I’m a big fan of the little guy. I root for the Underdog (except in baseball, Go Yanks!). I love a good independent small time anything busting through that big boy ceiling. So one would think I would just be inhaling all of the offerings from the smaller comic book imprints: AWA, Scout, Vault, Valiant etc. Yeah, not so much.
Don’t get me wrong I look at ALL of their solicitations and pull stuff here and there. You have to make an effort to even find the solicits as they’re usually buried on the bottom of previews world or league of comic geeks. Maybe that’s because more often than not they’re, well, they’re mnyeh: the art, the writing, just the overall feel. There’s definitely a major and minor leagues when it comes to the world of Comic Books. Some of the smaller imprints rely on scantily clad big boobied & bootied women on their cover to get sales. Can’t say how many times I’ve looked at a Vampirella cover with the tittie-ular character twisted in a pose revealing all of her comic booky parts and said “hmm, how bad can this be?” Then I’ll flip through it at comic book shop and go ‘Ummm, huh?’. How about those Black Witch of the Tarot or Cave Chick books? It’s like Cinemax back in the day, you weren’t watching their films at 1am for the themes and narratives. Maybe if I’m 13 I’m walking to the counter with my hands shaking hoping the cashier will let me buy a naked cavewoman chick comic, but I’m not 13. Thank God. Having a Bar Mitzvah these days would be a nightmare: allergies, everybody offended about every little thing, girls wearing hot pants and twerking during the Hava Nagila while all the boys spontaneously combust.
Buying comics from small publishers can feel like going out on a date with someone you’re not really attracted to. But you do it sometimes and justify it by saying ‘hey I gotta get out there and be dating, you never know she might be awesome, I’m keeping the energy flowing’. Then you drop her off feeling greasy with a face that looks like you’re standing over a trash heap and you vow to never do it again; but you do.
Without question the small guys have put out quality books over the years but you have to rifle through them to find the golden nuggets. I liked the premise of this ‘New Think’ series and gave it a shot. The first issue was nothing really special although it succeeded in making me look at my phone again and go ‘Stop owning me you filthy rectangle! I don’t need you! I am claiming my power and my time ba – wait, I forgot to post that meme about Liz Cheney, ohh it’s so good’.
The second issue was also a simple exercise that utilized the imaginary world of The Land of Stories to weave a tale about the power of telling your story no matter what, even if the evil king sends his witches, soldiers and minions to silence your words. While that may be all well and good in a medieval world where the butter churner isn’t posting reels of his hot daughter churning the butter in a halter top to generate butter sales, I’m not sure the moral of the story and overall sentiment will really have any impact whatsoever in today’s world.
“They understood that forgiveness and empathy were more important than judgment or gossip”
Yeah, I don’t think if I get a collective stink eye from an offended audience at one of my comedy shows and the boot from the booker that me referring them to this indie comic is going to do the trick:
‘Sir, we all have our stories to tell and tell them we shall’
'Yeah, whatever Issac, I’m not validating your parking, get out.'
It’s a quick read, and yeah, it’ll make you think for a bit. Whether it’ll make you think ‘New Think’ I’m not so sure. They teased the upcoming issue with a cover that shows a holographic projection of Marilyn Monroe over a phone in her iconic ‘Dress over the steam grate’ pose. I could take it or leave it but hey, let’s do a solid for the little guys and let them know we’re rooting for them.
RATING: 7.0
VERDICT: Pull because you care
No comments:
Post a Comment