Nerd in the 'Noke

Dead End Kids [2019] #3 - (W) Frank Gogol, (A/C) Nenad Cviticanin, (L) Sean Rinehart, (CA) Criss Madd This is the story of four friends... ...and what happened when one of them was murdered. Like most stories, it gets worse before it gets better. Much worse. I wish I could say everything worked out in the end... But life's not a fucking fairytale. This is how Frank Gogol opens the final chapter of Dead End Kids (out this coming Wednesday, 9/25).  Not only is he up front about what's about to follow, he's downright blatant about it: this tale that is part Goonies, part Stand by Me but set at the turn of the century, will not end well.  The thing is, that even despite his explicit warning, you're still not ready for the emotional punch to the gut that he and his co-conspirator Nenad Cviticanin are about to deliver over the closing pages of the series. This really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who has been picking up Dead End Kids (or to those who...

Dead End Kids [2019] #2 - (W) Frank Gogol, (A/C) Nenad Cviticanin, (L) Sean Rinehart, (CA) Criss Madd I'm trying to figure out if I have the time to try to keep up with quick single issue reviews or if anyone even finds them beneficial at all.  Fortunately for me, Dead End Kids (Source Point Press) is just three issues - and great ones at that - so it is providing me with a nice little trial run. The first issue of Dead End Kids came out just two weeks ago and was very well received, having sold out at the distributor level days before it's actual release.  For those who missed it, the good news is that there's been enough interest in the issue that it is going back to print.  If you're one of those who couldn't get your hands on a copy the first time around be sure to let your LCS know so you can catch the second printing (order info below). I'll try to jump right in and keep it short and sweet as to not spoil anything.  With a single issue review you c...

Dead End Kids [2019] #1 - (W) Frank Gogol, (A/C) Nenad Cviticanin, (CA) Criss Madd, (L) Sean Rinehart. Some followers of this blog may remember my review for Frank Gogol's first published work last summer, the well received anthology collection GRIEF . Over the past year, he's been building on the success of GRIEF, crushing the con circuit, and developing new idea after new idea.  As a result, beginning in July, Source Point Press will be releasing his first mini-series: Dead End Kids  (the official announcement of which was made in March at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo - C2E2). I don't generally review single issues - it's much tougher to discuss a single chapter of a story without spoiling it - but when Frank reached out and asked if I'd like to read an advance copy of Dead End Kids #1 and I thought it would be fun to do something a little different (full disclosure: I 'met' Frank Gogol through a comics-centric Facebook group a little ...

GRIEF: stories by Frank Gogol - I have a confession to make: despite my love of comics, until very recently (we're talking the last month and a half or so), I have not been very successful in supporting indie comics.  Caveat: I personally don't consider titles from Image independent comics.  Sure they are all creator owned properties, but Image is more than the big fish in the small indie pond, they're more like the the kid who has graduated from the kid's table at family gatherings.  And that is my long way of introducing this collection of stories by Frank Gogol from Comics Experience and Source Point Press . You may be wondering how I came upon such a book since I'm not an avid proponent of indie titles.  Well, I'm actually an (internet) acquaintance of Frank's thanks to The Omnibus Collector's Comic Swap and Community group on Facebook.  This project of his began as a Kickstarter campaign last year (which I missed out on) but I have followed it...