Posted on: September 30, 2008 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Another comic zine, this time chock-full of information where a mixed zine like Incredulous was not. The comic is personal, but really tends to go off on weird observations and tangents, similar to Al Burian’s work in that aspect. The style of the art is a mixture of Mike Judge’s, Brendan Small’s [Home Movies] and Futurama, which needless to say, reining in the art of caricature to the degree where the figures are realistic. All of the mini-stories, none taking more than two pages, are as the title may suggest True Stories, and while they are true, they have that otherworldly feel to them that really makes people tune in, sort of how Jerry Springer appeals to people. Of course, Barry deals pretty heavily with fart, dick, and burp jokes, which never get tiring, but also reaches to the more saccharine set of things where ey recounts how ey and Tami (wife) got together. All and all, True Story is a wondrous collection of all of the things that make Barry a solid person, and as such, I really feel as if I know Barry more than those zinesters who choose to focus so specifically on one or two events for the span of their works. What really tops off True Story for me is Barry’s “Resume”, which shows the creator eirself. I hope to see something else by Barry in the near future, as this was really a delight to read, and it came from someone who isn’t in the typical age bracket for independent media creators, showing me a different viewpoint.

Rating: 7.1/10

True Story! / :15 / $1 / 7 by 8.5 / 28 Pages / Barry Scanlan, 19367 120th Av, Milaca, MN 56353 / [email protected] / Reviewed 11 March 2004

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