Grump Week is almost over, but since I’m getting all this frustration and annoyance out of my system, I figured I might as well take one last rant (okay, one of two) that’s kinda been bubbling in my system over the last few days, and smack it out onto paper. Ultimately, it’s about how I just don’t like American comics all that much, but it’ll encompass a little bit more than that.
First, though, I want to talk about some cool shit I have been reading that I like.
The Good Stuff
I offer these to show that I’m not intrinsically biased against American comics. To prove that I’m giving them a fair chance, and that I’m not simply allergic to the medium. Also, because all of these rule, and you should read them.
Hilda The 13th
It’s a webcomic about a bunch of witches who do things with computers, with a lightly serialized story, but a strong focus on each individual comic having its own punchline. Feels like something that deserves to be in the papers. If, y’know, papers still existed, and were also okay with characters being queer. Anyway, it’s great, and you should read it.
You can start from the beginning by clicking here.
Guts County
A light narrative comic about Heck, a bone farmer in hell, Chainsaw Wolf, a wolfman with a chainsaw for an arm, and their various friends/frenemies/acquaintances. Definitely NSFW, but mostly because of the punchlines, and not the art. Again, incredibly funny, and you should read it.
Here, click this link and read it.
Nothing Doing
Nothing Doing has its own description, one that I think is perfect so I’m just gonna repost it: It’s a slice of life comic about loving your friends, and hating your job. It is incredibly funny, and again, you should go read it.
Also, I’m pretty sure that putting the same link in my post multiple times is gonna screw my SEO, but I’d rather write for people instead of robots, so here’s another link to the comic.
Wrestle Heist
Imagine all the old wrestlers teamed up to finally give Vince McMahon what he so richly deserves: an ass beating, and stealing all of his stuff. That’s pretty much the premise of Wrestle Heist, in which a bunch of wrestlers forced into retirement decide they want payback, and start doing some Oceans 11 style stuff to get it.
For the others I’m linking to their webpages. But for this one I’m linking to the place you can buy it, and the author’s store.
And like. If you wanted to read it for free, you’re smart. You could probably figure out. I’m not saying that’s what I did, but I’m also not-not saying that I have atoned for my sins by purchasing the trades that were available at my local comic book store, and then pre-ordering the full collection. I think there’s a comic word for that second one, but I don’t know it, and I’m afraid that if I tried to find the term, my search engine would tell me to eat rocks.
Anyway, I’m gonna end part 1 here, because it looks like my WordPress instance is actively dying from there being too much text in the full post. More in part 2.