Stinz Comic Leaves Reviewer in Love

Review by Michael Vance Stinz is original. Original means "the first", not imitative, new, inventive, creative. Donna Barr. That does not mean this comic book or anything

Thursday, August 24th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Review by Michael Vance

Stinz is original. Original means "the first", not imitative, new, inventive, creative. Donna Barr.

That does not mean this comic book or anything praised as original is exceptionally good or bad. It does mean that you will either love or hate Stinz.

I am in love.

It was love at first sight because Cartoonist Donna Barr's art is unique. Technically flawless, its heavy line and contrasting blocks of black and white are reminiscent of woodcuts or the work of H.G. Peters, the first artist on the comic book Wonder Woman. It is reminiscent, not imitative, because Barr's work has something these predecessors sometimes lacked, an energy that leaps off the pages.

Love deepened as Stinz and I got to know one another. Barr's dialog is natural but spattered with German phrases that require a bit of interpretation. Translations are always provided. Her characters are wonderfully developed and believable despite the fact that the majority of their bodies belong bolted on a carousal. In addition, Barr has the ability to transform mundane events into fascinating drama and humor.

So, what is this Stinz comic book all about already!? It is about half-men and half-horses, and a man-faced horse. It is about German centaurs that were mutated after a nuclear war, other mutated beings that fit no mythological pattern, and the non-mutated people who live among them.

This particular issue has deceptively simply plot, the ramifications of a found machine gun.

Now you know I was horsing around, and why Stinz is original and good. Neigh. Excellent.

Stinz #8 is highly recommended. You must also buy: Horsebrush and Other Tales, Charger, The Ninjery, Family Values, Old Man Out, The Bob War, Bum Steer, A Stranger To Our Kind, A Marvelous Resistance and A Dog's Life.

Stinz #8 is priced at $6.00 and is 64 pages. Published by Fine Line Press and sold in comics shops, over the internet and by mail.

Questions? Comments? A comic you wish reviewed? Write: 1427 S. Delaware Ave., Tulsa, OK, 74104. Or email Michael Vance at miklvance@yahoo.com.