PoserPoints #44--More Ashcan!

If you want to know why I love indie books so much, check out my introduction to PoserPoints 41, also on some Ashcan Comics Pub. books. Here are two more offerings I've enjoyed a great deal today!

Huge #1 (January 2020)
By: Mark Pate

Huge introduces us into some sort of mid-to-post apocalyptic story of sort.  The book opens with two men introducing themselves to one another in what appears to be an old convenience store.  Neither man fully can explain what is happening but John appears to be slightly more aware of where they might be, and what is going on.  As Robby (who we can tell will be the book's protagonist) is slowly regaining some memory is fishing for whatever information he can get to explain what has happened.

You can check out more of both Pate's art and writing at: www.ashcancomicspub.com

We quickly jump back 42 days in the past and learn that Robby is working on his Phd in some sort of laboratory setting, but it is not clear as to the scientific field.  The conversation with his wife is a cute window into their relationship and what Robby might have lost (especially the hug fart...my wife and I do that to each other frequently, because we are small children mentally amidst this quarantine).  As Robby and John prepare to leave for Laredo to find John's wife, we get a big cliffhanger and some insight as to why this book is called HUGE.

One thing I like about Pate's artwork here is the details of the human eyes and face.  We have all heard things like "the eyes are the windows to the soul" or that the face conveys more than our physical language can.  Pate really nails the reactions Robby has in his moments of "coming to" or the emotions of the relationship between Robby and Alex. I'm intrigued to see what pops up in Huge #2.

There is also a bonus story at the back of this book called "Plowshares and Pruning Hooks" where Pate offers the art for Travis Hill's writing. It's a nice gritty story at the end, and the writer and artist really connect in this short. 

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The Good Blood #1 (Feb 2020)
By: Jacob K. Graczyk

In judging a book by its cover, The Good Blood looks as if it will offer some sort of medieval-ish fantasy (the swords, the lutes, the magic hand....) and in flipping to the first two pages, it delivers.  The book opens on what appears to be some sort of goblin tracking down an intestine which he is stuffing back into his body, and then he loses his hat!  I'm not sure which I'd be more upset about, guts or hat, but he's clearly bummed this hat fell off and blew away!

You can check out more of Graczyk's work at: www.ashcancomicspub.com

During the hat-gate we meet Lena who is from the Owl's Nest, a land of mystical orders, and she is searching for a man simply known as "the bard"  to find information on only person who has survived an expedition across the sea.  Lena arrives at a tavern, believing she's found "the bard" but what she has stumbled upon is the "Tenth Annual Bard and Minstrel Song Contest."  Furious at being tricked she wants to get the bards drunk so she can enact vengeance upon the man who gave her bad information, when a large man enters the tavern and clears them all out...except for a woman who smashes a Lute on his head.  In hoping she's found the new "the bard" Lena befriends her (Abby) and promises a new lute and an ale in exchange for information! 

As  Lena is successful in making her deal with Abby, she has to take another odd task to find a place to sleep for the night, where a man tells her of a haunted house.  Lena discovers a struggling young mage trying to curse someone, using the energy from world veins the house is built on, in the name of revenge.  Lena uses her mystical knowledge to help the young man, where they summon a badass looking Succubi Matriarch, which has to be destroyed.

Again, another story I enjoyed!  This seems to be the longest of all of the comic book offerings I've perused thus far, and does a lot of strong character work so we understand who Lena and Abby are for their journey forward.  It does a lot of work showing the potential powers Lena possesses, and the book is quite humorous when it needs to be!  and I can't wait to get the next offering!

go support them on Patreon!