In my column about MoCCA a few weeks ago, I made the (obvious) observation that the general public is taking independent comics seriously again. The following week that idea was bolstered by a cover story in the July 11 New York Times Magazine. "Not Funnies" by Charles McGrath featured cover art by Chester Brown, included art by Brown, Seth and Chris Ware, and included an impressive photo of Brown, Seth, Adrian Tomine, Art Spiegleman and Joe Sacco, as if to say the Independent Comix scene (or some would say "mafia") has arrived. Whether this is a fleeting cutural moment or not remains to be seen. But I easily remember, ten-twelve years ago, when the first issues of "Yummy Fur" and "Palookaville" appeared by these no-name, oddball, seemingly faux-underground artists, published by then-undescript, no-name indy publishers (Vortex, D&Q). They weren't "Hate" or Crumb or "Maus" for that matter. But there was something there. They were interesting. Different. These guys had talent. Original voices. But still they were just comix, right?

And now they're celebrities.

So what does all this have to do with ALTERNATIVE COMICS? There is now a nice, small handful of indy publishers following in the Fantagraphics/Drawn & Quarterly footsteps. The business plan for this kind of endeavor - to publish original, non-superhero, chiefly non-narrative, artist-driven work - has to be the worst, bone-headed move anyone with a little cash-on-hand can make. Slave Labor and Top Shelf are doing it. Pantheon is doing it - but as an off-shoot of Random House you can't imagine too much risk there. And then there's Alternative Comics.

AC is a one-man operation: Jeff Mason. All of the AC line has simply the artist credited and Jeff's name as publisher. I'm not sure that AC has any staff beyond Jeff. Yet, in format and presentation the quality and printing of AC's books stand alongside anything printed by Fanta and D&Q. Most importantly, there is a strong sense from AC's line that these creators: Herpich, Sacks, Annable, Tommaso, Cole, Henderson, Alexander and many others are the next Seths and Chet Browns. Beyond being publisher, Mason seems to be Den Mother for his entire line of creators. These are not (with, perhaps, the exception of SALMON DOUBTS) perfect books. These are, for the most part, new artists, having first works published. But their voices are original and the quality of the work is high. A lot of them, as they're discovered by the public, may move on to bigger publishers. Which would be a tremendous shame for AC. Because Mason, with his strong sense of "good comix" - has given all his artists an opportunity for their works to breathe.

A Side Comment: AC is having financial difficulty due to distribution problems. For more information on that see Mason's comments at Indyworld.com. The only effect that had on this article is that it was published slightly earlier in the summer than it might have been. But, as I mentioned in the previous column, my intention is to get to all the books I picked up at MoCCA before too long. (And I already had reviews of HICKEE and CUSP waiting in the wings.)

HICKEE
Written and Illustrated by Various (the Hickee Gang)
Alternative Comics
$12.95

FURTHER GRICKLE
By Graham Anable
Alternative Comics
$14.95

MAGIC WHISTLE #9
By Sam Henderson
Alternative Comics
$11.95

In the mid- to late-70's NATIONAL LAMPOON owned a part of the newsstand no other magazine could touch. NATLAMP was subversive, anti-establishment, incredibly well-written (for what it was), and included fiction, articles, news, comic parodies and it's own comix section "The Funny Pages" (which included Gahan Wilson's NUTS, London's DIRTY DUCK, Ed Subitzky, Flenniken's TROTS AND BONNIE, CHICKEN GUTZ, etc.) When P.J. O'Rourke took over as EIC in the late-70's, his ambition was no less than to turn it into the subversive, comedy equivalent of "The New Yorker" - and it was. After O'Rourke left, the magazine took a downhill slide, concentrated on it's film endeavors and basically dried-up and died. And nothing has ever replaced it. SPY was funny, but way too trendy for it's own sake. The ONION is a strong heir to NATLAMP, but again all you're getting is the news. To offer a little more compensation, there's HICKEE.

HICKEE is simply the best short, subversive comic strips being published today since NATLAMP's "Funny Pages." Beyond all other AC products, this is far-and-away the biggest diamond-in-the-rough - the one with all the commercial potential. It is simply, awesomely, incredibly f-ing funny. To be incredibly f-ing funny, is the entire goal of HICKEE and the self-named "Hickee Gang." The jokes are sometimes pornographic, and often bathroom humor - but the cartooning - and craft are exceedingly high. And basically, they're just intensely f-ing funny! HICKEE boasts several artists with animation experience (which makes sense) - but unlike Dark Horse's earlier SCATTERBRAIN, there is no attempt to be cool or artsy here. The strips are all black-and-white, some of them are extremely scratchy. But in terms of a well-developed sense of humor - and a group of comic creators - who are all mentally on the same wavelength - and feeding off of each other - the work comes off as lean, tight and well - just incredibly f-ing funny. Highlights are Vamberto Maduro, Razmig Mavlian ("Super Cool Einstein"), Derek Sakai, Joe White and Graham Anable - who's work alone has been published in the excellent GRICKLE and FURTHER GRICKLE.

Sam Henderson, who writes the intro to HICKEE #1 and seems to be an honorary part of the Gang, also creates MAGIC WHISTLE. MAGIC WHISTLE #9 is more of the same - i.e. also incredibly f-in funny - and has lots of color sections to boot. And yes, Sam was a creator/storyboard director on "Spongebob Squarepants." Have I convinced you, yet? Go buy these books.

SALMON DOUBTS
By Adam Sacks
Alternative Comics
$14.95

SALMON DOUBTS is about fish. Two salmon, to be specific: Geoff and Henry. They are born. They enter a school of identical salmon with the simple, unknowable purpose of travelling to the spawning grounds (to eventually spawn and die). In this simple, existential tale, Sacks compresses whole-spun ideas of life, mystery, yearning, loneliness, fascism, conformity, sex and death. The art, rendered in two-tone sections is breathtaking. The fact that Sacks is able to establish his characters without even the lead fish looking any different than any other fish is amazing. Henry, an introverted shy salmon, longs only to spawn with Samantha. Geoff, a quiet introspective salmon, believes there must be more to life than following the school to spawn. Their "adventure" takes them into the ocean, briefly into the dangerous world of man, and finally upstream to the spawning grounds (where the cycle prepares to start all over again).

Sacks' cartooning is extremely well-honed. The fact that his story and characters are so tight and well-imagined makes this an extremely satisfying book. Part National Geographic documentary, part Woody Allen film, SALMON DOUBTS is brilliant, touching and evocative. And I wouldn't be surprised if it won all the major alternative comics awards for 2004.

NEVER ENDING SUMMER
By Allison Cole
Alternative Comics
$11.95

NEVER ENDING SUMMER tells a familiar story of post-college kids, slackers, hanging out over the course of a summer. It's about love and loneliness. Allison hangs out with her friends Shay and Holladay. They drink, hang out in the comic shop Ali works in. And they dwell on their relationships. Ali can't get over Asher, her boyfriend who's moved to Australia for the summer. She has a fling with another boy, Sam. She finds solace in becoming a DJ. Simple, light stuff.

What sets NES apart, is Cole's commitment to utilizing a specific, simple, line-drawn style for her entire book. The style bears a very, very distant resemblance to Chester Brown. Despite almost no depth or shading (and no character detail beyond eyes and squiggly lines depicting different hairstyles), the art is well-crafted and convincing. Her bars, rooms, roofs and stores are all keenly felt. Even the characters' joys and pains are deeply felt, despite them all being rendered as something like giant neckless bears or eggmen. If this all sounds somewhat put-offish, it's not. Cole's artwork is friendly, fun and inviting. As she develops her stories beyond autobio slacker narratives, she'll be a name to look out for.

8 1/2 GHOSTS
By Rich Tommaso
Alternative Comics
$3.95

Rich Tommaso's 8 1/2 GHOSTS, is the kind of book you're sure you've seen before, but really you haven't. His work and sense of humor are extremely similar to Dan Clowes. If you took his name off the cover and passed the book around, most people would think they were looking at a copy of EIGHTBALL. And that's not a bad thing.

8 1/2 GHOSTS tells the story of a film-maker that moves into a real haunted house to make a horror film and enlists the ghosts' help. The story doesn't quite gel, here. But Tommaso's art is funny, quirky and well-rounded. Additionally, Tommaso's coloring of the covers and even his lettering are highly professional. As Tommaso develops his story-telling ability (and especially his humor) - and establishes himself as more than a Clowes-lookalike - he'll be a creator to watch.

YELLOW BABY #1
By Jed Alexander
Alternative Comics
$3.95

Highly stylized, it's interesting that Jed Alexander decided to pursue comics with projects like YELLOW BABY, instead of illustration or fine art. (More money in alt. comics?) A graduate of the NY School for Visual Arts (along with friends Tomer Hanuka and Tom Herpich), Alexander's art and method of storytelling are quirky and original with no real comparable artists out there (Paul Pope? Dave Cooper? Not really.) Originally planned to be a thrice-yearly book, YB hasn't gone past #1, but the main story TURTLE, TURTLE has already been collected in a full tpb. "Turtle, Turtle," here, tells the story of Cesar, a Mexican-Jew coming to live in his new home with his grandmother in Mexico. It's an oblique, but moving story - with all the pains of being young and "other" in a foreign place deeply felt. YB #1 also comes with other stories, particularly the very funny "Free Ideas."

HI-HORSE OMNIBUS
By various
Alternative Comics
$11.95

A mainstay of Alternative Comics from the beginning has been anthologies, like ROSETTA and the aforementioned HICKEE. The HI-HORSE OMNIBUS is a very strong collection of alt. comics up-and-comers. The artists here are of a more gentile lot than HICKEE, but their works are well-crafed, imaginative and whimsical. Howard John Arey, one of the editors, is channeling early Crumb. While his artwork is a little sketchier - his writing and comedy are top-knotch. Bishakh Som, Gabrielle Bell and Cole Johnson, among others, turn in fine, polished work. And the cover by Andrice Arp (who also contributes stories) is simply the best cover on any book this year. What are you waiting for? Go get it!