know for me, the pair rests near the top of creative teams of the last decade. Sometimes, though, I believe we forget how truly great these guys are together. We acknowledge their high esteem in the medium, but after a while we get into the habit of just accepting without truly seeing. We lack the sort of realization you can only experience when you’re sitting down with one of their comics–the sensation that as you turn the page, you know you’re reading something special because your mind is being blown.

Azzarello and Risso do comics how they should be done. These men, along with colorist Patricia Mulvihill, construct sophisticated worlds and atmospheres and then tell you all about in just as sophisticated a fashion. The approach is reserved and cool. The necessary hints are subtly placed, and the reader’s own effort tells the tale. Azzarello/Risso books are, simply said, confident, independent and sexy.

And Spaceman #1 held the crown as the single best comic book of October. Easily.

With Spaceman, we’re told the story of a genetically engineered man who’s life-long purpose was to go to Mars. In reality, his goal was never reached, and when we meet him he’s simply a junkie trapped in a world of decay.

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Spandexless Talks: Bernie Mireault & To Get Her

Photo by Kathryn Delaney, taken from Bernie Mirault’s blog

by Matthew Horowitz

Lean in close. No, closer.

To Get Her is a comic for people who like comics rife with detail and nuance. Set in Montreal,  To Get Her chronicles the oft-fought battles of a ten year relationship, and the emotional casualties inflicted on both sides. In this corner, Gordon Kirby, highly sympathetic cartoonist that quits a paying job washing dishes to return to his art. In this corner, we have Janet Ditko (yeah, Kirby and Ditko, I enjoyed that too) the long suffering breadwinner of the couple who longs for a more rewarding existence. 

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Review: “Reed Gunther” Issues 1-5

Review: “Reed Gunther” Issues 1-5

by Brandon Beck

Before you open the first issue of Shane and Chris Houghton’s Reed Gunther, ask yourself the following question: “How awesome is a cowboy riding a bear and fighting monsters?” If your answer was “The most awesome” then you’re going to love this book. Even if that wasn’t your answer, you’re still going to love this book.

Reed Gunther focuses on the titular cowboy, his smarter-than-average bear Sterling and their adventures through an Old West filled with giant snakes, shark monsters and ancient totems. The central man/bear duo is incredibly charming, akin to a Wild West Wallace & Gromit. Reed’s overconfident, super-manly nature contrasts nicely with Sterling’s silent but expressive puppy-dog nature. Granted, Reed is also a bit of a coward and Sterling can be an absolute badass, which provides for some great character moments. There’s an hysterical joke about their somewhat one-sided communication in issue 4, which I won’t ruin, but was easily the biggest laugh in this first story arc, which is saying a lot as this book is often laugh out loud funny.

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Gutter Magic “Spells” Potential

Gutter Magic “Spells” Potential

by Alec Berry

Something about the urban landscape emphasizes the human condition. Maybe it’s the close contact of your neighbors. Maybe it’s the partial grime left exposed. Maybe it’s simply the notion and stigma that bad things happen on the streets. Whatever it is, fiction always seems to capitalize on it. Authors and artists enjoy looking toward the mean pavements to either observe or use them as a backdrop, and by the time the final product reveals itself, it’s clear the harsh, unforgiving landscape brings out the worst, or at least questionable, in its subjects. This is what writer Rich Douek gets right in this zero issue preview of the forthcoming comic, Gutter Magic.

Gutter Magic blends the fantasy genre with a hint of crime to present a story that’s really about the characters and their determined faults or problematic situations. This zero issue contains sixteen pages of more or less setup material, but within only sixteen pages writer Rich Douek manages to cover three members of his cast and somewhat establish who each of them are.

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REVIEW: Americus

REVIEW: Americus

by Sam Kusek

Neil Barton is your quintessential bookworm. Happiest when his nose is buried in the middle of his favorite young adult fantasy series, Apathea Ravenchilde, Neil is not looking forward to his transition into high school. Like many of us at that tender age of 13, Neil doesn’t exactly know who he is yet, having little means of self-expression in his quiet and very religious town of Americus. It isn’t until a local church activist group deems Apathea Ravenchilde “unfit for souls of our youth,” and his best friend is sent off to military school, that Neil has to take a stand and find out exactly what he’s made of.

What I enjoyed most about this book was Neil’s journey from young, unsure child to young adult. His experience is like so many of our own, making it extremely relatable. Throughout the book, Neil is influenced by a number of older men and women, from vegan librarians to punk music enthusiasts and begins to see a world outside of the scope the dreary small town he and his single mother live in. To further emphasize the point, the book is interspliced with scenes from the young adult novel (Apathea Ravenchilde), which features a big reveal about Apathea’s origin and family relations and the rising tension between the library committee and the activist group, providing a wonderfully complex sense of balance and allows the book to touch upon a number of the issues of young adulthood, such as relationships with lovers and parents and often feeling trapped by the society around us.

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Review: That Monkey Tune, Michael A. Kandalaft

Review: That Monkey Tune, Michael A. Kandalaft


by Nick Chidgey

That Monkey Tune is a prime example of webcomics at their best, which is, ironically, when its being something else. Taking a cue from classic newspaper comic strips, That Monkey Tune employs a daily 3 panel gag strip format, with a larger Sunday strip, just like in the funny papers. In fact, the strip is syndicated in papers across the US as well as being published online.

While navigating the strip’s October archive,  its slick and simple presentation makes me almost forget that I’m not reading this on the New York Times website’s comics section. Too often when reading webcomics, it’s easy to be put off by bad website layout. That Monkey Tune spares us the headache.

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