Brenda the Little Barbarian Returns!

If you are looking for amazing cool, engagingly entertaining, and thoroughly wonderful Indie comicbook, that is not only targeted for younger readers, but is also immensely entertaining for older readers and adults as well, then you’ll want to check out Matt C. Ryan’s Brenda series (Free Lunch Comics). As we pen this article, there are currently four mini-comics in the series; Brenda the Frost Giant Babysitter, Brenda meets the Zombies, Savage Stories of Brenda Steelhammer, and Brenda The Tower of the Pelican (with a fifth one that just dropped). Which we are going to review here.

To be fully transparent, we’ve known Matt for several years and have been a fan of his work since first we met. Matt was even the original artist on my Dark Fire comic, Wülf Girlz, but that’s another story altogether. One of the things that I truly enjoy about Matt’s work is that he has a very straightforward storytelling style that is ideal for this particular market. His is a very distinct art that is fun, bold, and eclectic, as it carries the energy of the story throughout the tale being told. As for the stories of Brenda themselves, they are fun, energetic romps that swirl around a young Viking girl who sees herself as an accomplished warrior even though her father, a Viking chief, still sees her as his little girl.

Needless to say (and much to our own delight), Brenda has a very different view of her hierarchy in the Steelhammer clan and has proven her worth numerous times over the course of the previous four comics. In each of her four previous comics Brenda has proven herself not only smart and capable, but exceptionally resourceful, as well as curious and adventurous, all of which makes her stories outstandingly delightful.

In this most recent comic, there are three stories. Two illustrated (Food Fight, Steelhammer in Chains), as well as a short text tale (My Mother’s Sword). In Food Fight (illustrated in B&W) Brenda teams up with some friends to win a food cook-off and brawl competition. My Mother’s Sword is a short story wherein her father is cleaning and polishing various weapons but leaves the cleaning of Branda’s mother’s sword to Brenda, a task she takes with much seriousness. In the final story, Steelhammer in Chains, Brenda’s father is kidnapped, and it is up to Brenda and a team of close friends to rescue him. This story is in full color.

Brenda’s comics are each technically “ashcan” sized, that is to say smaller than standard comics tipping in at 5.5 x 7.75″, which makes them especially handy for younger readers. Each of the comics is a true delight to read, and Matt clearly has great fun putting them together. Interested readers can find them online at freelunchcomics.com where fans  can also patch into all of the other activities there, including classes, workshops, and events, links to various of Matt’s comics, as well as sign up for his Patreon to get early access to art, comics and more. Matt also makes many local appearances in and around Connecticut at local comic cons and other appearances. As for us, we’ll be hanging around awaiting the next installment of Brenda.

Adventures in Babysitting, Brenda & the Frost Giants Style.

Back in 2006 is when I first met Matt C. Ryan (Bigger). Then in 2006 he illustrated the first chapter of my Wűlf Girlz storyline. We went on from there attending Comic Cons, related events, swapped comics we produced (and he illustrated the second chapter if the initial trilogy in 2008). So, yep, I have known him for a while now and sure we’re friends and all, which is why at a recent comic show in Manchester, CT I purchased from him his most recent minicomic, Brenda the Frost Giant Babysitter a comicbook targeted for young adults.

Matt has a very straightforward storytelling style that is ideal for this particular market. His very distinct art is fun, bold, and clean, as it carries the story through the tale being told. As for the story itself, it is a fun, entertaining romp swirling around a young Viking girl who already sees herself as a warrior even though her father, a Viking chief, still sees her as his little girl. Needless to say (and much to our own delight), Brenda has a very different view of her place in the Steelhammer clan.

This comic contains two stories, The Four Ages and High Adventures in Babysitting (the first, shorter, story is in black & white, while the second, longer story is in full color). The first tale gives some background of the world in which Brenda and her kin lives and tells us a bit about the four ages of that world (The Dragon Exiles, the smaller lizards that came to replace them, the rise of mammals, and finally the appearance of Men), as well as the resulting wars and conflicts between each race of beings as one declined and the other ascended.

The second, main story, relates how Lord Greyton Steelhammer (Brenda’s doting father) must conduct some business away from camp and leaves his precious Brenda in the capable hands of Ruby, her teenaged babysitter. Well, as previously stated, Brenda doesn’t believe herself to be a child in need of being watched over, but as a full-fledged warrior woman who has every right to go off on her own adventures, so what we are treated to is Brenda doing everything she can to elude her babysitter, and go off to join her father on the trail in search of some quest.

For her part, Ruby does her level best to attempt to restrain Brenda but all to no avail. (Imagine if you will another frenetic comic youth and his hapless babysitter – I speak of course of the Mischievous Calvin and his hapless babysitter, Susie.) Well, for what it is worth, Ruby has as much luck detaining Brenda as Susie did Calvin, with as much hilarity ensuing in the process. As for how the story winds up, you’ll simply have to acquire your own copy to learn that.

The comic itself not only comes with a number of variant covers, each one promoting and supporting a different part of Matt’s business model (a move we found quite engaging), but with a mini Food Fight Value Stamp . The version we purchased is targeted towards Cliff’s Cons which are held nearly monthly in Plainsville, CT at the VFW Hall on 7 Northwest Dr. We’ve attended a few of Cliff’s cons, and have always found them friendly, and full of wicked cool comic-related Tchachakas. Matt has his own studio (Fee Lunch Comics) in Granby, CT which offers classes and workshops in comicbook art and design.

(Not so) Scary comicbook

Not nearly as frightening as it perhaps
should be

So, because I've been contributing short stories to a number of small press publishers for the past few years, on occasion I’ve pick up some other horror anthologies (books to which I’m not contributing), and have been — well — seriously underwhelmed by what I’ve seen. The stories I’ve read, itn the anthologies I’ve seen keep going back to the “Uncle Creepy”/EC style of “gotcha” ending that I’ve been reading all of my life and, well, it just isn’t frightening any more.

Yeah, yeah I know that when I was 10, this stuff was scary, but I’m not 10 any more, and even if there were 10-year-olds reading comics these days, the crap that publishers are throwing at us just don’t do it, plus so much   of  of the art is simplistically bad and the stories themselves are just bad. That I have to wonder how these writers and artists (and editors) can get work.

I hate to sound arrogant, but seriously, not only is my stuff much better than what I’m reading, but so is the work of my fellow creators whose work appears alongside mine in these anthologies is also way much better than what I’m seeing in other anthologies.

To this end, I want to direct folks to the Atlas Unleashed titles to which I contribute, Free Lunch Comics, and to Main Enterprises. Three examples of most excellent work.

Wicked-cool new Indy books!

So I was at ComiCONN this past weekend, and I managed to score a pair of wicked cool indie comics. One of them was from my good friend and Atlas Unleashed compatriot, Shawnti Therrien and the other is from by good friend and fellow CAGer Liz Ortiz.

I haven’t read either of the books as of yet*, but I wanted to let you folks out there know about them, and I wanted to direct you to the Immortal Gothic website where you can score copies of both of these books for yourselves.

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*OK, technically I have read some of Am I Immortal, but that’s only because portions of the book originally appeared in the edition of Am I Immortal, that was published by Free Lunch Comics. Shawnti has re-acquired the publishing rights to her magnum opus, and is releasing it under her own Immortal Gothic imprint. There is — however — new material including “Little Cain” which you have to read to believe.

__________

Not to slight Liz, this issue (which follows on the heals of her character appearing in an issue of Mysterious Visions. Liz is a wonderful Manga artist, who is going places and you are going to be pleased with yourself that you get your hands on this, her “early” work.

Here's what I think

So, a couple of days ago I told you all how I contributed a short piece to Only in Whispers #2 (Free Lunch Comics). Well, I finally got the time to read the rest of the book, and well, I think that it is a pretty good tome. the book consists of three illustrated tales (two by Free Lunch Publisher, Steve Kanaras), a prose tale by Steve, and a trio of prose true ghost tales (one of them mine).

I do so enjoy this type of format, that of multiple tales each showcasing different artists (or writers) each exploring the soft underbelly of the pseudo mystical side of our world. It really reminds me of the kind of comics I read when I was much younger, and these type of creepy tales made up a larger part of the marketplace.

Well, I’ve been enjoying this series and, I’m recommending that you look it up and chase down an issue of your own.

Published again

Last night I went up to visit my buddies at Free Lunch Studios, for their holiday party, and while I was there I acquired the latest copy of Only In Whispers (#2), which contains a short piece from me.

The story is a true “ghost” tale from my (ill-spent) youth. If you want to read the story, you’ll have to head over to Free Lunch and pick up a copy (Not sure why, but issue #2 isn’t up on their site as of yet, but I’m sure if you write them, they’ll get you a copy.

Don’t forget to tell them that I sent ya over!

Out in Space

So, did I mention that my good buddies over at Free Lunch Comics publish some wicked-cool funnybooks? Yeah, well if I haven’t I really should have. A couple or three months back they put out a Sci-Fi (yeah, THAT’S the way it is spelled) comic entitled Beyond the Kuiper Belt. This issue features art by Matt Ryan (one of my personal favorite artists), and Keith Murphey (another good artist and personal friend of mine).

Oh yeah, I probably should mention at this point that I contributed a prose piece to the publication as well. I did so under a pseudonym (not because I’m bashful, shy, or was trying to hide out, but because it was intended to the “letters” page — which was constructed as part of the over theme of the publication — and needed to be built as if it was from a reader of the mag.

Beyond the Kuiper Belt is a fun romp constructed as if it were a serious fringe publication, catering to that group of folk that live and die by the kind of odd-ball stuff that could populate real-life X-Files, Fringe, Warehouse 13, and Eureka. Personally, I not only enjoyed working on my (small) piece of the publication, I truly enjoyed reading it as well, and I’m betting that you will as well.

You can get your own copy of Beyond the Kuiper Belt by going here and getting one yourself.

Cool Rusty Haller Tchachkas

So, one of the very cool things that came out of Sunday’s event to raise money for Rusty, was that I discovered a 100-piece Ace & Queenie jigsaw puzzle. Ace & Queenie is the very entertaining comic that Rusty has been producing for years (for Furlough Comics, and now, the web). Well, according to Rusty, several years ago, a pal of Rusty’s produced a number of these Jigsaw puzzles for him, and (according to Rusty) and gave them to Rusty after Rusty did some work for the guy.

For quite a time Rusty would bring them with him to conventions (especially ConnectiCon, where Rusty was something of a fixture for years), and they sold quite well. If you are interested in picking up a pack, then you should head over to Free Lunch Comics, I know that they still had several of them left over.

Tell them I sent you.

Pledging for Rusty

This past Sunday Free Lunch Comics held a benefit for our mutual friend Rusty Haller. Rusty is an extraordinarily talented CT cartoonist who has fallen on some hard times (his mom with whom he lived, passed away, his health began deteriorating, and he was forced to move out of his apartment). Well, a bunch of us got together at the Free Lunch studios in Granby CT, and held a benefit auction to raise money to help Rusty.

About 50 people showed up at the auction and we managed to raise some $1,300.00 for Rusty. Another $800.00 was raise by Bryanna Bunny, who set up a donation fund to aid Rusty. (you can still go to the Bryanna Bunny site and donate funds if you wish to contribute to the cause).

Steve Kanaras from Free Lunch has gone on to indicate that the possibility of setting up an ebay auction site to help raise money for Rusty (I hear talk of a Chris Torres painting as being one item, as well as some comics and other items — I’ll keep you posted in this regard).

Anyway, I’m glad to say that — for the moment at least — Rusty has found lodging with a friend in Ohio,and we all wish him well. He is also back at work, drawing, addressing his health issues, and believing that he will come out of this adversity better and stronger.

Our hope and prayers are with him.

Wülf Girlz: Resurrection

OK, perhaps that is a bit more dramatic than required. My Wülf Girlz haven’t really gone away, as much as have metamorphed. The last time we all saw them, they appeared in the Guild Work Production comicbook, Psychosis!, as illustrated by the incomparable Matt Ryan. Well, Matt is the heart and soul of MattsMineStudio, that produces the most excellent line of Free Lunch Comics. So, as you can probably expect, Matt is wicked-busy these days producing some of the finest Indie comics to come out of New England, so he really hasn’t had much time to devote to the Girlz.

And well, I really want to continue their adventures. Still, as much as I wanted to wait for Matt, I really couldn’t, so (with his understanding) I have engaged the services of the very talented Rick Lundeen, who as you all recall, illustrated my Gustave Whitehead story which appeared in the recently-published Iconic graphic album from CAG.

So, Rick has finished his first installment of Wülf Girlz (and agreed to do more), so I’m currently writing a new Wülf Girlz script for him, but the really big news is that I just finished my very first Wülf Girlz prose story. Yep. That’s right, prose (some 6,500 words long, I might add).

Needless to say, I’m really very excited about it and I can’t wait to tell you more about it (including where and when it will be released). Suffice it to say, that it (along with the first illustrated story by Rick, and perhaps even the second) will all be out sometime this year under the Atlas Unleashed banner.

Here is a sneak peak at Rick’s take on the Girlz...

Stay tuned.

Apparently the IS such a thing as a Free Lunch!

Well, Free Lunch Comics, that is. Yep, Free Lunch comics is the publishing company of my good buddies Matt Ryan and Steve Kanaras. Matt (as you already know, was the kickoff artist on my own Wülf Girls feature that debuted in Guild Works Productions horror anthology Psychosis!). Well Free Lunch is the home of Matt’s Bigger, Steve’s Only in Whispers, and well a whole bunch of other very cool comics, including Mark Tarrant’s The Blood Rider.

The Blood Rider is a vampire western story that tells the tale of Ezekiel Carson who is cursed to roam the untamed west as an undead blood-sucking creature of the night who was once a devoted man of God. now Ezekiel is haunted by his past as he attempts to deal with what he has become. He does this by feeding on bandits and spending his nights satisfying his endless lusts, he has found his life is empty. The very nature of this story (vampires in the old west) make it stand out from among most of what is being published these days.

As long as I’m discussing one of my favorite artists, I wanted to also mention Unhappy Grandma (Radbu Productions). Now Radbu has no connection to Free Lunch save that the guys at Radbu (Tom Van Zandt & Markellus Ragans) hired Matt Ryan to illustrate the comic. This story is about a world where many folk have extraordinary powers. One of those folks is this one rather irritated grandmother, who is simply put bone tired of these hooligans ruining her once peaceful Boston Neighborhood.

Not to be taken entirely seriously, it is an entertaining respite from all of the comics being published these days that feel that they have to be dark and gritty to garner an audience. it is light, humorous, and quite entertaining. I suggest you give it a try.

Another pull from the Indie pile!

I’d like to talk a bit about a friend of mine, named Rusty Haller.

Rusty is a damn-fine cartoonist with quite an impressive history. His first published work was back in the late ‘80s for a small CT-based publisher named Spotlight Comics. Rusty did work on a Deputy Dog comic and Mighty Mouse Christmas Special as well as Terry Tunes (an assignment he landed though Jim Main at Main Enterprises). Soon after getting published at Spotlight, Rusty was able to score a very gig at Marvel’s line of Star Comics working on such titles as Danger Mouse, Count Duckla, Heathclif, and Alf. Rusty also produced some illustrations for Marvel Age (a title that I myself worked on back in the day). Over at DC he worked on Tiny Tune Adventures, Looney Tunes, and Animaniacks. In addition to this, he worked on various Flintstones and Harvey titles for Archie Comics. As well as book and magazine illustrations.

Not content wit working other people’s products, Rusty went on to create his own characters; Ace and Queenie an anthropomorphic action/adventure spy series that he has been producing for Furrlough Comics for over four years (generating over 150 pages of printed art). About 2 years ago, a little dissatisfied with his own progress on Ace & Queenie, Rusty brought his unique creation to the web, where fans can now not only read the new web adventure, but purchase print editions of Furrlough and other comics containing Rusty’s work. Rusty also posts his art at Deviantart and Furafininity.

Now I like Rusty a whole lot, he is a very knowledgeable and affable fellow, with a huge amount of talent, so I was extremely please when he give me a copy of The Licensable Bear(tm) Big Book of Fun!. This book is a collection of The Licensable Bear’s(tm) comicbook.

To be sure there are other cartoonist's art filling up the pages of the book, and the Bear himself is created and written by Nat Gertler, but I was there for Rusty’s work. To be fair to Nat and his Bear buddy, the book is a long joke, not several jokes, but a single joke. You see, the premise of the book is that Bear wants folks to license his image to put on stuff or promote their pet cause, and every single story is about the same exact thing.

You might wonder how many variations you can do on a single theme, and bless Nat’s dark little heart, he has found them all. Some of the stories are ordinary, and some are quite entertaining. Reading them all in one sitting is probably impossible (it took me a couple of months of going back to it over and over to finish it off), it is worth the endeavor.

In addition to all of the above, Rusty has contributed to CAGDog, the online comic produced for the web by several of the members of that group. He has also contributed to my buddies over at Free Lunch Comics.



Then, as stated, there is Rusty’s work on the very entertaining, and very sexy Ace and Queenie. If you are a fan of action/adventure, anthropomorphic comics, very exotic-looking characters (yes, they are quite attractive), or simply well-drawn, and well-written comics, then you owe it to yourself to run (don’t walk) over to Ace and Queenie and check out what Rusty has in store for you. The while you’re there, you should blow your entire allowance on as many back issues as you can afford.

Putting the Bite on Vampires.

One of the comics that I managed to get my hands on recently was Am I Immortal by Shawntie Therrien (published by Free Lunch Comics). This comic continues the story that Shawntie began back in Psychosis! #1. To be sure, this isn’t so much the same story, as it deals with the same characters, themes, and universe. Shawntie you see has something of a crush on Vampires. (Can’t say that I blame her as I have been feeling the same way about Werewülves these days, but that’s an entirely different post. Today, we’re talking about Shawntie.

Over in Psychosis! her stories deal with Meth, while Am I Immortal follows Cain, the other player in her undead opera. Shawntie’s style of storytelling (as I’ve seen in Psychosis!) has tended to be a series of full-page illustrations accompanied by text. with this installment she has chosen to deliver her story in a more traditional manner (panel art with word balloons) . I have to say that I enjoy both, and she is equally adept in both styles. In her Meth stories, we have heard of Cain, but never met him, now (at last) we are meeting this tragic character.

Shawntie brings us right into the story, causing us to care about Cain, even though we don’t know who he is. Her art is very stylistic, drawing us in and washing over us as we move further into her story. This is not your typical vampires, nor is it the weepy, angst-filled vampire-lite crap from Twilight this is a whole world of mystery, lore, and creatures who walk in the night.

I strongly urge you all to head over to the Free Lunch Site and order one of your own (You might want also go to the Guild Works Productions site and pick up the first three issues of Psychosis! as well.

Only In Whispers

When you want someone to hear you, you shouldn’t shout, you should whisper.

That’s right, Whisper. At least that’s what I’ve heard. It is what my good buddy Steve Kanaras does, and he ought to know, especially as he is the publisher and chief writer of Free Lunch Comics’ newest title, Only in Whispers. This is a supernatural anthology in the vein of the old Tales from the Crypt, with an other-worldly narrator named Mr. Quiet who acts as “host” and introduces each story.

There are four illustrated stories (three written by Steve) with a fourth prose piece also by Steve. One the stories is a continued story, while the others are all wrapped up in this issue. In addition to the fiction, there is a section of “True Tales of the supernatural. Unlike the rest of the comic, this section is dedicated to friends, associates, and readers relating “otherworldly” events that happened to themselves. This section makes for an interesting counterbalance to the rest of the comic. At this point I want to mention that the lead story is done by one of my personal favorite artists, Matt Ryan. (Matt illustrated my own Wúlf Girlz stories which appear in Psychosis! (Guild Works Productions).

The comic itself is more of the suspense and “boo” type of supernatural than the blood and gore of the slash & hack kind. which also makes it something of a novelty in this market. The stories are all throwbacks to the kinds of stuff I remember reading in those nameless horror comics from the ’60 and TV shows from the ’70s like Night Gallery and the like. (not that any of that is bad, it is just the feeling that it evokes in me).

Overall, I enjoyed the comic, and am looking to see where it goes next.

The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!

Well, no, not really, but there are Pirates in the sky (Arrgh!)

What the heck am I talking about? Well Sky Pirates, of course. Sky Pirates began life as an entrant into DimeStore Productions Small Press Idol contest from 2007.

Sky Pirates is the brainchild of my buddy and fellow CAGer Everett Soares. Everett is the creator and writer of Sky Pirates which became a finalist in Small Press Idol and has since launched into its own series. From that endeavor, he managed a “zero issue” one-shot which lead to him being picked up by Matt Ryan’s Free Lunch Comics (Matt is another good buddy of mine, and is the artist of record for my own Wülf Girlz). Matt has contracted with Everett for a 5-book limited series.

I have acquired the first two issues (0 & 1), read them both, and let me tell you how very cool they are. The series is something of a throwback to to ‘80s space opera with aliens and anthropomorphic characters intermingled with humans, along with lighter-than-air ships and sword fighting and blasters. I’m like a kid in a candy shop reading this. It is pure, unadulterated fun, complete with a breezy script, clear, clean, crisp art, sexy babes, and a straight-forward story that is simple to follow yet, compelling to read.

After reading it you have to wonder why can’t the pros at the big comic publishing houses tell stories like this?

Anyways, it is great stuff, you should all run right out and buy yourselves a copy.