Yeah Dude Comics Second Batch

I got the second set of Pat Auliso's Yeah Dude Comics subscription in the mail recently, with two new entries this time. Here's a few thoughts on them:

Find Me, Look for Me by Laura Knetzger is the story of a woman who has an unusual visitor, namely a tiny alien who has the intelligence level of a child and looks on everything with wonder. As she discusses life with the alien visitor, we learn that the woman's life has lost focus, and only the alien gives her hope and purpose.

It's a cute story with an undercurrent of sadness, as the woman wonders about all the things she doesn't know about her little friend, like if he's actually a child or if his alien nature makes him seem that way. "He" is adrift like her, but doesn't seem to mind it. Knetzger's juxtaposition of ideas such as the alien living in a tree while the woman lives in a home that isn't exactly hers work really well in telling a story that has some hidden depth.

Like Catburglar Cream, the artwork in Find Me, Look for Me is soft and rounded, with the alien a mere stick figure bearing a face with features that morph a bit depending on its mood. The backgrounds are just enough to set the place, and the focus is on the medium shots of the two characters.

This wasn't quite as good as Catburglar Cream, but fans of Knetzger should definitely try to find this one, if they didn't subscribe to the series.

In his end notes, Skuds McKinley notes that he's deeply influenced by Paul Pope, and that shows in Iron Skull, which he describes as an attempt to get ideas flowing on to paper again. As such, it's a bit of a mixed bag, starting with the rather disturbing visual of women whose eyes cannot be seen and ending with a discussion of the narrator's (author's) musical influences. While the illustrations are pretty well done, and definitely echo those of Pope, the disjointed and short nature of the comic didn't allow for much of a point of entry.

The other problem is that while this sample picture, used for the cover, is absolutely stunning in black and white, the dark red paper of the cover and the tracing paper nature of the interiors really hurts the ability for the reader to appreciate the art. I really wish this had just been on normal stock, and perhaps just a bit longer, to get a better feel for McKinley's style.

Overall, this batch of comics wasn't quite as good as the first, but that's the nature of a subscription anthology. As of this writing, nothing is in the store yet, so just keep an eye out for shows to see if you can pick these up, should they interest you.