Shiot Crock 14 edited by Joe Kletz

Shiot Crock 14 edited by Joe Kletz.
On sale nowhere. You could possibly wrassle a contributor for their copy.
Contributor review thread here.

This is the forth Shiot Crock I have covered here at file under other so I can't possibly go though explaining just exactly what the thing is another time. You can look through the posts here for details.
It has been called the unofficial anthology of The Comics Journal Message board and that probably sums it up well enough.
Joe Kletz edited and assembled this edition as a home binded hardback. The design is simple but cool. The binding is well, home-made-ish. It's not book store ready but when you take into account that Kletz had the challenge of assembling printed pages from many contributors you can forgive it's flaws.

It is kind of a tradition that each Crock comes with some sort of freebie thrown in. These are usually things that were just lying around the editor's house. Mine came with an issue of the Weekly World News. It has a very interesting article on how "You Can Now Write in the 'Fourth' Person". Well it's about time!

It is also the tradition (often not followed) that each contributor write a review of the Crock's contents. This is the forth Crock in which I have appeared so now I will fulfill my civic duty to the minicomic community and review the contents of Shiot Crock 14 in the order that they appear.

The Belgian Pig Fucking Movie by Kurt Beaulieu.
I've said it before and I'll say it again... I really like Beaulieu's crazy huge breasted lesbian musician ladies and their adventures. I like Beaulieu's drawing and his character design. I usually have a hard time making much sense of his stories though. The jokes and language are usually over my head but this one made some sense.

A comic I have chosen to call Hell Yes by Nicole Burch.
This is a one page suicide comedy comic. Well drawn. Well executed. I like it.

A piece I have chosen to call The Continental Op by Mark Campos.
This is a page and a half essay on a Dashiell Hammett character. I've not seen many of the movies from that time or read any of the books so I can't speak to the essay other than to say that I did not mind reading it and felt like he made his case pretty well. It is accompanied by a nice Campos drawing of the character. I like Campos' art so it works for me.

Super Iffy by Yuri Duncan
Not quite super hero parody. Just plain super hero goofiness. It is simple and presented in color. I could do without the computer lettering but I say that about all computer lettering. The funniest thing about the comic is that one of the characters is named "The Mystic Fist".

In Search of the Two-Hole and Bad Joke - No Joke by eric.
If the cartoonist had not bogged down a lot of page space with self-deprecating apologies this would have been a pretty funny contribution. I like eric's drawings well enough and the jokes are pretty funny. (Minus the apologies.)

Some stuff I have chosen to call Some Random Stuff by Cory Fuka.
Oh Fuka. Fuka Fuka Fuka... I'm not sure what to do with this. It's almost a comic. Almost a story. Some random gag photos thrown in for... why? Some random sketchbook stuff? Man, I just don't know...

Joe & Amy by Joe Kletz.
This is a warm little engagement story. I reads more like a love letter to Kletz's wife than a comic aimed at a comic audience but it's a fun read with a few moments of interesting cartooning. I like it a lot and would like to see more longer narratives from Kletz.

Stoolies by Klopner.
I sho nuff love me some Klopner. Love his drawing, inking and the subject matter. This is a tight comedy piece about a bar hook-up. It has the sharp and biting dialog I expect from Klopner. The drawing is flatter than usual but I can see that he is going for more of a straight talking head comic strip style. Not my favorite Klopner comic but I enjoyed it a lot.

Chausie! by Karen Lucas.
I think this comic is a real breakthrough for Lucas. It's the longest sustained narrative I've seen her pull off. It's also the best composed. There are some nice things she is doing with the page layouts and the panel composition. I think I can see some of Klopner's influence on her pages. The biggest breakthrough is in the dialog. She gets inside the character's head and let's the character have a voice. It's some clever and interesting stuff. The drawing is a bit clumsy but there is some confidence in how it is all put together. She really pulls off playing around with panel shape and placement. Good stuff.

Dump by David Robertson.
I could almost just cut and paste one of my previous David Robertson reviews to cover this one. In fact, I will! If Wes Anderson wrote a comic about a wildlife film sound recordist it would be exactly like this two page story by David Robertson. (And I mean that with zero percent snark. I like Wes Anderson.) Robertson's drawing seems rushed but he manages to tell an elaborate story packed with laughs. Except that this one is not about a sound recordist but rather a guy that climbs mountains and puts light bulbs above bird nests. Is there a word for that? This comic is a bit better than other stuff I have seen from Robertson. The drawing is simplified but stronger. I like his pacing a lot and the characters have some great hair.

Mini-Giant Monster Club Awesome Infinitude! by Barry Rodges.
What impresses me about Rodges contributions to Shiot Crock is that he never repeats himself. Each Rodges comic I see has a new drawing style, storytelling style and subject matter. This comic is monster nerd dudes talking monster nerd talk in their clubhouse. What else can I say about that? It's drawn well, lettered well and funny. I like.

Small Bible: The Old Testament by Shannon Smith.
I contributed the same story you can buy here but It is reformatted for this larger book. I won't review my own comic here. You can see what other people thought about it here.

Corinne and Suzanne Arrive in Stowe Vermont by Kurt Beaulieu.
More huge breasted crazy ass lesbian musicians. More good. More yayy. We all win.

A piece I have chosen to call Chaos Wizard by Cory Fuka.
Some sort of X-Men meets Dungeons and Dragons girl... this time in color!

What is the Hairiest Thing You Have Ever Seen and a page I have chosen to call Man I'm Bored by Joe Kletz.
Two comedy pages by Kletz. This is the kind of thing I have come to expect from Kletz. Not gosh wow awesome but funny.

The Christian Truth versus The Pluralistic Darkness by Kurt Beaulieu and Sirkowski.
This is my favorite thing in the book. Those huge breasted crazy ass lesbian musicians we all know and love return but this time they are drawn in a manga style by Sirkowski. I really like Sirkowski's drawing and the use of tones and the furrie art is hilarious. And maybe it is because this story features two other ladies that don't speak the way Beaulieu's ladies normally speak but this one makes sense almost 100% of the time. Win, win win! Hooray! I want an all Beaulieu written crazy huge breasted lady book drawn by Sirkowski and a dozen or so other artists. Make it so. Chop chop!


A piece I have chosen to call Crazy Ass Space Art by Cory Fuka.
Fuka provided some full color crazy ass space art. I like it a lot. Don't know what to make of it. Not sure if there is a point. I just think it is cool looking.

You too can join in the fun that is a Shiot Crock. Visit The Comic's Journal Message Board and keep you eye out for the next sign up thread.

Your best pal ever,
Shannon Smith