Indie Comics Corner - Women With Crab Hands and Other Strangeness

So far my posts have been, in some way or another, very focused on the mainstream. Time to dip into the deeper, weirder end of the pool.

Hopefully this will be a semi-regular "feature" in which I'll give brief introductions and reviews for an assortment of eclectic comics fare from truly Indie publishers; there not only won't be any DC or Marvel stuff here, but no Boom!, no IDW, no Adhouse or Top Shelf. These publishers are usually going to be one man or woman with a dream and the will to create, and the results can be interesting and memorable, if not always polished.

I've had the first two issues of Reich for quite a while now. They are among the only comics published by Sparkplug that I own, and with the recent, untimely passing of publisher Dylan Williams, I thought it was time that I finally checked them out.
Reich is the biography of Wilhelm Reich, an eccentric psychoanalyst who studied, among other things, "orgastic potency." Writer/artist Elijah Brubaker has researched his life and work, attempting to separate fact from the considerable rumor and fiction such a divisive and unusual figure has bred, and successfully writes a captivating story about a largely unlikable man. His large headed and expressive figures convey personality and emotion well, further drawing us into Reich and his world.

There appear to be eight issues of this series completed so far; I recommend them to fans of biographical fiction, raconteurs, orgastic potency, and Chester Brown's Louis Riel. All eight issues of Reich and a LOT more are available at: Sparkplug Comics.

The only convention I attend every year is Stumptown Comics Festival in my hometown of Portland, Oregon. It's one big artists alley (no vendors), where the few well known names rub elbows with the best and brightest of the Indie comics scene. You find things there that you won't find anywhere else, and I love it. One of the artists I discovered there several years ago is Jonathan Dalton; his tales of mythology and world history and cultures, all drawn in intricate detail, have never let me down. Maida Kilwa is very short, but intriguing, and according to Dalton, a likely subject for considerable expansion in the future. There's not much I can say about it now...it's only 8 pages long or so, but Dalton quickly draws me into a story with more questions than answers (why and how is this girl from Mars? What happened with the train and her Aunt?) and makes me keen to answer them. Here's his website: Jonathan Dalton.

Minicomics are a diverse and unpredictable lot, and sometimes they fail to click. Such was the case for me with Dolltopia by Abby Benson. A story about living, talking dolls, it's written very simply, by design I'm sure, but the dialogue and lack of dramatic tension of any kind failed to engage me. The point she's making seems a bit conflicted; on the one hand, it seems to be a plea for individuality and choice, but given that choice, our doll protagonist seems mostly interested in superficial things like shopping. Maybe that's the point. Anyway, it was a very quick read and not at all unpleasant, just not something that will stick with me. Her website: AbbyComix.

If you've been wondering where crab hands come into all this, wonder no longer. Freaks and outcasts of every type and description all find themselves drawn to The Deformitory in this strange and oddly compelling comic by Sophia Wiedeman. I'm not sure what to make of it all but it did cast a sort of spell on me...people (and slug-people, and crab-people, and...you get the idea) weave in and out of this loosely structured narrative like dream figures. A man spends his entire life in a tower of his own creation, waiting for another glimpse of a unicorn that he saw as a child. A mermaid with the body of an octopus laments the fact that no one will hang out with her, but shows the same cruelty to a woman with the bottom half of a slug. And our crab handed lady doesn't just have crustacean appendages; they talk, make fun of her, and eventually attempt to murder her.

A great deal can probably be wrung out of these odd figures and their afflictions, and the ways in which they react to them and each other. I haven't devoted that level of thought to them yet, but I was entertained and surprised by nearly every page of this curious little book, and I recommend it highly. See Sophia's work at: SophiaDraws.