Suspended Animation: Confessions of a Cereal Eater

Review by Michael Vance <br> <br>Confessionsâ€¦ is an anthology of high school and college memories written by professional Rob Maisch and illustrated by students from an American university. They

Wednesday, August 30th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Review by Michael Vance

Confessionsâ€¦ is an anthology of high school and college memories written by professional Rob Maisch and illustrated by students from an American university. They are well-written, accurate, hut unpleasant memories.

"Taking pride in your bad behavior," writes Maisch, "and the wretched excesses of a life misspent is grist for stern sermons from the pulpit or, in our case, twisted little tales told to amaze and amuse our twisted little readers...."

"Daniel's Den" recounts high school boys at a night club in search of cheap thrills and Rock 'n Roll.

Two roommates fill their first three days at college with an escalating inter-dorm fracas, a drunken bash and indecent exposure in â€œMovin' In".

In "Scott's Jock", a father publicly embarrasses his son while buying athletic supporters, and â€œTwo in A Canoe" is the story of a first attempt at sex between two teenagers.

Artistically, the best of the batch are "Daniel's Den" and its muscular, angular art, and "Movin' in" which is full of heavy lines, ink washes and attitude. Both emphasize style over accurate portrayals of reality, and are technically flawless.

Confessionsâ€¦ deserves an adult audience not because of profanity and smarmy situations, but because neither are exploitive. And, once again, NBM deserves applause as one of the rare comics publishers that under-stands "adults only" is not always a synonym for gratuitous sex, violence and profanity.

Confessions of a Cereal Eater is priced at $2.95. It is 32 pages in length and published by NBM. It is sold in comics shops, by mail, and on the internet.

The Haunted Man #1

Review by Michael Vance

Published by Dark Horse as #1 of a 4-part series. An e-comic (a "weird hybrid of still pictures, animation, music and text" created on a computer) released as a comic book about a villain who steals parts of the past as a hero tries to stop him. Regrettably, the villain won't steal your disappointment.

Its art, an uneasy wedding of computer graphics and traditional paper and ink, is barely less confusing and just as uninteresting as its muddled dialog and plot.

Questions? Comments? A comic you wish reviewed? Write: 1427 S. Delaware Ave., Tulsa, OK, 74104. Or e-mail Michael Vance.