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PLATES ARE CULT #2
($4.00 from Damien Jay,
www.damienjay.com)
This is the first work by Damien Jay that I've seen and I'm not quite sure how best to describe it. I want to say that it's a peculiar hybrid of traditional, conventional cartooning and more alternative work (think Steven Cerio), but that's probably not too helpful. Much of it is quite appealing, I can tell you that. If you've seen his work in
Studygroup12 or
little white bird/MEGACOM then you know what I mean. The first story features creepy-looking Joey the Mancat (Seriously. You know those crocheted things in craft stores with plastic doll faces on them? It's that sort of creepy.). Joey sits around a lot (a
lot) just thinking and "enjoying the forest" – so much so that he misses out on, well, something or other. I'm not sure if there's a moral here, but that mancat is creepy. The second story is sort of a parody of those underwater nature shows – goofy host, foreign oceanographer, the whole nine yards with traditional gags and more creepiness (the host). What I
really like about this issue are the less conventional aspects and a lot of the designs. There's some really attractive stuff but I think these stories only hint at what's (hopefully) to come. The more bizarre elements of
Plates Are Cult are just dying to be pushed all the way to the surface for the full treatment. Maybe the cover will give you a partial idea of what grabs me about Jay's work. If you're curious, I highly recommend going to his website for a better taste of what the guy can do.
[ Austin readers can find Damien Jay's
Plates Are Cult at
Funny Papers. ]
[ Link to this item ]
