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Ultimate Lost Kisses
is Lost Kisses with better
artwork & better storytelling.
Stories of the emotional traumas
that shaped a woman's
life.
we start with issue #11
because it spun
off of Lost
Kisses
story & words - Brian
John Mitchell
artwork (issue #11) - Dave Sim
artwork (issue #12) - Jeremy
Johnson
artwork (issue #13) - Jason
Young
artwork (issue #14) - Nate
McDonough
artwork (issue #15) - David Branstetter
read
a PDF of Ultimate Lost Kisses #11 | read
a CBZ of Ultimate Lost Kisses #11
read
a PDF of Ultimate Lost Kisses #12 | read
a CBZ of Ultimate Lost Kisses #12
order individual issues of Ultimate Lost Kisses for $1.50 ($2.50 intn'l) (includes shipping) | ||
order Ultimate Lost Kisses #11-#15 for $6 ($10 international) (includes shipping) |
Reviews:
*
ULK #11 *
The biggie in this set is
ULTIMATE LOST KISSES #11. Why? Rather than Mitchell’s traditional stick
figure art, Dave Sim! steps in to handle art chores. Mitchell also
tackles
a serious story here, which hasn’t been the case in earlier efforts. A
woman in her mid-30s receives a letter from the child she gave up for
adoption
as a teenager and goes to visit him on death row, and what she
discovers
is a grand loss of life in more ways than one. Even without Sim on the
art, this is easily the best work Mitchell has produced in these minis,
and I was pretty pleased to see it. Without some growth, this series
was
going to get stale in a hurry. And if you’re a fan of the artist? This
might be the most unusual collectible out there where you can find his
stuff.
~
Marc Mason, Comics Waiting
Room
WHA?
Dave Sim?? Yeah, it’s
true — the one and only Mr. Sim did the art for this issue, which is a
huge departure from Brian’s usual stick figure drawings.
It’s
a for better or worse
scenario in the sense that this isn’t an issue of the Lost Kisses
series
I know and love. Instead, it comes from some sort of deranged alternate
Lost Kisses universe where the past is both haunting and daunting
(instead
of overwhelming and mildly sad like it’s been in the first ten issues).
The
art and words of this
issue are both intense, leaving me emotionally fascinated but also
drained.
All said, this is a gripping story with good art (just a few too many
re-used
images).
~
Nick Marino, AudioShocker
The
story itself is very
engaging, a tale of loss and forgiveness. It leaves you feeling a bit
queasy
and angry. Pretty amazing for a comic that is almost as small as a
quarter
and has single panels and a line of text under it on every page. The
micro-mini
comic is only $1 from the above link.
~
Margaret Liss, Cerebus
Fangirl
Mitchell
took the “Lost Kisses”
title in a totally new direction with the first issue of “Ultimate Lost
Kisses.” This issue features artwork by the legendary Dave
Sim, and
it focuses on someone else's life for a change. The story
involves
a woman in her thirties who got a death row letter from the son she
gave
up when she was a teenager. While the story is a huge shift
for the
series, the frank and personal nature of the issue is right in line
with
what the series has been about so far.
~
Brian LeTendre, Secret
Identity Podcast
While
previous issues of
Mitchell's Lost Kisses have been humorous, issue eleven dubbed Ultimate
Lost Kisses, takes a decidedly dark turn. This one's about a mother who
gave her son up for adoption while she was in high school. Years later
he's tracked her down. The letter she receives from him begins a
journey
of revelation that gets worse with every step.
Obviously
the artwork by
an accomplished storyteller like Dave Sim adds to the impact of the
story.
He adapted quickly to the micro-mini's one-panel-per-page pacing. Past
editions have kept the reader at a distance as the characters deliver
sarcastic
quips and jabs. Here, it's all drama. Sim switches from long shots to
close-ups—even
extreme close-ups—to drive the story forward.
There's
a terrific spread
typical of Sim's contribution to the book, that shows only the hands of
the son and his mother—the physical space between the pages separating
them. The posture of each, in the context of the story, shows their raw
emotions quite effectively.
This
drama is a real departure
for the series. It could've easily been published as a one-shot. Either
way, it's a special issue, well worth the price of admission.
~
Midnight Fiction
The
first and longest running
series from Silber is Lost Kisses - which up until the tenth issue,
featured
a very happy looking stickman who offered stream-of-consciousness
thoughts
upon horrible events that occurred in his life. Frequent topics include
morbid thoughts on death, life, love and having no direction - which in
normal circumstances, would be typical Kinkos-indie fare. The
difference
this time, however, is the fact that while all of these terrible topics
are being discovered, the main character greets (almost) every though
with
a big ol’ smile. Even the thought of his own death.
As
I said, this series featured
the narration (and art) of a stick figure. With the newest issue, that
all changed. And not only that, Mitchell got a big time indie creator
to
draw his new story. With such a big shift, it appeared that a name
change
for the series was in order...
Ultimate
Lost Kisses #11
With
art by Dave Sim. And
yes, it’s that Dave Sim.
The
story in this one is
completed by the end of the issue, and concerns the events of a mother
who is seeing her son for the first time since she gave the boy up.
He’s
in jail. Now, I won’t go into the details of the story - much more
detail
than what I just gave would pretty much ruin the whole thing. It
featured
a word that I really, really don’t like in my comics (they’re supposed
to be entertaining, right?), and that coloured my enjoyment of the book
adversely. I should just say that despite this, the story is incredibly
solid, with some fine art by Sim. Just be warned: things get pretty
dark.
In
the end, what I believe
it succeeds in the most is being a sly commentary on the mainstream’s
predication
for the “big creative team relaunch” - just using indie comic book
tropes,
rather than superhero ones.
~
Brandon Schatz, Comixtreme
No,
I don’t know if this
is a continuation of the Lost Kisses series (what with the addition of
“Ultimate” to the title), but as this is listed as #11 and the last
issue
with Lost Kisses in the title was #10, I’m going to assume that it
is.
I’ll get to the comic in a minute, but Dave Sim? I guess he
has some
free time these days, but kudos to Brian for getting him to illustrate
a book of his. I’m actually finishing up the Cerebus series
this
week, as all the unrelated text pieces killed it for me the first time
around and, while I have my problems with various theories by Dave (and
his sucking all the joy out of his book for the last 50 issues or so),
I doubt that I’d even still be reading comics if it wasn’t for his
influence.
I don’t know what his legacy is going to end up being, but I’d put the
first 220 issues or so of Cerebus up there as one of the great
achievements
in the field. Isn’t there a comic somewhere I’m supposed to
be reviewing?
This issue changes the format of the previous Lost Kisses, as this is a
fictional story (or at least I hope it is). A young woman
gets a
letter from her son, 18 years after she’d given him up for adoption and
practically forgotten his existence. He’s on death row for
killing
a man and wants to meet her, but there’s nothing accusatory in his
letter.
She informs her husband (who she met ten years after her son was born)
about his existence, tells him of her plans to visit her son, and she
sets
off. Brian is a master of taking the images given and
expanding or
shrinking them, using the images as a director would use a camera lens,
and he does wonders with what he’s given here. It’s a
powerful story,
and I hope this gets Dave back into comics, assuming he even wants to
after
300 issues of Cerebus…
~
Kevin Bramer, Optical
Slot
This
is a serious story about a serious subject. A mother who had to give up
her son when she was younger. Now he contacts her. He wants to meet.
She
does what she knows is right even though it is hard on her. We follow
her thoughts as she thinks about what might have been if she had kept
her son.
The art showing this mother does bring out her emotions.
Her
son was put in a bad situation and he did what he had to. He took care
of a really bad man. A man that deserved what he got and a lot more.
This is a powerful story that will touch your heart.
~ Richard Vasseur, Jazma Online
*
ULK #12 *
Ahh, the joys of teenage pregnancy — mom is getting her scream on, the
baby's father is clearly a douche, and our decisive heroine is
positively overflowing with the legendary wisdom of sixteen-year-old
girls. It is all so depressingly plausible, and plausibly depressing —
up until the part about running away to the Midwest to have the baby.
It's probably just my snobby East Coast roots talking, but who runs
away to the Midwest?
I know people read comics for different reasons, but when I want a real
downer of a story with a messy ending, I will just go read the paper.
What I have seen in Ultimate Lost Kisses 12 did not fill me with the
urge to read the rest of the series. Maybe it is not all as grim as
this issue, but if this is representative, this is not the escapism I
want from comics. Also, the mother's face scared me a little. If that
was the artist's intention, and I think it was, I say, well done, sir!
In all fairness, not everyone reads comics for the same reasons. My
strong aversion to this story attests to its basic realism, and no
doubt there are readers who will love it for exactly the reasons I do
not. At heart, this is a sympathetic look into a specific answer for
the kind of existential questions most people have at some point — How
did I get here? Where did life go off the rails? Folks who like their
comics less fantastic and closer to home will probably really
appreciate this one.
~ Holly von Winckel, Sequential Tart
I’d also recommend ULTIMATE LOST KISSES #12. Here, Mitchell and artist
Jeremy Johnson tell a tragic story of a teenage girl who sees her life
destroyed in the space of only a few moments, and give us clues as to
what will happen to her afterward. This comic has a nice bit of
emotional resonance to it and shows good depth in the writing.
~ Marc Mason, Comics Waiting Room
Damn, I was hoping for another issue illustrated by Dave Sim. No
disrespect to Jeremy Johnson or anything, as he’s more than capable of
illustrating this comic, it’s just that there’s still a Sim-shaped hole
in my comics world. Sure, he’s doing Glamourpuss occasionally, but the
issues of that that I’ve read all seem… ah, I don’t want to get into
it. Reading lengthy stories about very old illustrations mixed with
satirical fashion periods doesn’t do a thing for me, that’s all.
Anyway, on to people who were actually involved in the making of this
comic. This comic starts off with a 16 years old girl coming home from
school and needing a nap. She doesn’t understand why she’s so tired all
the time, so she sort of rhetorically asks her mother about it and is
informed that she must be pregnant. Seems like there are gentler ways
to convey that news, but the fact that the mother had her when she was
very young (implied but never stated) makes that cruelty more than
plausible. Anyway, the girl escapes her house and ends up going over to
a friend’s, but sadly she could never think of dating him because he’s
too dorky. Do girls still think this way? Eh, it’s probably a universal
truth. Anyway, this is another solid comic with a damned good ending.
To all of you comics types who can’t manage to do more than an issue a
year, take not of Brian. Sure, he “only” writes the books, but
wrangling all of these artists can’t be easy, and he still manages all
that while putting these things out at a ridiculous pace. If you’re
looking for a sample of his work you should probably start with a
series like this, as the individual issues aren’t connected. $1
~ Kevin Bramer, Optical Sloth
It still bothers me a little that the ampersand is used here in place
of “and,” because it just doesn’t flow well visually. This issue
captures the sense of isolation a young girl in this particular
predicament must experience, and her blind optimism in the face of that
challenge. The thin emaciated lines seem to fit the harsh tone of the
story. The panel to panel storytelling is a bit choppy since every page
is a new panel, which brings with it a new scene or conversation. Grade
B.
~ Justin Giampaoli, Poopsheet Foundation
A sixteen year old girl is always tired and has no idea why. Than
she finds out and knows but what will she do? She is filled with stress
and lots of it from her mother. She makes a decision that she will have
to live with for the rest of her life.
This is a powerful emotional story about a real life situation.
~ Richard Vasseur, Jazma Online
*
ULK #13 *
A
woman is supporting her boyfriend a wannabe musician. He seems more
like a lazy good for nothing. He is pleasant enough. He just does not
earn a living. He leaches off of her.
Here the woman does step up and she leaves him to start her life anew.
She shows she has what it takes to move on.
The art does look good. It is simple but nice and plain to see the
emotions of the two people involved here.
The woman is an inspiration to others. She stands up for herself and
does what is best for her.
~ Richard Vasseur, Jazma Online
*
ULK #14 *
A daughter's mother is dying. They have never had a close relationship
but the daughter still loves her mother.
When the daughter sees her mother the drawing shows off just how sick
she really is. She looks awful.
The
emotions are strong here. The story is sad in many ways. It is
something that could happen and does happen. It will make you think and
touch at your heart.
~ Richard Vasseur, Jazma Online
*
ULK #15 *
Did
you ever have some completely happy news on your end torn apart by the
person that you’re relaying the news to? That’s the subject of this
comic in a big way, as the star of the story is a young married woman
in her 20’s who calls her mother to tell her that she’s having a baby.
This is almost universally a cause for celebration (at least to
somebody in a stable relationship and living situation), but her mother
immediately tells her to get rid of it, that it will destroy her life
and her figure. It’s impossible to ignore the obvious implication: her
mother feels like having her 20+ years ago ruined HER life. The rest of
the comic is a tour through the childhood of the pregnant woman, her
feelings about that and the reaction, and how she decides to go forward
from there. It’s an intriguing story, and a good reminder that relaying
news to loved ones can often uncover some unpleasant truths. $1 as
usual, and as usual you should go nuts and get at least a handful of
these comics when you’re ordering, as they are tiny.
~ Kevin Bramer, Optical Sloth
'Ultimate
Lost Kisses Fifteen' is the story of a woman telling her mother that
she is pregnant. The story takes an unexpected dark turn when the woman
starts to react to her mother's response. This results in a realization
of the damages parents do when they are resentful of their children.
This story took me by surprise as I did not expect this kind of
narrative in such a short comic book. The art work exploits the
emotional context of the story to solicit more emotions from the reader
in a clever way. Even though this is not my usual kind of story it
still engaged me and entertained me.
~ Ryan Scicluna, Malta Comic Con
.