2 by Kelly Froh, plus Brooklyn!

DEBBIE'S STORY(2009) and THE FIVE YEAR ITCH OF DOROTHY BARRY (2008)
both by Kelly Froh
quarter size, 28 pp with color cover (Debbie's Story), 46 pp. (Itch), $2 US/world ?, trades ?
414 12th Ave E
Seattle, WA 98102
www.kellyfroh.blogspot.com

I love these little comics. The titles are fairly self-explanatory; the first being the story of a woman named Debbie: "She's my mom's sister, who kinda let herself go. She was always cheerful, with pink cheeks. She wore sweatpants, even on Thanksgiving, and still to this day has huge glasses." Debbie, it turns out, has a semi-secret former life, far more exciting than her current one, and it's both a cute read (the drawings and linework are charming) and sort of heartbreaking (in that 'you get what you settle for' sense). The second, the story of a woman in an assisted living home who from time to time would become something of a menace, much to the consternation of the entire staff. Turns out that every five years Dorothy Barry (not her real name!) would go on a rampage of sorts...and to tell you more might ruin the story. Both of these comics are worth tracking down. They're these evocative little books that are charming and I think you'll like them. See for yourself....

BROOKLYN! #65-
24 pages, 5.5 x 8.5 $10 for a 4 issue subscription
(PAYMENT IN CASH!)
Fred Argoff
Penthouse L
1170 Ocean Parkway
Brooklyn NY 11230

As was said in an earlier review: "The name of this zine is BROOKLYN and that's also what the zine is about, Fred's beloved borough of Brooklyn." I always enjoy reading an issue when it appears in my mailbox; this issue includes a rewrite of a fairy tale entitled "Jack be Nimble, Jack be Quick, Jack be from Brooklyn" which is, as you'd expect, full of Brooklyn references. It's the first story in an issue that's kind of the Big Book of Brooklyn Fables; Lady Godiva riding through Park Slope, Peter Piper, Humpty-freakin'-Dumpty, ok?, Brooklyn-style nursery rhymes, and so on. I'm not from Brooklyn, though I have a few connections there, but I found the whole thing really entertaining. It's worth reading. I've never read an issue of BROOKLYN! that I didn't enjoy.