zine review:
Fisticuffs Hullabaloo
Issue four of Fisticuffs Hullabaloo sees artist Bev Calder crafting cutesy comics plump with observational humour. Most of this booklet’s subject matter tackles fairly well-travelled terrain, lampooning such cultural constants as coffee dependence, low-grade hypochondria, and the price/uselessness of college education. Artistically speaking, this is unpolished but earnest–webcomic fare, perhaps. Meanwhile, the protagonist is something like a less sarcastic version of Enid from Ghost World. In my favourite strip, a drunk Bev asks a gussied-up, handbag-toting girl: “Excuse me, something about you is so familiar–have I had the opportunity to silently criticize you before?” Like the rest of Fisticuffs Hullabaloo, it’s a semi-clever piece of sardonic cynicism. (Michael Tau)
Comic Zine , Issue 4,Bev Calder, [email protected] www.bevcalder.com, $4