Randy and Don are having a refined little get-together. Let's see, they have the wine, now all they need is the cheese... Cheese Comics, that is.
Don:
Mini-comics were not uncommon at the Comic-Con International San Diego this year, but what was interesting -- and new, at least to me -- was who was experimenting with the format. Sure, it's a staple of indy creators, but significant pros were using the photocopied, folded-over format for con-exclusive sketchbooks and storytelling. Some unknown talents' efforts in the medium come to Randy and me not by way of the con, but by way of England and the post office.
Randy:
Cheese Comics is sort of a publisher/imprint kind of thing, rather than an actual title of the mini-comics. Indeed, what we have here are three mini-comics, sharing a sort of warped sensibility and several creators but covering a wide variety of different genres and stories.
C4 #1
written by Anthony Hope-Smith & Michael Bregman
illustrated by Anthony Hope-Smith, Michael Bregman, Sally-Anne Hickman & Kenric Narbrough
Don:
In this anthology, the Cheese Comics creators offer up a spoof of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a penis private-eye with a proclivity for super-heroics, a goth rocker who falls victim to his own look and a maimed kitten in search of a new home. Only one of the stories really connected with me, though, and that was Bregman and Hickman's "Chip," in which they explore the tragic life of a one-eyed kitten and how he fell victim to human cruelty, shallowness and apathy.
Randy:
Interesting. "Chip" made me want to throw myself out a window, and I'm not even much of a cat lover. It's undeniably effective, but it was a little bit too down for me. Whereas I found "Rock Tomb" to be a lot of fun, a sarcastic look at the self-imposed depression and narcissism of many in the "goth" scene with a funny, if dark, humor to it.
Don:
Hope-Smith's "Rock Tomb" was completely impenetrable. Everything from inconsistent artwork to awkward lettering kept me out of this story. The other two pieces in the book -- Bregman's "Dick Taistee" and his and Narbrough's "Vampy the Buffalo Slayer" -- make for funny one-time concepts, but they fall flat when it comes to telling actual stories. Narbrough's work here, though, is much stronger than what one will find in the next Cheese Comics release that we'll discuss.
Pritty Please #1
written by Michael Bregman
illustrated by Kenric Narbrough
Don:
In a weird future, the portly Pritty Please is one of the most powerful people in the world. Her combat skills are unmatched, her weapons cutting-edge and her backup -- the warrior women known as the Prittys -- is overwhelming. But Pritty's got more than the weight of the world on her shoulders and a targeting scanner aimed at her head... she's a got a teenage son at home worry about as well.
I honestly don't know what the point of Pritty Please is. Is it comedy? Not really. Is it a teen drama, as it appears to be in the opening scene? No, not by a longshot. Pritty Please tries to be a sci-fi action flick, but the low-grade format doesn't serve the genre well. Thanks to the restrictive format, we really don't get to know the characters well at all, which is too bad, because there is some potential here, especially in Pritty's son.
Randy:
I'm with you on Bregman's reach exceeding his grasp here. There's a lot of potential in the story, but it never quite comes together. However, there are enough ideas in here to make me hope that with time and polish, it could realize that potential. Certainly the idea of an action-heroine who is an overweight mom is something different (you can almost hear the comic making its way to Roseanne Barr's agent), and as you note, there are some interesting moments between Pritty and her son. It's just that the characters are a bit two-dimensional, and the dialogue stilted, particularly when it comes to the villain, who pretty much explains the premise to the readers in a forced and awkward manner.
Don:
Also getting in the way of the story is Narbrough's artwork. The storytelling and the action doesn't flow well visuall at all, and sometimes, cues in the script are required to make sense of what's going on. Narbrough's eye for anatomy could use some work as well. There's no denying the energy behind the imagery, but what's called for now is a bit of polish.
Randy:
Agreed, but I think it's also worth noting that Narbrough's art does work at times. Certainly his style has a clean look to it that I enjoyed, and though the sequence has its problems, I thought there was some nice energy and choreography in the big chase scene.
Whatever #1
written by Michael Bregman
illustrated by Sally Anne Hickman
Don:
In this raw book, a little girl imagines herself at the center of a revolt against the corruption of the Bush adminstration that brings not only the president and his hangers-on to their kness, but the entire country. Bregman's script is purposefully crude and stems from one's frustration with the perceived futility of left-wing protesters. Bregman's ideas are far from high-minded, but his railing against Bush -- combined with a spoof of the Powerpuff Girls, an innocent element that makes for an entertaining contrast in this setting -- is something I find it easy to get behind.
Randy:
Actually, I think Bregman's story sort of takes no prisoners on any side. His protagonist is hardly what you'd call a reliable moral barometer, and I think that the protesters who give up their ideals so quickly to become what they're railing against get the same brutal treatment as the Bush administration.
Don:
Hickman's crude style suits the overall tone of the script. Her sendup of the Powerpuff Girls is spot on... perhaps too much so. Though they boast different names, in appearance, they're exactly alike. It might have been interesting to see Hickman play with the designs associated with the property. Her incorporation of her crudely rendered character into photographs was surprisingly well done.
The foul-mouthed "protagonist" expresses expresses extreme ideas and courses of action that the rest of us won't allow ourselves to experience. The mini-comic is a short-story format, and it's a shame, as I would have liked to learn more about the unfortunate circumstances that force Beatrix to escape into a harsh world where she is in control.
Randy:
As you note, it would be interesting to see more of the real life that Beatrix has which has made her such a harsh mistress of her fantasy life. Of the Cheese Comics, I think that Whatever is the strongest, because Bregman and Hickman really pull no punches here. In fact, the main weakness that Whatever has, like the rest of the Cheese Comics that we sampled, is that they don't seem to have enough room to really explore all the potential in the various concepts.
For more information about Cheese Comics, visit the Cheese Comics website at www.cheesecomics.com.
