Reed Gunther (Image) is the newest addition to my list, added at the same time I dropped The Fury of Firestorm the Nuclear Men, which never really gelled for me. After four issues the characters seemed less defined than in the first issue, and the writers just kept heaping more characters and concepts into the mix. I was bored and uninterested in the title. In stark contrast to that is Reed Gunther, a comic I’ve been following ever since Astrokitty owner Joel Pfannenstiel suggested it, in part because of the appreciation creators Shane and Chris Houghton showed retailers who supported it. It’s the all-ages story of a bear-riding cowboy, with plenty of old west action, a monster now and again, nicely developed characters from Shane and some really fluid cartooning from Chris. I realized that I was enjoying this comic so much more than Firestorm– or many of the other comics I pick up on a whim– that I wanted to be sure I didn’t miss any future issues.

Mud Man (Image) was touched upon in an earlier post and, while it’s only a couple of issues old, has me intrigued. I’ve always appreciated writer/artist Paul Grist’s simplified drawing style and bold page designs, but it’s been fun to get in on one of his series from the beginning. So far it hasn’t required any knowledge of the past continuity from Jack Staff, either. Even if he involves those characters in a future storyline (and I wouldn’t be surprised if he did), this clean starting point is a nice way to kick things off.

Spongebob Comics (United Plankton/Bongo) is another comic I’ve written about previously, as well as a comic I added to my pull because I was enjoying it so much. Especially once DC debuted their 52 new titles, I was afraid Joel would have to scale back on the depth he stocked other titles like this… so onto the pull list it went. I never really watched Spongebob on TV, but the cast of indy creators that are involved with this book (including James Kochalka, Dave Roman, Stephen Destafano, Mark Martin, Jacob Chabot, and others) make each issue a lot of fun! The stories often have a game-like structure that is especially unexpected in a kids comic.

Snarked (Kaboom!) is the latest title from Roger Langridge, whose work I first discovered (and enjoyed) in Fred the Clown. This series is based on Lewis Carroll’s “The Hunting of the Snark” (which was included in the #0 preview issue), yet has plenty of slapstick and intrigue. He’s got a great batch of characters, his usual playful cartoon stylings, along with nice rhyming captions (no easy feat, given my experience with that technique)!

Rachel Rising (Abstract Studio) was a title I put on my pull list as soon as I heard of it, having appreciated both Terry Moore’s writing and distinctive drawing style in the past. This murder mystery series has grabbed me from the beginning, and I’ve been able to keep up-to-date with it, something I wasn’t able to do with his previous SF series Echo.

Action Comics (DC) is the sole title remaining in my pull from DC’s “new 52″ relaunch. Grant Morrison’s version of Superman early in his career has been really enjoyable for me; together with artists Morales, Kubert, et al., these stories have definitely lived up to the title’s name! The only downside to the title are the “bonus” backups by Sholly Fisch; they don’t really add anything to the events in the main story, and thanks to inattentive editing when the stories do overlap, they don’t even present those scenes in a consistent manner.

Both Buffy Season 9 and Angel & Faith (Dark Horse) were also titles I added to my list after finishing Buffy Season 8 (which took me a long time to get through, reading the bulk of that series after it was completed). So far these stories have been a lot tighter and have held my attention better– I actually want to read them as soon they come out rather than waiting for an arc to be completed. They’ve had nice cliffhangers which make me want to read the next issue, and the ongoing arc in Angel & Faith has me in its grip as much as the tv show ever did!

Sergio Aragones Funnies (Bongo) is another title that I enjoyed so much I needed to never miss an issue! Everyone who’s ever read an issue of Mad magazine is familiar with Sergio’s work, but having a full comic in which to stretch out shows new sides of this legendary artist’s range. Each issue usually has an original fiction comic, puzzles, and a long autobiographical comic, too. Even knowing (more or less) what’s going to be in each issue, it’s still a joy to dive into it!

Futurama  Comics (Bongo) is a solid, if unspectacular title. While less essential since the show came back with such strong new episodes on Comedy Central, it’s still true to the characters and plays with SF and comic clichés in a nice way, such as the recent steampunk story in #57.

Savage Dragon (Image) continues to fascinate me in the way it captures Erik Larsen’s dogged determination to write and draw his own character in his own way. I started following the title about 10 years ago, at a time when Larsen was writing it as a light-hearted tongue-in-cheek comic which appealed to me more than its blood & violence beginnings. By the time he steered SD back into a more violent direction, I was hooked on his real-time aging of his characters, his wide and varied cast, and the sense that he would take the comic in whatever direction he wanted, beholden to no company-wide editorial planning (even if it meant writing his title character out of the comic)! It really captures the spirit of an individual artist crafting a comic, not a product assembled by committee. It may be over-the top stereotypical superhero action, but it’s a blast!

You may notice an absence of Vertigo or other critically-lauded fare in my pull list. I find that a lot of titles I enjoy (Y the Last Man, iZombie, The Sixth Gun) really do read better as trades than as single issues, so I tend to read them in that fashion. Unfortunately for Astrokitty, though, I also tend to not collect them and so just read them from my local library.

But that’s a topic for another time…

My friend Tom Cherry is at it again, this time with an impromptu drawing holiday featuring Richie Rich’s comedian pal. While I didn’t have much familiarity with Jackie Jokers as a character, after seeing others join in the fun I thought I’d see what I could come up with, and just how fast I could do it. Gag, pencils, and inks took about 15 minutes, with about another 45 to do the cleanup and coloring.

The thing that really appealed to me from the inspiration pieces Tom posted was this version of Jackie’s logo. Even in my quick hand-drawn version, it’s obvious that the title is linked to the Richie Rich family of books while standing on its own as a solid comic book logo. There have been a lot of weak comic book logos lately, including many of “the new 52″ logos from DC. The Flash, Men of War, and Justice League logos strike me as especially uncreative, looking more like last-minute typography class projects than the professionally designed logos that major comic book properties deserve. They stand in stark contrast to the logos that were so iconic they were largely left alone, particularly those for Superman, Superboy, Supergirl, Action Comics, and Swamp Thing.

Back in the days when I was involved with APA-5 and the Small Press Syndicate, I would traditionally start off the new year with a column detailing my creative resolutions. While I may no longer have such direct and regular connection to my creative peer group, I do have this lovely venue to share my plans for 2012. Hopefully putting them out there for the world to see will help keep me on track in a way that I haven’t managed to do over the last couple of years. Here are twelve things I plan to accomplish in 2012:

1. Get into a regular schedule for posting on this blog. I like to read about other creators’ methods and enjoy writing about mine, too. I’m aiming for two posts per month, with decent content relating to “comics and comic creation” …

Get my long-overdue print comic output back on track! As much as I enjoy doing my webcomic, there are some stories that will just work better in print. So be on the lookout for:

2. Double Dip #2 – this one has a deadline: I want to finish it in time for Tom Cherry to take to SPACE in mid April!

3. Doghouse Funhouse #2 – it’s nearly done, and I need to honor my commitment to its contributors.

4. Watusi #28 – finish the cliffhanger from the last print issue.

5. Watusi #29 – collect my first attempt at a Watusi comic strip, which appeared in a variety of print and web locations.

6. Get my jam comic backlog completed and in print. As Watusi print output fell by the wayside & the webcomic took off, interest in jam comics (both from participants and me) dwindled. I still have a few to wrap up so I can close the door on jam comics as the defining aspect of a Watusi issue.

7. Honor my other outstanding commitments (I know you’re looking at me, Keith and Joel!). I tend to overestimate what I can comfortably fit into my limited available hours; I need to keep my enthusiasm in a realistic perspective.

8. Reformat “Isla Esmerelda” for print. I’m not good about obsessively reworking past comics (either I could learn something from George Lucas or he could learn something from me), but there are a few fine tunings I’d like to make before I get the story into print. I’ll probably hold off actually publishing it until 2013, since I’d like to offer it as a comic subscription, but getting it all “in the can” is an import step towards that goal.

9. August is the Human Spring’s 10th anniversary. I’d like to do something to celebrate it. Something nice, but anything would be more than I did for Watusi’s 1oth…

10. Make available select out-of-print titles as .pdf comics. Not only is it cheaper than going back to print for comics that aren’t related to my current projects, it lets me play around with e-books a little.

11. Network with my peer cartoonists better. As I mentioned above, I don’t have the direct connection with as many of my peers that I used to, and commenting on each others’ blogs just doesn’t fill that void.

12. By popular demand: write a Mitchell comic! I have a good story in mind, but it’s probably better suited for a print comic than an online strip.

That’s what I hope to accomplish; I’ll revisit it at the end of the year to see how I did. What creative goals do you have for 2012?

One Soul, by Canadian writer/artist Ray Fawkes, tells the story of one soul as it passes through 18 different incarnations. The book came my way after reading a lot of good pre-publication notices, so while I knew a bit of what to expect, I was still pleasantly surprised by it. Using a 9-panel grid, Fawkes gives an impressionistic glimpse of each life in every spread. While the characters’ personalities are only briefly sketched out, the arc of their stories still manage to convey a full sense of a life lived. By reading across the grid, the reader discovers nice synergies as the different lives find similar experiences. Fawkes presents this well through the occasional repeated layout (p. 14/15) or designed spreads (p. 52/53) that often pack greater impact than the script alone conveys. Additionally, thanks to his strict use of the grid, the reader can also drill through the book, following the story of each life from its beginning to its (often unexpected) end, watching the grid gradually darken as lives come to their end. While the grid did fall apart a bit at the end for me, it’s still highly recommended for readers wanting to experience a different storytelling structure; less so if you prefer a thorough insight into your characters.

On the other hand, The Griff, written by Christopher Moore & Ian Corson, is probably the biggest disappointment I’ve suffered recently. I’ve enjoyed a lot of Moore’s novels (notably, Fool and The Stupidest Angel), so also had high hopes for this original graphic novel … but it turned out to be a repurposed movie script the pair had worked on. While featuring a fast-paced plot and an entertaining mix of characters typical of Moore’s novels, it seemed to be missing a lot of linking elements that, while they might have worked well in a film, seemed like shorthand in this format. No real effort was spent setting the scene or providing atmosphere beyond that provided in the visuals. Speaking of the art, by Jennyson Rosero, it was nicely done for the first third of the book, but the quality of the finish and coloring declined noticeably as the book went on. Whether it was due to a rushed deadline on her part or on the part of the production staff, it was disappointing to see such visual inconsistency in a story that short (though unpaged, Amazon lists it at 160 pages. It was a quick read, at any rate). Interestingly, Rosero only got a “with” credit, and the art copyright was retained by the publisher. Certainly this seems like a sign of an unbalanced creative team, with little collaboration going on between story and art, which could be another reason why this book didn’t seem to work for me. Largely, it stands as an example of why a comic script is different from a movie script, and why good comics are so much better than just an illustrated screenplay.

A curious thing I’ve noticed about my pull lately is how all the comics I’m following (aside from Savage Dragon) have really low issue numbers, often just in single digits. One of my new favorites just had its #1: Mud Man by Paul Grist, published by Image. While I love Grist’s drawing style and have followed his comics on and off over the years, his opening essay in that first issue is what endeared me to his latest project. In it he pins down one of my favorite things about comics, better than I was able to do in my own Free Comic Book Day comic from 2006: “I think there’s something compelling about a story told over a period of time which allows you to get to know characters. … I like stories that you can carry with you and think about before you get to find out what happens next. And because they build up over a period of time they get into your head in a different way than a single one off story can.” I’m looking forward to carrying Mud Man around in my head for a while! Another low-numbered comic that has claimed some space in my head is Terry Moore’s new title, Rachel Rising. It’s a murder mystery with a touch of the supernatural, packed with yet-to-be answered questions; it’s only on #4 so far, and well worth checking out.

While jam comics are fun to help create, they don’t usually hold together as logical stories. Case in point, “20  From 920″, a collection of jam comics produced at SPACE 2005. Contributors include Aaron, Tom Cherry, Gynn Silva, Rick Silva, Michael Munshaw, Drew Boynton, Larned Justin, Brien Wayne Powell, Adrienne Westmoreland, Ian Shires, JB Winter, George McVey, Matt Feazell, Chris Garrett, Mike Leuszler, and me.

I was reminded of this book recently while I was cleaning my studio and pondering what to do with some of my back issue stock. Over the years I’ve created a number of comics, many of which have little or no connection with my current work. I find it difficult to talk up old items that don’t fit in with the new work I’m excited about, especially in the limited time available at conventions or other events. Still, they’re often– like “20 from 920″– fun little comics … so I think I’ll make this available as a downloadable .pdf e-book. Hope you enjoy!

While I’ve never been a big Archie fan, I really love Little Archie for some reason. Both the original Bob Bolling stories and the clean cartoony style of Dexter Taylor have a charm that seems lacking in the main “teen Archie” stories. Fortunately, Hiram Lodge is a vital part of both series, so I can still enjoy his voice of sanity as he deals with Little Archie.

Thanks for the holiday, Tom!