Pham-fawking-tastic

John Pham totally loves me!

I'm kidding. Don't worry about me. I am not one of those dilusional fans that insist there is some personal relationship with their favorite artist. But one thing I can proclaim is that after a couple months of impatient waiting, the anticipated package filled with John Pham goods made me giddy like a boy in a porn shop for the first time.

The goods:
Epoxy 1
Sublife
1-Up

The breakdown:
Epoxy 1: To see the struggled beginnings of Pham makes me appreciate how far he has come as both an artist. There is a vauge Marvel-ish feel to his art; it felt like he was really trying to be like fit into a mold he isn't suited for. Lucky for me, it didn't seem to gel (apparent by his later work). His writing is, and apparently always has been, solid. Plus to witness the beginnings of my favorite character of his (Olive) was very rewarding. I appreciate the effort he put into the stories as a struggling first time artist and published. Not to be crude, but thank god he had the brass pair he had for self-publishing. It puts an urgency in his work.

Sublife: Sketchbooks typically leave me lukewarm. While it's endearing to see the artist's work in it's rough, unworked state, there usually isn't a lot to learn from or appreciate. Granted, there were the expected sketches, but he also put strips showing his self-doubt and fears coinciding with self-publishing. Above all there is one reason alone why I love this book. He had a section discussing parallels between John Cassavetes films (in which he directed, not acted) and Chris Ware. Fascinating stuff. The tease of saying this is a small glimpse into notes he has down on the subject made me pine for more.

1-Up: I didn't even want this. It was thrown in as a consellation prize for being patient while he had some logistical issues with the order getting to me. But I was really surprised by how much I liked it. I am not much of a video game player, but I am currently 5 months into a tedious game of Animal Crossing. This journal published by John Pham and Raina Lee (his girlfriend, I suspect) stands out as a very well put together journal. It oozes girly nerdiness thanks to Raina, which I obviously value, awesome art (especially the Martin Cendreda and kozyndan pieces) and substantial writing.

Not Quite Dead

But almost.

No, but seriously...despite having what amounted to a month-long vacation from almost all responsibilities, and enough free time to read HELLA comics, I've totally neglected my blogging duties. My Cerebus re-read, while complete, remains undocumented after Book 7. I will finish it at some point. Some point soon. I wish I had just done it when it was fresh in my mind still, but moving was time-consuming and stressful, and I haven't quite got back in the rhythm of posting here yet. Plus, I've got plenty of other comics I'd love to talk about (Acme! Black Hole! Mome! Desolation Jones! Subsitute Life! La Perdida! True Porn 2!). But now I'm working full time again, and trying to deal with bank troubles, fridge troubles, etc. etc.

But you don't come here to hear me gripe. And I'm not sure why you come here lately, seeing as it's been over a month sincean update. But that will change....soonish. No promises though.

Hey, I did a big ol' year-end music post here, if you really want something to read.

Love y'all, will blog atchy'all soon.