The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book (Kitchen Sink Press Book for Back Bay Books) Review

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(More customer reviews)There's an illustration on the back cover of The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book that perfectly encapsulates the artist's work - it depicts the top of Robert's head exploding, with several of his creations, famous, infamous, and otherwise, leaping out.
That, to me, sums up Crumb's work - this incredibly inventive artist with, to paraphrase Bob Dylan, a head full of ideas that are drivin' him insane.
There are frequent complaints about Crumb's work being too dark, racist, sexist, and/or misogynistic. While I can see where these criticisms come from, I really don't think Crumb is any darker, more racist, sexist, or misogynistic than any of us - he simply is unafraid to - COMPELLED to, almost - lay his cards on the table. Some people find this offensive. Would it be absurd of me to suggest that some of those who are offended by his work have their own issues with sexism, racism, and/or misogyny that they are unwilling to confront?
What I'm trying to get at here, I guess, is that this IS NOT a book for little kids. There's a sticker on the front of my copy of the book that says "FOR ADULT INTELLECTUALS ONLY!", and while I'm not so sure about the "intellectuals" part, this is probably not a book you want your grade-school age child to get ahold of, unless you're okay with said child seeing depictions of graphic (and I do mean GRAPHIC) sex, hard-core drug use, and extreme (albiet cartoonish) violence.
I realize all I've spent all this space talking about Crumb without ever really discussing what I like about his work. I think there's two main things: (1) his unflinching honesty (as I touched upon earlier), and (2) the incredible beauty of his draftsmanship. I think my favotite chapter in the whole book is the one that features his pen-and-ink still-lifes and landscapes. Just beautiful stuff - worth studying for his use of cross-hatching alone.
In conclusion, if you're at all interested in checking out the work of one of the finest artists to ever work in the comics medium, I highly recommend you get this book. It's easily worth the 25 bucks.
Oh, yeah - and it DOES make a wonderful coffee table book. :)

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The Complete "Omaha" the Cat Dancer: Volume 7 (v. 7) Review

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(More customer reviews)Omaha and her friends continue their lives and loves in this volume, a collection of comics originally published in the early 1990s. The happy hedonists move forward in their relationships, with some ongoing tensions but with less real drama than in the earlier story arcs. It's really a soap opera, the kind you stick with because you really care about the characters.
It's too bad that events in the authors' lives ended the story here. Back in the 1980s, when the series originated, its warm portrayal of gays and physically disabled characters were groundbreaking, and rarely equalled today. The happy sexuality explored new avenues - decidedly steamy at points, but always cheerful and consensual, and meaningful in the context of the characters' relationships.
The bam-pow macho image of comics could hardly be called girl-friendly. This, with its emphasis on caring and complex characters, takes visual storytelling in a very different direction, however. I recommend this to any thinking reader. Start at the beginning, though. You'll need the context set early on to make proper sense of these later chapters.
-- wiredweird


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Omaha and Chuck have been reunited, but an ongoing murder investigation and a battle brewing over the fate of their beloved "A" Block ensures that the lives of the Mipple City gang remain as complicated as ever. This volume contains the final four episodes in the series' classic original run, in which sexual jealousy takes its toll on one relationship while the beautiful cat dancer gets a steamy New Year's Eve surprise she'll never forget. Concludes the material up to the new final story pre-serializing in Sizzle, collecting issues 21-24.

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Punisher MAX Vol. 2: Kitchen Irish Review

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(More customer reviews)As in real-life events, Kitchen Irish starts after In the Beginning.
Ever wonder what how, when or why Hell's Kitchen reveals its ugly site?
This is where Kitchen Irish comes along. To get an average reader
understand the premise of the story, Ennis has used various references from
movies like Gangs of New York and The Devil's Own. In addition, Ennis
has created some of the wonderful supporting characters from real-life
celebrities or fictional characters such as Lucy Lawless, Martin Landau,
Bill the Butcher, Mason Verger and whoever that you see.
The gangs in Hell's Kitchen are fighting over a sum of $10 million - a
will left by the late gang boss Nesbitt. To this end, every gang will
slug it out toe to toe to reach for the prize at all costs, even if it
means of having their members killed or causing a collateral damage
which involves our vigilante. As it goes on and on, it seems that the gangs
will have a hard understanding on Nesbitt's message to them which
involves are harsh and punishing way of saying, "Will You Stop That? " or
"No Rest For The Wicked."
Kitchen Irish was the real opposite in terms of mood and tone depicted
in In The Beginning. Ennis has brought back the black-comedy elements
as seen in the Maxi series. The real highlight in this story arc is not
the story itself but Leandro Fernandez's (Wolverine) art. Clean and
better looking, it's totally different that what Lewis Larosa illustrated
in the previous volume. The colors are brighter and have more variety,
but one problem was that there are some inconsistencies in the
character faces drawn in one frame compared to the previous frame. Nonetheless,
Leandro's art was real good and thus he was brought in by Ennis to work
on the next upcoming story arcs, The Slavers and Up Is Down, Black Is
White.
A lot of people asked of the lack of sex elements in the current
series. One of the parts of the story is the only one moment in the series to
have sex elements. Although the series has the highs on wanton violence
and the language used, the real low was on the sex thing. As you can
see, Frank doesn't do this ever since the family's murder. Another thing
that makes the story fell short compared to In the Beginning is Frank
himself. In here, Frank became more or less a secondary character and
instead the gangs were given the priority first. Not much of the personal
emotions of Frank elicit so often were shown here.
Anyway, it provides a relief to the cold mood in the previous volume.
If you like the laughs, if you are a fan of Leandro's art or even like
The Punisher, it's a good read really. Good but not that great.
[This review posted by my friend Melvin, also from Malaysia!]

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When a bomb explodes in a Hell's Kitchen pub, Frank Castle embarks on a deadly mission that pits him against two rival gangs.One thing is certain: The Punisher won't be pulling his punches!One of comics' most provocative writers takes one of comics' most provocative characters in a new direction - any direction he wants! Collecting PUNISHER #7-12.

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