Starfish — Marguerite Dabaie

In this beautiful, wordless comic about a sailor who meets a mermaid who saves his ship, Dabaie plays with the form of mini-comics. It’s horizontal with two fold-out pages in the middle. Her art here has a simple, anime-inspired feel and she definitely knows how to express a story through images alone. This is one of the comics from MoCCA that surprised me the most.

Click — Sara Ryan & Dylan Meconis

Ryan’s and Meconis’ simple tale of a confusing friendship between two high school seniors is well done but fairly standard slice-of-life mini-comics stuff. Ryan’s story does capture the emotions nicely, but Meconis’ art makes the characters look a little too old. While I enjoyed it while I was reading it, its poignancy was pretty temporary.

Lipstick & Malice #1: So Hot Right Now — Monica Gallagher

I loved this. Honestly, though, what’s not to like about a supermodel who is also (more or less) a deadly assassin. Gallagher’s art is sexy and gorgeous and she has a good ear for the gossip of the beautiful people. The tall format of the comic is a lot of fun and compliments our heroine’s stature. This is definitely one of those “should’ve bought the other two issues while they were in front of you” cases. I really look forward to where the rest of this story is going.

Gang of Fools: Paper Trailer — James Smith III

This is, in case you were wondering, where my last $2 went. This is meant to be a preview of the Web comic and I’m suitably intrigued by the futurist urban paranoia that’s presented here. The art very dark — mostly black with only our character’s faces emerging from the gloom. It definitely provides the right feel for where the story seems to be going. Sadly, at least right now, the Gang of Fools web site doesn’t seem to be working. I’m looking forward to when it’s back up.

Jin & Jam No. 1 — Hellen Jo

I believe I first encountered Hellen Jo’s work on the back page of Giant Robot and I’ve been crazy about it every since then. She has a dangerous and quirky sense of humor and awesomely bad attitude to spare. Jin & Jam is full of angry girls badmouthing each other and getting into hilarious fights. It is sometimes intentionally off-putting, but it always feels playful. Jo’s artwork is amazingly detailed and expressive and her style is like a mix between manga and Robert Crumb while being absolutely distinctive. Jo is a creator to watch.

Green Blooded — Cathy Leamy

Subtitled “An Introduction to Eco-Friendly Feminine Hygiene,” this is an informational pamphlet done in a comic style. The subject matter isn’t for everyone (I can kind of imagine that half of the population isn’t going to be too interested) but it’s done in a fun way while still being educational. She lists the pros and cons of different “green” products and includes drawings of how to use each. I think that this subject is something a lot of women haven’t thought about and I actually learned a few things. Even if the subject isn’t appealing to you, this does show how comics can be utilized to inform people in a quick, easy and fun way.

That’s it for the mini-comics. I have some less-than-mini comics that might go up tomorrow. I’m still reading so there will be more reviews. Oh yes.