Comixology's submit - stuff that didn't fit anywhere else.

This the last of the books from the Comixology: Submit sale we talked about in March.  This bundle isn't available anymore but the books in it are, and are well worth looking at.  Here are the remaining five that we think are worthy of note.

Smut Peddlar - short anthology of smutty stories.  Clearly for adults only and not safe to read at work. This may not have been in the bundle, but is an indie book and is good sexy fun.  It's got a mix of pairings - male/male, female/female and male/female.
Writers and artists: various
Publisher: Iron Circus Comics

Dumbing of Age - excellent book about a home schooled Christian woman starting university and meeting people from different backgrounds.  It's smart and funny. It's not mean about Christian homeschooling - it doesn't insult anyone for being who they are.  It's got a great cast who interact really well.  This made me smile a lot, when not much else did.  It started off as a webcomic, which you can read here. Start at the bottom of the page.  Includes LGBT characters and characters of colour.
Writing and art: David Willis
Publisher: Self published

Rock Star Scientists - in this world, scientists are treated like rockstars.  They get the fans, the glory and the clothes. There are 2 stories in this comic, which is split into two section called Side A and Side B.  Side A is an introduction to this world and Side B is a rather short story. Nonetheless it's worth the money.
Writing and letters: Kenny Jeffery
Art: Jordan Cutler
Pencils and inks: George Zapata
Colours: Armit Ghadge
Publisher: Angry Fruit Salad

After Twilight - this has nothing to do with sparkling vampires.  It's 2022 and Texas is in a civil war with the rest of the States to become independent.  Government and laws are based on biblical faith.  The protagonist is a librarian who finds herself involved in the struggle between the underground resistance and the theocractic leaders
Writing: Richard Alvarez, Gary L Watson, Sandra Yates
Art: Douglas Brown
Colours: Chandran and Meagan Tanner
Publisher: Nu-Classic Publishing

Legend of Oz - it's the story of Oz done as a Western.  Dorothy is a gun toting cowgirl and Toto is her horse.  The colours are rather brassy and the faces are a bit plasticky, but the story is good enough.  There is some violence so this won't be good for kids.
Writing: Tom Hutchinson
Pencils: Alisson Borges
Colours: Kate Finnegan
Publisher: Big Dog Ink

Seen the movie? Read the comic: Captain America

I was recently re-watching the film Captain America: The First Avenger.  This led to me thinking about what comics would make a good read following the film.  So without further ado, here are some suggestions.

Princess comics

Recently I have met a lot of young girls, baby through to toddler age, and have been reminded of the prevalence of the Princess story for young female children.  There's loads of traditional Princess stories out there - you know, about the passive beautiful sort who wait for a Prince to rescue or marry them and don't actually do much.

Thankfully, there are a few comics out there who challenge this narrative and create an entirely different sort of Princess.  These are:

The Princess - a webcomic about a transgender girl, her crushes, her wish to join the Girl Cadettes, her friends and her family.  It's full of sparkles and rainbows and cheerful art, and full of messages of support for trans kids.  It's called The Princess because the lead, Sarah, always wears a home made crown.  We reviewed it here.

JL8 - also a webcomic, this is a fan comic about the Justice League of America (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern etc) as little kids, all in their costumes and with all their powers.  It's really cute and funny.  Wonder Woman is of course an Amazon Princess and recent strips have been about her birthday party, with her Mum telling everyone she is a Princess.  Wonder Woman is not happy about this.  We reviewed it here.

Princeless - This is an actual print comic about a Black Princess who refuses to hang around in her tower to be rescued by a Prince, and instead befriends her dragon guard, steals some armour and sets out to rescue all her sisters.  It's relatively new and is in its second volume, or story arc if you prefer.  I recommend this to everyone and it's always been well received.  We reviewed volume 1 here.  You can get it in print from your local comic shop and possibly Amazon or Ebay, or buy it digitally from Comixology.

Please try these comics out!  They are fun for kids and adults.

Al images reproduced with kind permission of the creators.

General recommendations

I had such a lot of things to write about this week and then my other half got hit by a car and is in hospital (but thankfully isn't hurt too badly - he'll just take a long time to heal), so I find myself unable to write proper reviews.

Instead, can I suggest these books and/or series.  I may have mentioned them before - if so, then you should definitely get them!

JL8

Little League
JL8

A webcomic by Yale Stewart

http://jl8comic.tumblr.com/

Edit - Since writing this review the comic has changed it's name from Little League to JL8.  Info in post is now updated.

What's it about?
JL8 is an all ages webcomic that takes DC’s premier superhero team, the Justice League of America, de-ages them, and places them in primary school. They attend in costume, and in character, bicker, make friends and encounter vile adversaries such as PE teacher Darkseid!

( From strip #18)

It’s a very simple idea, executed very well. 

Vanguard

Vanguard

A web comic by Dan Butcher

http://vanguardcomic.com

Today's guest post is brought to you by Rob Turner.  Rob is a writer/producer for Polycomical Studios, the creators of Reynard City. You can download the comics for free and find out more about the project at www.reynardcity.com.

(You can also read our review of Reynard City here).

What's it about?

How many British superheroes can you name? For the average “man in the street” this is quite difficult. An older generation may name Dan Dare. For the younger generation they may strain and wonder if Lara Croft or James Bond count (at times their acrobatics/gadgetry is borderline superhero). Some might argue Dr Who might be a good example, given that he has both supernatural abilities and his quirky nature makes him distinctly British.

For comic fans there are of course people such as Captain Britain or Emma Frost of the X-Men (though her status as superhero is debatable, seeing as she has veered from hero, anti hero to outright villain.) The Vanguard looks set to change this. Not only do we get one British superhero but a whole team’s worth!

The Vanguard are the stars of Vanguard, a comic written by top online comic artist Dan Butcher, who has worked on a variety of projects and whose style has helped to boost the appeal of numerous different titles.

Sequential Art

 Sequential Art

A webcomic by Phillip M Jackson

What's it about?
It's a webcomic that started out slice of life-ish, then branched out more unusual topics like aliens and laboratory testing of intelligent scientist squirrels.  It about a group of people, Art (an artist),  Kat (a cat and photographer), Pip (a penguin, makes his money by buying and selling on Ebuy), Scarlet (a squirrel with a very short attention span), the denizens (black blobs) and Leonard/Ducky (a platypus).

It's told in strip format, with a gag in each instalment and it's British.

Reynard City

ReynardCity, a foxy webcomic

http://reynardcity.com/

Writer: Will Turner
Artists: Various
Publisher: Independent/webcomic

Today's guest review comes courtesy of Dan Wright.  Dan is a writer of Manga and Fantasy, who currently has two books out. He also reviews part time on Read2Review and does what he can to help indie authors. Check out his website at the provided links:

Facebook and Twitter and his Website.

On with the review!

What’s it about?

Reynard City is the brain child of Will Turner, whose story tells of three superpowered foxes fighting for their lives on their homeworld of Animal Kingdom. Fighting against the villainous Mega Fox (a villain so badass that even Megatron the Transformers villain would cower before him), the start of the story throws you right into the action and doesn’t let up; until the foxes (and Mega Fox himself) find themselves teleported in Reynard City, amongst the humans.

Split up from each other and constantly hunted by their enemies, the team take on human personalities and now have to juggle double lives as both humans and crime fighters.

The Princess (LGBT History month)

 The Princess

A webcomic by Christine Smith

http://the-princess.funonthe.net/

What's it about?

The Princess is about Princess Sarah, aged about 8 years, maybe 9 or 10, who was born with a male body and named Seth by her parents.  The first strip introduces Sarah to us as a happy, confident girl:

Sarah's parents are divorced and she lives with her mother.  Her mother is having difficulty accepting Sarah's decision to dress as a girl, as she's worried about Sarah being bullied and having a hard life if she doesn't present as male.  However, Sarah finds support from her best friend Irma, her father, her aunt and her aunt's friends.

As much as it's a story about being trans, it's a also a story about young kids, their imaginations, school, pre-pubescent crushes and adventure! 

Killroy and Tina

Killroy and Tina

A webcomic by Justin Pierce

What's it about?
Killroy, alien despotic overlord, gets bonded with a 17 year old earth girl called Tina Matthews.  this bonding means that Tina gets Killroy's powers (laser eyes, super strength etc), but if they go further than 5 miles away from each other, they each lose their superhuman abilities.  If one dies, the other dies.  There are a few unexpected side effects, like Killroy gaining some of Tina's physical characteristics.
Killroy has to learn to live with Tina and her mother, work out the intricacies of earth culture, and Tina has to deal with the new events thrown up by Kilroy's presence.

It's essentially a hero's journey.   Tina grows into her new skills, worries about her responsibilities and eventually takes up the vigilante mantle.  She doesn't like Killroy, she's resentful of him upending her life and she won't give him a fair chance.  Her mother grows to like him, and her boyfriend, Brandon, gets on with him very well.  Later on we meet another alien, Querty, some female furies, Tina's rubbish classmates and future selves of Tina.  All mixed together, they've got to get on, deal with school and jobs and taking a drive (not easy when Brandon's around, as he has a habit of, well, making weird things happen). 

That Deaf Guy

A webcomic

By Matt and Kay Daigle

http://www.thatdeafguy.com

What's it about?

That Deaf Guy is about the everyday adventures of a Deaf man with a hearing son and wife.  It is created by husband and wife team, Matt and Kay Daigle.  Matt draws, Kay writes.  Matt was born Deaf, his wife is hearing, and together they create a comic strip about everyday life - raising a small child, managing money, working out Halloween costumes, appropriate winter finger wear, and being Deaf.

Heh heh. "glittens"

Garfield minus Garfield

Writer and Illustrator: Jim Davis
Garfield removed by Dan Walsh

What's it about? 
Garfield is a fat orange tabby cat, who likes pizzas and being sarcastic.  He hates Mondays, diets and doing things.  As a cat, he naturally knows he's better than everyone else, particularly his owner Jon and the dog, Odie.  Garfield has been running as a comic strip since the late 70s and is beloved by many people the world over.  There's been a film, TV shows, toys, mugs, t-shirts, all sorts of merchandise.

What Dan Walsh has done, is take Garfield strips and remove Garfield from them.  This invariably leaves Jon looking, well, decidedly odd.

Gingerbread Girl

Writer: Paul Tobin
Artist: Colleen Coover
Publisher: Top Cow Comic Top Shelf Comix (not Top Cow, that's a different publisher, they publish Witchblade, not the most feminist of comics series, it's a bit porny, approach at own risk. Google them if you want)

What's it about?
It's about a girl who has a sister grown from her homunculus, by her mad scientist father.  Or it's about a girl who's a major tease and can't decide what she wants.  Or it's about a girl in the early stages of a new relationship.  Or it's about how other people see this girl.  Or it's about the effect of parental divorce.  Or it's just a fun little story full of fantasy and giggles.

Well, that last bit may not be true.  There's funny, unusual episodes, but it's not really a comedy.  Annah is the lead character, and she may or may not be crazy.  She thinks she has a sister, but it may be fantasy.  It may be real.  Who knows?  Either way, she thinks she's lost her sister and it's having a profound impact on her life. 

French Toast Comix

A webcomic, by Becky Hawkins

(Images posted with author's consent)

What's it about?
French Toast Comix is an autobiographical webcomic by a lady who works as a cruise ship musician.  She's Jewish, gay and draws pretty much anything that happens in her life.  Strips might appear about a coffee shop, her mum, cruise ship culture, new places that she's visited, her art class, anything (also - stealing giant porcelain cows)!

It's not as linear as a lot of web comics, in that it mostly reads more like stand alone events.  However, you can buy more structured print mini comics if you like (see the more information section at the end of the review). Many of the entries have a text blog accompanying them, giving more information about the events being depicted.

Sinfest

written and drawn by Tatsuya Ishida

What's It About?Sinfest is a daily online comic strip. Originally intended for newspaper publication author Tatsuya Ishida was unable to find a paper willing to publish his product so he turned to the internet. Reading Sinfest it isn't difficult to see why it wasn't taken up and why that's a damn shame.

In some ways the world of Sinfest is a pretty normal place. The two main characters, Slick and Nique, have their on-off friendship/flirtation, they have their friends, both have their romantic troubles (mainly self-inflicted) and their dreams of fame and fortune. On the other hand it’s a damn surreal place: the Devil runs a stall (“Anything you want! Price: Your Soul”) complete with succubus booth-babes and his own personal fanboy, the characters regularly converse with God Himself and Slick's best friend Squigley is a pig on drugs. Sinfest is by turns a touching, surreal, political and thought provoking four panels once a day, every day.

An unusual entry into our review system..

As you probably know, we usually review trades of published comics or webcomics as a whole series, but today we shall make an exception. I recently discovered a short strip giving advice to a 12 year old on how to deal with sexual harassment, or perverts, as the strip puts it. It’s great! Here is the first part of it:

Read the whole entry here.

It’s part of the Sneaky VFX comic strip you can find the rest of the their webcomic here.  I understand that this is a variation from their usual strips, but based on this entry I heartily recommend you check it out (and forward the link to all teenage girls)!

Now, who says comics can’t tackle serious issues effectively?

LGBT History Month presents: Fans

“We didn't ask the sky to open. We didn't ask time and space and magic to warp and crack and spit out unknown enemies... But while you were calling these enemies “impossible” and “unimaginable”, we were ready. Because we had imagined. And we can tell you now, now that you'll believe us, that the weird is real.

The future is here. The wide world yonder is capable of things you won't believe.

But don't worry. So are we.”
from Book Six: Magical Thinking

series written by T. Campbell
drawn by Jason Waltrip

Menage A 3

Co-Written by Dave Zero
Co-Written and Drawn by Gisele Lagace

What’s It About?
Menage A 3 is a webcomic about sex. When Gary’s housemates Matt and Dillon turn out to be a) gay, b) a couple and c) to have discovered that Gary’s art table can’t support two men in the reverse cowgirl position they decide to get their own place together. This leaves Gary in a bit of a bind. To the rescue come his new housemates: bisexual rock chick Zii and busty, bubbly Di Di.

From this starting point begins a comedy that touches on just about every sort of human sexuality and explores the many forms that relationships take. From the casual to the committed, from lifelong sexual definitions set in stone to newly discovered sexualities that require exploration and just about every point in between, Menage A 3 is a thoroughly modern sex comedy.

Venus Envy

Venus Envy by Erin Lindsey

A webcomic

What's it about?

Venus Envy is about young Zoe Carter, a male to female transsexual living in Salem, Pennsylvania.  It's a high school comedy focused on Zoe's life as she negotiates the perils of high school - dating, keeping secrets, making friends, overprotective parents and irritating younger brothers.  The normal sort of stuff with the normal high school cliches, but set against Zoe's life experience as a trans woman.

The creator, Erin Lindsey, is trans but this is not an autobiographical comic.

Megatokyo

Writer and artist: Fred Gallagher
Co-creator and original co-author: Rodney Caston
Featuring additional material
by Dominic Nguyen and Sarah Gallagher

What’s It About?
Piro and Largo are two American gamers who make a scene at the E3 Gaming Expo and feel the need to leave the country for a while. Boarding the first available plane they find themselves broke and trapped in Tokyo until they can earn the fare home. The Tokyo city of Megatokyo is a loving pastiche of manga story conventions.