Read It and Weep

Making the trek over the Richmond bridge made me realize how I am really going to miss Comic Relief in Berkeley when we move to Seattle in December. As one can assume, I brought home many treasures from this gem of a store, but here are my highlights:

PENG! By Corey "Reyyy" Lewis, Oni Press, $4.95
If Rey's world of kickball doesn't get your blood-pumping you must be a cyborg or something. He captures the excitement and competition and spirit of the game and drew me into his fantastic world. My general beef with most "exciting" stories is that the artist relies on really big panels with too many things going on, which can make a page look absurd and crazy and make me throw the book across the room in disgust. Thankfully Corey executed his story perfectly by keeping it clean and easy to read, but still fun as hell to read. Additionally, cameos by Scott Pilgrim and Sharknife were fun and unexpected.

Odds Off by Matt Madden, Highwater Books, $14.95
File this one as an "oldie but goodie" since it was published in 2000. That being said, there is nothing that dates this book or makes it feel antiquated. The one thing that I really do love about Matt is that his art is refreshingly simple but still very interesting. My confession is that I initially was interested in this story because one of the characters is a total Francophile, which I can sort of relate to. If I were to summarize this book, it would read like one of those boring romantic comics. But to defend my enjoyment of the story, the ending is surprising and the characters are complicated and flawed and not all that likable.

Salamander Dream by Hope Larson, AdHouse Books, $15
I initially started liking Hope because of her immense artistic abilities (I saw her work in Flight). But then I started following the story of Salamander Dream on the website she shares with Kean Soo (http://www.secretfriendsociety.com) and I became hooked. So when I picked up the book, I knew what to expect. But the reason why I love the book so much is kind of unique. The printing resonated some of the reasons why I love the story so much: it captured the whimsy and magic that only a great youth story brings. The ink choices and paper combined made this smallish book worth the price without a doubt.