[Published 06-04-08]

I just received a fantastic piece of sequential graphic story telling (that's a fancy way of saying comic book) by none other than Mr. WBM himself. It's titled, "WBM's Free Comic Book Day Comic" and in this Saint's not-so-humble opinion, it is awesome. 

But before we go any further into this review I feel I need to squash any ideas - here and now - that I'm doing this as a favor to a friend.

Yes, WBM and I go back a few years and have collaborated in the past.

Yes, I consider him a pal.

Yes, Sin-Eater Productions has millions upon millions of readers. Other artists and musicians have practically begged for reviews on our illustrious site. This page alone will undoubtedly launch our dear William into the glowing spotlight of the fine art world.  

However, none of the above stated facts reflect the opinion's herein or my reasons behind publishing this piece. Anyone who has ever accused me of pulling punches has gotten one square in the jaw.  

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, you just keep on reading and I'll tell you how you may be able to get your hands on a copy and, more importantly, why you'll want one. 

WBM's first foray into the world of printed comics is an 8'x11', 14-page, black and white adventure through the surreal aesthetics of WBM's mind. His illustration style consists mostly of bold lines tracing the characters and backgrounds smoothly. Some panels are left with large areas filled with one solid tone of grey or black (of course, his online comics do contain color). The simplistic fluidity of his penmanship leaves a lot of the detail to be implied by the reader's imagination. 

There's something about it that reminds me of 70's pop art. I can't quite put my finger on that one, though.  

[The front cover. Mine was even signed! *Swoon*]

The pages and their layouts are neither too elaborate nor too bare; it's distributed so that its content ranges from thought provoking, to absurd, to down-right disturbing, and segues with eclectic ease.

I don't believe in perfection, outside of maybe total chaos, so while I haven't had anything negative to say so far that doesn't mean the comic is without its flaws.

On its own, and being a first time work, it's not perfect, but it's fairly fucking amazing.

It damn well deserves the recognition, that's for sure. 

 
[The back page. You can also see Portland's Hawthorne Bridge in the distance.]

The first comic, illustrated by WBM and written by Amanda Robertson wasn't my favorite, but I did enjoy it. I think it'd be interesting to see them do something four or five pages longer. I mean, I loved the nature of it, and I also love bums, but it felt a little like getting a hand-job without the payoff.  

MaClean And Kaltrop's Cocoa the Clown in "The Death-Dog" collaboration is brilliant, and while the moving .gif files that accompanied the first posting of it online were not present, it still worked extremely well in black and white print. Unfortunately, the images were a bit pixelated in printed form, but I also realize this a) wasn't so much his fault and b) it doesn't take away from the work in any major way.

While Big Willy has been accused of having something of a fecal fixation in the past, Cocoa's semi-public deification on himself, in this instance, was appropriate. (It should also be stated that Kaltrop did not write that particular part in.) 

I applaud WBM for having the cajoles to add his Richardo strip. If you're unfamiliar with the character or the comic, the strip follows Richardo; a coke-snorting, child-molesting Spanish immigrant, during his typical every-day adventure. It's definitely one for the family. Out of the handful of Richardo comics that are floating around out there, this definitely ranks as one of the best ones.  

[Richardo speaks on parental disappointment.]

My favorite part, though, was the "Create Your Own Piece of Art Page." The panels give a faux-sense of storyline, left just vague enough that the reader can write and color in their own meanings to it. Getting people involved with your artwork is a truly wonderful thing, and, oddly I suppose, there's a certain respect I've always had for coloring book artists, and the style they used.  

My own personal interpretation was a disjointed tale of two guys who have known each other for about two months. At this point they trust each other reasonably enough; they've tied one off together on more than a few occasions. Pals, we'll call them. But one day, the one pal[Pal #1] presents the other with a joint laced with heavy amounts of sedatives. While Pal #2 is drugged out of his mind, Pal #1 takes him to a more isolated location in the house to sexually abuse him.  
[I know, I created mine with Photoshop paint, but I didn't want to fuck up my copy of the comic. The original, unedited copy of the page can be found here.]

Damn, the only real complaint I have is that I wish it was longer.  

Or perhaps he knows well enough to keep his audience wanting more.