#volcano trash

Neonpajamas select the 25 favourite books that they read in 2017, and Ben Sears’ Double+ Adventures Night Air and Volcano Trash and Jesse Jacobs’ Crawl Space make the list! On Night Air and Volcano Trash “From castles and haunted beings in Night Air (think Waluigi with more one liners) to a 'Mission Impossible' type labyrinth in Volcano Trash, the hero and robot brigade continue to impress as they do things their own way through a medley of shenanigans.“ — Ben Niespodziany, Neonpajamas

On Crawl Space

“[Jesse Jacobs] is back with Crawl Space, a book that might have you looking harder than you expected for your one missing sock.” — Ben Niespodziany, Neonpajamas

I walked around the LA Zine Fest this weekend, and it felt great to see a lotta artists and writers and small publishers I’d never even heard of. It felt like a big scene that I’m totally not even aware of. How many of these people live in LA? Where else do they meet up? 

The LA Zine Fest is a one-day event. I gotta say, that is so nice for exhibitors! I was just walking around, not tabling, but I know that a full weekend of tabling is so draining. I think the vibe and energy was good on Sunday.

I was surprised by how close the event was to Comic Art LA’s place! So this is a great neighborhood for small press conventions in LA. 

I got some great zines. My favorite small thing was The Inner Thoughts of a Businessman. This zine was so tiny and at first the person selling it wasn’t sure of the price, and was like, “uhhhhh, 3 bucks?” This was way too much money for a super tiny single-sheet, single-color zine. So then, there I was haggling for a cheap zine like a businessman... it was a good experience. I paid a dollar and I liked the writing inside.

My favorite bigger thing I bought was The Biggest Mistake of Your Life by Zachary Auburn. It’s a Choose Your Own Adventure book, formatted and printed just like the old books I had as a kid, about a couple’s breakup, mixed with a science fiction story or something. I haven’t started it yet. But boy did Zachary nail the visuals. Great looking self published book. Bravo! Can’t wait to dive in.

I also bought my friend Ben Sears’s new book Volcano Trash. Ben is a good cartoonist... I love how weird and compelling (and quiet!?) he draws action scenes. He makes these big splash scenes where the character is in 3 places at once in a panel... with arrows showing how they move. This is odd but it works in a way that lifts your mind into a different mode. You’re not used to it at first, but it’s fun to get into it. This is really cool...

Debuting at TCAF 2017 - VOLCANO TRASH by Ben Sears

Published by Koyama Press

ISBN: 978-1-927668-42-9 $12.00 6.5 x 9”, 120 pages, colour, trade paper May 2017

The boys are back to their temple raidin’ ways, but has the long, crooked arm of the law caught them?

Corrupt cops, hive-like henchmen, begoggled boy heroes, labyrinthine HQs, unlikely team ups, heartbreaking best friend breakups, and a liberal dose of super science, zingers and explosive action. Sound like a Double+ adventure? It is.

Praise for Night Air