Adam and Shawn of The Dollar Bin say nice things about Shannon Smith and his comics in their review podcast of Fluke 2011. Toward the end of the podcast Shawn gives a very nice review of Brush & Pen.
Showing posts with label Brush and Pen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brush and Pen. Show all posts
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Reviewed by Sequart
Sequart
Reviewed by Rob Clough
There's a bunch of micro-minis in this batch, with several 4-page minis detailing a wild schoolboy from Smith's childhood and a vengeful possum. One of them was a 12-hour comic and they all have a tossed-off, disposable feel to them. A more substantive entry is BRUSH AND PEN, a stylish mini that pins its effectiveness on how Smith portrays its characters. The main character is an anthropomorphic pen named Clicky and it concerns his travails with his wife, a beautiful but "high-maintenance" brush. The story leads up to the two of them having the writing implement version of having sex: dipping into an inkwell and drawing on fresh sheets of paper. There's a great panel where Brush dips her head into the ink and flings her head back, ink spraying everywhere. It's a genuinely sensuous image that leads to a clever sequence where the two characters express their passion on the page, with the accumulated ink leading to a blackout (quite literally). Smith's playful figures remind me a bit of Steve Lafler's work. This mini had modest ambitions but fulfilled them admirably, and I'm curious to see what else Smith can do.
Reviewed by Rob Clough
There's a bunch of micro-minis in this batch, with several 4-page minis detailing a wild schoolboy from Smith's childhood and a vengeful possum. One of them was a 12-hour comic and they all have a tossed-off, disposable feel to them. A more substantive entry is BRUSH AND PEN, a stylish mini that pins its effectiveness on how Smith portrays its characters. The main character is an anthropomorphic pen named Clicky and it concerns his travails with his wife, a beautiful but "high-maintenance" brush. The story leads up to the two of them having the writing implement version of having sex: dipping into an inkwell and drawing on fresh sheets of paper. There's a great panel where Brush dips her head into the ink and flings her head back, ink spraying everywhere. It's a genuinely sensuous image that leads to a clever sequence where the two characters express their passion on the page, with the accumulated ink leading to a blackout (quite literally). Smith's playful figures remind me a bit of Steve Lafler's work. This mini had modest ambitions but fulfilled them admirably, and I'm curious to see what else Smith can do.
Monday, July 03, 2006
Brush and Pen reviewed by Breakdowns
Breakdowns.
Reviewed by Christopher Allen.
Brush and Pen by Shannon Smith is a minicomic about Click the Ballpoint Pen and his wife, an unnamed brush. We see Clicky bemoan his short life, financial pressures and other woes to his philandering buddy Q, the Quill Pen. He gets home and the wife gives him a hard time, taking out her cabin fever on him. Smith has a very modest story to tell here, but it is a story, and though he doesn’t do a very good job of making this world seem real (pens work as they work for us in our world, but somehow they also live in a city, have homes, bills, etc., his dialogue is pretty amusing once the double-entendres start coming—something I can appreciate. This leads logically, yet still surprisingly, to a classy but impassioned love scene for the couple. It’s silly but romantic and bound to make you smile. One problem, though—drawing Pen in pen and Brush with brush is a good idea on, um, paper, but it unfortunately makes Pen look thin and flat as a character.
Reviewed by Christopher Allen.
Brush and Pen by Shannon Smith is a minicomic about Click the Ballpoint Pen and his wife, an unnamed brush. We see Clicky bemoan his short life, financial pressures and other woes to his philandering buddy Q, the Quill Pen. He gets home and the wife gives him a hard time, taking out her cabin fever on him. Smith has a very modest story to tell here, but it is a story, and though he doesn’t do a very good job of making this world seem real (pens work as they work for us in our world, but somehow they also live in a city, have homes, bills, etc., his dialogue is pretty amusing once the double-entendres start coming—something I can appreciate. This leads logically, yet still surprisingly, to a classy but impassioned love scene for the couple. It’s silly but romantic and bound to make you smile. One problem, though—drawing Pen in pen and Brush with brush is a good idea on, um, paper, but it unfortunately makes Pen look thin and flat as a character.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Brush and Pen in Shiot Crock 11
Here are some comments about Brush and Pen from the Shiot Crock 11 review thread at The Comics Journal's message board.
"Hilarious. Freaking hilarious. At first I was wondering why bother using the pens as a metaphor for people if they were the same, but once Q suggested that Clicky find a job with a compulsive clicker or lucky pen, I realized what I was in for. Funny stuff all the way through. Bravo. I'm a sucker for a happy ending too. I'll be hitting your site too, looking for more of your material."
"Very sweet story. I like it when the underdog gets the beautiful woman…and it all works out. Sex is everything in a successful relationship. The ‘black’ page tells it all. Perfect, precise ‘drawing.’ Love it. Loved the play on words…referencing the writing utensils."
"Page 18, last panel: anyone who can make a brush look sexy is okay by me. Girlfrined like this one, so that's a good endorsement."
"Very cool, very clever. Will we ever see them again?"
"I loved the small format. I miss seing minis that are this long, too. Most people think that "mini" means they can get away with only putting like 5 cartoons in a book (see above). I really liked the story. These characters are characters I could read several books of. They are interesting. I think they look a bit like you are trying to draw them really quickly. I don't mean to say that your drawings are bad, but that they could be better. Also, as you have mentioed, backgrounds would make this look a heck of a lot better. Don't fall short on the next one because this seems like the kinda thing that will either be talked about because of the time you put into it, or it will be tossed aside as a "cute" story because of the time you didn't pput into it. I also liked the ending. Thanks for making sex clean again, as that is something I haven't seen in a long time. Brush and Pen really love each other, they don't just hump each other..."
"I like the lovemaking scene. The different lines they make are a good analogy for personalities merging. The story reads well. It’s cute overall."
"I think Brush and Pen is a very clever idea. It's again, a fully thought-out world for the characters to inhabit, and I enjoyed it a lot. The writing and the pacing of the story is first rate. Great fun."
More about Brush and Pen and Shiot Crock here.
"Hilarious. Freaking hilarious. At first I was wondering why bother using the pens as a metaphor for people if they were the same, but once Q suggested that Clicky find a job with a compulsive clicker or lucky pen, I realized what I was in for. Funny stuff all the way through. Bravo. I'm a sucker for a happy ending too. I'll be hitting your site too, looking for more of your material."
"Very sweet story. I like it when the underdog gets the beautiful woman…and it all works out. Sex is everything in a successful relationship. The ‘black’ page tells it all. Perfect, precise ‘drawing.’ Love it. Loved the play on words…referencing the writing utensils."
"Page 18, last panel: anyone who can make a brush look sexy is okay by me. Girlfrined like this one, so that's a good endorsement."
"Very cool, very clever. Will we ever see them again?"
"I loved the small format. I miss seing minis that are this long, too. Most people think that "mini" means they can get away with only putting like 5 cartoons in a book (see above). I really liked the story. These characters are characters I could read several books of. They are interesting. I think they look a bit like you are trying to draw them really quickly. I don't mean to say that your drawings are bad, but that they could be better. Also, as you have mentioed, backgrounds would make this look a heck of a lot better. Don't fall short on the next one because this seems like the kinda thing that will either be talked about because of the time you put into it, or it will be tossed aside as a "cute" story because of the time you didn't pput into it. I also liked the ending. Thanks for making sex clean again, as that is something I haven't seen in a long time. Brush and Pen really love each other, they don't just hump each other..."
"I like the lovemaking scene. The different lines they make are a good analogy for personalities merging. The story reads well. It’s cute overall."
"I think Brush and Pen is a very clever idea. It's again, a fully thought-out world for the characters to inhabit, and I enjoyed it a lot. The writing and the pacing of the story is first rate. Great fun."
More about Brush and Pen and Shiot Crock here.
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Brush and Pen reviewed by The Comics Journal
Dogsbody
Review by Austin English.
This comic has characters who are ballpoint pens, characters who are Sharpies and characters who are brushes. Each character is drawn with that particular tool. It's an interesting idea, but a frustrating one. Smith draws pretty well in brush, but not so well in ballpoint pen or Sharpie. The potential for an idea like this one lies in how interesting style contrasts would happen with different mediums, but that doesn't really happen here. You get very nice brush drawings, and really mediocre ballpoint pen drawings that dilute the brushwork.
But there is an artist in Smith. The brush drawings feature interesting expressions and figure movement. I want to see Smith do more comics in brush, and fewer panels where two characters sit stiffly and look at each other blankly with no backgrounds to distract us from the same stiff arrangement, panel after panel. Smith knows how to make an interesting facial composition. The next task is to make an interesting panel composition.
Review by Austin English.
This comic has characters who are ballpoint pens, characters who are Sharpies and characters who are brushes. Each character is drawn with that particular tool. It's an interesting idea, but a frustrating one. Smith draws pretty well in brush, but not so well in ballpoint pen or Sharpie. The potential for an idea like this one lies in how interesting style contrasts would happen with different mediums, but that doesn't really happen here. You get very nice brush drawings, and really mediocre ballpoint pen drawings that dilute the brushwork.
But there is an artist in Smith. The brush drawings feature interesting expressions and figure movement. I want to see Smith do more comics in brush, and fewer panels where two characters sit stiffly and look at each other blankly with no backgrounds to distract us from the same stiff arrangement, panel after panel. Smith knows how to make an interesting facial composition. The next task is to make an interesting panel composition.
Brush and Pen reviewed by Poopsheet
Poopsheet
Reviewed by Mark Campos
A romantic and funny, if rough-hewn, story about a ballpoint pen who works all day at an office writing stuff to support his arty wife, who's a brush. They spar, then make up, then make up some more in an ending that's sweet and sneakily erotic.
Reviewed by Mark Campos
A romantic and funny, if rough-hewn, story about a ballpoint pen who works all day at an office writing stuff to support his arty wife, who's a brush. They spar, then make up, then make up some more in an ending that's sweet and sneakily erotic.
Brush and Pen reviewed by Comic Book Galaxy
Comic Book Galaxy
Brush and Pen is the story of Clicky, your average, hard-working pen, who wants nothing more than to go home to his loving, adoring brush of a wife and a good home-cooked meal. Unfortunately none of that’s going to happen. It’s a slice-of-life story told in an extremely unique fashion.
There’s a lot going for this mini-comic, but there are a few things working against it as well. Smith’s art, as well as his dialogue are very simple throughout, occasionally hinting at greater things. It’s put together sloppily, the pages aren’t centered, the staples are off, and the paper used for the cover is speckled with something, and it’s distracting as hell.
But as off-putting as all that can be it adds a lot of charm to an already moderately charming book. There’s something comforting about knowing Smith had to hop on down to his local Kinko’s (or, even better, printed it up himself), staple the pages in order and seal it in an envelope, slap a stamp on it and send it out.
Also adding to all that is the fact that each character in the book was drawn by the same instrument they represent (Clicky was drawn with a ball point pen, Qbert a quill, Sharpster a Sharpie, etc.). It also lends a bit more personality to the characters as well.
The story itself feels like a throwback to the old romantic-comedy television shows, something Smith actively attempted and achieved, to moderate success. It’s lacking the timelessness of those shows, but very much gets the gist of it. Clicky is equal parts Dick Van Dyke and Desi Arnez, cming home after a hard days work to a loving, misunderstood wife, who doesn’t always do the right thing.
Smith has a long way to go before he’s at the top of his game, and Brush and Pen definitely isn’t the best the wide world of mini-comix has to offer, but it’s a good read regardless. Smith’s site has a six page preview of the book, which you can find here, as well as all kinds of information about the man and his work. He’s definitely passionate about making comix, and his use of different tools to illustrate the work shows a desire for variations within the narrative. It’s not a book without failures, but sometimes the success is in the trying, and Shannon Smith definitely tries, and puts more heart into his 23 pages than most books get into their first five issues. I, for one, would like to see this as a continuing series, a Honeymooners for the comix community if you will, and see Smith hone his craft to its finest.
-- Logan Polk
Brush and Pen is the story of Clicky, your average, hard-working pen, who wants nothing more than to go home to his loving, adoring brush of a wife and a good home-cooked meal. Unfortunately none of that’s going to happen. It’s a slice-of-life story told in an extremely unique fashion.
There’s a lot going for this mini-comic, but there are a few things working against it as well. Smith’s art, as well as his dialogue are very simple throughout, occasionally hinting at greater things. It’s put together sloppily, the pages aren’t centered, the staples are off, and the paper used for the cover is speckled with something, and it’s distracting as hell.
But as off-putting as all that can be it adds a lot of charm to an already moderately charming book. There’s something comforting about knowing Smith had to hop on down to his local Kinko’s (or, even better, printed it up himself), staple the pages in order and seal it in an envelope, slap a stamp on it and send it out.
Also adding to all that is the fact that each character in the book was drawn by the same instrument they represent (Clicky was drawn with a ball point pen, Qbert a quill, Sharpster a Sharpie, etc.). It also lends a bit more personality to the characters as well.
The story itself feels like a throwback to the old romantic-comedy television shows, something Smith actively attempted and achieved, to moderate success. It’s lacking the timelessness of those shows, but very much gets the gist of it. Clicky is equal parts Dick Van Dyke and Desi Arnez, cming home after a hard days work to a loving, misunderstood wife, who doesn’t always do the right thing.
Smith has a long way to go before he’s at the top of his game, and Brush and Pen definitely isn’t the best the wide world of mini-comix has to offer, but it’s a good read regardless. Smith’s site has a six page preview of the book, which you can find here, as well as all kinds of information about the man and his work. He’s definitely passionate about making comix, and his use of different tools to illustrate the work shows a desire for variations within the narrative. It’s not a book without failures, but sometimes the success is in the trying, and Shannon Smith definitely tries, and puts more heart into his 23 pages than most books get into their first five issues. I, for one, would like to see this as a continuing series, a Honeymooners for the comix community if you will, and see Smith hone his craft to its finest.
-- Logan Polk
Brush and Pen reviewed by Comicreaders
comicreaders.com
First off, my apologizes. As I was reading Brush and Pen, my first thoughts were Shannon Smith was a woman writing a comic book about men. But I was wrong; Shannon Smith is very much a guy. I, for one, should not assume anything about a name, as I’ve had to live with constant reminders that Dana is also a girl’s name. But having the knowledge I now hold, this mini comic makes more sense to me. Even though the constant references to picking up women, going out on the town to meet women, and “keeping” a women don’t really make interesting reading material for myself, it’s all in better perspective.
The world of Brush and Pen revolves around a clever gimmick. All the characters in the book are a type of writing utensil, and each starring cast is drawn with the instrument they are. Clicky, the ball point pen, lives his last few moments at work before the weekend hits, bumping into co-worker and friend alike until he reaches his destination at home. The first chapter of this mini comic is rather dry in content, as Clicky drones on with his old buddy, Big Qbert. They ramble on about life and circumstance, with Big Q going on about how lucky Clicky is to have married a brush.
Brush and Pen stands out in the second chapter, “Lefty Lucy”. While the couple of Brush and Pen squabble over petty problems in their relationship, many noteworthy things were achieved. The art really improved with the appearance of Brush, as Smith shows his ability as an artist. The story also took a leap as the two writing utensils consummate their love for one another. I couldn’t tell if the story was suppose to be serious at this point, but I was quite amused at the sexual foreplay – it was quite funny, but at the same time, I could see Smith working on something bigger.
I know this mini comic is a labour of love for Smith, but I do see many problems that could easily be fixed to give him and the readers’ greater enjoyment. The lettering really needs to be cleaned up for one; many of the letters are of different thickness and shape, and small “l”s and capitol “L”s are interchanged throughout. Also, if every panel of this issue was as beautifully drawn as the cover, Brush and Pen would be a visual delight. My advice to Shannon Smith would be: spend more time on the interior pages and panels, and don’t rush to meet some personal deadline. (Dana Tillusz)
First off, my apologizes. As I was reading Brush and Pen, my first thoughts were Shannon Smith was a woman writing a comic book about men. But I was wrong; Shannon Smith is very much a guy. I, for one, should not assume anything about a name, as I’ve had to live with constant reminders that Dana is also a girl’s name. But having the knowledge I now hold, this mini comic makes more sense to me. Even though the constant references to picking up women, going out on the town to meet women, and “keeping” a women don’t really make interesting reading material for myself, it’s all in better perspective.
The world of Brush and Pen revolves around a clever gimmick. All the characters in the book are a type of writing utensil, and each starring cast is drawn with the instrument they are. Clicky, the ball point pen, lives his last few moments at work before the weekend hits, bumping into co-worker and friend alike until he reaches his destination at home. The first chapter of this mini comic is rather dry in content, as Clicky drones on with his old buddy, Big Qbert. They ramble on about life and circumstance, with Big Q going on about how lucky Clicky is to have married a brush.
Brush and Pen stands out in the second chapter, “Lefty Lucy”. While the couple of Brush and Pen squabble over petty problems in their relationship, many noteworthy things were achieved. The art really improved with the appearance of Brush, as Smith shows his ability as an artist. The story also took a leap as the two writing utensils consummate their love for one another. I couldn’t tell if the story was suppose to be serious at this point, but I was quite amused at the sexual foreplay – it was quite funny, but at the same time, I could see Smith working on something bigger.
I know this mini comic is a labour of love for Smith, but I do see many problems that could easily be fixed to give him and the readers’ greater enjoyment. The lettering really needs to be cleaned up for one; many of the letters are of different thickness and shape, and small “l”s and capitol “L”s are interchanged throughout. Also, if every panel of this issue was as beautifully drawn as the cover, Brush and Pen would be a visual delight. My advice to Shannon Smith would be: spend more time on the interior pages and panels, and don’t rush to meet some personal deadline. (Dana Tillusz)
Brush and Pen reviewed by Optical Sloth
Optical Sloth
I do love the random comics, and this one was more random than most. It's all about a brush, a pen and a sharpie, so far at least The brush and the pen are married (as you might be able to guess from the cover) and the sharpie is a horny friend of the pen from work. Not sure what exactly work is, but it's at an office, and it doesn't really matter at the moment. This issue is mostly a conversation between the pen and the sharpie, another one between the brush and the pen, and, well, the brush and the pen having sex. So if you were ever curious what a brush and a pen having sex would look like (and who hasn't been?), then look no further. I should also mention that the characters were drawn with their respective items, like the pen being drawn with a pen, the sharpie with a sharpie, etc It's a fun little story, but the man wanted impartial criticism, so here I come to pile on some negativity! There were almost no backgrounds here, so these already odd characters seemed to be living in a vacuum Slightly unsettling, to say the least And some of the word balloons had some serious run-on sentences that could have used some punctuation, and yes, I'm aware of the irony of me complaining about run-on sentences. Overall it was a pretty good book though, especially good if it was a first effort. Removing them from the void would do wonders for it though. $3
I do love the random comics, and this one was more random than most. It's all about a brush, a pen and a sharpie, so far at least The brush and the pen are married (as you might be able to guess from the cover) and the sharpie is a horny friend of the pen from work. Not sure what exactly work is, but it's at an office, and it doesn't really matter at the moment. This issue is mostly a conversation between the pen and the sharpie, another one between the brush and the pen, and, well, the brush and the pen having sex. So if you were ever curious what a brush and a pen having sex would look like (and who hasn't been?), then look no further. I should also mention that the characters were drawn with their respective items, like the pen being drawn with a pen, the sharpie with a sharpie, etc It's a fun little story, but the man wanted impartial criticism, so here I come to pile on some negativity! There were almost no backgrounds here, so these already odd characters seemed to be living in a vacuum Slightly unsettling, to say the least And some of the word balloons had some serious run-on sentences that could have used some punctuation, and yes, I'm aware of the irony of me complaining about run-on sentences. Overall it was a pretty good book though, especially good if it was a first effort. Removing them from the void would do wonders for it though. $3
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