Minimum

Bob Fingerman’s “Minimum Wage” #4 is a throwback to “comix,” like reading a grunge song on a Columbia House Music Club CD that you bought for a penny from an ad in TV Guide. It’s a nostalgia trip to an era where autobiographical comics weren’t something that appear in a Tumblr feed. The book is also like a teenage grunge fan — it may be a little long-winded and confused about its emotions, but its heart is in the right place and it means well. The issue opens with the sort-of fallout of Rob going home with one of his childhood idols and continues as he learns how to build a life for himself as a mid-20s divorcee. The time of life in which Rob currently exists, especially in early 2000s New York City, is a time when people are trying and failing to figure out who they are and how they fit in to the greater world around them. Rob is struggling with the notion that he still draws smut for cash under a pseudonym and aspires to a different sort of artistic expression. He knows what he wan

Bob Fingerman’s “Minimum Wage” #2 is an engaging and relatable slice of life story with a slightly dark edge and healthy dose of reality. Fingerman’s story is simple with Rob living back at home as he recovers financially (and emotionally) from his divorce. Fingerman’s writing is wonderfully real. It feels authentic whether readers are dealing with Rob’s humorous internal narration, his back and forth with his friends, or the slightly awkward conversations with May. Nicest of all is the lovely contrast that all those variations draw. Fingerman’s cartooning is excellent. It’s expressive and engaging across the board. His characters, realistic in their flaws, but with a fine cartoonish interpretation that works wonders, gives great depth and breadth to Rob’s world. Similarly, Fingerman’s character acting is exceptional and the storytelling is clean and easy to follow even though the work is highly detailed and finely rendered. The sole flaw in Fingerman’s illustration work is May, wh

I remember reading the original “Minimum Wage” comics from Fantagraphics back in the day; a graphic novel and then a ten-issue series in the late ’90s, it detailed the life of Rob, a cartoonist who drew porn comics and had a rocky relationship with his girlfriend Sylva. Over the years, Bob Fingerman’s comic has shown up in a few different collected editions, culminating in “Maximum Minimum Wage” last year from Image. As it turned out, that was a lead-in to an all-new “Minimum Wage” #1, picking up in the year 2000 and showing that not all is well with young Rob. What’s surprising to me is even after all of this time, how quickly Fingerman can pull the reader back in. The new “Minimum Wage” #1 does everything that a first issue should. It provides some backstory, it makes its characters interesting, and there’s a strong plot progression right off the bat. In two pages new and old readers alike get a sense of Rob’s mopey personality, they learn about his divorce from Sylva, and to a les

“Minimum Carnage: Alpha” #1 by Cullen Bunn and Chris Yost is the first part of a crossover between “Venom” and “Scarlet Spider.” The antagonist is Carnage, a worthy foe for each of both antiheroes. In this issue, every character in this triangle is given plenty of time to shine and do what they do best. If this installment is any indication, the crossover is going to be plenty of fun with loads of beats as the story progresses. The series kicks off in the same tone as the ’90s spectacular “Maximum Carnage” crossover. If you’re up for an update to that classic, yet recently maligned, comic then Marvel has exactly what you need. Bunn and Yost split the writing duties depending on which character is on the page. This plan, and the fact Venom is a very different man from Kaine, means the tone of the book wildly varies from a soldier action piece to a lighter superheroic romp. Bunn’s Venom pages feel like they spend more time progressing the facts of the matter whereas Yost infuses some f