Volume Three, Number One

We're back and in our own spiffy new blog, to boot!

To commemorate this column's move I've decided to start off at its new location with a new number one. Also too once I get settled into some sort of routine I plan to write the occasional commentary about comics-related subjects and from time to time even have a guest writer/reviewer contributing something to this space.

As for the frequency of new installments of E-Dispatches, that depends on my health (for those of you who aren't aware I suffer from a condition known as peripheral neuropathy. If you would like to know more about it feel free to check out www.neuropathy.org )and how many comics I am sent to review by publishers, creators and you readers. With no access to comics (outside of Archie digests) or a comics shop here in the lovely fishing community of Port Stanley Ontario (Canada) the only way I can have material to review is if someone sends it to me.

So what exactly do I review? Basically any comics or comics-related product with the exception of sex comics. I also don't review comics that are sent to me online or web comics. So if you have something you'd like me to review you can mail it to me at...

Jonathan A. Gilbert/2-225 Colborne St./Box 10/Port Stanley, Ontario/N5L 1C2/Canada. If you are mailing me something from outside of Canada be sure to attach a custom declaration sticker and mark it "gift".

Now that I've gotten all the preliminary stuff out of the way it's time for this installment's review. A couple of months back a gentleman named Dino Caruso from Hamilton Ontario Canada sent me a few comics to review. Published under the name of "Caruso Comics" Dino's work covers a wide scope and over the next couple of installments I'll be devoting this space to his comics. This time out I'll be talking about...

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A CAUTIONARY TALE published by Caruso Comics. 24-page black and white comic with full colour covers. Cover price $4. Written by Dino Caruso with art and letters by Paul Quinn.

Published in 2006 and still available through the Caruso Comics website ( www.carusocomics.com ) this one-shot, at its most basic, is a story about the obsession of writing. But it is much more than that. In A CAUTIONARY TALE Dino Caruso takes the reader down a path of emotional darkness that can result from writing with it becoming one's sole purpose of being. While most writers are able to avoid this journey some aren't and A CAUTIONARY TALE deals with the consequences. I'm usually not a fan of stories such as this but this one touched me as I have seen this type of obsession so often over the years in the comics industry. As for the artwork in this 24-pager Paul Quinn's work is passable but extremely uneven not only sequentially but in his figure designs. And while his style does work in combination with Dino's story I found it still none the less to be somewhat distracting.

However, despite my problems with the artwork I none the less enjoyed A CAUTIONARY TALE and give it a strong recommendation. If you'd like to order it be sure to visit www.carusocomics.com .

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And with that this installment of E-Dispatches come to a close. Next time out more Caruso Comics reviews. See you then.

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Jonathan A. Gilbert is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in newspapers, magazines, fanzines, online and in comics. Currently some of his previously published comics material is being released by CE Publishing Group and is available through ComixPress. For more information of his CE Publishing Group material feel free to visit http://cepublishing.wetpaint.com . Jonathan A. Gilbert can be emailed at either edispatches@hotmail.com or JonAllanGilbert@yahoo.ca .