Small press marketplace brought to you by the Poopsheet FoundationJoin the Community!

My Comix Blog

Micro-Mini Comix | Review

I love micro-minis. The fact that there is no standard paper size that can just be sent through the printer and folded to make one means that any micro-mini in your possession was handled with great care and attention by the maker. The had to cut it on 3 sides before folding it. They probably took a lot of time to lay several of them out on one sheet of paper, and spent even more time figuring out how to cut them out of that paper correctly. They’ve got spec sheets for themselves so they remember how to do it if they have to do a subsequent print run after the first runs out. After all is said and done, they look so simple, and usually that simplicity is capstoned by a single staple to bind it altogether. I know, because I’ve made 2 of them myself. 40 pages, very small 5.5x5cm in size. As expensive as they are to hand-make, they are super cheap to reproduce, which makes up for the time, in my opinion. Here, I’ll examine some micro-minis by two different creators:

Michael Neno

I’ve been sent Michael’s comix by other friends in the past simply because they knew I was making micro minis, and it was a real treat to receive them by the creator himself recently. Neno has been making comix for a long time, and his micro minis are an interesting exploration for this cartoonist. Here, he repurposes out of copyright works by other cartoonists and writes a new script for the drawings. This repurposing reminds me of Duchamp’s “Fountain” idea that an artist can simply claim a found object as their own if the idea is different from the original intent. Neno pulls this off very well with these 4 micro minis as titled:

Spaces – the most dynamic of the set. Neno examines negative space within panels of comics creating a new dimension outside of the original intent. This silent comic is truly experimental and deserving of the title “comix.”

Horse Crime Comics – The title says it all.

Tune Time Presents “The Stuck-Inside Song” – A COVID19 pandemic tale.

Farmers vs. Astronauts – Juxtaposing two different concepts on one panel which is a collage work by Neno where he has old golden age space comics characters dialogue with western comics characters.

These are just 4 of the 8 micro minis that Neno has made re-upholstering public domain comics. You can get them for $4/ea, 3 for $9, or 4 for $11 (postage paid for each option). He accepts paypal at mneno at columbus.rr.com or check/cash mailed to PO BOX 307675, Gahanna, OH 43230.

Rachel Bard

Bard has been someone I’ve been watching on Instagram slowly develop a micro mini comic called “The Chinchillustrator.” As soon as she posted it as ready on her etsy account, I snatched one up and was not disappointed. This is the most well-produced micro-mini comic I’ve ever laid eyes on. Printed on cardstock with a matte finish and bleed to the edge, it’s a 3.5 x 2.5 inch book in size.

It tells the story of a chinchilla artist cleaning their art studio while grappling with a certain amount of artist block. As the clutter gets cleaned, they come upon several old sketchbooks from various parts of their past artistic journey. Here’s the amazing part: the journals are embedded tiny micro minis bundled inside this micro mini! Essentially, this is 4 micro mini comics in one! The tiny journals are stapled inside the “larger” micro mini and show up in the narrative as the chinchilla finds them. It’s a really neat commentary on the artist’s need to take themselves seriously so that they can feel validated in the eyes of others, and then the eventual shedding of that need once they realize they just want to get back to doing it for the love of it. Critics (both internal and external) be damned! The tiny micro minis that are bundled inside are 1.5 x 1.25 inches. Their titles are as follows:

Practice Writing Pad ABC Game – An example of the Chinchilla’s childhood art

Tilly’s Space Adventure – Adolescence uncensored.

Artist Quality Sketch – College and/or early adulthood taking themselves too seriously.

You can purchase more of Rachel Bard’s works at http://rachelbard.com

Leave a Reply

Mini Mart