Xerography Debt #26 & #27

(Microcosm) This is less a zine review zine than a Zine Revue zine, for while they do review tons of zines (often having varied reviewers contemplate the same publication) what they really do is put on an amzing show about the history, mysteries and magic of zines in general The mechanics of publishing, the philosphy of zine-ism, the search for the first zine, a Where Are They Now of 90s zinsters, a journey into "non Profit" status, and more More MORE! This is basically a multiple zinegasm!

The Sexy Accident "Now That She's Gone"

(www.sexyaccident.com) Should be called The SexiDent, because listening to this nerd pop is an experience that is exactly halfway between fucking and going to the dentist.

Guitar Bomb "Happy Hour at the Silverado"

(Crafty) This bomb-astic blues rock brouhaha bring the badass-itude and boogie in big batches!

Rolling Stones Stones in Exile DVD (Eagle Rock), "Exile on Main Street " reissue (Universal)

(Guest review by Gary Pig Gold) For an album that received such a lukewarm-at-best reception upon its initial release (even the almighty Rolling Stone magazine used the words “overdone blues cliché” whilst making snide comparisons to Tommy James), the tenth album produced by Keith Richards and company has certainly enjoyed a critical reappraisal and then some over the ensuing thirty-eight years. Why, even the same M. Jagger who in ‘72 complained “This new album is fucking mad. It's very rock and roll. I didn't want it to be like that. I mean, I'm very bored with rock and roll,” today insists the recording of "Exile On Main St." “was a wonderful period; a very creative period.”

And of course Rolling Stone now places those very same blues clichés near the tip-top of most every Greatest Album Of All Time list it regularly publishes in between all the sneaker and suntan crème ads.

Now, come 2010, the (in)famous "Exile" has been fully refurbished, re-struck, and reconstituted through and through by a crack crew of audio surgeons headed by honorary Glimmer Twin Don Was, digitally polished to an immaculate sheen, “correcting” the original soupy subterranean mixes (“The cymbals sound like dustbin lids” Jagger again complained as “Tumbling Dice” was first being readied for release) so as not to have the album stand as too sore a sonic thumb alongside Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber, I suppose. Personally, I much prefer dustbins to “Just Dance” ...but I digress.

Meanwhile, as part of this gala "Exile" resurrection comes an accompanying behind-the-scenes documentary film, Stones In Exile, which gathers together all five circa-early-Seventies Stones within a wealth of vintage studio (meaning the basement of Richards’ villa on the French Riviera, where most of the album’s basic tracks were recorded) and on-stage footage (via the post-"Exile" tour film "Ladies and Gentlemen… The Rolling Stones", which itself is due for re-release soon). Why, even snippets from the beyond-cult 1972 road-film-from-hell "Cocksucker Blues" are cunningly slipped between shots of various waterskiing and overdubbing

Brits-in-, yes, exile.

Not so surprisingly however, some subjects (such as the rampant drug use which eventually resulted in Keith’s total submission to heroin) are only delicately alluded to, whilst other key players in the scenario – houseguest Gram Parsons, most obviously, who schooled Monsieur Richards especially in nuances of the country blues which permeate the entire "Exile" album – are ignored altogether. Plus the "Stones In Exile" bonus footage could have been much better filled with, say, a complete study of the original, highly innovative "Main St." record cover shoot by "Cocksucker" director Robert Frank, as opposed to rambling heads the likes of Caleb Followill and Sheryl Crow.

Still, the contemporary footage of Mick Jagger and the immaculate-as-ever Charlie Watts wandering around Olympic recording studios and Jagger’s former Stargroves estate – sites of the initial "Exile" sessions – are both fascinating and entertaining …in a "Sunshine Boys" sort of way. Naturally Keith appears throughout the proceedings in ghostly stark black-and-white, the multitude struggles of ’72 still etched deep into his face, whilst good ol’ Bill Wyman remains ever the Stone Alone with the most revealing, reproachful, yet detailed reminisces of the bunch (a man still upset, it seems, at not being able to locate a proper brew of British tea in the south of France, for example).

So while I may indeed have my doubts over the, um, validity of a vintage-2010 "Exile On Main St." album per se, this "Stones In Exile" film, far on the other hand, is a perfectly under-polished production which more than succeeds in placing one square down the very depths of the Richards’ basement during the festering summer of ‘71 …yes, with all the horror and gorgeous excess – not to mention utterly magnificent, guttural music – such a locale entails.

And somehow, still, continues to inspire.

Finger "still in boxes 1990-1993"

(Second Motion) Finger poppin'! If my proctologist had a Finger that felt as good as this 90s Raleigh rock n roll band does, I'd know a lot more about the state of my prostate! Great vocals, melodies, guitars...all that stuff you're supposed to have is here, making this marginal Merge band's music's re-emergence remarkable.

Generalissimo "Western Medicine"

(Arbeit Macht Dinge) General-blechhh-imo.

Kathy Greenholdt "lowly violet"

(www.kathygreenholdt.com) Over a well-made bed of spare Americana Ms. Greenholdt's lovely voice lets loose with some faerie-like olde time music that would make her the perfect muse for a Knight of the Roundtable. In a sidenote, I took some sidenotes on this CD in handwriting I can't quite make out, but I believe I wrote down "husky Madonna" (I assume I meant her voice, not her figure, which is svelte, though I believe "husky" as a euphemism for overweight is only used in adolescent boy's undershirt sizing) and I seem to have written either "street fruit" or "street fight," neither of which make any sense. I do sometimes RUI (review under the influence).

Weathercraft by Jim Woodring

Guest Review by Robert Dayton (Fantagraphics)Jim Woodring is the greatest cartoonist of this era. There. I mean that.

I first saw his work when I was a teen, one of his comics was staring out at me from the shelf of my small town used bookstore. It was issue one of Jim. And there it stared for a few weeks. I was scared and intrigued but I wound up buying it. I just had to. I’d never seen anything like it. That was it, man. I was gone! The only thing that had such a similar effect on me was discovering The Sun City Girls a couple years later.

I started writing fan letters and ordering all the crazy stuff from his mail order catalogue (I never ordered the poisoned pup sponge, tho).

Jim Woodring was the first hero I ever met when I made a pilgrimage to see him a couple years later. Whoever said, ”Never meet your heroes” had the wrong heroes.

Much time has passed. His work just kept getting better and better. It feels like years since Jim Woodring has done new comics work. Vinyl toys and paintings, sure, but comic work? Seems like forever. And I don’t think he’s ever done a full-length graphic novel until now. This just might be his longest story yet! And it still achieves that strong impact.

For several years now, Woodring has been doing layered, unconventional moral tales of a sort that feature a cartoon cat named Frank. Being a  master of language, Woodring makes these sequential comics without any words. I do really like the way Woodring works with the English language, but these stories are meant to be beyond words, words can pigeon-hole, they are much too fumbly for this completely visual communication.

Weathercraft only features Frank The Cat in a supporting role, the central figure is Manhog, normally the antagonist in such adventures. This adventure is without words as well. Actually, there are hidden words on each page. I’ve struggled to find them but I can’t find the words. But, yeah, it’s basically wordless, making it accessible for all with sight. That doesn’t mean that this is a breezy read, one can go at any pace but easily return again and again to glean gorgeous details and new meanings. One can even stare at a page for days on end.

Comics are a bastard medium, two sides of the brain have to duke it out to read words and look at the pictures. Naturally, such mental conflict is less of an issue here. Thus, one can fall into this book much more easily. Weathercraft will most likely take you out of yourself and put you in a whole other state.

When it comes to atmospherics and shadow-play, Woodring has a polished and controlled inky vibrato creating lines that shimmer, even amidst torture and horror and unfathomable creatures.

Manhog is a pitiful creature. He is regularly abused, often he brings it upon himself. What a shock it is that he would be the one to achieve a form of spiritual enlightenment. Betty and Veronica are two bird-like hags that mysteriously propel the story from the sidelines through rituals that alter the weather and, in turn, alter Manhog’s course. A demon leaves through his mouth, later, another demon enters. Is demon number one what makes him feel a victim? When he gets bopped later on, without any demons inside, he simply smiles. Is this how enlightenment happens? Through the mouth? Will Manhog stay enlightened for the next book?

Sword Of My Mouth by Jim Munroe and Shannon Gerard

(No Media Kings/IDW) (Guest Review by Robert Dayton) A strong use of photo references for this pen-and-ink illustrative style adds heavily to the character-driven naturalism. She isn’t drawing from a pool of movie stars ala Alex Ross but from real un-self conscious people (ever seen a movie star? They ain’t real) and their honest, emotional physical and facial gestures. This is not an all-out action comic! In fact, some off the action happens off panel. Sword Of My Mouth seems to be a reaction to the Left Behind series of books and movies (I’ve seen all three movies and loved them but was not left converted or shaking in fear: the intended reaction of the creators) but then seriously tries to answer the question,”No, really, what if The Rapture actually happens?” This graphic novel focuses on a community and neighbourhood level sense of activism. The art-style works perfectly for this. Artist Shannon Gerard does not use panel borders. She utilizes the movement, mannerisms, and interactions of the characters to show the passage of time. I’ve never actually seen anything like it in comics before. It is even more personalized with easy-to-read diary-style lettering.

This is actually the second graphic novel that sci-fi author Jim Munroe has written about The Rapture. The first, Therefore Repent!, was set in Chicago but one doesn’t need to read it to understand Sword Of My Mouth. Shifting to Detroit, more specifically The Heidelberg Project (http://www.heidelberg.org)- the forgotten neighbourhood turned massive, inspiring art project, it makes The Rapture look like an okay time. Except for all those armed asshole angels that swoop in to commit a hostile corporate takeover with their redneck Jesus freak henchmen and the suit-wearing skeletal Famine. These antagonists are not the focus. Many of the characters are just trying to raise a community garden, deal with fractured relationships, explore their mutations and magic, and use clever ways to take a stand and fight back. Moves along nicely, except for a climax that makes for a slightly muddled reading.

Kirk Cameron will most likely not be in the film adaptation.

In every way, this graphic novel is indier-than-thou: even the protagonists look indie! And this is an indie publisher (uhhhh, co-releasing it with the 4^th largest comic publisher in North America) and they are finding new ways to reach their audience. Available for download here:

www.nomediakings.org

Art In Time, edited by Dan Nadel

(Guest Review by RObert Dayton) (Abrams Comicarts) Art Out Of Time was an incredibly important and absolutely awe-striking book containing examples of comic art stories that would literally transport the reader out of time and leave them wanting more. And more they did. Collections of Fletcher Hanks, Boody Rogers, Rory Hayes, Gene Deitch, and Herbie soon followed (and, hopefully, we’ll one day get a collection of Dick Briefer’s Frankenstein).This new companion book Art In Time does exactly that. It keeps you in time. There’s just not nearly as much ‘wow factor’ as its’ predecessor. Much of this collection, while still rejecting the notion of a comics canon, is of genre work in the adventure, detective, hero, and sci-fi comic fiction molds- with some drippy hippy stuff thrown in to boot. Much of it is technically well-crafted and/or stylistically interesting. This might not convert the uninitiated but there are some tantalizing bits for comics fanciers.

Original Wonder Woman artist (for seventeen years!) H.G. Peters has a slightly Victoriana-bent to his style yet also heaps on the dynamism with his loose brush.  His character Man O’Metal only turns metal when exposed to fire or electricity so numerous freak accidents occur on every second page: exploding light bulb, cigar snubbed out in his eye, whirring metal blades catching on each other and causing sparks. Oh, he also becomes shirtless upon transformation.  Art In Time also has some great examples of John Stanley’s rare horror work with some crazy twist endings.

Though it just doesn’t compare with Art Out Of Time, this is a good book. The editorial choices of selections leave you feeling satisfied, like you’ve been given just enough.