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| In September, the Oily Sun is up for 12 hours |
In case you came in late, Oily Comics is a publisher of small, quarter size mini-comics, sending them 5 at a time right to your door from a stable of creators, ranging from Charles Forsman (the publisher) himself to folks with recognizable names like Josh Simmons to people who may not be known quantities but can still put out great work. I love it because I like variety, and it's like getting a mini-anthology in the mail every four weeks.
This is the midpoint of my second subscription. Let's see what I thought, especially since I found August's group to be a bit on the weak side...
Dumpling King Issue 3 from Alex Kim starts to ramp up the magic and mystery, as Wu watches with a witch as the kids have awkward relationship The mystery is deepening, as we get more mystical elements and possibly a plot against the cantankerous old man. Kim's sharp, angular linework is great here and really sets an ominous stage as we move slowly through the story.
Lou 17 is the big finish, and I have to admit, I was a little disappointed that things wrapped up so neatly. After setting the stage so well and preparing readers for something horrible, the end result was like when you were a kid and you thought Mom would be pissed and instead she just gave you a mild lecture. It felt like in the end, Melissa Mendes didn't want to hurt anyone, which is okay, but didn't quite work for me. Her art was still solid, with a lot of emotion on the faces of the characters as they ride an emotional roller coaster. I wonder what her next project for Oily will be?
Rave #1 by Jessica Campbell is hard to judge on its first outing. Mary, a girl with seemingly no filter, deals with her peers, who aren't particularly nice to her. That could got a lot of ways, so we'll just have to wait and see. Her art doesn't use a lot of lines, but she gets good variety from them, with the characters drawn distinctly, even with little touches like different simple noses thrown in. I'll hold off on my thoughts on this one until we see more, but initially, I'm intrigued.
Real Rap 4 shows up again, with "Duh Studge" in one full-length adventure this time. He's been invited to open for his friend, but after his usual comical mishaps in social interaction, looks like he may crack under the strain. It might be the end for Studge as this one ends. Creator Benjamin Urkowitz has done a great job varying the pace and style of these minis, building up to this moment. It's still in the same blocky, tight work of the past issues, but we're really starting to see a story evolve from the light jokes of earlier.
Teen Creeps #3 from Chuck Forsman is as good as ever. I think I like it even better than The End of the Fucking World. Featuring a holiday theme (an orange cover) and contents (the girls try to hex the boy Dawn really hates), it's more general unpleasantness from characters that are compelling to watch but really aren't nice people. I love the end-material gag, in which Dawn gets into further trouble. Like Cambell, Forsman doesn't need a lot of fancy art to show the variety in his characters or to set the scene, allowing the story to breath organically.
All in all, the batch was a return to form, with five solid comics and series that I'm digging. By next week, I should be caught up just in time to do November's batch when they're delivered to me. Magic!
