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Moulgar Bag Digest
posted February 9, 2008
 



Creators: Rusty Jordan, Brent Harada
Publishing Information: Self-Published, mini-comic, 16 pages
Ordering Numbers:

I almost automatically enjoy little homemade books like the first issue of Moulgar Bag Digest but I only have to cast my eyes a little bit to one side or the other to rattle against the publication's limitations. A collaborative effort by Rusty Jordan and Brent Harada, artists and it looks like occasional cartoonists in their 20s, Moulgar Bag Digest features the almost required oddly-textured creatures acting out towards their space and one another in almost rigidly fundamental ways -- a little bit of Mat Brinkman, a little bit of painterly reference, a little bit of Mumenschantz.

While the cover is probably the most impressive piece of illustration (it's off-register on purpose, not because of my scan), my favorite picture is the one below, with the two different creatures interacting with one another in a way that draws attention to the thin lines which make up their respective surfaces. I think for most people, however, this is going to be a case of a kind of work one's seen before, used to a more rigorous effect. I should say the scans here don't do total justice to the crisp Xeroxing/printing, and there's enough visual accomplishment on display that if you like this sort of work as a general rule, you'll want one for your own. But in all honest? This is the sort of modestly aimed effort that one look at the art tells you everything you need to know.