This is a full size very crisp looking comic thing that spotlights “Winnipeg’s wackiest comic talent”. That’s right prairie folks, it’s a comic anthology just for you. Not only is this a clean, well- produced and stuffed full comic, it is also a celebration of regional diversity and has some goddamned about time Canadian content. The reason I say this is because lately, all the zines — and especially the comics — have been these existential personal revelation things with very little sense of place. It’s as if everyone just runs around getting laid and seeing bands and not getting laid and not getting jobs in this one big huge cold city. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying every Canadian zine should have a cartoon on how weird Prime Minister Mackenzie King was (although Sunburn contributor’s Bruce Coyston and Nick Burns do give the PM with two last names a lively personality). What I’m saying is that who we are and why we are that way are is determined by place, and, well, I’m gonna shut up now, right? If you want to get a feeling of what I’m going on about, you can send some cash to Sunburn. Billy Swift, product of Eugene Bates, is a local hero who wanders around the University of Manitoba getting into trouble. There’s also a battle with a mouse, Cheryl Hamilton’s Commander Broccoli “who thrives on the annoyance of others” and a sad story about the king of America who flips burgers, drinks beer, makes royal appearances and looks suspiciously like Elvis Costello. Sunburn is a fun sampler, perfect for whiling away the hours on those hot prairie beaches.
comic anthology #1, 32 pages publisher: mosquito fog editor: Karl Thomsen $4 (includes postage) PO Box 2061, Winnipeg, MB, R3C 2R4 email: [email protected]