Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Matinee Eclectica #1 (one shot)
Dirty Third Comics
Schrodt, Anstrom, P. Palmiotti, Cabonero, S. Lee, Santos, Ott, Hillsman, Shold, Budd, Mauk, Justus, Ruiz, Moritat, Allen, Tindall, R. Lee, Howard, Eisma (cover) & Coats (cover)
Ryan Schrodt's Kickstarter, anthology comic book is simply loaded with great stories, great creators and plenty of pages. Overall, the comic is a good palette of a lot of different genres. With the majority of the stories being very short in length, Schrodt makes use of the narrative voice to tell his stories rather than through the characters interacting. The style works and allows Schrodt to put his signature on the book as a whole. I enjoyed the book tremendously and hope to read more from Schrodt in the future. The book can be found several ways, but one of the easiest is to go to www.indyplanet.com and search on the title.
The first story, by Schrodt, Anstrom, P. Palmiotti, Cabonero and S. Lee (with a pin up from Santos), is a western called Assumption: The Coward. This five-page story is a heart-tugger as it explores a love triangle where the husband in the mix is a coward and his wife is left to defend him and the family. It's a very good story with a great ending. The story has terrific emotional depictions from the characters to go with the story.
The second story, by Schrodt, Ott and Hillsman, called Going Rogue is a one pager that is sure to make most smile. There is some political needling here but its all done in fun.
The third story, by Schrodt & Shold, called Automated, is an excellent science fiction story. A man wakes up from a coma to find the world has been automated. This is the kind of story you might see in a "zero issue" as a launch to a series. This story has excellent science fiction artwork as it is both realistic and creative.
The fourth story, by Schrodt, Budd & a pinup by Mauk, called Sparrow: First Flight, is a fun little superhero story. This story seems to be done in the vain of Dynamo 5 or Invincible as it has some lighter moments with some fun artwork. It's not trying to be serious but it gives you an entertaining story.
The fifth story, by Schrodt & Hillsman, called Better to Burn Out, is a familiar tale that involves dead rockers. Though, the ending is unique, the lead-up feels like something I have seen before. It's still a fun story that has some realistic and fun artwork to it.
The sixth story, by Schrodt, Justus, Ruiz and a pinup by Moritat, called The Roar, is my favorite. The story is about an old boxer and what makes him head back into the ring to presumably take another pounding to the brain. The artwork is tremendous in this story because the style has a painted look to it that is so reminiscent of how the Rocky films would exit. As most boxing stories seem to go this one is another lonely and sad tale but it hits the right narrative notes to make it unique. Moritat provides a stunning pinup to round out the story.
The seventh story, by Schrodt, & Ott, called In Her Service, is a three page mostly black and white horror tale. It's a good story and makes great use of the limited space to tell a terrific short story. There's nothing shocking here but the story does manage to build some tension throughout.
The eighth story, by Schrodt & Allen, called When Animals Attack, is a laugh out loud story about a comic book creator and where he derives his inspiration. The art does a tremendous job switching from the golden age look to the modern style to really capture the story and the timeline perfectly.
The ninth story, by Schrodt & Tindall, called Out of this World, is another story that taps into the horror genre as well as the online geek genre. I found myself chuckling at this one but the big laughs were kind of robbed from me because I wanted bad things to happen to the character and I felt a little let down. The artwork is perfect for the online, psycho-nerd that is presented in the story.
The final story, by Schrodt, R. Lee, S. Lee & a pinup by Howard, called Assumption: Honest Ned Strikes, revisits the western genre. The story didn't grab me nearly as much as the first western. Perhaps because I couldn't find it relatable with this type of female character set in the old west. Still, the artwork helped the story along nicely and this one has a great pinup provided by Josh Howard to put a cherry on top.
As you can see there is something for everyone here. I found myself unable to put the forty-plus page book down. There were a couple of stories I absolutely loved, like The Roar and Automated, but I was entertained by all of them. There simply isn't a dud in the bunch. If you like anthology books and are willing to help out a new creator then I urge you to find this book and give it a shot. I bet you end up thanking yourself that you did.
4 out of 5 geek goggles
