I was roaming around the interweb when I came across a link on the Patches website titled Mr. Toast. I curiously clicked and was transported to a world of quirky foodstuffs. The comic is written and drawn by Dan Goodsell who hails from L.A. His website is full to the brim of fun thingy things to click on and enjoy.

The comics are one –panel drawings that focus around a main character aptly named Mr. Toast. His best friend is Joe the Egg, and they are found in many non-adventures, such as magical tic-tac-toe games and doing hard time. It may seem ordinary, but when you are dealing with a toast and egg duo, there is no telling what will happen. Mr. Toast and his friends are a light-hearted bunch, and appeal to the child-like innocence that is buried underneath our adult, real-world exteriors.

The website is bright, fun, and simple to navigate. There are a wide variety of items to enjoy, from animations to storybooks about the solar system (which is quite informative). He is working on his own store, where he will sell Mr. Toast dolls, books, and hopefully some original artwork. He has some great fans, which send in some fantabulous drawings and pics of themselves posing with their Mr. Toast doll. I might buy a Mr. Toast doll myself, because I’ve decided that Mr. Toast is the balls.

If you would like to see why Mr. Toast is the balls, go ahead and click here. And if you like Mr. Dan Goodsell’s artwork, then check out his art shows or his personal gallery. And if you really like Dan Goodsell to the point of weird obsession, here is a link to his very own bloggy blog. You’re welcome.

I thought I’d point out the best shirt to give your special man/woman/transformer this Valentine’s Day. Check this shit out. Go show your love to Beaver and Steve by purchasing this shirt. Then go show your love by giving the shirt to your better half or enemy. It works both ways.

Since I’m pimping out shirts today, here is one worth a gander. Nothing beats Quincy sporting snazzy medical duds. It may not be suitable for Valentine’s Day, but it might just do the trick for a break-up gift. Just a thought.

To start off the new-year, I decided to interview Wiz Rollins of Bad Shape and Yirmumah. This is gracious of Wiz, especially when most of his time is consumed with writing comics and straight chillin’.

Thanks again to Wiz Rollins for sharing his plans for this year, and for also sharing some insight into the life of web comic creator…as well as a new sex position.

So here I am, slightly rocking like a weather phenomenon. I sat down today and read the entire archive of Minus. It was one of the most refreshing, enjoyable reads that I’ve had in quite a while.

The strip is done by Ryan Armand, who makes time to carefully and delicately paint and ink each strip onto a 15×20″ illustration board. He says that he likes to think that he is illustrating a comic strip for a newspaper in the early 20th century. To me this is an interesting creative choice, since a number of comics are set in present day or the salaciously tempting future.

The main character in all of the strips is Minus; a quiet, creative little girl who just might have some magic up her sleeves. I instantly liked her, probably because she carries herself with a sweet innocence that is hard to come by anymore. The comic itself feels like it was created in the mind of a child, and each strip is the product of Minus’s wild imagination.

There is no one continuous plot line. It is mainly little Minus getting into mischief and trouble. There are a few strips that are connected together, but these are usually three to four strips at best.

No matter if there is a storyline or not, there is an undeniable sense of whimsy and fairy tale-ness within Minus. It is difficult for me to put into words the thoughts this comic invokes.

The best way to get my point across is for you to close your eyes for a moment and think about your favorite childhood moment. Can you feel the sun on your arms? Can you feel the warm breeze as you climb that tree to get a better view?

That is what Minus recreates in an astounding little girl, who just wants to have fun being young.

I know it’s been waaaaay too long since I’ve written anything. But I figured I would come back to let you all know that I will make a triumph return to webcomic stuffs with an upcoming review of Minus of Koala Wallop. I haven’t forgotten about you Wallop-ites, I just got a serious case of Strep Throat and difficult finals. I’ll be posting this review on Wednesday, so keep your eyes open for it.

I’m continuing on my Koala Wallop review-athon with I am a Rocket Builder by Ben Shur. The comic is actually comprised of five separate comics; A Cave, An Old House, A Large Tree, A Tiny Shack, and The City.

All of them have been somewhat developed, except for A Cave. An Old House is a story about a small bird who is captured by The Pocket Witch. It is an interactive comic, with the last panel usually animated. And when I say interactive, I mean you can spur animations with you cursor. It’s a fun read, and I would like to see how this little bird ties in with the other storylines.

There is only one comic so far for A Large Tree.**Edit** There is more than one comic strip for A Large Tree, which can be found here. It is about a young bird couple, Brad and Janet. We see Brad telling Janet that he is going into the army to be able to afford a family. Then he drops on his knobby-bird knee and begins to propose to his dear Janet, but right then disaster strikes! What happens next, you ask? Only time and Ben Shur can tell.

A Tiny Shack is what I believe to be the masthead of all of the comics. It is about the rocket builder that the site is named after. The rocket builder in question is a young woman, who has yet to be identified. She has purchased a shack in the middle of nowhere, as a means to be able to work on her rockets without distraction. She is kept company by her one-eyed cat, Bones. All we know so far is that she moved out there to begin a new project, and that she is alone in this endeavor. And there is also a curious appearance by the bird from An Old House.

The last comic is The City. This seems to be the place where all of the comics tie into. Which makes sense, because it’s the big city. It starts out with a drunk of a library receptionist helping a strange man look for a book on bird anatomy. Perhaps the same birds found in the previous comics? The stranger asks to use the restroom, and after some confusion, gets to actually use one. But he’s in there an awfully long time, which results in him defacing public property, and most likely the firing of the drunken receptionist.

When you browse this comic, you will see the crossovers from the other comics. The artwork switches up on the newest strip, so I’m curious to see if Ben stays with that style or goes back to the original version he began with.

Right now these five comics seem to be mixed up, garbled up, and all kinds of crazy…up. But I have faith that as these comics progress, they will intertwine beautifully and masterfully, as one hopes Lost will eventually do. I definitely recommend this set of comics, if not for the ingenuity but for the wonderful artwork and the heart that goes into them.

Oh, and if you are looking for more of Ben Shur’s work, check out Cave Monster. It’ll be a good read for ya’.

I received an email through the Fleen contact site from Brad Shur, letting me know that there is a fairly new web comic collective in our midst. The collective is so cleverly titled, Koala Wallop. I’m not sure where Koalas come into play, but I like the name nonetheless.

The collective is comprised of five web comics: Perfect Stars, Dresden Codak, I am a Rocket Builder, Minus, and The Secret Crocodile Adventure Club. I’ve browsed through their sites, and decided to talk about The Secret Crocodile Adventure Club today. I’ll get to the others later this week, if all goes well in Allison Land.

Now on to The Secret Crocodile Adventure Club. With a name like that, I came into this comic with high expectations. It’s a secret club, with adventures. That’s pretty damn hard to pull off. First off, the site is explained as a secret order of crocodiles, which comes with it’s own hierarchy and rules of engagement. Their main enemy is the Michael J. Fox Society to Prevent Parkinson’s Disease. Why? I don’t know. I guess they have something against Michael J.

The archive is broken down into year one and year two. Year one is comprised of numerous croc characters, complete with eccentric personalities and dashing names. I immediately fell in love with these characters, which now reside illegally in my desktop-background folder. The colors are rich and resilient, bringing an eye-catching quality to each character depicted. The quality of the artwork is astounding to me. Stig Greve makes art look easy (but of course, it is not).

The characters themselves a bit wacky and tend to be on the crazy side. A few examples of these odd characters include Saigontime, Bateman and Ronald, and Expiration Date. These are just a few of the fifty-seven character drawings that Stig offers.

The second year of The Secret Crocodile Adventure Club is actually a story that takes place over ten pages of shrouded mystery and laced with combat. Prince of the Mountain is a gripping tale of how on croc, named Shang-Chi, battles a mountain, defeats some foes, and topples an empire with his mighty croc fist. It’s a light-hearted tale meant to amuse even the basest of crocodile forms.

Besides the comics themselves, there is a crocodile mailer you can receive. This is where Crocodile V, Effigia Okeeffeae, rants and raves about such things pertaining to leading a secret, adventure-filled, croc-laden society.

All in all, this web comic satisfies my comic needs in a way that few do: wholly and comprehensively. I hope there is a Prince of the Mountain 2: Electric Boogaloo. I’ll be crossing my fingers till then.

Ok, so I don’t have much to write today because I’ve been studying like crazy for two exams and a practical that take place next week. October is the Punisher of the academic calender. I’ll show you October; you’ll be my bitch after next week.

Anyways, I thought I’d point out today’s A Softer World comic. It makes me chuckle in a twisted, sadistic way…which basically is my typical laugh. The idea of bringing a cooler filled with alcohol to watch sea mammals die is oddly entertaining to me. If it isn’t to you, then you must have one of those things called a “soul”.

I’m sure by now everyone knows that I love me some foul, inappropriate humor. That is why I’m mentioning the Perry Bible Fellowship today. This is one of those comics that I enjoy showing others, simply for the shock value. The PBF starts off innocent enough, but leads you to a rather different conclusion than one would expect.

There is no story, no lesson learned here. These are simply fun, delightfully dirty comics that appeal to the darker aspect of your personality. You know, the side of you that slows down to look at horrendous car wrecks and marvel at human tragedy. So go treat your inner devil, it deserves a good laugh.

Damn, I want a rechargeable dog. I guess the next best thing will be living out all my electronic dog dreams through Hoover the Rechargeable Dog by John Mahood. He emailed us through our nifty contact address and presto!-he gets a review.

I read all of the August archive and sifted through the September back log to get a feel for his style and sense of humor. He draws a newspaper-style comic which is black and white, but also has color-rendered Sunday editions as well. The comic is about a boy named Skip who receives a robot dog for what I believe to be his birthday. He eventually names him Hoover, for the obvious robot-dog reasons.

The comic chronicles the mishaps and mini-adventures one would have with a super-awesome robot dog. The humor is cute, as is the artwork. The characters are memorable and adorable to boot. You can check out this foray into cuteness here. I like real dogs, but Hoover the Rechargeable Dog gives them a run for their delicious milk-bone money.