Mangablog

Since last August, a small alternative comics publication known as "Bash! Magazine" has been available by the newspaper vending machines in the area(for instance at the Vienna Metro Station and the bus stop at GMU). They are a small publication based in Lexington, Kentucky and have a website (http://www.bashmagazine.com). The publication consists of short one-or-two page comics by a usual stable of underground cartoonists. In this day and age, it's good to see a publication promote the underground comics industry in an age awash with hundreds of uncreative webcomics (which almost always use a variant of the "video games=LOL" or "anime=LOL" theme).
However, the plots of some of the comics in in Bash! may appear too obscure and complex for most and probably goes over the heads of most readers (myself included occasionally). I guess this means Bash! is trying to convey a sense of serious artyness to the reader but it can be extremely off-putting to most.
But I digress. Now I'll go over the usual stable of cartoonists and the names of their features in this publication to show you what's basically in store for you if you ever pick up a copy:

Jen Sorenson (Slowpoke): a political cartoonist more well-known for her cartoons being on the internet (most notably Cartoonist Daryl Cagle's political cartoon website). Draws in thick lines and has a quite far left point of view.

Keith Knight (The K Chronicles): a cartoonist who mostly does politically-charged cartoons. This strip is basically just like his daily strip "The Knight Life" except edgier because he can get away with more in Bash! than in the Washington Post. Writes in a left wing point of view but usually not as extreme as Sorenson. Cartoony, squash-n-stretchy style sometimes helps or hinders his message.

Ken Cursoe (Tiny Seppuku): a comic that's almost all words with little, cute stick-figurey drawings underneath. Usually makes fun of the everyday problems people face, spoofing kinds of people or pop culture, or gives "advice" to a reader and his/her question.

Melissa Bartley & Jesse Reklaw (Slow Wave): One of Bash's better-drawn comics. Subject matter changes from strip to strip but it's usually so odd I never get it.

Bryan Stone (Onion Head): a comic about two post-college twentysomething schlubs who work at a video rental store, except one of the schlubs has an onion bulb with a four-foot stalk growing out of it for a head (hence the comic title). Together they go through the trials and tribulations of life and also relationships. Onion Head is an impulsive, opinionated, lazy wannabe-writer and his pal Woody plays the straight man. His faces have a quasi-Popeye/TinTin kind of look.

John Dimes: Bash's resident gothic/surrealist artist. One of Bash's better artists. His comics are splashy and fun to look at but hard to follow plot-wise. Sometimes the panels are too small for the actions going on and you have no clue what's happening.

Theo Ellsworth: All his comics involve a person in a mundane setting daydreaming (or tripping) off into these elaborate surreal visual scapes only to return in the end back into reality.

Eamon Espey (Limbs of the Megalith): Another surrealist artist. His work is a little like Ellsworth's but instead of being more psychedelic-inspired it's more cubist inspired. His humans are always drawn very grotesque.

Dan Archer: a Briton comic artist who originally started writing about his experiences staying in Cuba for the first three Bash issues but then shifted his comic to some complex political/social commentary piece. Draws in thick lines with not too much shadow.

Morgan Pielli: mostly makes political/social commentary comics that are usually even more obscure and hard to follow than Archer's latest work. Subjects/characters/settings dramatically change over each issue. Also draws with thick lines without too much shadow or detail.

Matt Dembicki (Animal Stew): artwork almost identical to Pielli's but usually does a one-panel about some odd animal fact.

Mary Karaplis: draws cute doodles akin to something you'd see in a 12-year old girl's binder. Not much else to say. (Simplicity is I guess what she is aiming for)

Thomas K. Dye (Something Happens): Another thick-lined social commentary piece? Who knew!? Except this one isn't so obscure and over-your-head.

Jeff Lok (Sam 'n Dan): cutesy doodles but this time it's a cat and a bear who rob a bank and ponder life...wheeeee!

Sean Ford: something about little crudely-drawn ghosts with tiny font. Sorry didn't read.

So there you have it. My critique of Bash! Magazine and the artists featured in it for the past five months. I read it and think "Hell, WE could do something like this." and gives me hope. And we wouldn't have to be so arty or obscure. It's a fairly good read...but if indie comics are your thing.