Webcomics in Print 2: Webcomics in Print United

As mentioned in the last post, I went to SPX and purchased a lot of stuff and played the "OH GOD I NEED MONEY FOR THE ROOM" game (from Milton Brothers Gamez). A partial selection of the books is featured here.

Beartato and the Secret of the Mystery:
By Anthony Clark
The Nedroid book is pretty amazing encompassing a good deal of classic strips all of the Beartato/Reginald variety. No dinosaur warlocks. This also includes a mini books content and some fancy art. All of the art for most of the older jokes has been redrawn and the quality of the pages is at incredibly epic levels. There is a good deal of semi new comics as well and it is just generally good deal.
I can't really think of an issue, it was worth the money I got. Topatoco makes some damn fine books.
A+
Perfect gift for: Junior high on up.
Fun fact: He signs the book and does drawings in it if you meet him in person and watching him draw drove me to tears. http://s410.photobucket.com/albums/pp189/Koltreg/?action=view¤t=Photo609.jpg

Johnny Wander Vol. 1: Don't Burn The House Down
By Yuko Ota and Ananth Panagariya
Johnny Wander Volume 1 is great all around gift to anyone of any age with all ages humor and I am obsessed with the comic. Since buying it 3 days ago I've read it some 5 times already. It has a recipe, stories when relevant (instead of shoehorning in commentary and notes) and the entire package is very professional. Also I totally have a Maw in a bowler in my copy thanks to Yuko doodling in it (my copy is currently on loan though....). It covers the first year of comics, minus the additional color stories.
It is just all around professional and I can't think of complaints.
Perfect gift for: High school grads, college students and on up.
A+
Fun Fact: It is addictive!

Octopus Pie: There Are No Stars In Brooklyn
By Meredith Gran
Meredith Gran produced a nice and thick tome of the first two years of the comic and included bonus strips that add to the chapters. The art is all nicely printed, the paper is high quality and it is worth the $17 (pay extra for the sketch version though!)
My one complaint is the printing color. All of the pages are in a greenscale print and with the shiny paper, it can be hard to read. I attempted to read on the bus back from SPX and reading under slightly sub par lighting was different. Still, I appreciate not being forced to have all black ink pages and it wasn't as bad as the one chapter in the Gastrophobia book where it was almost entirely unreadable. Also on a slightly less important note there was one page that was slightly smushed by the printer but not troublesome and most likely prevalent to be a major issue.
Perfect gift for: College students on up.
A-
Fun Fact: I totally have a Hanna in my book. Forgot to ask for a Marek (I was tired, disoriented) Still cool to see how fast she was able to draw.

Octopus Pie Minis:
By Meredith Gran
The mini comics are mini books encompassing new comics. I purchased Fear and Couch Sitter, two of the more recent chapters. The quality placed into the minis reminds me the homemade cards my aunt used to make with each page being hand crafted on a variety of materials. It gave me a touch of nostalgia to me personally.
The ink is also black which works well on the brown stock-ish paper. All together this is a high quality piece and I could see myself paying something like $7 for one of these with no issue.
A+
Fun Fact: These are limited issue things so buy them up!

Octopus Pie Review

So begins the pre Small Press Expo where I review comics by people I hope to meet there, most of which I already have been through several times.

This Week:
Octopus Pie by Meredith Gran (@Granulac)
I've personally been living in the city for something like 2-ish years now (almost (in the fall it is official)) and life seems to have these miniarcs within them. Not that there were miniarcs of life out in the country but there they were stretched for unbearable lengths and only changed slowly. It is like comparing some slow moving tv show to a fast moving one. And sadly all of my tv references right now are horrible since I don't watch it.
Octopus Pie is based around Eve (Everest) Ning (Evening - It took me a while to get the pun) and he forcibly added roommate Hanna who acts as the pot smoking Jack to her Felix or the Olive to her Florence if you prefer the female version of the play.
The comics pacing follows a miniarc pattern with stories ranging from relatively short (page numberwise) to spanning and it can be a bit jumpy with each page somewhat functioning asa chapter instead of part of a whole.
Truth be told I was horribly confused the first time I read the comic but that was partially my fault since I was fairly out of it when reading the comic. Upon my rereading though I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The art in the comic is one of the better parts both highly simply and simply abstract and expressive. The character designs actually work well to reflect the characters and help to get the points of personality across without being overbearing.
The comic is a pretty great and deserves your attention.
Octopus Pie gets an A+

Also in case you need a gift for any relatives or friends moving to the city, Octopus Pie has a printed version out now so cop a copy of it as a gift to yourself or others. Cop a copy at most fine bookstores.