YAC 24-Hour Comics #1 Guided by Voices by Tod C Parkhill Price $2 US

This comic was inspired by Scott McCloud's 24 Hour Comic idea. I've seen this done before with mixed results, usually bad. This is the best 24 hour comic I've seen done. It's about a Ventriloquist, just going about his normal day until he gets into a scooter accident. He receives a bump on the head and suddenly everything talks to him. It's like an old Disney Cartoon gone horribly wrong. His shoes talk, the traffic lights, his furniture, his porno mag, everything. As a result it's a hilarious book with a ton of snarky comments and jokes. What makes it work is that anything and everything can come out and say something and you don't know what to expect. So the jokes are coming out of left field every time. That said, the book isn't all laughs either, as the guy stuck in the middle of all this acts somewhat as normal person might do. The ending is a real shocker and fitting. For a 24 hour comic, the artwork is very well done. Parkhill doesn't cut any corners, there are a lot of panels, plenty of backgrounds, the splash pages that are here are used effectively and not done simply to take up space. I'm actually surprised he did this in 24 hours. There is also a nice reverse black and white segment which works very well with the nightmare scene. The biggest kudos' belongs to the word balloons, of all things. Seriously! Todd places them in a way that you know "what" is talking, without needing tails. The right amount of forethought and discipline was applied here to make this work without going too much in any one area. The only real quibble I have with the book is that it's suggested for mature readers, but Tod censors some of the swearing when there is an accident. On one hand, it's works as I'm sure we'd all say something slightly different when we're in the midst of an accident (Fuck! Shit!), so we can all input our swear word in his place. But when it's mature readers and some swearing is there, it just appears silly to #&*@$! some of it out. Anyway, this book gets 4 out of 5 stars. Good job.

Bear W/Me Young American Comics by Joey Mason Price $2 US

This is another 24 hour comic, it's also a wordless comic. It's about a traveling salesman going into a cave to sell some stuff to a bear. The salesman sees the bear has nothing in his cave, nor any family. He then takes the bear into the city and shows him a good time. Like out of a movie, he takes him around town shows him the food, the clothes, movies, etc... it ends predictably. At first glance, it's hard to distinguish what is what in the panels on the first few pages. The bear is drawn with a thin line and so as his surroundings, leading to some confusion. Beyond that the book is drawn okay, no short cuts were taken. The salesman looks like he came out of a Beatles cartoon, but that's okay. Compared to the previous 24 hour comic, this just doesn't measure up. It's not that humorous, the premise behind the plot has been done before. I just can't see the point to the book other than that it's a 24 hour comic. It gets a 2 out of 5 stars. Now we get to the budget comics. These were done in 15 minutes or less. More info can be found at: http://www.YoungAmericanComics.com/budget/

My Boyfriend the Moustache by Anne Bush

This is about a woman that has a floating Moustache as a boyfriend. She describes how they met and how they turn into a serious relationship. From there the story takes a twist and gives us a surprise ending.

Something Happened on the way to the Market by Tod C. Parkhill

This is a real wandering story. It's about a monkey going to the store. From there we go on about whether he's really going to the store or not. As a writer, Tod jumps back and forth about the monkey. It makes it an annoying read as he tells you one thing, then tells you it's false the next panel, then tells you it's true again at the end.

$$$ Bling Bling by Don McInturff

Ever do that joke where you act like a gangsta rapper? That's what this 15 minute dope comic does. The character is annoying homeboy and you’re glad he be pushin up da daisies at da end. This dog burns in hell and u down with it. Yeah, mofo. burn bitch burn. It's hard to review comics that were done in 15 minutes. The artwork is sketchy, it's designed to give you just enough to let you know what's going on and that's it. As a result everything is unfinished. There is not much story, there is really just enough room to make a point and that's about it. Out of the three I liked the Moustache by Anne Bush best, but it was also the sketchiest of the three. But that's as close to a rating you're going to get on these comics.

That's When it Happened... Young American Comics Story Tod C. Parkhill 17 different artists Price $3 US

This comic has one very generic script, and 17 different artists use it in 17 different ways. Some of the interpretations are interesting, but over all, it makes for a boring read. You literally read the same paragraph 17 times. The interpretations are done in two pages. I think the book would have been better if there was A) a more interesting script to start with and B) fewer interpretations. Give each artist 3 pages which would divide the 36 pages up 12 ways. Use the blank inside front cover for the credits and inside back cover for the ads. Of the artists Dwayne Carpenter stands out for his use of blacks and Gabriel Hunt for his pencil work. There are a few other artists like Steven Gomez, Anthony Menez, and Rebecca Flowers that may be quite good but it's difficult to judge them on their two page work. I give this book 2 1/2 stars out of 5. The extra 1/2 star is for at least experimenting. There will be more reviews from this company next month. Regards, Jamie Coville

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