Better late than never. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the more notable books I bought at last weekend’s Small Press Expo:
New Engineering by Yuichi Yokoyama. The book of the show for me in many ways, as I had only seen glimpses of Yokoyama’s work up until now (most notably in the barely seen anthology Bete Noire) and had been hungry for more. He’s unlike any other comic artist I’ve ever seen, manga or otherwise. You can find a profile of his work here.
Powr Masters Vol. 1 by CF. I’ll let Jog tackle this one.
Maggots by Brian Chippendale. Are you detecting a strong Fort Thunder theme yet? Seriously, PictureBox had some of the nicest, most intriguing books for sale at the show this year and it’s in all likelihood where I spent the most money (I didn’t keep track). This handsome, pocket-sized book (complete with cloth bookmark!) was supposed to come out way back in 97 from Highwater. For awhile there it was the indie comics equivilent of Duke Nukem Forever. Jog has a review of this too. I also nabbed Chippendale’s new ongoing mini, Battlestack Galacti-Crap. Love the title.
Daybreak Vol. 2 by Brian Ralph. Another Fort Thunder alum, though one more given to conventional storytelling than his peers. For example, this one’s about zombies, though told exclusively through the eyes of nameless survivor, a.k.a. you.
Monsters No. 1 and 2 by Ken Dahl. Strong word of mouth made me pick up this mini, about the author’s battle with herpes. I’m expecting a real happy go lucky sort of thing.
Knuckles the Malevolent Nun: She Might Get Rather Crude by Roger Langridge and others. Upscale jam comic featuring Langridge’s nasty nun character and work by folks like Bob Fingerman and Dylan Horrocks.
One Horse Town by Pat Lewis. I always try to pick up one Pat Lewis mini at SPX. He’s a funny guy.
Reich No. 1 and 2 by Elijah Brubaker. An attempt to tell the story of controversial psychiatrist and all-around crackpot Wilhelm Reich. I’ve always considered Reich to be an intriguing guy. The fact that someone’s made a comic about his life doubles the interest level.
Fluke No. 6 by various. An handsome-looking anthology book courtesy of Drew Weing and Eleanor Davis. Also includes work by lots of people I’ve never heard of. Most of what’s in here though is rather impressive work, so I imagine they won’t be unknown to me for long.
Cartoon Dialectics Vol. 1 by Tom Kaczynski. A collection of work Kaczynski’s done for various magazines.
Iblis by Kelli Nelson. I haven’t gotten around to reading all the books I picked up at the show yet (believe it or not, this list is just the highlights), but so far this mini is one of my favorites. A somewhat loose adaptation of the Qur’an’s tale of Satan’s fall from grace, Nelson uses simple geometric shapes and limited color palette to tell a surprisingly emotional and compelling story. It’s finds like this that bring me to SPX year after year.
