I haven’t added a ton of reviews to the website, but I’m about to put them in:
Lost Kisses #7 & Worms #3
Mitchell and the crew at Silber Media may have found the perfect format for stick figure mini comics. The size of these micro minis is so charming the simple artwork works effectively on their tiny pages. Even the text is minimal. Together, along with the stories, they propel the reader forward one panel/page at a time. Since you can’t look ahead, the format automatically lends a sense of urgency to the action and you find yourself rushing to reach the conclusion.
Lost Kisses is a funny stand-alone story about an ex-girlfriend with a baggage-filled backstory and an unpaid debt. Will our hero do the right thing? Will his karma cave-in or cashout? And what do barcodes have to do with lost kisses? Pucker up big fella – all will be revealed inside these bulging covers.
In chapter three of the Worms adventure a girl wakes inside an institution. Bound securely to her bed she can only watch in terror as the IV plugged into her arm releases its burning contents. Warning: formication ahead!
Lost Kisses and Worms are fun to look at and read. Check them out on the Silber Media website. You can also read several back issues online on YouTube.
~ Richard Krauss, Comic Related
Lost Kisses #8
I finally found something to complain about with Brian’s comics: they’re so tiny that they can get lost in the general chaos of my desk. This comic came in months ago, and just now it fell out of a larger stack of comics when I reached for something to review. As complaints go it’s pretty weak, granted, but I figured some negativity was due on this page, especially as I thoroughly enjoyed this issue. This is the story of Brian’s ex getting robbed and beaten and ending up in a coma. He pulls no punches at all in describing his feelings towards her, even going so far as to wish (almost) that he had done it. If you wanted to complain about the stick figure artwork I guess you could do that, but nobody could fault Brian for a lack of openness. Honestly, pretty much everybody who’s ever had a horrible breakup (which is probably everybody who has ever dated) has at least thought about killing their ex, but few people are willing to go into this much detail about it. Brian doesn’t let himself off the hook either, going into some things he did wrong in the relationship and bemoaning his inability to completely move on from this relationship. As always, this is another solid mini, and people with more organizational skills than me should have no trouble reading these tiny things all in a clump and not losing them around their room…
~ Kevin Bramer, Optical Sloth
Lost Kisses #9:
A look at lifestyles. Should you do something useful or sit on your butt all day? Let’s also talk about infidelity and being a homophobic. A lot of issues are explored.
~ Paul Dale Roberts, Jazma Online!
It’s getting to the point where I should give Brian a separate page for each of his titles to prevent this page from getting completely ridiculous. He just sent 5 more comics along, one starting an entirely new series, and this page is bulky enough as it is. Damn his productivity! Lost Kisses is definitely the most personal of his mini minis, as this time around he talks about how he much he values creativity and artistic expression over economic stability and how this inevitably gets him in trouble with the significant others of his friends. After all, when he encourages them to do more art, the reason against it is usually because of a job. The conversation then turns to how much they hate that job, which turns to questioning why they still work at a place they loathe, which is not a direction that most significant others would like the conversation to go. He goes on to talk about how he can’t seem to talk to these boyfriends/girlfriends like real people, as he always sees them as transitory, which is also how he sees life in general. Cats, on the other hand, are creatures that he wants to like him. He also mentions how much more he likes sleeping than sex, and once again generally shows that he is willing to talk about pretty much any personal detail, as he comes to terms with being stuck as a jackass for the rest of his life because changing would be too hard. It’s brilliant stuff and seems to be getting better as he goes along which, with this level of productivity, means he’ll be Dan Clowes in no time. These are all a buck each and I just noticed that he sells chunks of ten for $8, for those of you who like a bargain.
~ Kevin Bramer, Optical Sloth
I didn’t really warm to this issue until about halfway thru. At first, I was a bit apprehensive of the concept, worried that maybe it wouldn’t hold my interest all the way thru the issue. But somewhere along the line it clicked for me and I became emotionally invested in the end result. That’s the way Lost Kisses always goes – Brian John Mitchell inspires confusion, disdain, and respect (in that order) every time I read this series.
This particular installment features the main character – a somewhat simplified version of the author – as he speculates on his disconnected social nature. He wants to know why the wives, husbands, boyfriends, and girlfriends of his friends don’t like him. Thus begins an introspective journey that may end up forcing you to speculate on your own social relationships with friends.
~ Nick Marino, Audio Shocker
If you’ve never read Lost Kisses before, here’s a little background: Lost Kisses is a mini comic one-man-show of attempted pseudo-profundity. Blocks of text at the bottom of each panel present a generally rational statement or observation about the subject at hand, while one or more stick figures perform some improv theater relating to the concept. The great thing about this mode of printed performance art is, the author can claim wisdom if it comes off as deep, and blame it on the stick figures if it goes to the dogs.
This issue examines social tensions between the protagonist and the important people in the protagonist’s friends’ lives. Turns out, if you treat people as you might treat waitstaff, and don’t tip, they won’t like you. Go figure. Perhaps this is some kind of morality play, a poorly drawn modern version of the classic Goofus & Gallant series. Except, there’s no Gallant in the Lost Kisses universe. I always hated Goofus & Gallant, although if one of them had manifested this much self-loathing, it might have been as entertaining as Lost Kisses #9.
In terms of artistic rendering, this comic is basically a non-event. Except for Mr. T and girls, all characters look exactly alike. Much like identical twins, the only way to differentiate one from the other is to count the fingers, and see who has zero, one, or two elbows. The artist has helpfully tagged certain non-anthropomorphic items in the comic, in case the reader isn’t sure if that’s a bed or a king cake, or which type of equine has been depicted.
It can be difficult to be certain, but I will hazard a guess that if Lost Kisses #9 has an intended audience, it will be self-loathing people who defensively pretend to be baffled about why others think they are a donkey of sorts. If you need to help a person with no self esteem understand why that behavior is, well, lame, this comic could be a helpful instructional aid. I don’t know for sure, but it is possible this could also be a how-to guide for ditching all that excess sense of self worth.
~ Holly von Winckel, Sequential Tart
I think Mitchell was the creative force behind these, although there are no writer or artist credits on either of them. But he wrote all the others, so I think I can safely assume he wrote these two, and also did the art, which is limited to stick figures. Unfortunately, the writing matches the crudity of the artwork, being a series of self-involved diary-style musings on life and relationsh
ips. None of it is really all that compelling; Mitchell comes off as full of himself and kind of a jerk. Maybe it’s supposed to be a bit transgressive and confessional, but it’s mostly just uninteresting, and not all that easy to read to boot, since it can be hard to tell whether you’re supposed to read the word balloons or the captions first on each page.
I hate to start out on a negative note, but I thought these were pretty poor, more appropriate for a blog or something, with the images being pretty much unnecessary. I wouldn’t bother complaining about them, but the differential in quality between these and the other minis is pretty notable. I figure it’s best to save the positive stuff for later, and luckily, all the others minis are quite a bit more interesting.
~ Matthew Brady, Warren Peace
Mitchell combines and deconstructs the relationship between captions and stick figures with word balloons in this, well, essay on and implications of love. A bit sad, but wonderful.
~ Wade Busby, Dimestore
Lost Kisses #10
Brian, with this issue, asks an important question: when it is OK to tell someone that you love them? On top of that, what exactly is love, and is anyone ever capable of really loving someone else? Those happy thoughts form the basis for this mini, so if you’re one of those people who is deliriously happy and in love, this one probably won’t do a whole lot for you. It starts with Brian noticing that a lot more people are telling him that they love him recently, and he has a point: it’s used way too much. Then again, as he points out, he is a stoic guy from a stoic family, so maybe he’s just taking the whole thing too seriously. He also concedes that maybe if he had a wife and kids (a lot of his friends are married with children) that saying “I love you” would probably be second nature. He concludes by saying that maybe he should give it a chance, or maybe he’ll end up lonely and bitter and won’t have to worry about people telling them that they love him because he’ll have lost all his friends. Once again it’s an interesting comic, and he really has no right being this productive AND thought-provoking. Just pick one or the other and save the rest for the other mini comics folk. I think everybody knows where I stand on these things by now, that they’re very much worth checking out. He does mention that he’s running out of ideas, but I’ll believe it when I see it… $1
~ Kevin Bramer, Optical Sloth
Somewhere around the end of Lost Kisses #9 and the beginning of Lost Kisses #10, I had a mini eureka about this series: Lost Kisses is about an outsider indie artist who fantasizes about normalcy. Granted, normalcy (in this case, middle-aged American normalcy) is not necessarily an agreed upon concept, but I think you get what I’m saying – spouse, kids, full-time job, etc.
The premise is simple – the main character’s friends have been saying “I love you” lately, and the main character isn’t having it. Not only does he dislike saying it to acquaintances, he doesn’t say it to close friends or family either. By the end, it’s apparent that the main character is becoming either apathetic or accepting to the idea of saying “I love you.” It’s to the credit of the author that the ending grants closure but remains somewhat ambiguous.
~ Nick Marino, Audio Shocker
What’s with saying the word ‘love’. What is the meaning of ‘love’. Are emotions for idiots? Have you ever said: “I love you” accidently during sex. Many avenues of love are explored.
~ Paul Dale Roberts, Jazma Online!
If you’ve never read Lost Kisses before, here’s a little background: Lost Kisses is a one-man-show of attempted pseudo-profundity. Blocks of text at the bottom of each panel present a generally rational statement or observation about the subject at hand, while one or more stick figures perform some improv theater relating to the concept. The great thing about this mode of printed performance art is, the author can claim wisdom if it comes off as deep, and blame it on the stick figures if it goes to the dogs.
Ahh, love. That thing your friends spring on you when you’re not expecting it. Our hero explores a variety of potential reasons the people around him might be declaring their love of him. As I read this, I kept waiting for this monologue to come to a point of some kind, but eventually I decided that the best bit was right at the beginning – sometimes the best thing to do is just hang up the phone.
What this comic lacks in artistic style, it fails to make up for in witty insight. A comic about showing what a sad-sack thinks of love is only engaging if there is some redemption, or even the hope of redemption. Lost Kisses #10 is redolent of despair wearing a devil-may-care mask.
This comic is essentially the drawn version of a child standing on a chair shouting, “Look at me! Look at me!” There’s nothing wrong with that, as long as I can’t see or hear it from wherever I am. If you are willing to wait for the child to do something entertaining, you might like Lost Kisses.
~ Holly von Winckel, Sequential Tart
Is the “L” word to heavy to toss around among friends? To this reviewer it’s more than just an emotion, it’s a bit more of selfless devotion, but I like Mitchell’s take on the matter. It’s amusing, perplexing, challenging, and a fun little read.
~ Wade Busby, Dimestore
This comic, however, is literally stick figures. I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be autobiographical. The author seems to be musing somewhat morbidly on his life, his career as an artist (???) and interactions with other people. It’s pretty self-absorbed, but worse, it’s completely uninteresting. The lettering consists of crudely done hand-lettering for word balloons and what appears to be the Times New Roman font for the captions (come on, couldn’t we at least get a more interesting font? It’s not like it would have taken any more effort to point and click). Bottom line, I can’t fathom anyone who would be interested to read this.
~ Matt Adler, Ain’t It Cool News
Just a Man #1
If there’s one thing that Brian needs, it’s clearly more series. As sarcasm doesn’t come across well on the internets, let me just make clear how very sarcastic that was. The man is already a machine, it seems ridiculous to start up another series. More power to him if he wants to keep four series going at once, although it’s hard to tell if this one is going to be more than one issue. This is the story of a simple man who works the land to feed his family until he comes home to find his house on fire. His infant son is dead, his wife is missing, and he has a pretty good idea who’s responsible. I may have my westerns mixed up, but isn’t that the plot from Unforgiven? Except that the Clint Eastwood character at least had a history as a gunslinger. Anyway, a confrontation occurs (sort of), things end, and I’d think this was a one-shot if it wasn’t for the gaping bit of story that remains unresolved. All told the story didn’t do a lot for me, as it seemed like something I’d seen before, and even the dialogue got cliched every once in a while. Granted, that’s probably hard to avoid with a western, so he doesn’t lose any points for that. Still, that gaping plot hole (I’m trying to avoid spoilers), the lack of resolution with what should be a central character, is annoying. If this is a series, fine. If not, it ruins this as a one-shot. Time will tell, but start with his other series and work your way over to this one. Oh, I should mention that the art perfectly suited the mood of this book, to end on a positive note if nothing else.
~ Kevin Bramer, Optical Sloth
A killing spree and thoughts of justification. A touch of Clint Eastwood is in this mini bang bang.
~ Paul Dale Roberts, Jazma Online!
This western story is the gem of the bunch, telling a simple, effe
ctive story of violence and revenge; it seems like a Clint Eastwood movie along the lines of Unforgiven. The main character is a simple farmer who is quick to respond when his family is harmed, but it’s an ambiguous ending; was the right man brought to justice (if you can call it that)? Or did he make a hasty decision based on rage and despair? Although it’s not indicated on the comic itself, this is apparently the first issue, so we’ll probably find out the answers, but it would be perfectly fine if the story ended here, leaving the reader wondering as to what really happened.
Andrew White’s art is probably the element that really brings the story to life here, giving a scratchy, dirty feel to the setting, as if dust and sweat are covering everything we see.
It’s definitely the best-looking of these books; I’m interested in another issue, but I’d be even more interested in seeing mitchell and White continuing on to a different story, just to see what else they can do.
~ Matthew Brady, Warren Peace
I’m a bit speechless after reading this minicomic. I didn’t expect this type of suspenseful action from the same author I know best for his Lost Kisses brand of self-depreciating introspection. Brian John Mitchell shows excellent range in his scripting of Just A Man, a badass western that epitomizes the genre while using a completely fresh medium to tell the tale.
The art by Andrew White is extremely well-matched to the plot. His slow burn style quickly switches to sketchy fury when the action ramps up. Though the art is at times impressionistic, it always conveys the necessary emotion. All in all, I’m truly impressed by this issue. It’s a wonderful short story that packs a big punch in a small space.
~ Nick Marino, Audio Shocker
Just a Man begins with a classic American frontier trope: The honest man, troubled and cheated by the dishonest man. The honest man has lost everything but his land, and has no intention of losing that, so he takes action. But to say this is an action comic would be a mistake. Action happens, but it is so meticulously paced that I could almost feel the burning sun on my head out in the field. I could taste the dust in my mouth, and smell the hooch on that McTeague boy’s breath. I was surprised to discover that, despite being grounded in a familiar trope, Just a Man was not clichéd and predictable. All the way to the end, the plot yielded unanticipated events. Just a Man may be sparing with words, but the words used complement the art precisely. The images are evocative, building the scenes effectively. The use of repeated imagery for emphasis is particularly pleasing.
Pretty impressive for a comic with only 56 images and 56 lines of text! If you like short, well-executed comics with a gritty, Old West style, Just a Man could be your next tiny addiction.
~ Holly von Winckel, Sequential Tart
Mitchell weaves a poetic tale of a Wild West husband/father/farmer everyman and his struggle to survive the loneliness and paranoia of life. It’s stark, bold, cold, and darkly humorous. White’s single panel illos are gritty like the desert Southwest. Cool stuff!
~ Wade Busby, Dimestore
This isn’t really what I would consider a comic, web or otherwise. Yes, it has sequential art but each panel is on its own page; it seems to me part of the art of comics is arranging panel layout for a proper visual and reading flow. The art is…very basic. A step up from stick figures. I’m not sure I can say much else about it. The writing is pretty basic as well, as each page (or rather, panel) has a first person narration caption that tells you exactly what’s going on. This isn’t really for me, although perhaps someone else will get more out of it.
~ Matt Adler, Ain’t It Cool News
Worms #4:
Let’s stick an IV into our arms and let the worms flow through! Then later let’s impersonate a nurse after ripping someone’s tongue out of their head. Not for the weak hearted.
~ Paul Dale Roberts, Jazma Online!
Bits and pieces coming to light, that’s what this series is all about. This time around our heroine has a dream in which her dead father tells her that it’s time to wake up, while she still can. Upon waking she sees that instead of a ceiling above her bed there are storm clouds and silent lightning. One bolt of this lightning hits her IV, which has the odd effect of making her fine with the worms that are coming through it and into her body. It also gives her the energy to try to escape again, which is when her nurse comes in to check up on her. There’s no sense of my telling you much more than that, as there are few things worse than a suspense comic with no surprises, but we do get to see a bit more about the people holding her captive and, perhaps, why that security guard from a couple of issues ago seemed to be bloodless. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: send the man a pile of money so he’ll send you a pile of tiny comics. It’s so simple!
~ Kevin Bramer, Optical Sloth
The Silber website describes this series as “surrealistic horror/sci-fi”, and that’s pretty appropriate. Even though this is the fourth issue, it’s pretty easy to follow, with a one-sentence recap on the first page introducing us to the main character’s plight, in which she is trapped in some sort of asylum and being experimented on. It’s weird, but pretty effective, with strange details blending with crude, abstracted art to make for a compelling narrative that pulls the reader right into the tale.
It’s a quick taste of the story, but it’s enough to get the reader on board with its disturbing milieu, making us wonder what’s going on and what will happen next. This is one that I’ll have to try to keep up with.
~ Matthew Brady, Warren Peace
Worms is sci-fi/horror mini-comic. Worms #4 “awake” is a rapid-fire series of single sentences, stream of consciousness narrative detailing the protagonist’s renewed efforts to escape a sinister medical research facility.
Overall, this is a decent comic. The story is engaging, horrifying, and mysterious. It is told in the first person, encouraging the reader to imagine herself in this scenario, which is pretty uncomfortable. Communication from beyond the grave and inexplicable events that turn the rules of normal daily life upside down help achieve a quality creeping dread.
The images support the text to some extent, but they are more of a side dish than a critical element. The whole story is contained in the words, and would work even without the pictures. While they may be largely extraneous, the pictures contribute a harsh, nightmarish confusion. It reminds me of David Lynch films, with a squeeze of Aeon Flux; occasionally hard to tell if it was really slick or I just didn’t get it. I tend to think that the message has been mangled, if the audience doesn’t get it.
Many of the drawings are stylish and moody, which is very cool. Others are difficult to interpret, or even outright indecipherable. Some of them even seem a bit like placeholders, inserted so something will be there, but nothing specifically related to the event or text described on that page. Out of 38 panels, 24 feature part or all of a woman’s face, with particular emphasis on the eyes. It is tough to know if this is part of the stylishness, or simply some manner of obsession on the part of the artist?
If you’re into streamlined sci-fi scenarios, this is a good one to check out. Less so, if hospitals, nurses, or parasitic wormy things are among your personal freak-out triggers.
~ Holly von Winckel, Sequential Tart
I’m not gonna lie – I have a hard time connecting with Worms. It’s an abstract and violent fantasy that just doesn’t capture me. I appreciate the experimental narration by Brian John Mitchell and the minimalist art of Kimberlee Traub, but I’m just not drawn to this series in the same way as Lost Kisses. I dig the weird nurse-fetish thing going on, but that’s about all that struck my fancy.
~ Nick
Marino, Audio Shocker
A girl is trapped in some sort of psychiatric institute. She’s been subjected to odd psychotropic experiments after her father’s recent death. She attempts her reventge/escape… or does she? Really? Mitchell’s writing is on point and in contrast, Traub’s single panel art is painterly and emotive. I’m wondering and eager to see how this ends – start here.
~ Wade Busby, Dimestore
XO #5:
You know what I love most about this particular series ? It’s the fact that the murders have all been, on some level or another, justifiable. Granted, it’s been just barely justifiable in some cases (#3, for example, and this one) but there’s a case to be made for the fact that murderer was mostly trying to do the right thing. In this issue a young drug dealer is confronted by the brother of a man to whom he’s dealing drugs. He mentions this problem to his partner, who mentions it to the supplier, and is offered $5000 to take care of the problem along with assistance in getting rid of the body, but any action to be taken is purely up to the dealer. The dealer confronts the brother, meaning only to talk, but he confronts him while the guy is working on his car and he ends up getting accidentally killed in a manner that’s familiar to anybody who has ever worked under a car hood who has an active imagination. The comic ends a little abruptly, as we’re left to wonder exactly how this dealer is going to get rid of the body, but I still love all the ambiguity. Brian is doing an excellent job of giving all of his series a distinct voice, and the contribution of Melissa with the art has to be at least mentioned. That death shot was a particularly gruesome panel and she manages to make all of these deaths seem like they could be happening to somebody you know, no small feat.
~ Kevin Bramer, Optical Sloth
When asked, many people say their career choice was not so much a decision, as some kind of series of incidents and events that resulted in that career. So it is for the main character in XO, as well. In XO #5, we learn about the haphazard start to our anti-hero’s avocation. Sometimes you accidentally kill someone you were kinda sorta but not really thinking about killing anyway. It’s better to get paid in these cases, I suppose.
The XO story is told in a factual, deadpan way, with short, blunt sentences, and fairly simple character design. The humor is seen mostly in the action. Some plumber’s butt here, a little jazz hands there, and suddenly manslaughter is more ridiculous than horrific. The drawings themselves remind me a bit of Mad Magazine, a bit of the old black and white Loony Tunes, and a tiny bit of the caricatures my friend used to draw in high school.
Although this succeeds as a mini-comic, I could see it translating well into a series of simple animated films. Brian and Melissa, are you reading this? You could be working the multi-media angle here! You could be the next Spike & Mike!
Fans of black humor and stories about criminals as regular Joes will probably get a kick out of this one. Being a tale of murder and the low life, it is violent. If you read it and it makes you sad that blood squirted out of someone, don’t come crying to me; you were warned.
~ Holly von Winckel, Sequential Tart
Oh man. Selling drugs and being paid $5,000.00 to whack someone. When you do the whacking, you hit the guy in the head with a car hood!
~ Paul Dale Roberts, Jazma Online!
This series is apparently about a young hitman, but this issue seems to function as the first part of a sort of origin story, in which he discovers his capacity for murder while simply trying to maintain his drug-dealing career. It’s fairly effective, although the character is sort of a cipher, seeming to move through his life without emotion (although his internal monologue tries to argue otherwise). Maybe it’s the art, which is occasionally effective in its cartoony figure work and features some nice toned shading rather than crude, simple linework, but can also be a bit stiff.
It’s a decent little slice of a story, but not as compelling as it could be; I don’t feel like I need to find out what happens next (or before). And the caption-based narration gets a bit grating, but maybe that’s just reading a repetition of Mitchell’s tics all in a row.
~ Matthew Brady, Warren Peace
This comic sits somewhere between Lost Kisses and Worms. It has the violent fantasy of Worms with the introspective and familiar narration of Lost Kisses. Accompanied by the character-driven art of Melissa Spence Gardner, XO #5 reads like an extended edition of a sick Bazooka Joe bubble gum comic, only the punchline is murder.
Occasionally, when the images become symbolic, I get confused. I think this minicomic works best when it’s literal – seeing the simplistic-yet-visceral representation of this story’s events really drives home the violence. It may sound odd to say it, but this issue is at its finest when the aloof narration is paired with literal interpretations of casual brutality.
~ Nick Marino, Audio Shocker
This comic comes the closest to actual cartooning, although it still uses the “one panel per page” format. This series is about a hired killer, again, narrating his adventures in the first person. Once again, the writing is pretty perfunctory, and has no real voice to it. But at least the story has a little more to it. Overall, reading these comics was a chore, and not something I’d ever want to do again. If writing them makes the author happy, more power to him, but I don’t see this as a career for him unless he manages to improve by leaps and bounds.
~ Matt Adler, Ain’t It Cool News
Writer Mitchell tosses off a rather casual yet blunt tale of the main character and his first experience at being paid to kill someone. Gardner’s art is simple single-panel-per-page, yet deceptively detailed. I felt like the story was an average everyday normal occurrence – it just flowed so well. PG-13, I suppose, for the cartoony gore.
~ Wade Busby, Dimestore
Just A Man #1, Lost Kisses #9-#10, Worms #4, XO #5
small things are great,mini things are even better.
4 mini comics,each more or less self contained,each different,& each totally worth your time.
xo & just a man are fictitious short stories sparingly illustrated,while lost kisses is a biographical comic with angst & stick figures.
lastly,worms seems to be a horror/sci-fi mini comic.
these would succeed without the gimic of their seriously reduced size,but the format & stories all compliment the medium well.
$8 for 10 readable mini comics is a far better deal than most out there.
~ Maximum Rock & Roll
Wow, these little suckers put the “mini” in “minicomic.” They’re just under an inch and a half square, limiting the comics they contain to one image-caption pairing per page. It’s an interesting constraint to work impose upon oneself, given that auteur Brian John Mitchell is already up against his own inability to draw. That’s not a subjective assessment, by the way–we’re not talking Jeffrey Brown lo-fi or Brian Chippendale noise or John Porcellino minimalism or Anders Nilsen stick figures or anything else that’s a matter of taste in the Mitchell-drawn Lost Kisses, we’re talking actual stick figures, with little happy-face faces and five even tinier sticks for fingers. Mitchell’s enthusiasm for making comics outstripped his ability to master even its most basic necessities. Which is kinda cute, I’ll admit, and works well enough for the kind of ramshackle navel-gazing confessional humor he’s doing in that particular series, but the air of self-indulgence is unmistakable. Making matters worse is a problem with image flow–I know, hard to believe given that you’re just dealing with one tiny picture and caption on every page. But Mitchell places the drawings on top of the captions even though the drawings respond to what’s said in the captions, so that y
ou either have to read bottom-to-top or constantly spoil the gag for yourself. I have no idea why he does that way–surely he noticed it doesn’t scan? I don’t think it’s a formal innovation done for effect, like Chippendale’s chutes-and-ladders layouts–I just think it’s a mistake.
Which is what makes the other three comics in the envelope Mitchell sent me all the more surprising. Not due to the presence of other artists, mind you–White’s work on Just a Man is scratchily effective, particularly with some effects involving sun glare and flames, but Traub aims for abstraction and ends up coming out just sorta sloppy, while Gardner’s basic cartoony figures look like they came from any number of entry-level webcomics or student-newspaper strips. No, what’s impressive here is how the physical constraints of Mitchell’s tiny format are made to enhance his storytelling. When you have so little room that simply printing a sentence at a legible size eats up half your page, you’ve gotta keep things terse, so why not go hard-boiled and tale tales of murder and mayhem committed by flat-affect protagonists? Just a Man is a Western morality play of violent retribution; a couple of moments overstate the case, I think, but in general it’s a chilling thing, with some memorable facial expressions from White and a surprisingly, refreshingly open and un-cliche ending. XO is a series, but this is apparently the origin story for its blase hitman protagonist, and believe me you didn’t need to know this to appreciate the bracing matter-of-factness with which the character unwittingly but unhesitatingly graduates from selling drugs to eliminating an exceedingly minor threat to that undertaking. Worms is the least effective of the trio–the art just doesn’t do what it wants to do–but the story seems like an engaging enough Cold Heat-style weird-tale sci-fi mindfuck involving a young woman in peril and fighting to break free, and it sure does take a turn for the suddenly brutal at one point. In more assured hands, all three could be really killer melds of form and function. As it stands, they’re maybe not quite there, but if you wanted to spend a measly buck per book, even just to examine what they do right and what they do wrong, you’d have my blessing.
~ Sean T. Collins, Attention Deficit Disorderly Too Flat
It is always cool to get a package of these minicomics from Silber Media. They are the size of a pack of matches and each take a bout as long to read as the average TV commercial break. If I were not a mean old miser they would would be perfect to pass around to my friends. (If I had friends.) In a perfect world, little comics like these would be on the check out counter of my nearest gas station. You can find out more and order these for yourself at Silber Media.
Here is a look at the most recent batch:
Just A Man
Words by Brian John Mitchell with art by Andrew White.
At 56 panels/pages this is the strongest of these matchbook sized minis I’ve seen. The story is a simple western revenge scenario without any real innovations or twists but the execution is quite impressive considering the page/panel count and size. The art is probably the most ambitious I’ve seen in one of these matchbook minis which is to say that each panel holds about as much drawing as a panel smaller than a matchbook can hold and still make sense. I like White’s drawing here. Flipping back through it for a re-read I find that the pages tell the story well without the text.
Lost Kisses #9
By Brian John Mitchell.
Like previous Lost Kisses this book contains one page gag comics where a stick figure talks or interacts with other stick figures and the gag is accompanied by text which tells what I assume is the more honest truth about the situation. The theme in this issue seems to be the artist’s relationship with his friends. The gags work as self-deprecating humor in a simple way that might work on a t-shirt but the text gives it a punch of brutal honesty. It’s like ironic catch phrases served up with an anti-irony vaccine. The two things kind of wash each other and leave me with feelings neither or elation or sympathy. A bit like a mild punch in the stomach.
Lost Kisses #10
By Brian John Mitchell.
This book continues the formula of the last issues but focuses it’s attention on the artist’s relation to love and uneasiness with his friends’ affection toward him. It would be easy for this sort of introspective self-analysis to become depressing (and that does seem to be the default setting for a lot of auto-bio and diary comics) but the juxtaposition between gags and text keeps things light. There is a tongue-in-cheek self awareness about it that keeps you just a few feet on the funny side of whether or not you need to worry about the artist’s potential suicide.
XO #5
Story and words by Brian John Mitchell with art by Melissa Spence Gardner.
Gardner’s minimal Archie style cartooning mixed with Mitchell’s Tarantino style characters and situations makes for a fun little read. The story itself is over the top and unbelievable but the character’s delivery is so understated that I’m right there with him in every panel. I think the pacing and length are just right making this a really enjoyable episodic narrative. Not quite like a TV sitcom but exactly right for the trip to the bathroom during the commercials.
Worms #4
Story and words by Brian John Mitchell with artwork by Kimberlee Traub.
This comic continues Mitchell and Traub’s Lynchian horror adventure. The narrative is a stream of consciousness nightmare. The story does not really move far beyond the previous issues. The character is moving in baby steps as she tries to figure out what is happening to her. Traub does a good job of setting up the scene, action and emotion in as few brush strokes as possible. It’s like narrative flash art. Considering the format, each panel represents a clever choice on Traub’s part.
~ Shannon Smith, File Under Other
Minimalism can be annoying if there’s nothing solid there. The bedrock artistic product better be interesting or impactual enough to warrant the sparse quality of its formula.
In the case of Brian John Mitchell’s line of matchbook-small mini-comics the messages meticulously imprinted on their tiny pages are short but sweet enough to work expertly.
“Just A Man” is a straight story of revenge better and more effective than any John Huston or Sam Peckinpah film.
“Worms” is a cute little thumbnail of Dadaism that should fill the void for viewers of davidlynch.com that missed a membership payment.
But the crowning achievement in this series, the crazy, quirky coup d’ grace that is most deserving of straining your eyeballs is “Lost Kisses,” a group of strips with stick figures standing in for Mitchell himself and his sundry self-deprecating and contradictory thoughts about himself and his predispositions.
“I don’t always acknowledge my own existence,” he writes in one of them. “I could be a figment of your imagination.” If this doesn’t speak for a society steeped in narcissism, cerebral contusion and damaging self-analysis, I don’t know what does. Probably I need to shrink about it.
As I wait to see Dr. Katz to talk about this I read more “Lost Kisses” and wonder why a TV network hasn’t snapped these mini-comics up for minisodes yet.
The artwork by Andrew White, Kimberlee Traub and Melissa Spence Gardner is tailored for the screen and Mitchell’s words ache to be expounded on. But for now they remain neatly tucked in their cute little dimebag-like sleeves.
~ Bob Freville, Kotori Magazine
I have not had too much experience with minicomics in the past, so I was excited to check out writer Brian John Mitchell’s line of minicomics under the Silber Media banner. Each comic is about the size of a matchbook and sells for $1. Most of the pages feature one panel with text below them, giving them the feel of a small storybook. After reading each of the four titles Mitchell is currently
writing, I was impressed with his ability to pack a good amount of narrative into such a small package.
Here’s a rundown of the four titles I read:
“Just a Man” is a Western tale of a farmer that is out for vengeance after his family killed by people looking to get his land. The story is very reminiscent of some classic westerns (Unforgiven for example), but Mitchell does a great job of drawing you in with the main character’s tragedy, and also giving you plenty of payoff before the issue is over. The art by Andrew White is raw and really carries the emotion of the main character. This one was my favorite of the bunch.
“Worms” is sort of a sci-fi horror story about a woman who is the subject of some grisly experiments, which involve some kind of worms being injected into her bloodstream. I read issue #4, and it seems to be a turning point in the story, as the woman rises up against her captors, presumably tapping into some power that she’s developed because of the experiments. Kimberly Traub, a tattoo artist by trade, provides the art for this story, and it has an abstract, nightmarish quality to it that creeped me out (in a good way).
“XO” follows the story of a hitman, and issue #5 is a flashback tale of how he got started in his life of killing for hire. I enjoyed the dark humor of the book, and the origin story is ironic and funny. Melissa Spence Gardener’s art is solid and will appeal to more traditional comic books fans.
“Lost Kisses” is definitely the most personal book out of the four, as Mitchell takes a self-deprecating look at his own feelings and attitudes. He also provides the stick-figure art on the book, which gives it the feel of a diary entry. With issues #9 and #10, he explores his relationships with people, love and hate, and his own need (or lack thereof) for approval.
Brian John Mitchell definitely knows how to tell good stories within the parameters of a minicomic, and he’s paired himself up with artists that fit well with each individual title. I am interested in reading more of each of the four titles, and I’ll probably check out some of Silber Media’s other stuff as well. At $1 apiece, you certainly get your money’s worth.
~ Brian LeTendre, Secret Identity Podcast
Welcome to the first edition of “Small Matters” – the mini comic feature here at the good ol’ Publitorium. In the spirit of most minis, we’ll be posting these sporatically, when content merits it.Thumbs up!
To kick things off, we have five minis to discuss – all of them written by Brian John Mitchell. Brian was nice enough to contact us via the internets and ask us if we’d like some free mini comics to review. Being entirely professional and such, I did not jump up and down with glee, shouting “Yesssssssssssssss” over and over again. Did. Not. Instead, I sent him an e-mail telling him that we’d be glad to give some of his minis a bit of a read-and-review. Soon after, I got five of these bad boys in the mail. When he said “mini comics”, he sure wasn’t kidding. But enough foreplay – let’s get to the goods.
WORMS #4 | I read this one first… and I’m not really quite sure what to think of it. Mitchell provides a little blurb at the beginning that gets the ball rolling, but as I continue to read the book, I find myself a little lost. The narrative is full of surreal content, as it details what I believe to be a woman waking up from medicated stupour, and finding herself trapped in horrible place where the nurses can send you to sleep just by speaking and worms crawl into your arms from IVs. In the end, I think I failed to get a good footing – but that could also be due to the fact that these kinds of stories rarely float my boat.
JUST A MAN #1 | This, on the other hand, is completely in my wheelhouse. It’s a simple story about a simple man living a simple life as a farmer in olden times, when his house burns down – his family (seemingly) along with it. So he goes all Die Hard, looking for revenge on the man what killed his family. I’m not exactly sure how he does it, but Mitchell really packs this one with a lot of story – even with a beginning that takes a few pages to set up a specifically terse atmosphere. Definitely worth a read.
XO #5 | Drug deals gone bad in this one. Each of these books seems to have a different style of narration – or rather, different narrators. With XO, the protagonist seems to be fairly laid back as he recounts the story of his first kill on the job. The whole thing starts out innocently enough, but then takes a sharp turn for the worse. There’s a bit of blood and a touch of “what-to-do-with-the-body” shenanigans, and then, it’s over. A really good read though. I’m definitely interested in the nameless protagonist and where he goes from here. Or heck, even how he even got to this point in his life.
LOST KISSES #9 & 10 | Ah, the auto-bio comics. A staple of the indie comic world. A lot of people I know are starting to get annoyed with stories like these, but not me. I could read about the trials and tribulations of the misunderstood for hours on end – because as much as the comics try to show how unique their suffering is… really, we’re all going through the same stuff. The players might be a little different, and the actual events might not completely lend themselves to readable drama, but it’s all life. We all pretend to hate it, but really, what would we be doing if we didn’t have one?
Anyway, in the realm of autobio, these are pretty good. All the drawings are very crude (these being done with stick figures – but really, am I one to talk?) but the narration more than makes up for it as Mitchell explores his own life, and his frustrations with it.
All in all these, were pretty great. I probably should’ve picked something other than Worms as the first read, as that one didn’t really seem to stand by itself as much as the others… but I have to admit, that I’m intrigued to see what his other offerings in these series’ are like. Even Worms, but to a lesser extent.
If any of these have tweaked your interest, definitely go over to the Sibler Media mini comic website and order some up. They’re pretty inexpensive, and they all come packaged in these small little comic bags (so many style points). Now, if only I had the gumption to make a tiny long box… that would be nifty.
~ Brandon Schatz, Pulphaus
I get a few comics in the mail for review purposes, but I found something in my mail a couple of weeks ago that was unlike the typical review package. It was a standard business-sized envelope, not the usual big envelope I often find. Inside I found a folded 8.5×11 information sheet and five tiny packets. Five little plastic sleeves (the kind I imagine is normally used to distribute personal amounts of cocaine) each contained a single mini-comic — much more mini than the typical mini-comic. We’re talking about comics no bigger than large postage stamps. Writer Brian John Mitchell offers a diverse array of material — a western, a surreal story of murder conspiracy, a Dexter-esque crime comic, and an autobiographical journal-like title — that make for surprisingly engaging reads. It’s surprising in part because the artwork for all of these projects is amateurish in tone, but Mitchell’s scripts are solid. Thumbing through these tiny comics with my meaty mitts was a bit of a pain in the ass, but it was an inconvenience that was ultimately worthwhile.
Just a Man #1: In terms of plotting, this was the strongest of these mini-comics. Mind you, that doesn’t mean will find an original story in these pages. It’s a Western about a simple farmer who seeks revenge on a greedy landowner after he finds his family killed and his home torched. We’ve seen this sort of fare in the genre before. What’s interesting about the story is how it’s constructed. This format only lends itself to a single panel per page, so the reader essentially gets a se
ries of little splash pages. The limited space doesn’t allow for much dialogue or narrative text, but the story is never hindered by those limitations. Mitchell clearly understands his format and uses it well. Andrew White’s art is strong at first, but as the comic progresses, it gets rougher and more amateurish in nature. Still, it’s the most solid of the Silber mini-comics, both in terms of writing and visuals.
Lost Kisses #s 9-10: This is Mitchell’s personal journal of sorts, which he illustrates himself by means of stick figures. The art complements the thoughts he expresses in his script, but it’s so simple and crude in tone that it really doesn’t stay with the reader. Mitchell is surprisingly honest with Lost Kisses (assuming the main character/narrator is meant to be a reflection of him and not a character). He confesses to rudeness, self-involvement and anti-social behavior. But the narrator, as negative as he can be to others, is also true to himself. He’s uninterested in the facades of civility, and he appreciates that he’s as flawed as everyone around him, perhaps even moreso.
Worms #4: I really don’t know exactly what’s going on here as this is just a snippet of a larger story. it’ about a woman apparently in the throes of madness. She awakes in a hospital and manages to escape, perceiving energy around her that empowers her and parasites in the medicine that she’s meant to take. Adding to the confusion is the thoroughly surreal art provided by Kimberlee Traub. Mitchell’s script manages to give the reader some clues as to what he or she sees in the artwork. While the surreal tone of the visuals poses an obstacle, its fluid, weird quality also suits the main character’s apparent insanity.
XO #5: The overall look of Melissa Spence Gardner’s art looks like Archie meets Henry. Again, it’s amateur in tone, but it’s effective in that it mirrors the slightly innocent tone of the sociopath main character. Mitchell’s protagonist is a dichotomy. He sounds like a regular teen, but there’s a corrupt side to his character. He sees violence of a casual, necessary thing, but the target of that violence is painted in a distasteful light as well (even though he’s in the right). The oddly titled XO is curiously twisted, and I think I might be more intrigued by what the writer has to offer in this title if I’d read more than this single chapter.
Overall, these Silber mini-comics spotlight the versatility of the medium, the affordability of self-publishing and the passion of amateur creators whose independence allows them to play around with more experimental ideas and methods. These mini-comics lack polish, but they’re diverting all the same. Still, it’s odd that the quality that makes them truly unique — their tiny size — ends up making them seem disposable as well.
~ Don MacPherson, Eye on Comics
These are tiny micro-mini comics, measuring about 2×2″, and range from 16-40 pages each. Mitchell is the writer for all of them and is also the (stick-figure) artist of LOST KISSES. Most of these are parts of a series, all of which are easy to pick up on as Mitchell hops from genre to genre. JUST A MAN, drawn by Andrew White, is a sort of hard-bitten western, stripped of glory. A farmer sees his house burned down, his infant son killed and his wife disappear. He’s pretty sure he knows who did it, and hunts them down, one by one. I liked the voice Mitchell used for the character, but he overwrote this story. That’s not unusual for a writer collaborating with an artist, but the story would have had a bit more power if the first-person narrative had been sparer and he let the visuals carry the story.
WORMS and XO fall into the realms of sci-fi/horror and crime noir, respectively. WORMS had a zippy pace to it and appealingly minimalist art by Kimberlee Traub that fit the story nicely, one that featured a young woman who witnessed the death of her father and was the subject of an experiment in a lab. This issue found her gaining power through some strange worms, subduing her tormentor, and escaping. The single panel per page format fit with Traub’s striking and hallucinatory imagery. XO had a similarly snappy pace to it but was let down by Melissa Spence Gardners art. It was competent, but it didn’t fit the story’s mood or add anything to Mitchell’s narrative, which needed a moodier style.
The stand-outs in this set were Mitchell’s issues of LOST KISSES. These stick-figure comics were first-person, meandering observations about human behavior and the narrator’s own misanthropy. What’s clever about these strips is precisely the same thing that hamstrung JUST A MAN: there’s a narrative caption working against the image and dialogue on each page (it’s a panel per page for all of these comics). However, in this comic, there’s a comedic tension that arises as a result of that juxtaposition. Issue #10 was especially amusing, as it was a takedown of the concept of love and those who insist on expressing it, with the author worrying about falling for that fallacy himself. I love how unassuming and direct these comics are; there are no frills or pretensions here–just a writer and artists who are experimenting with a variety of means of expression.
~ Rob Clough, High-Low Comics
I wasn’t expecting Silber Media’s business to be what it is when I visited their website. I spend a lot of time looking at the websites of comics artists and writers. I’m used to a certain format — a format that doesn’t include a recording business and music publishing collective. (Though now that I think about it, I’m not sure why I’m surprised.) The professionalism of the Silber Records website does explain something, though. It explains the patient professional follow-through that Brian John Mitchell has displayed in his correspondence with Fantastic Fangirls regarding the reviews of his mini-comics. He’s been polite but dogged in making sure his comics don’t drop off the radar. That I remember to review them.
I have to admire that. The self-promotion aspect of self-publishing comics is among my weakest areas in this whole game — right after the actual production of the comics themselves, which I find to be nightmarish. I mean, I’ll mention right now that my comic, Cool Kids has issue #2 available for sale right now, along with a second printing of Cool Kids #1. And #3 is on schedule for September. But I don’t — as of yet — have the persistence that Mitchell shows.
See, he asked us to review his mini-comics. For the record, here’s the Fangirls’ policy on review:
Fantastic Fangirls will accept materials for the purpose of review. Acceptance of materials for review is not an agreement to review or mention the work on the site. If we do mention the work, we do not promise or commit to a positive review. We will make clear in the review the context in which we received the work and any professional or personal affiliations we have with the creative team. We do not accept money or valuable items in exchange for reviews. Materials sent for review will not be returned, whether or not we review the work.
Materials can be sent electronically to any of our emails. Physical copies of works are also accepted. Please email one of the Fangirls for mailing information.
In accordance with this statement, Mitchell sent me five of his mini-comics. Again, the professionalism of his outfit shows in the materials I received. Each mini-comic — and they are mini, each about 1.5 x 2 inches — was neat, trim, well-stapled, and in its own small plastic slipcover. The overall impression I got was that the producers of these comics treated them like art, and perhaps I should as well. Though tiny in dimension, each comic was 40 pages — front and back covers plus 36 pages of black-and-white text and art.
Scott McCloud, in his must-read book Understanding Comics defines the art form thusly: “com.ics (kom’iks) n.plural in form, used with a singular verb. 1. Juxtaposed pictoral and other images in delibe
rate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer.” Brian John Mitchell’s works fit that definition well. Of the five mini-comics I received for review, three tell a portion of a story. Only Lost Kisses (of which I reviewed #9 and #10) doesn’t meet my criteria for story — there is little narrative, little action. It does, however, intend to and succeed at producing an aesthetic response in the reader.
Let’s take a closer look at Lost Kisses. This is probably my least favorite form of comics, or comix. The noodling autobiographical discussion of one’s self. Frequently including how unpleasant, petty, and diminished the author/narrator is, or how vile other people are. But I recognize that, if one likes that genre — if one likes things like the RAW Anthologies — then these are a good example of the type. Each page is one panel. Each panel contains a narrative and a simple stick-figure drawing in which characters interact. In the pages of Lost Kisses #9 and #10, Mitchell and/or the narrator discuss how badly he/they/one relates to other people. It’s not my idea of a good story, but it is well done for what it is.
I far preferred the other three comics I read. Mitchell sent Worms #4, XO #5, and Just a Man #1.
Just a Man is a western. It’s very decompressed, with panels and narration that convey a sense of the empty timelessness of a western landscape. The story is straightforward, and the simple art (by Andrew White) is evocative. I think my favorite was Worms, with art by Kimberlee Traub. Billed on the website as a sci-fi/horror comic, I’d have to agree. With only issue #4 in front of me I was plunked into the middle of the narrative, about a hospital, and imprisonment, and worms, and — Let’s just say it was creepy and evocative. Traub’s art is simple, stylized, and made me think of the nightmare child of Kandinsky and Miro.
Mitchell offers his comics for sale. He also offers many of the single issues in digital format, and some are available as short animations. I think I have to say that most of his work is not precisely my thing. But he is quite good at what he does. The stories are cleanly presented in a format that is pleasant to hold; as physical objects, Mitchell’s mini-comics are attractive and engaging.
Tell you what — go to the website and look for yourself. Check out the digital comics, look at the animations. See if you want to shell out the one, or two, or ten dollars to help an independent artist continue with his work.
~ Sigrid Ellis, Fantastic Fangirls
For this review I hopped in my Way-Back Machine and revisited my brief love affair with ‘zines and mini comics in the mid-late nineties! While living in BC I consumed many charming, low-grade-photocopied, hand stapled, DIY creations, and this handful of 1.75″ x 2.25″ (approx) $1.00 comics from Silber Media in Raleigh, North Carolina were a pleasant return to those days.
So let’s start with “Just A Man” from Brian John Mitchell (words) & Andrew White (art):
Like all of the mini-comics reviewed here “Just A Man” starts off very strong with a simple, but gripping cover and an intriguing beginning for the story. As a big fan of westerns, I was happy to see a story about a simple, peaceful man (“I’m just a farmer.” “I’m just a husband”) working the land. It’s not easy establishing a character or characters in such a limited amount of space but this does it well with both imagery and simple text. The second half of the book wasn’t quite as strong for me as it seemed to resort to a few gunfighter cliches. Perhaps it could have been streamlined a bit more by jumping right from the death of the main antagonist to the visit with the doctor (which I really liked). All in all, this would be well worth the price of admission.
Next is “Worms” #4 from Brian John Mitchell & Kimberlee Traub:
Worms starts off with simple summary that gets us up to speed on the important parts of #1-3. The abstract art may be a little inaccessible for some readers, but conveys the condition of the narrator at the time of the story well enough for me. Strange and discomforting imagery was the highlight though with ideas like little worms moving from an IV drip into the veins or a nurse who is “light as a feather” and is thrown into storm clouds to be struck by lightning. Again, the end of the book wasn’t the strongest part, but it could be because this one is more of a serial than the others.
Next is “XO” #5 from BJM & Melissa Spence Gardner:
XO’s strength at the top is the first line of the comic: “My best friend’s brother was the first person I was ever paid to kill.” I’m immediately hooked and want to know more. Initially, I thought the juxtaposition between the noir-ish subject matter and the Archie-ish art was going to be a part of the story (both of which I liked) but I’m afraid the disconnect between the two remained throughout the story for me, much to its detriment. That could be due to not having read the first 4 issues though. I think I would have enjoyed seeing more of the “I’m the star in the movie that is my life” kind of mentality for the main character as his thought process seemed to be the highlight of this mini for me.
Finally is “Lost Kisses” #9 & 10 presumably from BJM on both the writing & art:
This is probably the fav’ of the lot I got to review despite (partially because of) the stick-man art. Of the lot, this one is easily the most introspective and thoughtful as the opening line “I’m not sure hatred’s better than apathy.” attests. Imagine a thoughtful, slacker who is a self described misanthropist waxing philosophic about the temporary nature of life and how it affects peoples’ opinions of him because he views them as “ephemeral” and “temporary”… or how love “Freaks [him] the fuck out.” My favourite line on the latter subject was; “Sometimes I say “I love you” by accident when having sex or something.” Hilarious. The contrast between heady subject matter and overly simplistic visuals emphasizes the cerebral strength of this comic while unapologetically ignoring the physical aspects. Definitely the most engaging for me.
All in all, I’d say Silber Media, Brian John Mitchell & friends are putting out fair to high quality comics that are easily worth their humble cover price, especially considering the challenge of conveying emotion and hooking the reader with such a limited medium. I’d say these treats from our neighbours to the south are worth every penny! Check ‘em out at www.silbermedia.com
~ Where Monsters Dwell
These are the smallest comics I’ve ever seen. Seriously, look at them. Their palmable size and tiny plastic baggies bring to mind illici