Road Apples Almanac

Who I Was 20

I don’t read many comic books, I am mostly a comics strip reader. When I walk into a comic book shop and see the shelves stacked full of superhero titles with nothing to discriminate one title from another i wonder how a reader chooses between a Batman title versus a Avenger title. (Now I am talking about monthly titles, not the vast array of graphic novels that inhabit a store.) I mean the art is all great, yet all so similar, and upon some exploratory reading the writing styles seem very generic and interchangeable. I think those are the benefits independent and self publishers bring to the table; it’s their freshness of voice and style. To me it’s no surprise that self published titles like Bone, TMNT, and Cerebus were so successful. They brought their own voice and vision to a market watered down with common place art, stale characters, and repetitive stories. So when my buddy Brian told my about Blair Kitchen’s The Possum I was curious, of course, but also wary. Because for every great self-published offering that is well drawn and storied, there are a thousand that, well… plainly suck. Blair Kitchen’s The Possum however is not one them!

The Possum is well drawn and and well thought out. The set up is not rushed and the attention to minor characters and their foibles makes the reading enjoyable and funny. The possum himself is the antithesis of every superhero prior to him, not only does he not barely escape death each episode like most of his hero peers, he actually dies several times. That is his lone power: he can’t be killed! No super strength, agility, flight, just the ability to take a bad-ass beating! Funny and entertaining, I bought all five issues and am anticipating the sixth one. I highly recommend you ask your local comic book store to pick it up. Alternatively you can go to Possum Press and find the wonderful series there!

Thanks Mr. Kitchen for bringing us The Possum and God bless!

Well, Happy New Year everyone, Thanks for visiting and leaving all your comments in 2011, I hope to have a lot of fun with the strip in 2012 so please come back and let me know how it’s going! Thanks for being patient with the one a week format over the last two months, am still not ready to jump into three days a week but I’m uping the updates to twice a week; Monday and Friday.  Monday may become Tuesday, not sure yet, but for now it’s Monday and Friday.

Had a Great time talking to Brian Dunaway, Joel Duggan, and Matt Forcum at Comic Coast to Coast  have listen, enjoy and hear me mumble my way through the conversation.

Jerome Benedict o f the funny adventure Comic Bunny Wiggins did some Fantastic art of Shep and Aldo for, I love it!I encourage you to check out Bunny Wiggins, and follow his evil adventures. You’ll enjoy the ride.

I Love doing this strip, and really just want to draw it every day, but life has gotten really busy lately, and with my new job’s schedule my time isn’t the same. So for November and December I am going to only be doing one strip a week untill 2012. It’s not something I every wanted to do, but it’s the best thing for right now, I hope everyone is ok with it and still comes around to visit and leave comments, they really keep me inspired.

Sincerly

Don