Stories of Kiwi

Posted: Wednesday, August 27, 2003
By: Darren Schroeder

Cover of Stories of Kiwi Creator(s): Jeffery J. Manley
Publishers: Self Published
From: USA
Price: 50 cents (US)

The adventures of a cartoonist who decides to start doing autobiographic strips, much to the dismay of his cartoon creations Kiwi Fruit (a floating sentient kiwi fruit) and Julius Bat john (a guy who might just be a bat.)

Kiwi fruit; cool. We grow them in New Zealand don't you know. Though we got them from China I think. They used to be called Chinese gooseberries if my memory serves me correct. We do comic too, but none of them kiwi fruit. So it took an American to do so, and he does a good job of it even if there are no signs of any New Zealand or Chinese origins.

This is a funny book. The interaction between the rather ordinary creator and his wacky characters works well, as they try to convince him to keep writing their stories. The spanner in the works is that the creator finds God, so has more on his mind than writing gags. Kiwi and Julius go out interviewing members of the public in order to get some support for their argument that their strip is too good to halt, and the interviews are especially amusing 'cause most of the interviewees seem very under whelmed by the whole thing.

The illustration style is appealing to the eye and the way Jeffery constructs the characters mouths is really fascinating; the mouth is an isolated shape that can float over the face and even over the edge. Wow, cool.

In a Word: Fresh.



If you have a comment or question about Small Press then feel free to contact me