BOP!

(Top Shelf, 2004)
™ and © 2004 Alex Robinson

Box Office Poison fans thought they had da bomb a few years ago when Top Shelf released the massive 600-page collection of Robinson’s long-running series from Antarctic Press. Surprisingly, there remained a few short stories from various sources that had been omitted, and Top Shelf has compiled them into this addendum that serves as a tasty dessert to the feast presented in the previous volume.

For those not in the know: Robinson’s series is a slice-of-life comic book with a defined cast of characters in the same vein as, say, Terry Moore’s Strangers in Paradise or even Pete Sickman Garner’s Hey Mister. But Robinson keeps things light and airy, avoiding the heavy, overly emotional themes frequently explored in those books. Robinson’s characters aren’t sent over the edge by their boring jobs and troubled relationships; instead, he focuses on how they cope—and even triumph. The result is a refreshing, sometimes uplifting, and often surrealistic look at his characters and their coping mechanisms.

This is an obvious must-have for Robinson aficionados but it’s also an excellent tryout book for those who want to have a look at his worth without the expense of the previous compilation or the trouble of searching for individual back issues.

— Jim Johnson

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#1

September, 2003
Cover Price: $9.95
1 copy available for $7.98

Alex Robinson