Zine, Robert Earl Sutter III, [email protected], robertearlsutteriii.com, $6
What can we learn from our elders? What can we learn from the kids? These are the important questions in this latest zine from Robert Earl Sutter III (aka Robnoxious), which finds him pausing and reflecting on adventures had and lessons learned.
Rob curates cross-generational wisdom, looking to childhood experiences, touchstone moments, and remembrances of pivotal friendships and grandparents’ sayings. He covers a lot of ground across several memories and anecdotes. The variety includes a boyhood excursion in Anchorage wielding a spiked bat, grandfatherly wisdom about finger-pointing, some good perspective on how nice it is to have evolved beyond cave life and a reflection on a deceased friend (to whom the zine is dedicated). Rob’s borrowed and original snippets of wisdom flow easily from one to the next. Only one part breaks up the flow for me: a short experimental piece called “Planetary” that I couldn’t really follow. For the most part, Rob’s collection is funny and has an old-soul vibe that makes him seem grandfatherly himself.
Rob provides illustrations throughout: big, bold brushed ink figures and letterings that usually serve as a clever supplement to his story. The black and white illustrations dominate many pages. My fave: two cats huddled into the shape of a big ol’ human butt.
Ultimately, this is a hodge-podge of sage nuggets, from characters in Rob’s life and from Rob’s own head, the stories and clever anecdotes coupled with Rob’s lovely brushed ink illustrations will have you chuckling, nodding, stroking your chin in contemplation. This is a good one, folks. (Joshua Barton)