Chris Onstad

Onstad takes another trip down memory lane with another collection of early Achewood. The comics content is five stars because, well, it's Achewood. Onstad's side commentary in this one is weirdly self-deprecatory for a set of strips that while it's definitely early stuff, isn't THAT bad. The best part of these collections, though, is still Onstad's long-form text pieces that accompany the comics, which are just crammed with great lines themselves. (I can't remember the exact line now, but at one point Beef describes Ray's high school career as "Ray was so bad in school that when he was all done they retired the F." Ray's response? "Just like Jordan.")

It's a little sad to be writing this now, with Achewood not having updated since April, possibly never to return again, but it's nice to know that we'll always have these books to try and encapsulate Achewood.

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Catching up on reviews!

I haven't exactly made any secret of my love for Chris Onstad and Achewood (people who are actually Facebook friends with me, which is everyone on here, I guess, will note he's my only "inspirational person"), so giving this five stars shouldn't come as any surprise. You can make all of the accusations about Achewood dropping off quality-wise and I won't make a peep (I think it's peaked, too), but this is a shining example of the strip (is it a strip?) at its best. Onstad has his character voices down so tight, the art is spare but somehow perfect, and the jokes are magnificently executed. There's some fun back-matter type stuff to be had in the added bios of GOF champions of yesteryear, but the recipes section falls surprisingly flat for an Onstad production. My biggest quibble is that Dark Horse put a big 1 on the spine, which I think is bound to throw people as time goes on.… (mehr)