Mini-comics, art zines, fanzines and other self-published items of curiosity.

Michael Roden on the Web:
• Thru Black Holes Comix
• Dale Lee Coovert's Michael Roden Catalog

Ochre Ellipse by Jonas Madden-Connor:
Fanciful comics about a daydreaming artist.

Not My Small Diary #13 edited by Delaine Derry-Green:
Amazing anthology of autobiographical comics that comes in a handsome two-volume set. The theme of this issue is "Luck of the Draw".

Contributors include Jim Siergey, Chad Woody, Dan Zettwoch, Donna Barr, Mark Campos, Dan Moynihan, Dave Kiersh, T. Motley, Brad McGinty, Carrie McNinch, John Miller, Joel Orff, Androo Robinson, Dave Roman, Jerry Sims, Geoff Vasile, Tom Williams, Jeff Zenick, Trevor Alixopulos, Derek Ballard, Ian Carney, Max Clotfelter, Peter Conrad, Patrick Dean, Andrew Goldfarb, Josh Latta, Patty Leidy and many others.

Comicore Jr. by Paulette Poullet:
What a package this is! This is essentially a minicomic with all sorts of add-ons which include an assortment of handmade linoleum prints featuring "Comedians of the 1980s", pasted-on bits, a full-color fold-out centerspread and more. Fun!

Grey Bear by Graham Annable:
A bit of a change from the usual Graham Annable work in this brief-but-dark relationship tale that happens to be set in outer space.

King-Cat Comics and Stories #67 by John Porcellino:
A loose collection of stories and shorter impressions... art, life, fear and opening up. Sleeping in the Car in L.A., Colorado Folk Artist Square-Head John, Walking in San Francisco; plus letters, Top 40, and much much more.

Here are a few things that've made their way to my desk recently:

Michael Bowman publishes Nova Feedback, nice collections of his drawings and doodles. Very much on the abstract, surreal, art brut side of things and maybe even cute brut. I love this kind of stuff. You can check out a whole mess of his work at the artist's website.

Joshua Kemble is one of the most recent winners of the Xeric Grant and Numb was his entry. The accompanying info sheet describes this one as "a short comic about lost love and broken memories". More info is here.

Dreading Spring is Ed Moorman's new comic, a somber metaphor for... well, you can come to your own conclusions when you read it. More on the artist here.

If you grew up on superhero comics (or still read them) and miss the old fanzine days then you owe it to yourself to check out Comic Effect. Though there are usually multiple contributors, this issue consists entirely of editor Jim Kingman's essay "In One Fan's Beginning: DC's 52 Big Pages Era". More info at the Comic Effect website.