Pocket Party #1 by Damien Jay
Pocket-sized make-it-up-as-you-go comics featuring sea monsters, game show hosts, the forces of nature, and a stroll through deserted sections of Hannover, Germany.
"Combining sketchbook segues with a loose narrative, it's an inspired flight of fancy. Jay starts with an odd-looking man named Leslie in an abandoned town and interjects himself into the proceedings as he sees fit. He insults one of his characters, who runs off and refuses to participate further. From there, former president Gerald Ford pops up
and Jay tries to lecture him on what comics are and how he fits into the story. Throughout, Jay pops into his own comic to offer random opinions, critiques of his own art and story, redrawn panels, sea monsters, Leslie being forced to play Match Game and a perilous journey through the city sewers. Jay even chides himself for being so
self-referential, promising to stop it (which he eventually does, but not before he moans, "I just don't have...anywhere else to go!").
Somehow, this stream-of-consciousness stew works. The looseness of the art gives it a vibrancy, as though the reader just watched it appear off the still-wet pen of the artist. Jay is funny and riffs well on the page; while the comic is admittedly self-indulgent, it's an indulgence that's quite entertaining for a reader. Jay's ability to somehow make drawing exercises (like learning how to draw fins) into amusing interludes only made me want more; given that this was actually listed as issue #1, one would hope that he'll be doing more.
All in all, this is one of the most enjoyable minicomics that I've read in the past year."
Rob Clough at Sequart
$3.00 (38 interior pgs, 5.5" x 4.25 ", silkscreen cover with black and white interiors)
To read a sample from the book click on the cover or here, please.