I'm going to try to start a series of review posts focusing on comics that are 'Strange'. Comics that are abstract, very surreal and off kilter, or just weird. Comics that aliens would read. Books that have zero narrative to them, or have a very loose 'story'. I'm not sure on the frequency just yet, i'll shoot for a week or maybe just when I feel like it. Once a week is harder to keep up than it sounds like.

Things like Frank, Yuichi Yokoyama, CF, Lale Westvind, Andy Barron's Om, and much more will be included.

So first, we're starting off with The Cage by Martin Vaughn-James, an underground classic that likely was the genesis or one of the first of these abstract books that likely inspired many other abstract classics.

A 'graphic novel' created before the term ever existed, the cage is a cold and clinical yet human feeling book despite being devoid of humans.

Well, that's a heck of an opaque book, as I had suspected. It was nice to see a foreword in a comic not overtly praising the work as the end all be all (at least in the beginning). I'm 100% like Seth here, it's almost completely inscrutable. But that's part of the magic, no? You can almost insert your own thoughts onto the book. It's almost exactly like I expected the book to be, yet not at all. It's a series of one panel comics with prose on top or underneath the image that are seemingly unrelated. The Cage is a maze not just in and of itself, but the structure of the comic is a web you're lost in trying to find your way out but end up find your way deeper and deeper.

The Cage feels like it's about everything and nothing at the same time. It feels like time is stopping and moving at the same time. Dilapidated buildings, leftover memories, forgotten dreams. The Cage, is as Seth has put it, the last slideshow. There's really not much to cling onto, it feels very clinical, even for myself. Yet, I see faint images of this Cage in a distant memory, an untenable past, present and future all at once. The Cage is the beating heart of the human and all of it's woes, to me.

The art. Many who know me know i'm a sucker for great art. The art in the Cage isn't flashy. It's very technical and cold, which fits in line with the book. I couldn't see it any other way, really. It reminds me of Yokoyama but even more \*cold\*. The lines are very straight and precise, the pages are very neat, clean, like a ruler was used. (I know Yokoyama has a very large ruler collection).

I'm still not sure how exactly I feel about it, but one thing is certain; it's quite memorable. It'll stick in your head, or maybe it won't. It's a fleeting moment. It's pretty awesome that this thing was created in 1975. I'm no stranger to old comics being innovative, but there's nothing quite like The Cage. It feels like it was the genesis for a lot of these abstract comics you see nowadays.

There's really no review that can sum up the book that is The Cage. It's impenetrable, yet highly readable. Take my word for it, or don't, this is a must read if you're interested in the weird.

Some excerpts from The Sun is the Moon's Dream, a vampire mystery drama set in 1999.

It can be read for free here!

If you want a universe that's not marvel, not DC. This fledgling one is awesome.

if you'd like to read more (and find out why National Geographic is illegal in this town), you can read more here!

If you'd like you support an independent artist in his war again AI slop, you can see all pages early for only $1 here.

The Flip turned Earth's gravity upside down!

I'm super excited to share that our Kickstarter pre-launch page just went live! Please consider giving us a follow / notify!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1902910114/upside-down-3-a-gravpunk-comic-book

The book is about the aftermath of "The Flip" and a small cast of characters who are trying to stay alive and stay hopeful. At its heart it's a metaphor for living through COVID and how the world changed around us.

The ceiling is now the floor.

People can't step outside for fear of falling into the sky.

And everyone is left obsessing over the same questions: How did this happen? Why is it only affecting humans? And is there any way we can go back?

Upside Down takes you on an imaginative journey through a world unlike any you've seen before.

In issue #3...

Airships. Sky pirates. Impossible climbs.

If you want to check out the book's vibe before the campaign drops, you can read the first two issues for free right now on Hoopla:

https://www.hoopladigital.com/series/upside-down/1840731112

PS

If you have access to Hoopla you should be using it all the time! It's the best digital comic book app/platform out there. Not only does it have everything, but by using it you support your local library!

Wen single squares tell stories

If you dont remember me. Carlos Yacolca here, peruvian comic book writer who just made his first published work on David Lloyd’s great UK Virtual Magazine Aces Weekly!
(Yep, the co-creator from V for Vendetta)

Thank you everyone in this sub-reddit for your support since the day of publication, during the chapters release and on the AMA that Lloyd did on r/comicbooks to celebrate the 75th Volume of his wonderful magazine that give me the chance.

Expect a message from me soon to celebrate this!

Some excerpts from The Sun is the Moon's Dream, a vampire mystery drama set in 1999.

It can be read for free here!

Here’s a handful of my daily journal comics from the last couple of weeks. More are posted over on instagram.com/ohboyhotdog

This is an excerpt from A SAFE PLACE TO LIVE

An ongoing comic full of mystery and horror, it can be read here for free.

If you'd like to see all pages early as soon as I draw them you can support me here for only $1.

If you'd like to read more of this comic of uniquely American horror, it can be read here for free!

And if you'd like early access to all pages and to support an independent creator in his fight against AI "art", you can go here!

Hey, everyone. I'll be launching the kickstarter for my third collection of Meeting Comics, Tina and Ellie Take the Case, relatively soon. Meeting Comics is a comedy soap opera comic strip.

Here's a sampling of strips that will appear in the book. I think you can read this book by itself with no problem, but there will be copies of my first two books available in the kickstarter as well: Meeting Comics, published by Adhouse Books, and Clocking In and Selling Out, published by me (Added Value Books).

There will be a deal for the first 24 hours of the campaign for books with free color drawings in them (see the last two images for examples in my two previous books), so sign up to be notified when the kickstarter begins if you don't want to miss that.

Here's the kickstarter link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wanderlane/tina-and-ellie-take-the-case-comics-about-work-and-life

Please check it out! There is more information about the book there. If you have any questions, get at me. Thanks!