Episode 294: Reviews of Coyote Doggirl, Baseline Blvd., and Cemetery Beach #1

Time Codes: 00:00:29 - Introduction 00:02:30 - Hitting a milestone 00:04:20 - Coyote Doggirl 00:40:29 - Baseline Blvd. 01:12:18 - Cemetery Beach #1 01:26:03 - Wrap up 01:27:22 - Contact us This week Sterg and Derek discuss three fascinating and genre-spanning titles. They begin with Lisa Hanawalt's Coyote Doggirl(Drawn and Quarterly). As the guys point out, this is a humor-infused story that engages with the western genre. Both Derek and Sterg mention that while they appreciate Hanawalt's off-beat sense of humor, they haven't been big fans of her past books, in that they weren't so much narrative comics as they were illustrated works of humor. But Coyote Doggirlis more of a "traditional" comic, with sequential panels and a discernible storyline. The premise is more or less simple, but that's part of the charm of this text. And the humor! Next, the Two Guys with PhDs turn to Emi Gennis's Baseline Blvd., released earlier this year from Kilgore Books and Comics. This actually began as a webcomic back in 2015, but it was published in hardcopy as part of Kilgore's Kickstarter campaignfor their 2018 releases. Where many of Gennis's comics have been profiles or biographies, this latest book is more autobiographical in nature. As the guys point out, there is a silent elegance about this work, and Gennis packs a lot of story -- and emotion -- into her brief narrative. The guys then wrap up the episode by looking at Warren Ellis and Jason Howard's Cemetery Beach#1(Image Comics). Sterg observes that this seems to be a typical Ellis narrative -- and "typical" in a good, demonstrative way -- and both of the guys comment on Howard's art. In fact, much of this first issue is carried by the illustrations. In all, it's a successful first issue. This seven-issue sci-fi series has a lot of promise, and both Derek and Sterg look forward to seeing where the creators take their premise.