First in this collection, and comprising the bulk of Happy Town Tales, is “No Girls Allowed.” As I said, this book made a strong impression on me early on. Part of the reason for this is Madson’s gorgeous art. He has a simplified style that doesn’t abandon complex perspective or intricate backgrounds. He seems keenly aware of what in a given scene needs to be to focused upon in detail versus what needs to be simplified down to a gestural line. His figures are subtly elastic, allowing them to better emote through gentle exaggerations. The author’s use of black-spotting is particularly strong as well, though if I have one criticism, it’s that his overall framing is sometimes confusing. It’s not such a problem as to hinder readability, but it is at times distracting.

The other reason that I was so responsive to this book is the quality of writing. “No Girls Allowed;” about revisiting childhood memories in the wake of a suicide; is exceedingly well paced. Madson wisely leaves plenty of space between moments without making the story feel slow. The protagonist is interesting in that he’s not particularly sympathetic. He comes across as a descent-but-self-involved person who can only view a person’s tragedy through his own mirror. I find this sort of complex character so much more interesting than the usual bland everyman or author-surrogate.

“Beach Walk” is a short, thoughtful piece about a relationship. It creates a snapshot of a  couple at their most playful and is a perfect respite from the melancholy of “No Girls Allowed” and the grief to come in “World’s Greatest Dad.” The art for this story was similarly strong, with noticeably improved framing and an even more languid, attenuated line-work. It’s a simple back-and-forth, conversation-style story. The author does a good job of defining each character by the actions of the other, and in a larger sense defining the rhythm and flow of their relationship as well.

“World’s Greatest Dad” is the darkest and most surreal story in this collection. It begins like the prologue to an epic; as though the protagonist is the last man standing after an apocalypse. But as the story jumps backwards in time to unfold, we find that the apocalypse in question is one located within a single person’s mind. Instead we have the character study of a broken man; a father who still searches for his kidnapped daughter long after he has given up hope of finding her. It’s a heartbreaking portrait, and the way Madson pretends to build to a massive crescendo only to retreat to the smallest, most personal space imaginable magnifies the isolation of the father.

“World’s Greatest Dad” is not without flaw, however, and it relates to the title itself. The story gets its title from an incident in the father’s past, and it’s one that, without giving anything away, skirts the line between poignant and corny. It provides much of the character’s motivation, and as such comes off as a little too on the nose. But this is easy enough to overlook, as Madson is skilled enough to keep the story from running off the emotional rails that he’s laid down for it.

So there it is. Only a month into the new year and already I have something I’ll be recommending to anyone who’ll listen, until I’m blue in the face. Check out more from Justin Madson at www.justmadbooks.com

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Look for more from Morgan Pielli online at IndestructibleUniverse.com and follow him on Twitter at @UltraMorgnus

So let’s just review this document my clone has passed in…we’ll call him CLunkiedev. *Puts on reading glasses, clears throat* Ahem.

GOOD FOR YOUR EYES

Well, I already have to step in to editorialize. Clunkie’s written here “Darhrazz 8” and then a sort of squiggle. Due to me taking this particular clone out of the tank a little early his hands aren’t strictly speaking hands…he can grip but his nailless fingers are sort of boneless and stumpy. I think IT is trying to recommend Dark Horse Presents #8 which, on top of some great new stuff from Brian Wood and Howard Chaykin promises to have a Hellboy B.P.R.D. tie-in story. It’s a good book to cover.

Speaking of which, Clunkiedev has scribbled a sort of moist rectangle with a Superman symbol, the number 6 and a big “X” through it. I think It is as disappointed in the cover to Action Comics #6 as I am…sort of a green and purple blob in which Superman is stuck as though in a Japanese tentacle manga. It reminds me of Clunkie’s forehead…see eyelashes are really hard to clone, and they came out all…never mind. AC #6 has a lousy cover, but I’m sure Grant Morrison’s superlative writing on these Super-books will be top notch.

Two covers that leap off the shelf are Fear Itself The Fearless #8 and The Twelve #9! Fear Itself The Fearless is the spin off series from last summer’s Fear Itself event. Good  Marvel fun. The cover, however, is the best Art Adams has to give! Amazing perspective, detail and poses as only Adams can deliver.

As for The Twelve #9, this HIGHLY anticipated book begins the ending to a great story line first launched in 2007. That incredible, shirtless wonder you see on the cover is the BLUE BLADE, one of Unkie’s top picks for relaunch glory! His powers? He can pull of that outfit and ride a horse! NICE! Twelve trades are available here at the Forbidden Planet to get you up to date on this fun, weird story.

MARK OF THE BEAST

Detective Comics #6 featuring Batman vs. Penguin and Justice League International #6 join Action Comics as top #6 picks here on Clunkiedev’s list, but they’re rather hard to make out as the clone machine malfunctioned and his tongue is flopping out of his elbow. Every time he finishes a sentence it gets all drooly and blurry. Eww.

I’ll wrap this up; Image has a new issue of Invincible out this week, as well as top cartoonists such as Jill Thompson, Shannon Wheeler, and Mike Allred doodling silly all over fairy tales in Fractured Fables. NO cartoonist tops Sergio Aragones, who gifts the world with another volume of wonders in this week’s Sergio Aragones Funnies #7 from Bongo.

Avengers X-Sanction #3, Hulk #48, Venom #13 and a slew of new X-Books. Round out Marvel’s offerings. What’s that sound?

*CRASH* Uh-oh, I’ve gotta’ run! Clunkie’s found the sugar bowl and he’s getting a little rambunctious. As I’m typing this he’s sweating all over my linens; only due to the clone-machine’s increasingly poor quality control standards, his sweat glands have been replaces with…You know what? Don’t worry about it. Let me just take care of this.

NEXT WEEK: How to bury a clone in five easy pieces…I MEAN STEPS! Now where’s that machete?

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More musings from Unkiedev, Earth’s own sidekick, can be read at unkiedev.blogspot.com

From SpectacleTheater.com…

Saturday / January 14th, Midnight
Chatterbox! (presented by Horror Boobs)
Directed by Tom DiSimone
1977, 73mins, English

Things start getting a bit problematic for Penelope when her vagina begins to voice it’s own opinion. When she visits a shrink about her singing pussy, he convinces her to embrace it’s talent and become a star.  Will Penelope ever be able to find true love while living in the shadow of her popular private parts? Not if she can’t zip her lips!

Horror Boob’s throws you another curve ball for this month’s musical midnights with 1977′s Chatterbox… It speaks for itself. Directed by Tom DeSimone who brought us many mammary filled memories with classics such as REFORM SCHOOL GIRLS and HELL NIGHT, and staring eager to show her beaver Candice Rialson of PETS and HOLLYWOOD BLVD fame.  The Tit Patrol couldn’t possibly keep this goofy take on France’s 1975 film PUSSY TALK concealed so prepare to bare witness to the genital insanity that is Chatterbox.

Horror Boobs is a collective devoted to bringing you the best in breasts from genre cinema! horrorboobs.com

Fuff #8 by Jeffrey Lewis

Two months ago I had the great fortune of being asked to participate in a live comics reading at the KGBar in Manhattan. The lineup included many artists I admire, and they all did a killer job. One man, however, knocked it clean out of the park. That man was Jeffrey Lewis. Rather than merely read his comics off of a projector screen, Lewis arrived with a specially drawn cue-card-sized comic in one hand and his guitar in the other. He read, he sang, he engaged in a conversation with a pre-taped Jeffrey Lewis. Part indy artist and part rock star, Jeffrey Lewis is an odd mixture of influences and approaches.

Fuff #8 is the most recent in his long-running collection of beautifully drawn and eclectic short comics. The bulk of this collection is a series entitled “Stories My Dad Tells” that recount how Lewis’ father built a cabin in the woods of Maine. The tales are told Rashomon-style from the perspective of Lewis’ father, mother, a family friend, and even Madonna (whose life did intersect, however briefly, with that of Lewis’ parents). Each story presents the reader with a different type of unreliable narrator, and the omissions and inconsistencies therein serve to illustrate the relationships between the various storytellers.

As much as I enjoyed the “Stories My Dad Tells” tales, my favorite part of Fuff #8 was the “Meteorite Mite.” Couched in the guise of a coming-of-age superhero spoof, “Meteorite Mite” seems almost autobiographical of the author’s adolescence. If it’s not a thinly-veiled true account of childhood humiliation, this speaks even more to the talents of Lewis for creating lived-in and believable characters.

Either way, the story has great emotional weight to it. Apart from the superhero elements, “Meteorite Mite” paints a very realistic portrait of how boys begin to think about sex as they enter puberty; lacking the mental maturity and benefit of life experience needed to understand it.

Spider Monkey #1 by Jesse McManus with Austin English

This is a tough comic to describe. Both visually and story-wise, Spider Monkey #1 is a twisting, constantly shifting ribbon of a tale. Ostensibly the story of a boy who can talk to animals, the book moves further and further away from conventional narrative. The art, provided by Jesse McManus, has a disturbing quality to it that reminded me of a looser, more Tex Avery-inspired version of Jim Woodring. Cartoon physics blend with real-world consequences (except when they, um, don’t) to create an environment of constant unease. Austin English’s story bounds across the world that they have created as though he were laying railroad tracks in front of their own moving train. The end result is a story that reads like a nightmare or a nervous breakdown.

And yet, despite the extreme and elastic surreality of both writing and art, there is remarkable clarity to the book. The geography of the story is always clear; I never found myself unable to read a panel or understand where the characters are in a given space. Spider Monkey #1 is a high wire act. It is impressive to read, albeit a little overwhelming. This is only the start of a larger story and I will be interested to see if this careful balance can sustain itself without collapsing in on itself or becoming exhausting to the reader. Well worth checking out.

As always, everything I review can be found at Forbidden Planet NYC and on our website (www.FPNYC.com). In addition, you can find more from Jeffery Lewis at thejeffreylewissite.com, Jesse McManus at heyfu.com, and Austin English at http://windycornermag-austin.blogspot.com.

Happy stapling!

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Look for more from Morgan Pielli online at IndestructibleUniverse.com and follow him on Twitter at @UltraMorgnus

Click here to view the embedded video.

Vampires! Fairy Tales! Embattened men! All this and more as Dan Roth guides the trusty ship of Weekly Comics Releases through the stormy seas of the Christmas rush.