SPX Day Two Purchases

Here's what my wife and I got at SPX, Day 2:

Bookity Books:

A Distant Neighborhood Vol 1
A Distant Neighborhood Vol 2
the Surrogates Flesh and Bone by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele
Cat Getting Out of a Bag by Jeffrey Brown
Little Things by Jeffrey Brown
Incredible Change-Boys by Jeffrey Brown
My Brain hurts Volume 2 by Liz Baillie
Love is a Peculiar Type of Thing by Box Brown
The Myth of 8-Opus Prologue by Tom Scioli

Mini-Comicty Books:

Stardust by the Subterranean Folks
The Definitive Pekin by Jonathan Pekin
The Amazing Adventures of Bill 11 by Bill Roundy
X and the City by Bill Roundy
Yes, Master by Bill Roundy
Pirates Take Manhattan by Bill Roundy
Birch Volume 1 by Justin Madson
Birch Volume 2 by Justin Madson
Birch Volume 3 by Justin Madson
The Three Cent Pup by the Camel City Cartoonists' Guild
Modern Romance by Adam Casey, Leah Riley, and Will Woods
Santa Claus and the Itchy Elf by Adam Casey, Leah Riley, and Will Woods
The Spirit: in contention by Jarod Rosello
The Guide by Denny Connolly
Simple Routines by JP Coovert
Adrift by JP Coovert
Rematch by JP Coovert
Ed Contradictory Vol 2, #1 by Thomas E. Conley
Ed Contradictory Vol 2, #2 by Thomas E. Conley
Rocky Horror Picture Book by Jim Coon
Little Frank by Jim Coon
Little Lost Yeti by Jim Coon
Giant Robot vs. Giant Gorilla by Jim Coon
Meanwhile at SPX 2006 by Adam Casey
Meanwhile at SPX 2007 by Adam Casey
Meanwhile at SPX 2008 by Adam Casey
Josh and Cami Nature Detectives in "Oh Wyoming!" by Josh and Cami
Coexistence adapted by Matt Dembicki
Animal Stew by Matt Dembicki
Monstraccity by Matt Dembicki and Steve Loya
Zero Zero 15 by Various
Zero Zero 19 by Various
One Helluva Month A Tiny Comic Sampler of "The Haiku Life" by Birdie
Afraid by Jarod Rosello

It's a (DC) Conspiracy, I Tell You!:

The Wonders of Science
The Spoils of Crime
The Horrors of War

Something I Was Hoping I'd Find:

Subterranean 2 by Various

Something Jeffrey Brown Made Me buy:

Old-Timey Hockey Tales! by Rob Ullman

All in all, an amazing variety and group of comics. Can't wait to read 'em all!!

SPX Day Two Write Up

Slightly delayed write-up of the second day of SPX.

The day started with looking at purchases, making some copies, and yummy Chipotle before racing (just in time) for the time-constrained comics panel.

The panel itself went in a bit of a different direction than I'd expected, as the panelists themselves noted that the talk kind of drifted a bit from the idea of a time-limited comic to the idea of writing comics about what you are doing at the time, how to balance the two, and preventing people from doing stupid stuff just to get into your comic. There was also quite a bit of referencing autobiographical comics as well, since at least two of the panelists used their comics to chronicle their lives over the course of time. This panel was also notable by featuring Maxime de Radigues, a Belgian gentleman who helps organize 24 comics. It was nice hearing the perspective of someone from another country.

Had I know they moved the Center for Cartoon Studies to 5pm, I'd have gone to the Source-based comics panel. So no Kate Beaton for me. Instead, I made what I thought was my last main swing through the tables, picking up yet more things from the DC Conspiracy, finding the latest edition of Subterranean, and grabbing my only "large" publisher purchase, both volumes of "A Distant Neighborhood" from Fanfare, who told me they were doing well.

Once I learned of the time change, we went back in to grab yet more comics, because hey, why not? Erica hit up Top Shelf for some Jeffrey Brown goodness, and I mentioned we needed more Top Shelf because making a $100 order right before SPX wasn't enough. I tried feverishly to remember if I missed anything I really wanted. (Turns out the answer was yes--I totally missed AdHouse. Sorry about that, guys!)

Then it was on to listen to Jeffrey Brown, Erica's favorite indie creator. They showed a bit of Brown's feature in "Drawing Between the Lines" before talking about his creative style (Brown apparently does a lot of his work straight in journals, flattening the heck out of them for reprinting) and some of his projects. He's come an amazingly long way from self-publishing Clumsy all the way to Simon and Shuster. Although I wonder how that will affect him going forward when he wants to do something a bit odder than his patented autobiographical material.

Brown also talked about his approach to different pieces, like how he used "real" comic paper for the Simpsons work but uses a journal for the personal books. There were quite a few nods at the idea that he may be in trouble if certain resources ever become unavailable. A fair number of questions were asked out the personal level of his material, but I asked the really important question: Did he hate Marian Hossa?

But Jeff got me back--he told me that Detroit had enough Stanley Cups, they weren't "desperate" for them. Touche, sir!

(Complete digression--Brown hilariously referred to Hossa as the guy who tried to help Pgh win a cup and didn't, then went to Detroit to help them win a cup and didn't. Good luck this year, Chicago!)

The Center for Cartoon Studies workshop ended things for the day, and spent a fair amount of time covering ground that I think, honestly, most of those in the room already knew, namely panel construction. That didn't leave enough time to really workshop, though I was happy with my 5-panel thumbnail, even if my drawing skills are for crap.

We left just a bit early to see if Brown could sign a book for us, and he and I talked a bit, after Erica reminded him I was the guy who asked the hockey question. (Thanks, hon.) We then talked for a few minutes about hockey, with Jeff insisting I grab Robert Ullman's hockey mini-comic, which I of course did. One does not argue with Jeffrey Brown.

The plan is for Pittsburgh and Detroit to meet up at the Stanley Cup for a third straight year, and drive the rest of the NHL crazy. I approve of this plan. Again, one does not argue with Jeffrey Brown.

All too soon, it was time to go. We took a last look around, and grabbed our friend the Warriorsmurf, who managed to empty her comics budget rather quickly, an easy thing to do at SPX.

SPX 2009 was even more fun for us than last year, and really made me think about how I read comics, why I read comics, and what type of comics I read. But that's for another post for another time.

For now, I look forward to next year, look forward to reading our vast number of new comics, and smile in the knowledge that for one small moment, I got to be a hockey comics geek with a great comics creator. It's the kind of memory you can only get from something like SPX.

SPX Day One Purchases

So this is the rundown on what my wife and I picked up at SPX on Day 1, in no particular order. Almost all of these were purchased, though a few things were on the free table. I only got to read some of them last night, so apologies if there's no recommended note after your work--it just means I didn't read it yet. :(

Book-type things:

Look Out!! Monsters (recommended)
Map of My Heart by John Porcellino
Tales of Unusual Circumstance by Joey Wieser
Plastic Farm Sowing Seeds on Fertile Soil by Rafer Roberts

Mini-comic type things:

Fading Memories by Jeff Gibbons
Late-Night Gang by Joey Weiser (recommended)
Mildly Irritateing by Katie Omberg (recommended)
Suggestion Box by Katie Omberg (recommended)
The Owl by Katie Omberg
How to Master a Foreign Language in Twenty Pages by Katie Omberg
I Cut My Hair #1 by Lisa Rosalie Eisenberg
I Cut My Hair #2 by Lisa Rosalie Eisenberg
The Worst Kind of People #1 byJames Cuartero
The Worst Kind of People #2 byJames Cuartero
The Germs by Adam Bomb and Ray Decay
Lobotomy by Sara Lindo
Monsters in Sweaters by anne
Fashion Parade! by anne
Is it Bacon? by Matt Wiegle
Underpanting by Matt Wiegle
Monsters & Condiments by Matt Wiegle
Dave the Wank and the Monster Friends by Oshell
Tigerwings! by Megan Brennan
Monster Party Fun Time! by Zan Czyzewski
Soft Hearts, Sharp Teeth by Megan Brennan
The Yellow Wall-Paper by Jon Mosley
Mumbly by Patrick

Things That Look More Like Comics, sort-of
OR "Wow, that's a large mini-comic!" (I love SPX):

Fatalysia by Kemp, Tabor, and U!
Cakewalk by Nate Powell and Rachel Bormann
Girl Ninja Enter the Mall by Rebecca Simms
Girl Ninja Presents Corporate Ninja Saga by Rebecca Simms
DC Conspiracy Free Comic by Various
Adventures in Stereo #1 by Aaron DeLaRosa

Things that Remind Me of Wednesday Comics:

What Makes a Man Dress Up Like a Bat?? by Philly Comix Jam

Things We Got To Support CBLDF:

Grounded by Mark Sable, Paul, Azaceta, Nick Filardi and Kristyn Ferretti
Stagger Lee by Derek McCulloch and Shepherd Hendrix
Cry Yourself o Sleep by Jeremy Tinder
Rick Veitch's Crypto Zoo
Pocket Universe by Rick Veitch
Shiny Beasts by Rick Veitch (w. Alan Moore and Steve Bissette)
Abraxas and the Earthman by Rick Veitch


Wow, we got a lot of stuff! Now time to go get more!

SPX Day One Write Up

Sitting in the hotel room we got for the SPX trip after a day that started at 7:30am. Needless to say, I'm a little bit tired.

We got to the con about 1pm and promptly took a brief tour of the exhibitors before starting to check in with the panels.

First up for me was the "Comic Strips: Online and in Print" panel that featured Kate Beaton and Erika Moen, amongst others. It was interesting to hear how few people actually talk back to the creators of webcomics--I expected that to be very different. I also was amused when they asked about the impending death of newpaper comics, and one of the panelists replied with "they aren't already dead?" or words to that effect. It turns out that trying to convert web comics (with unlimited color) to print (with limited color) is a bit of an issue. I hadn't thought of that, but it makes sense.

My wife Erica checked out the John Porcellino Q&A while I went up and shopped a bit, grabbing a few random things, including $5 Rick Veitch books from the CBLDF table and chatting/buying stuff with/from the DC Conspiracy Crew. (Side note: They have a lot of cool stuff and those attending SPX who are reading this should check DC Conspiracy out tomorrow if they didn't do so yet.) It's so nice to be amongst people who think non-traditional wedding rings are cool and know what Dinosaurland is.)

I then headed back for my "required" panel, the critics roundtable. Gary Groth was rather outnumbered by those with a primarily web-based method of getting their critiques out to a mass audience. The panel started out a bit tame, with mild discussion of the pros and cons of online cirtiquing but took a sharp turn into interesting territory when discussing whether people "must" review things, why suphero reviews tend to get more attention, the ins and outs of giving negative reviews. It got animated enough that Tucker Stone started dropping f-bombs, making things quite a bit livlier than the panels I was at last year.

I obviously had a lot going through my head as they spoke about being reviewers, but I'm not in the same league with Jog, Tucker Stone, Sean T. Collins, and Gary Groth, so I didn't even bother raising my hand. I was, however, left with some questions, most notably why aren't more people doing indie reviews, as there's clearly a lot of people reading indie comics these days? They touched on this a bit, citing superhero popularity, but that seems like an easy out.

There's one last point on this I'd like to go over. All of the panelists talked about going 4,000 words on a review and seemed to dismiss shorter reviews. Now I was thinking, "yeah, 250 words really isn't enough" but then one of the panelists (Jog maybe? I don't remember and I'm sleepy now) said, effectively, that there's not much value in 800 word reviews. Perhaps it's just me, but with very rare exceptions, if I run into a blog post that's longer than 2,000 words, I almost always skip it. Perhaps I'm missing the boat on this one?

Erica got to see the Fletcher Hanks panel which ran opposite to this one, and I was really sad I missed it. Erica, if you want to throw some thoughts on that panel in the comments, please do, as I'd love to hear more about it.

I used my third trip into the exhibitors section to try and concentrate on mini-comics, stopping at as many tables as I could to see what they had. I will grab a $1 or $2 mini-comic/zine if it even looks remotely interesting, and I did quite a bit of that. Hopefully, I will get a chance to review those soon. There were also quite a few of those priced between $3 and $5, and I have to be honest, that means I'm less likely to take a look. I know costs are higher now, but that's more for after I know your work and like it. (This is akin, I guess, to Caleb's thoughts on mainstream comics--it has to be really good for him to go for that $3.99 comic.)

My wife and I met up for one last run, and this time we took turns picking things out (it's so great having a partner who loves these things as much as I do, I must say) and paying accordingly. We grabbed some more mini-comics, she got buttons and a sketch from Questionable Content, picked up a few book-length items, and also talked a bit more, here and there, about Dinosaurland.

It was a great first day, and I'm looking forward to a good chunk of panelling tomorrow as well as going back and buying stuff I either missed or wanted to consider overnight.

Hope those of you who are here are having a great time and those who didn't make it will consider coming in 2010! I hope to have another rundown tomorrow and at some point post our list of purchases.

Late Bloomer

Written by Carol Tyler
Illustrated by Carol Tyler
Fantagraphics

[Since she'll be at SPX this weekend, I figured I'd get this posted today.]

Fans of Robert Crumb and the comix genre may recognize Carol Tyler's name as one of the contributors to his Weirdo magazine. This is a collection of some of Tyler's work over the years, and the title is a reference to the fact that it took her a lot of years--and two really bad relationships--to get to where she is today, which I guess is a fairly successful independent comics creator. (I don't say that as a slight; I am guessing because I don't know how well she's done for herself. I hope it's well, because her stuff is quite good in my opinion.)

The selections focus mostly on her personal comix, which fits with her contemporaries, the Crumb family. It has the same sort of "everyone's drawn not-quite-right" look about it that helps show you that the author is not trying to take his or her self too seriously. She's also not afraid to draw crude things, as she shows a lot of poop and pee along the way when talking about scenes with her baby daughter. The stories themselves remind me of the personal reflection material that I've read. I feel like she's telling us the full story, not just one that makes for the best comic or puts her in the best light, which makes this even better than most personal reflection comics.

This is especially true of the last piece, "The Outrage" which I think is previously unpublished. I don't know that I could ever be that personal. We see her as a girl who questions what is often taken for granted (why do girls have to wear shirts?), a young woman rebelling against her parents, and the type of parent who tries, but doesn't always quite do things right--and isn't afraid to tell us of her failures.

Tyler's work features real life on the page, narrative essay with pictures. This is true graphic novel work, much as Fun Home and other recently published material. The difference is that this is pretty far underground--the land of the Griffiths and Crumbs and other comic outsiders and so more easily overlooked by the mainstream press. More's the pity for that.

If you're looking for "fun" material, this is not for you. There are funny bits, don't get me wrong--I liked the cover she did for one magazine with all the different types of men looking like cosmetic items, for instance--but the tone is rather serious. Taken together, we see how Tyler put her life together, often without the help of those around here. (It's hard for me to see how things work with Justin, the husband of her child, but I get the impression there were a lot of times she was on her own.

Tyler indicates this book is "a celebration of all us late bloomers" and I think that's very accurate. Those who feel like they've not gotten where they intended to be and feel powerless to ever get there should read this book, and those with self esteem issues can find comfort here as well.

Ms. Tyler is a regular person who chooses to use comix as her medium to tell the story of being a regular person with regular issues. She's quite good at it, and I wish my own library would buy some of her stuff, it's a shame that this is something I had to ILL to see, and I fear that Crumb is correct that the only way this book gets even a look is because his name is on the cover, too. That's a real shame. There's a lot of this material out there and I'm so happy to be exploring it.

Those who like personal narratives but aren't sure about the whole "comics" thing need to be looking for books like this. In fact, go looking for this book. I liked this collection a lot, and I'll definitely keep my eye out for more of her work.

Panel Patter Joins the Twitterverse

For those of you who might want to follow along with me when I'm doing stuff related to the world of comics and its cousins, I picked up a Twitter account for the blog.

You can find me on Twitter as "panelpatter", though I admit, "No really, I am Steve Ditko, why would I lie to you?" was rather tempting.

My plan is to use it when I'm at comics events (like SPX tomorrow), going to the friendly neighborhood comic book shop, and perhaps to comment "as I read" if I have something interesting to say that might not make it into the context of a review.

See you somewhere in the Twitterverse!

Philly Zinefest 9-20-09

My wife and I ended our recent vacation by going to the Philly Zinefest, which was held in the historic Rotunda building, which is absolutely pretty...

...but also almost impossible to find because the only thing saying "The Rotunda" is this tiny little sign:



















However, once we got there, it was a fun experience. My wife runs the Black Light Diner distro, and will be happy to see that I have finally given her a shameless plug. Her distro focuses on comic zines primarily, though she does carry other zines and music here and there.

I refer to myself as the "hired help" for the distro, assting her here and there with ordering decisions and co-working the table with her. We often joke that I do better at the table because in my "real" life, I deal a lot with sales.

It was a good day for her, and I think a lot of the other tables at the fest, as a steady stream of traffic came by, and not all of it was just other zinesters looking to trade. I did not spend a lot of time looking around, being tired after a lot of driving. My wife, however, picked up a little over two dozen zines for our collection and I look forward to reading them soon.

As the Fest notes on its website, there was quite a variety of material. Fiction zines stood side by side with the usual range of perzines and the "quality" of the printed material ranged from "I used my printing budget at the college" to bound works that even had an ISBN number. Others had crafts for sale, and the vegan food table appeared to have sold out of its supply.

I also greatly appreciate that the organizers had a DJ with mixing equipment who kept the sound at a reasonable level while also using a variety of music, mostly from the 80s, that was pleasant to the ear without seeming out of place. It was the kind of music you noticed here and there, smiled, and moved on with what you're doing. I thought that was a nice touch.

We had a good time at the fest, even if we had to leave a bit early, and I would definitely try to go again if we can. If you're nearby next year and want to see some ground-level creative work that is often innovative and very entertaining, check it out.

I'm Going to SPX!

My wife and I will once again be going to the Small Press Expo in Bethseda, Maryland. We had an amazing time last year, and I can't wait to go back.

I mean, they let you vote on the Ignantz awards, for goodness' sake! How cool is that?

SPX is fun because of how intimate it is. You could easily end up passing James Kochalka in the bathroom or (like I did) accidentally insult Kevin Huizenga by saying you would not expect the New York Times to recommend his book.

Doesn't that sound like fun?

If you want to find me at SPX (I can't imagine why, but just in case), I'll be wearing my patented red sneakers and either a red Dinosaurland t-shirt or my black Iron Men t-shirt.

And even if you don't want to see me at SPX, if you're a fan of indie comics and within driving distance, you really should try to make it down there. Otherwise, all the cool bloggers get to hit you with bricks!

Batman: No Man's Land Volume 2

Written by Greg Rucka, Bob Gale and Various Authors
Illustrated by Frank Teran, Mike Deodato, and Various Artists
DC


No Man's Land, a concept that makes no sense at all in the DC world as I mentioned in the review of the first trade. Okay, things are bad after a Gotham Quake, I get it. But the reaction of the government, the players involved, and the larger DC Universe are absolutely twisted in an effort to tell the grand story (as if Knightfall, and Contagion weren't enough for a long while in terms of epic stories) that the editors on the Bat-titles at the time wanted. It's as though they felt no one wanted Batman as Batman. He had to be Batman: Doer of Epic Things!

Well, the only epic thing going on here is an editorial mandate going horribly wrong. The writing shows no respect for Batman's long history, as the characters are forced into the shoehorns of the plot. Bats again teams up with villains, this time the Penguin and KG Beast. I can see Cobblepot, since, while he is certainly evil, he's not a sociopath.

But come on, K. G. Beast? One of the worst killers Batman's faced and he's letting him co-run a prison? What, was the Joker busy? Did Killer Croc have a prior engagement running a children's petting zoo?

Who thought this was a good idea? This is exactly what's been going wrong with the "big two" comic companies--too little regard for the reader. These are ideas that are against all that long-time readers know of the players involved and are far too convoluted to draw in a new reader.

For instance, we have a moping Bruce get a story from Alfred about how his father stole from a drug store to try and save a life. It's troublesome to a DC loyalist and a new reader probably isn't going to care. Who wins by doing this?

We also have a strong hint that Gordon is working with the Joker instead of Batman, which would never, ever happen in DC reality. Why drag Gordon's name into the mud?

The Joker, however, figures in the only good story in this mess of a volume, about a man who refuses to give up no matter what and the Joker, perhaps the only person in character at this point, respects that. That's good storytelling, and didn't require changing anything about the Joker or the world he lives in.

Maybe I'm just starting to outgrow cape and tight comics, but I can't see anything good in these stories. They aren't even good within the context of the greater plot because the "desperation moves" made by the players involved require believing grand leaps in characterization that, frankly, just don't make any sense to me.

I'm only reading this for the historic value and unless you really like Batman or Greg Rucka (who is not at his best here at all), you shouldn't even feel the need to do that.

Batman: No Man's Land Volume 1

Written by Bob Gale and Devin Grayson
Illustrated by by Alex Maleev, Dale Eaglesham, and Various Artists
DC

This storyline, completely unintentionally, displays why you can't do "real life" stories in comic books with powerful superheros.

Gotham is hit with a HUGE earthquake and lays in ruins. The government says "screw you." Okay, fine, so far as it goes. But that's where it falls apart, because for no good reason Bruce goes AWOL, Gotham goes to hell, and the result is a post-apocalyptic Gotham complete with gangs, food riots, and all the rest.

Because there's no other heroes that live in or near Gotham or had ties to that city which might bring them back. Nope, not a one.

As a result, this all falls apart for the reader, because it makes absolutely no DC-universe sense. You're Bruce Wayne, friends with Superman, the John Stewart Green Lantern--AN ARCHITECT FOR GOD'S SAKE, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, etc. etc. etc. That alone would be enough to take care of this problem. Add in the fact that he's a billionaire, and it becomes even easier. Could this possibly end his secret identity? Maybe, but it would be to save his city, one last time. Thousands of lives against his secret should be a no-brainer.

Hell, let's even forget all that for a second. What about the UN? Like the international community is just going to let the United States say, "sorry, that's not a part of the world anymore" without at least some sort of an attempt at recovery? This is just really out there, and takes too much suspension of disbelief for me. Better to toss Gotham on the Moon or Mars or something, at least that would make it more believable. I'd have even taken a stupid 1950s-style forcefield. As it stands, I can't see any reason why this happens for more than say a week, two tops if a JLA mission gets in the way.

Instead, the selfish, self-serving Wayne sulks while the city falls further and further into ruin and said thousands die. So much for being a hero--no wonder Jim Gordan is pissed when this gets started.

Even if you can get past the idea that Gotham gets no help without Batman, there's the premise that whoever the writers wanted to use just so happened to stay in Gotham. From the Gordons to Alfred to the villains, as though people like the Penguin didn't have the ability to leave, everyone lines up nicely. Those who might have tried to stay, like Tim and Dick, stay away because "Bruce told them to", as though Dick has never countermanded an order from Bruce in his life.

None of this makes any sense except that DC is obsessed with epic stories and having Batman quit his job over and over again. I mean really, how many times in the last ten "real world" years has Batman quit and/or acted like he was in a vacuum now? I think I'm out of hands trying to count it on my fingers.

The first half of this one is absolutely terrible, not because of the writing--the writing is not bad at all--but because the poor writer has to try and justify this stupidity. Gale tries, but fails. Devin Grayson takes over for the second half of things, and while also not having any ability to save the overarching story, manages to make good use of the fear of a suffering populace to give the Scarecrow everything he's always wanted.

Crane infests a church community and promptly disrupts it in subtle ways, never doing anything to get caught until he's sprung the ultimate fear test. But the Huntress--NOT BATMAN--finds a way to foil his plans, as the Dark Knight (after refusing to let Tim and Dick help) flails around and watches people die instead of using his money to help them survive. He also comes off as an even bigger dick, if that's possible, manipulating Helena's desire for acceptance by using her for his dirty work. Oh, and also using criminal henchmen instead of going to Jim Gordan. Because, you know, that might make sense.

Grayson's arc saves this one from being completely worthless, but man, there's a lot of bad comic books out there that I missed when I wasn't hitting my local comic shop. Glad I didn't pay for these, I'd have felt cheated. Your best bet is for the library as well, and if you paid for these, I'm so very sorry.

Arab in America

Written by Toufic El Rassi
Illustrated by Toufic El Rassi
Last Gasp

WARNING: This is a political book, as if you didn't grasp that by the title. As such, it contains political comments, both from the author and myself as a reviewer of a political work.

If you have a problem with that, please just skip this one, okay? It'll save a lot of hurt feelings later.

This is a difficult book to review, because it's so politically charged. It is less a story about being Arab in America as it is a story of one man who, after years of being taunted for his nationality, turns very angry and bitter about it and pours that anger and bitterness out on the page.

And you know, it's hard to fault him for that. I've not had to deal with being mistaken for the "wrong" kind of person--though my wife has, because of her odd last name. Her 9-11 experience (being challenged for her last name) was completely different from mine (being worried for my aunt). I only get taken for a safe foreigner, and even that only here and there.

So I can completely understand why, given an outlet like this book to tell his story, only the negative parts of being an other in an America are shown here. As you watch people who could easily be you get deported, tortured, and stripped of their lives, it probably doesn't incline you to write and draw about any of the people who were nice to you growing up, or stood up for you in class.

On the other hand, 117 pages of reading how horrible it is to live in America can be a bit grating after awhile. It's easily to knee-jerk into a reaction of "If you don't like it, go find another country to live in!" (and Mr. El Rassi implies he might just do that by the end) when you're told that no one in America is worth anything because they are all racist assholes. The implication that those who've protested the war or the Patriot Act are all just as bad (or worse!) as the acolytes of Ann Coulter is hard to take and, I think, a bit unfair.

But again, if that is how El Rassi feels, he definitely has a right to express it, and I think his manner of doing so is compelling, even if I did find myself wanting to argue his points in several places. The layout of the book, while possibly off-putting to a traditional comic-reader, worked just fine for me. This is not a graphic adaptation of his life nor a depiction of a superhero or mobster or what have you. This is a graphical essay on living in America as a member of a racial minority portrayed as the new evil, now that communism is "vanquished." It only makes sense that it's part text, part drawings, part graphical narrative.

(I think it's funny that when Alan Moore has his artist do this, he's brilliant, but if an angry Arab tries the same style, it's "frustrating pacing" or "loose and frankly boring pacing." I guess that kinda proves El Rassi's point, doesn't it?)

I also think that the drawings of famous figures throughout the text was particularly well-done. With rare exceptions, I knew who was speaking without a descriptive tag. That deserves a shout-out and shows that El Rassi has quite a bit of talent in his pen.

Where the book breaks down for me is in the tone that all Americans are horrible people. The book has nothing but broken windows, overt or quiet threats, and condescending liberals. At no time is there an acknowledgment that not everyone thinks that way. I find it hard to believe that not even any of El Rassi's friends (regardless of their religion or nationality) are worthy of defense over the course of his life.

There are also the factual leaps. The Taliban get a total pass for being horrible to women or other religions, unless it's to point out the US didn't care about it before 9-11. (Intolerance works both ways, and that needs to be acknowledged.) Saddam's invasion of Kuwait is apparently okay as well, as it, too, seems to be defensible because the reaction to it may have been inappropriate. It's also way too easy to blame the entire Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Israel. That's an intellectual shortcut that too many on the left fall into.

(As an aside, El Rassi's experiences are totally different from mine when I was involved in the same groups as he was at roughly the same age and time. He complains that no one wanted to attack Israel as part of the larger anti-war effort, while I found that the opposite was true.)

El Rassi's examples are almost all things I was already aware of, so this is not the eye-opener that it might be for someone who follows world politics less than I do. It's the anger and the bitterness that I find depressing and disturbing, though as I said, justifiable. This is a young man who could do so much for the world, but he's turned off because the majority of America is full of jerks and some of the well-meaning people don't even see the irony in their discussions. (That's a big reason why I won't fault this book for its angry tone--who am I to put myself in his shoes and say, "hey, don't be so upset"?)

Arab in America makes a case that we as Americans are happy to have a new enemy and that we don't shy away from portraying Arabs as evil every chance we get, whether its menacing stock footage or racist voice acting/casting. We'll even do it before the facts are known, such as the Oklahoma City bombing. (I think that was true of the Atlanta Olympic Games as well, if I remember correctly.) It's hard to argue with that. The best I can come up with is, "On the other hand, we're like that with everyone!"

If that's not a sad commentary on America in the 21st Century, I don't know what is.

I posted this on September 11th on purpose. Television will give us waving flags and marching troops and footage of brave men and women. But as I've argued year after year, we're forgetting the point of 9-11 and its aftermath. As New York rebuilds with new baseball stadiums and the news blandly reports Iraqi and American deaths overseas, the problems 9-11 briefly brought to the surface are falling away. Our chance to fix what's broken--our chance to reach out to hurt young men in the same situation as El Rassi, both here and in the rest of the world, are slipping away daily and people with no outlet will turn to violence while insular America plays Call of Duty and cheers every gruesome kill.

While I will be the first to say we should not let terror overwhelm America (or anywhere else), we also need to remember that the enemy is not the vague other. It's not all Arabs, or all Muslims (El Rassi correctly points out this is another misconception, that all Arabs are Muslim and vice versa). It's radical people who want to take our freedoms away, whether we live in Pittsburgh or New York or Baghdad. Pat Robertson and Jerry Fallwell are just as bad as any foreign foe. They just look more like we do.

We don't win by being the bad guys. We don't win by picking on those who don't look like we do. We win by showing the El Rassi's of the world that we're better than the lowest common denominator.

Arab in America is a difficult read, but a necessary one. It forces us to rethink what we say or do or the things we defend. (Take another look at Star Wars through a racial lens this time, particularly the new trilogy.) It forces us to think about what we're saying the next time we let someone lump everyone into a group because it's easier than arguing the point. What we do or don't do can form quite the impression. For El Rassi, it's been a totally negative one. I'd like to think I've done better, but maybe not. How about you?

I'm proud of the fact that in the 21st Century, it's not just a book or an essay that can force that kind of soul searching. It's a comic, too.

The Dada Detective Volume 2

Written by Dave Milloway and Matt Wood
Illustrated by Stephanie Freese
Self-published

The adventures of the Dada Detective and his talkative mime client continue in this, the final(?) printed volume of a webcomic that ended before its time.

As the volume opens, our duo reveal a crucial clue and head off to meet more silly characters, such as an eskimo who hates the cold, a woman for whom Morticia Adams was "her Martha Stewart," and yet another familiar character actor from the golden age of Hollywood.

As with the first volume, the jokes are plentiful (such as a man trying to politely ask to use the restroom at a party, with hilarious results as no one gets what he means), and the references to my all time favorite movie pretty much hooked me on the story, which ends on quite the climax.

Unfortunately, even with reading the remaining online comics, this is one story, that like Dada itself, came to an unfortunate and incomplete ending. Artist Freese moved on to other things (I can't quite tell what, as no online search reveals anything recent) and the webcomic is still dead as of this writing, though the site itself is still up.

It's a shame that the writers did not continue the plot, because it was all so complex and rediculous that I can only imagine the grand absurity that would have tied it all together. My guess is they'd have probably Bogarted it from someone else's story, though--it would have been the appropriate way to go.

I doubt if you can find the books anywhere, but Likely Stories is where you can find the archives, and it's definitely worth a look to see what might have been. If you like funny detective stories, bad puns, and b-list celebrity cameos, you'll get a kick out of Dada Detective. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to toast a glass of bleach in memory of a fine story that I'll never know the end to.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Maybe next time, I'll skip the bleach.

The Dada Detective Volume 1

Written by Dave Milloway and Matt Wood
Illustrated by Stephanie Freese
Self-published

As we approach the Small Press Expo (aka the only comics convention Rob has ever attended, believe it or not), I thought it might be useful to post some reviews of things my wife and I got at last year's SPX.

For those who've not been to SPX, the best part is getting to interact with creators of comics and zines on a level that would be difficult at a larger convention. It was quite fun getting to meet the creators behind this series, and talk a bit about the work. Freese even drew a little image on each of the two volumes we picked up.

It's a shame that there won't be anymore of this webcomic, which ended shortly after SPX, because the concept is hysterical.

The Dada Detective Agency gets a new client in the form of a talking mime who's lost her pet duck. Our mime suspects foul play. If that's not enough to hook you right there, then don't bother reading any further because it just gets sillier from here.

Written in 3-panels per "day" ala Dick Tracy, the story continues, taking all sorts of absurd twists and turns in the true spirit of Dada. A mad scientist gets incredulous at the idea of a duck detector, but has a leming detector on his desk. There's a mime mafia, and bags of money literally hit people on the head.

Oh, and a classic Hollywood horror/noir stooge makes an appearance as a supporting character as well, as one of the suspects. Why? Because everyone always suspects him.

As the first book comes to a close, some suspicious cops run the world's oddest good-cop/bad-cop routine and our mime questions the Dada Detective's nieve apperance.

What happens next? That's for volume two to (somewhat) answer.

The charm in this series is the combination of visual gags (a dead body hidden in feathers) and bad puns (a mime field) that keep the reader entertained and wanting to see what silly gag is coming up next. There is a true spirit of absurdity in the plotting of this story that I think the original Dada artists would have appreciated.

Those who like send-ups of detective stories should really enjoy this aborted series and pick it up if they're able to find a copy.

Night Trippers

Written by Mark Ricketts
Illustrated by Micah Farritor
Image

Why is it that comics artists from time to time think that there's no need to include inking in the process of making their work? Is it budgetary thing? A desire to experiment? An allergy to india ink?

It jars me right out of a story every time I encounter it, and I just don't see what it adds to the creation process.

Night Trippers is one of those stories that forgot to include an inker, and I think the work suffers for it. A story of vampires mixed in with the beginnings of the 1960s counter-culture, the story is, for me at least, just screaming for the shadowy impressions that only an inking job can provide. I understand that to some degree, there was a desire to color this more fancifully than your typical vampire story, since bright colors are a part of the 1960s British scene, but I can't help but think a few thick black lines here and there would have help set the mood and offset the bright colors.

As it was, I ended up getting stopped repeatedly to look at the pencil lines that probably shouldn't have been there and wondering why they weren't removed in post-production. But that could be just me.

Though I wasn't all that fond of the artwork, I did think the story concept was solid and executed very well. Vampires lurk in London, and even originated there instead of the usual Eastern European haunts. They want to control humanity, but how?

Why, take control of the counterculture and subvert it, that's how! It's a brilliant idea that also lets the vampires step in for corporate executives, who've taken everything from peace and love to the grunge look and tried to repackage it in a safe way.

Outside of this overarching concept is the idea that the vampires want a particular young woman as their poster child, and the only people who can save her are her best friend, two aging agents of the British Crown, and a man who may just be a random serial killer instead of hero.

As these groups mingle and mix in the world of 1960s London, musical references and allusions are dropped constantly, from one character speaking in lyrics (cute idea but annoying after awhile) to an appearance by a certain Fab Four. Heck, even some American folks eventually make it into the mix as the plot thickens.

By the end, we have a classic heroic battle for the soul of the lady, minions aplenty, and roots so deep in English history you call them set in stone. Sometimes, your knight in shining armour can be the most unlikely of persons.

There's a lot of good things going in Night Trippers, with a plot that's extremely tight--and logical, which I appreciate. There are also some unfortunate choices, like each character getting monologe boxes all over the place and dialog that probably needed refined a bit before seeing print.

However, overall, this is a fun comic. It's a vampire story with a twist that's cool, if not entirely original, the period references look spot-on to me, and there's nothing like getting to see death (and re-death) dates for vampires as they get killed.

With some more refined artwork and slightly reworded dialog, this would have been a great read. As it is, I enjoyed it a lot and would recommend it for anyone looking to read a new horror comic in a new setting.

The Complete Peanuts Volume 4 1957-1958

Written by Charles Schultz
Illustrated by Charles Schultz
Fantagraphics

It's appropriate that Snoopy is on the cover of this set of cartoons from Schultz' landmark series, as it's during these two years that Snoopy really comes out into his own as a character.

Shown doing dog things only in the most sarcastic manner possible, Snoopy thinks in very human terms and tries to find an identity for himself--vulture, bald eagle, penguin, and even a polar bear. In some ways, he's just like every other character in Schultz's increasingly drama-filled strip, even if it's disguised in clownish forms. Snoopy, like his owner, can't find his place in the world, and must keep trying over and over again.

He's not fantasizing war stories yet, but he is trying to be someone he's not. In that way, his bravado is a mirror to Charlie Brown's open honesty about his insecurity.

Or maybe I'm just doing what everyone else who re-reads Peanuts does--trying to find psychological foibles on a comics page.

Whether or not I'm reading too much into things, it's clear that Schultz is moving into darker territory here, as the failings of Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, and the rest start to take center stage, and the comics get stronger continuity. An entire week at a time follows a central storyline, such as Charlie Brown's miss of a crucial pop fly or Linus' attempt to shake his blanket. The daily nature of things is used more for tragedy than for jokes, unless it involves Snoopy. Even recurring gags like Schroeder's love of Beethoven are used for pain, as Schroeder completely forgets his birthday after reminding others over and over again.

There are still little sight gags, like showing the innovation of poor kids at Halloween or Snoopy's dismissal of Schroder's classical music (drawing a square with his ears), but even those have an edge of sadness to them. Pratfalls are opportunities to dismiss hubris, and it's only very rarely that a strip is just meant to be played strictly for laughs (a puckered Snoopy is said to be eating peanut butter, for example.)

Almost every thing else runs from the outright sad, such as Charlie Brown going home so a little kid doesn't see him cry, or the underlying comment, as when Linus declares when he grows up, he'll be a fanatatic or that cowboys and indians has been changed to liberals and conservatives (how true, Sparky, how true).

Scenes such as Charlie Brown, after being told by Violet that she never wants to see him again, asking "Define, 'never.'" may bring a chuckle, but it's an uncomfortable one. I sometimes wonder how this comic made it in 1950s America. After all, by the time I was reading Peanuts in the early 80s, we had come to accept that America was flawed (even if you yourself were flawless!). This is Charles Schultz telling 1950s America this day in and day out. Was everyone so worried about commies and nukes they didn't notice the subversive commentary going on right under their very noses in their newspaper?

Again, this may be a case of re-interpretation based on a different mindset, but I can't help but feel that in these two years, Peanuts took a long walk down a darker road that's only hinted at in the first six years of the strip. The comics contained within are excellent and show none of the wear and tear that would drag Peanuts down after awhile, but man are they depressing when you start to look past the initial gag and see just how pained Charlie Brown is, how needy Lucy is (though she won't admit it, and uses brashness to cover it up), and how Linus, the "normal" one, is having just as much trouble by virtue of his superior intellect and lack of age peers. (Linus is still the younger brother but has really grown up in this stretch in order to take on a new role.)

If you only think of Snoopy as the Hallmark card, cartoon special version, take another look at these early strips and you'll see a totally different side to the work. "Life is full of rude awakenings," says Snoopy after falling off his doghouse. Indeed, Snoopy, indeed!

Great Catsby Volume 2

Written by Doha
Illustrated by Doha
Netcomics

The library sometimes will be very odd and not have volume 1s, as was the case for The Great Catsby, an angst-filled manhwa about anthropomorphized cats and possibly a dog (couldn't tell by the drawing).

I'm not sure reading volume one first would have made me like this one any better. [Editor's note: It didn't.] The main character mopes a lot about his life, which seems to be just fine by the looks of it--a best friend from college and a quirky girlfriend.

However, he almost screws it up by getting back in touch with his ex, saved only unwittingly by his friend, who just so happens to be a womanizer. Eh.

I'm sure there are people who like reading this stuff, but that person's not me.

Great Catsby Volume 1

Written by Doha
Illustrated by Doha
Netcomics

I actually read Volume 2 of this way back in 2006 and wasn't really all that impressed. I figured I'd see if maybe it was better from the start.

Unfortunately, I did not find that to be the case.

The great Catsby is about a loser who spends the entire 200 pages moaning about how horrible his life is but never does anything about it.

He has a using, adulterous girlfriend, who he can't get over no matter how awful she treats him. He has a friend who basically props him up by keeping him in house and home, but he doesn't seem to appreciate it.

The whole premise seems to be about anthropomorphized animals who I wouldn't want to be friends with, let alone read about their moribund adventures.

This is just not a series about anything I'm interested in, even giving it a second chance three years later. Like "The Great Gatsby", another book that features people I have no interest in knowing, it's a book I can't recommend.

The Groo Houndbook

Written by Mark Evanier
Illustrated by Sergio Aragones
Dark Horse (formerly Marvel/Epic)

In another life, this would have been called Rufferto: Year One because it's a reprinting of his first four issues (29-32 of the ongoing Groo series, for those keeping track at home). Of course, then Rufferto would need a revamping to make him darker (more spots), have a tragedy--as though being Groo's companion isn't bad enough!, and then a bunch of fans writing in to say that we need Rufferto: The Dark Mutt Strikes Again.

Ahem.

If I can be serious for a moment, hard to do ...more In another life, this would have been called Rufferto: Year One because it's a reprinting of his first four issues (29-32 of the ongoing Groo series, for those keeping track at home). Of course, then Rufferto would need a revamping to make him darker (more spots), have a tragedy--as though being Groo's companion isn't bad enough!, and then a bunch of fans writing in to say that we need Rufferto: The Dark Mutt Strikes Again.

Ahem.

If I can be serious for a moment, hard to do in a Groo review I admit, I'll mention that this really is the first set of issues with Rufferto, a character that was planned as a one-off and ended up sticking around over ten years later. He's introduced in a two-part story where you can tell that he's not meant to last, as the primary joke is that he's a backup food source for Groo (cue Excel Saga music here) and the secondary joke is that he thinks Groo is amazingly smart.

No matter the reason, the jokes are all here, and are particularly good, as Evanier takes lyrical aim at schemes to make money that backfire and finds a way to make Groo both rich and poor over the course of four issues. We also get commentary on the defense industry, bankers, and the rich in general, all products of the time this is being written (late 1980s) that hold true today. It's funny how sometimes things that were intended as topical humour end up rather relevant later. Okay, maybe it's not so funny after all. Sad is probably a better word for it.

Over the course of this selection, Groo is a poor worker (in both senses of the word), a rich man, and poor again, but you'd never know it. As long as he has a good fray, he's a happy man. That's advice we could all take. Except for the fraying. Cops tend to prefer it if we don't fray.

This series also shows off Aragones' amazing eye for detail---a bridge scene that most artists would have drawn with outlined people at best, stick figures at worst gets detail right down to making each person wear different types of clothing. He may be a "parody" artist--but the quality of his work is amazing.

There are several things that make this particularly funny, the most obvious of which is that Aragones and Evanier take the concept of a princess who wants adventure and turn it into a dog. That alone is worth the price of admission, but there's also the idea of Groo math, Groo capitalism ("I will be dead, but so rich!" he remarks after taking what he thinks is his third job), a running gag about Groo's lack of mental ability, and of course, the fray-ing. How do you look for Groo? "Like misery, he will find you"--and you will find good stuff. Enjoy!

The Groo Odyssey

Written by Mark Evanier
Illustrated by Sergio Aragones
Dark Horse (originally Marvel/Epic)

Lee and Kirby.
O'Neill and Adams.
Evanier and Aragones.

Okay, so you probably don't think of the last pair when you think of great comics teams, but I do. Aragones, one of the great artists from Mad Magazine, paired up with former Jack Kirby assistant Evanier to start working on this funny swordsman some 25 odd years ago. Evanier, who wrote almost all of the Garfield cartoon show (where I first encountered his work) adds great dialog to Aragones' silly but intricate drawings and the result is comedy gold.

In this collection from their long run on Marvel's Epic line (issues 57-60 to be exact), Groo starts off by accidentally captaining a ship far better than you'd expect him to. When an ill-fated man (when Groo is around at least) comes on board, even he is impressed. But things don't last long when Groo is about, and soon everyone gets that sinking feeling.

Next up is a story that puts Rufferto, Groo's faithful dog, at the head of the line--he's worshiped as a God and the local priests take advantage of him--and Groo's love for fighting. While Groo happily frays for the faith, Rufferto gets more and more frustrated. (I think my favorite part is a scene showing Groo attacking. "We already revere!" cry the poor villagers. "You do not revere enough!" is Groo's retort.) In the end, the priests find a better object of worship, and Rufferto provides wisdom beyond his dog years about the whole thing.

Groo gets a rest in a story about how prevention can make things worse than the problem, as a town sets out to be Groo-proof. This seems like a good idea at the time but ends up making matters a lot worse. Not that we'd know anything about that as a society, oh no...

Last but not least, Evanier gets to do a little more intense political satire as Groo, a wanderer by trade, goes to work keeping the homeless out of a city. There's a lot of comments on the rich-poor dynamic (a common theme with Groo) and of course, asking Groo to help you only leads to trouble. This one is not as funny as the others, but neither does it come off as preachy--that's one of the virtues of their partnership.

While other comics seem ham-handed in their treatment of politics, Evanier and Aragones manage to tell the story first and their "agenda" second. That's the way it should be. There's no harm in giving comics a political spin. The trouble is doing it right. This pair has that concept down, and I wish they'd teach it to Mark Millar.

Groo is just so much fun--Aragones draws wonderful expressions and though very "cartoonish" his breakdowns are often quite intricate--there is no skimping on the details. Combined with Evanier's razor-sharp wit, you're in for a treat.

Sergio Aragones' Actions Speaks

Written by Sergio Aragones
Illustrated by Sergio Aragones
Dark Horse

I originally read these in single-issue form, back when I was getting more things in floppy version. (I probably would even today, because hey, it's Sergio!)

Aragones returns to his roots as a master of the one-page joke. Ranging all over the place, these cartoons use nothing but visuals to get their point across, whether it's a child trying to get one up on a parent, a hard pressed worker who is the victim of circumstance, or a husband with a wandering eye.

No matter what the situation, Aragones finds a way to make it funny. This is a man who spent a lot of time at Mad Magazine doing fill in fits but is also just as at home doing bits for horror comics. He has a strong grasp on timing across a comic page, which in this era of splash pages and cinematic artwork, is almost a lost art at this point.

Aragones is a severely underappareciated talent who I think can be dismissed at times for his cartoonish work. But if you look carefully, you'll find that Sergio's pencils are often far more intricate than those who draw "real" comic books. This is a pretty good place to start if you've never seen his work because there's no continuity, just gag strips. Once you get started with Aragones, you'll find that your action will be to read more of his stuff!

It's Sergio's Birthday....

...so let's celebrate it with a day of reviews from the works of the fast, talented, and even Richard Meeting-cartoonist!

To start your day, here's a really nice article on Mr. Aragones.

Reviews of some of his works to follow!

The Spirit Volume 1

Written by Darwyn Cooke and Jeph Loeb
Illustrated by Darwyn Cooke and J. Bone
DC

I've not read all of the original Spirit, but I have read enough of it and Eisner's other work to get an appreciation for the character and its importance to comics.

I'd also heard good things about the new Spirit series, so I figured I would give it a try. Darwyn Cooke has a good rep as a writer/artist as well, so it seemed like a good combination.

The results are, I have to say, somewhat mixed. Cooke tries way too hard to do some of the things Eisner used to do (like splaying "Spirit" on the splash page in ever-more-creative manners) and seems almost afraid to use the Spirit's African American sidekick. When he's working with Eisner characters, there almost seems to be too much of an attempt to get it right, so they feel more like empty vessels than real characters.

On the other hand, as the book progresses and Cooke starts just getting the Spirit in strange situations (the use of his likeness--Anime Style--to sell canned beans, for instance), there's a comfort with the material that makes the book worth reading. The story of a strange rock that causes happiness and tragedy while the Spirit ends up as a side character also works well and seems to play to Cooke's strengths as both plotter and artist.

As an opening trade on a series that can't be easy to do--think of all the eyes judging you against the past and then you try to write something--this ends up as pretty good stuff. The stories at the front are pedestrian and feel like something Batman could do, which is funny considering there's a Batman crossover included in this collection. However, that doesn't make them bad stories, just a bit--generic, I guess is the best word I can think of for it.

One thing I found both odd and refreshing was that the stories were all one-shots. I am so used to reading things in trade that was a nice throwback to the way things were. None of the tales included here required two issues or more to tell. Heck, there's not even really any subplotting going on to tie them together, unless you count the Spirit's weakness when it comes to dealing with women. (I am afraid that while racial stereotyping is gone, Eisner's callous treatment of women lives on, as even the good women are shown as harpies.) I assume this is done in homage to the original materal, which is both good and bad, depending on how you look at it. I really wish Cooke had tried a better approach to the women in the stories, but then again, that's a complaint easily levelled at a lot of comics.

The Batman crossover is an odd duck, written with the help of Jeph Loeb. It's definitely designed to be in the style of a Golden Age Batman story, or perhaps the animated series. Batman and the Spirit both follow their police chiefs to a conference featuring quite the Rogue's gallery. Bats and the Spirit work together to try and stop the Octopus's mad scheme, but there's a Joker in the deck. It was cute seeing the interaction between the two sets of rogues and the story itself was fun. Sometimes, a comic doesn't have to be anything other than that, you know?

I'd say this is probably of limited interest, simply because there aren't a lot of hard-core Spirit fans, and those who are may not like the idea of someone other than Eisner doing the writing/drawing. Plus, there's twenty-some volumes of the original, so it's not like we're lacking for Spirit stories. If you see this, and like either Cooke or the character, give it a shot.