Back Issue Boxes

Collectors #1-3 (Collectors Comics, June 2013 to October 2015, $4.99 and $6.99)
Collectors is a weekly Web comic written and drawn by Eddie deAngelini, co-owner of Santa Monica's Hi De Ho Comics with Geoffrey Patterson of Geoffrey's Comics in Gardena. It's the "love story of a husband, a wife, and a comic book collection," loosely based on deAngelini's partnership with his wife Kristen.

These three annual collections, ranging between 44 and 68 pages, and seemingly funded by Kickstarter campaigns, collect material published online, as well as new material to frame and punctuate the reprints, candid photographs of cosplay and comics from deAngelini's collection, and letters of comment from readers.



Strips address thematic constants and concerns of comic book readers and collectors: trivial knowledge about first appearances, anxiety over how much comics cost, holy grail issues of desire, the frustrations of online auctions, the joy of flipping through back issue boxes, and a rich fantasy life. deAngelini also addresses common marriage challenges: family budgets, travel to conventions, spousal compromises, and shared interests such as zombies and cosplay.

The writing is brisk and to the point, gently loving, and clever—and deAngelini clearly loves comic books, reading and collecting. deAngelini's artwork is simple and basic but does the trick—and has matured a little over time. His drawings of Marvel heroes remind me slightly of Fred Hembeck and Chris Giarrusso.

Availability: You can buy Collectors online.

Web Comics Gone Print

To Catch a Tooth (self-published, 2013, $2.99)
This 16-page minicomic was written, drawn, and published by Dylan Campbell, whom I met at Pulp Fiction in early December. He started making comics after taking a class several years ago and now publishes a Web comic, Scared by the Bell. This is his first mini.

Drawn in a slightly cartoony style that reminds me a little of Ariel Schrag by way of Mark Crilley, this brief comic tells the tale of a boy who conspires to rob the tooth fairy. it is a gently clever family comic that reads at the pace of a cartoon or TV sitcom. At the end, it's a story about love and looking out for the ones you love.



Campbell's artwork is friendly and his writing conversational, which works well for the story. The lettering is uneven, using a computer typeface and inexplicably switching from uppercase to lowercase on page 4. Lastly, Campbell's panel and page design offer room for improvement. The structure of the pages don't always serve the narrative, and the panel arrangement and composition occasionally feel arbitrary. A stronger sense of unity and direction will serve his work well. That said, this is a great first effort. All first minis should be this good, and the formal issues are small in light of the art and ideas.