Mini Madness: Dave Roman

ASTRONAUT ELEMENTARY #1-3
Written and Drawn by Dave Roman
Available at http://www.yaytime.realmsend.com

Now these are truly mini-comics. Priced at $.50, these eight page gems are rightfully called on the covers "mini manga." Featuring a cast of characters that are as cute as can be, Roman's milieu is quite literally an elementary school set in space, complete with classes like "Dinosaur Driving Lessons." There's a rich and popular girl, a quiet girl, a troubled boy and a boy who is considerd by his classmates to just be flat out odd. However, even with the standard character archetypes, these minis charm their way into your heart and are a reasonable and cheap alternative for readers young and old. When we talk about making more comics for kids, its stuff like this that we should be thinking about.

TEEN BOAT #1-5
Written by Dave Roman and Drawn by John Green
Available from Cryptic Press

These books are so fucked up inspired that they nearly achieve pure brilliance. Think about your comics today. Teenagers gain superpowers by being bitten by super spiders or they develop powers like walking through walls because they're mutants. Teen Boat, on the other hand, is a young boy who turns into... well, a boat. A small yacht, to be specific. Immediately, one's reaction is something like "That is one of the most retarded things I have ever heard in all my comics reading years." But honestly... it isn't a bad book.

I know, I know... but I promise you I don't do any drugs. I'm serious.

Shockingly, these books work. TB is pretty normal, excepting that he can pop a propeller out of his ass. He liks a girl who won't pay attention to him unless he's in boat form, his best female friend is doing her best to look out for him, and his classmates are constantly trying to exploit him for their own ends. In fact, TB and his friend Joey Steinberg could be played by James Van Der Beek and Katie Holmes and you wouldn't blink.

TEEN BOAT would be a mess of mammoth proportions if Roman and Green didn't play the character completely straight, but because they do, and because they give him a surprisingly fertile emotional life, I found myself wanting to see more of these, and I make no apologies for that.

/Mason