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A little while back I received a copy of Chris Arrant's mini-anthology in return for a promise to review it after I'd read it. Seems liked like a fair deal, so here goes.



Four Stories is a collection of, well, four stories written by Chris Arrant (http://www.chrisarrant.com/), and drawn by different artists. Even though they only consist of a handful of pages each, they're dense with panels and make great vignettes. Each story is preceded with a paragraph or two setting up the story. I don't see this often in comic anthologies, but realized that it works well. This allows more room for atmosphere and action to be detailed in the comic pages.

The first story, Integral, is drawn by Matt Bayne. This one focuses on the contrasting lifestyle of Frank Lowry who just retired as a cop to spend more time with his daughter. Chris's character writing is convincing. There was a good balance of comedy and drama. The art is well inked with confident lines and plenty of contrasting black and white. The character art is distinct, realistic enough to keep the mood serious, but loose enough to allow flexibility for character expressions. The background art is plentiful, so you always have a good idea of where the action is taking place. While the pages are professionally lettered, I'd like to have seen more balance between the art and the bubbles. Much of the time, the text seems forced over the art complicating the compositions. I think Matt's style would play well with hand-lettering, and judging from the hand-lettered signs in the story, he'd do a good job at it, as well.

Following was Passenger drawn by Joanna Estep. This one's about a fellow named Wes Calloway who's trying to come to terms with the departure of his ex-girlfriend Claire. The story transitions from steep depression to a surreal dream sequence. It ends with a hint to some sort of unexplained activity in the apartment. This would be a perfect first scene of a larger story, as you're left asking several questions. I achieves the desired goal of engaging the reader, but also leaves you hungry for answers. This can't just be a typical break-up story. The art style is a darker shade of manga mixed with the loose inks of a confident indy artist like you'd see in Love and Rockets, and that suits the story well.

The next story, Snowblind, illustrated by Jessica Hickman, gave me chills. Maybe I personalized it too much remembering my own drive home in snowy weather from a company Christmas party - this story is about two coworkers, Audrey and Ollie, driving home together after a similarly party who get stuck in a snow bank. I don't want to spoil the finale, but it's something you'd expect in an episode of Outer Limits or The Twilight Zone. The art is gorgeous. It's a shame that the book is in black and white, as you can tell the original art was in color. But it's still effective at setting the mood. The character art is a little bit inconsistent - at times hyper-rendered and yet cartooney, making the characters seem a lot younger. I really only have one complaint, and this may be a misreading on my part, but there seems to be a random inset face on page 3 that confused me. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be Ollie, or a 3rd character out-side-looking-in. Perhaps color would clarify that for me. I still loved this one - I think it was my favorite.

The last story, Stuart, is drawn by Eric Adams. I've actually seen Eric's work around - I picked up a copy of his comic, Lackluster World at Mid Ohio Comic Con a few years back. His style is pretty consistent and works well for this short story. This one's about a little boy who wanders the halls of a hospital doing small favors for the residents here and there. Given the environment and the style of the art, I'm left wondering if there's something more, some creepy side of the story yet to be told. The art is pretty iconic, but still personal enough to convey lots of personality in cast.

The writing and execution of this collection is great, but the overall book leaves me with an empty feeling - all of these stories are incredible set-ups for much bigger stories. Maybe that's me backseat driving, maybe it's just because I enjoyed them so much I simply want more, but I can easily envision another anthology next year from the same creative team with more story to digest.

I have a new book available from Lulu today. It's 72 page collection of sketches and illustrations - mostly the finished stuff I drew while airing the webcam. This is probably the most eclectic collection of art I've ever produced. Included is a wide range of themes; western, victorian, and bizarre. There's a little bit of robots 'n' cyberpunk, too. I'm really happy with the quality of the printing. I dropped out most of the dirty lines, but kept the texture of the inks, so you can get a good idea of the process - as any good sketchbook will give you.

I'm gonna be premiering them at the Chicago Wizard World Con in August, but I'm making them available online now. And they're just 8 bucks, cheap! So if that's your cup o' tea, buy 'em up folks! Thanks much!

Howdy folks! I'm just about to unveil a new book on you all, but before I do, I wanted to drop a reminder that I'm still selling Fabricari: Ad Hoc for only 10 bucks. It's discounted to help you cover some of that ridiculous shipping. (Although, if you ship via Media Mail, it's not so bad.)

One thing I didn't make clear in the past. This book is 132 pages and collects the entire story featured in the web comic. A lot of folks tell me they assumed this was only the second half. I've also thrown in 3 short stories and the first "test scene" of Fabricari I drew over 10 years ago.

Bein' "Ad Hoc" the story starts off a bit jumpy, but it quickly finds it's ground and ends up being dense with action. It read a hell of a lot better in print than as a web comic.

Here's that cover:


And here's a nifty buy-now button from Lulu: