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xo is our darkest mini-comic.  A humanization of an anti-hero.

story & words - Brian John Mitchell
artwork - Melissa Spence Gardner

Issue #1 Click here to see the digital version or watch it at IFC Medialab or YouTube
Issue #2 Click here to see the digital version or watch it at IFC Medialab or YouTube
Issue #3 Click here to see the digital version or watch it at YouTube
Brian did an interview about xo at Jazma Online

order a physical copy of individual issues for $1 ($2 international)	XO issue  #1#2#3#4#5	XO issue (international) #1#2#3#4#5
order physical copies of #1-#5 for $4 ($6 international)

artist bios:
Melissa Spence Gardner draws comics. She does other stuff occasionally, but mostly she draws comics. Did I mention that she draws comics?  Melissa was born in San Francisco.  Her first memory is of the pink blanket that she was industriously swaddled in and thinking, “Have they invented Hello Kitty yet?”
As a young child Melissa dreamed of the day that she could use the word summer as a verb.  Her doodles were unremarkable.  By the age of nine all that she had contributed to modern society was a piece of yarn that she would demand that her mother tie through the belt loop at the back of her pants.  She called this innovation a “tail.”
Melissa claims to have been the first college student in Wisconsin to have both a tattoo and an eye-brow piercing.  She enjoyed strolling through the mall &watching mothers grip the hands of their small children & eye her warily.
When she lost a bet with Bobcat Goldthwait in a bar in Thailand, she suddenly found herself spending a year abroad, studying in Scottland.  Oddly, she has never drawn a strip that has incorporated either plaid or kilts.  She has however drawn cheap bastards.
Melissa is the artist behind Strange Snow.  In her Gaithersburg, Maryland home she is never far from a pen & a stack of paper.  Drawing comics is her passion.  Observing life & displaying it for you is  her dream.

Brian John Mitchell wanted to be a writer as a child, but it didn't work out because he lost interest when he found out it wouldn't come easily for him.  He had short stories & poetry  published a few times when he was 17.   At  19 he started a music zine called QRD which still continues online.  At 21 he self-produced a hand stitched book of short stories called Subhorrea which was followed by the yet to be printed 4 Hours Old.  At 22 he started the now defunct business-card-sized zine Random Kisses, a poetry zine with an edge towards swearing & violence.  At 23 he started Zombie Kisses, a zine about life after a zombie plague & personal responsibilities.  At 29 he started his first on-going comic, Lost Kisses which is 50% Lad-Lit & 50% Charlie Brown.  He is best known as the head of Silber Records & for his musical works under the names Remora & Small Life Form.  xo is his first comic collaboration & a first attempt at a clear power fantasy story.

Reviews:
More matchbook-size madness from Silber Media as the ultra-tiny comics continue with humor and mayhem.
Writer Brian John Mitchell crafts three different stories with three different distinct voices in each of his three matchbook style comics – an impressive accomplishment for an indie writer. XO is written from the point of view of a cold-hearted assassin trying to change his life… with a distinct lack of success, while Lost Kisses chronicles the everyday adventures of a guy drifting through life and coming to realize things profound, mundane, and sometimes stupid. Worms, on the other hand, is an adventure in a surreal dreamscape… or is it all a dream?
In this installment of XO our nameless hitman finds his nice neighbor lady outside the apartment complex having an argument with her abusive boyfriend. Of course, our protagonist tries to do the nice thing…
In Lost Kisses the nameless lead takes a look at his current girlfriend and tries to decide if her good qualities outweigh her bad or vice-versa. Of course, what he considers good and bad qualities varies considerably.
Finally, with Worms the unnamed female protagonist wakes up from her nightmare… or does she? The surrealism continues – is this all just one extended dream? Is she insane and this is part of her delusion? Or could there be more than meets the eye going on here?
Mitchell switches voice from comic to comic with ease and each one feels true to character and to genre. With XO, while the story may be pretty simple and easily straightforward, that is because it is really more of a form to hang this peculiar brand of black humor on. That kind of black humor that comes from awkward, sudden, and brutal violence and a person so far outside of society they cannot see the strangeness of it all. It is a little in the vein of the movie Grosse Point Blank. Lost Kisses, on the other hand, is weirder and funnier. Based (a tiny bit) on Mitchell’s own life, the first person narrator seems stereotypically young and a little off-kilter. Trying to make sense of life and of love, the voice bounces from the ridiculous to the sublime and the reader can sometimes see a bit of themselves here – both the times when we are unaccountably brilliant and the times when we are shamefully shallow and superficial. Worms is an interesting experiment but, as an ongoing, it has been a little hampered by the long delay between issues. I have to confess that I didn’t clearly remember the story from the previous issue and, being the size of a book of matches means there isn’t room for a recap page. Still, Mitchell does manage to capture the twisted surrealism and landscape architecture of dreams and bend them into a story.
Mitchell puts on his artist’s cap for Lost Kisses and handles the simple, stick-figure art. There are no backgrounds to speak of but his simple, deliberately kindergarten style adds to the humor, whimsy, and oddness of the piece. Melissa Spence Gardner handles the artist duties on XO, however, and she proves that she is growing more and more comfortable with the space constraints and actually using them to her advantage. The matchbook size makes extreme close-ups even more intense and she sprinkles these throughout the story. Backgrounds, however, are still mostly non-existent as she instead focuses on the characters. Kimberlee Traub takes on the art for Worms. As with the others, the small scale of the medium keeps her artwork limited… perhaps a bit too limited. She has a nice, spare style and she obviously understands the unrealism of the story but her single panels look a bit disjointed when viewed as a whole.
These three mini-comics are each an interesting experiment in storytelling in more ways than one. At $1.00 each they are an affordable way to test out a unique series of independent comics and with a size smaller than the palm of your hand they can be read anywhere at any time.
~ Tonya Crawford, Broken Frontier

Lost Kisses, Brian talks about women in general.  It appears the information is brought on from the experiences found in his life.  The woman in focus in this story has a history of mental abuse and other type of abuses.  She is a pathological liar.  She has been in terrible relationships. The boy in this story is somewhat shallow and remarks on the aberrations he finds on her body.  She appears to be a gold digger, her intimacy seems faked.  You get two sides of this picture.  In a second story, it seems like a dream come true and the other story is horror around every corner.  Some of these stories remind me of my Starbucks coffee dates.  There are personality conflicts, they don't look like their picture, they live beyond their means, they are shallow and egotistical.  To find the perfect woman is as hard as capturing a Bigfoot.  In Worms, you have a woman that has a gun battle with a policeman, she finds herself tied up on a gurney and taken to a hospital where they are intravenously giving their patients a solution that has tiny worms in it...yep, we have a big mystery and it will continue....   In XO, a guy is a good Samaritan and saves a girl from a brutal attack by some ruffian guy.  The good Samaritan breaks the ruffian's finger, punches him in the face and accidently kills him.  He now has to clean up this accidental murder.  He should have minded his own business.  Silbermedia has extreme entertainment in small packages.  I am headed for Aruba and Argentina, I can carry these comics in my shirt pocket and read them on my layovers, it can't get any better than that!
~ Paul Dale Roberts, JazmaOnline

In this edition of Breaking Ground, we are taking a look at three mini-comics produced by Silber Media: xo, Worms, and Lost Kisses.
We pick up the xo story with issue #4, "Neighbors" where our empathetic sociopath is drawn into interfering with his neighbor's argument. While our retired hired gun's interference is well intentioned, he only knows one way to solve problems. He stuffs the drunken, abusive, passed out boyfriend into a car, drives down the road, and...you have to pick up this mini-comic! The art packs a TKO punch and the storyline is darkly funny (along the lines of Chuck Pahaniuk's novels). The artwork is by Melissa Spence Gardner and the story and words are by Brian John Mitchell.
The Worms mini-comic is only two issues in, and the first issue tells the story of how a young girl witnesses the murder of her father. Taking a look at issue #2, "Capture" has our girl waking up, still clinging to the gun she stole from the murderers. She tries to elude her captors in hospital halls that never end, rooms that are reminiscent of WWII infirmaries, and witnesses malevolent medical treatments. The art conveys the confusion, fear, and entrapment mirrored by our heroin's plight. For those of you who love H.P. Lovecraft and Franz Kafka, you'll appreciate the references. The artwork is by Kimberlee Traub and the story and words are by Brian John Mitchell.
Lost Kisses #6, "She's at least as Good as She is Evil," is a collection of standalone laughs rather than a continuation of the story. This comic is a veritable yin and yang with its "Reasons to Run and Hide" on the front and the "Reasons to Stay by Her Side" on the back (or would that be front?). As for "Reasons to Run and Hide," if you are bitter from a recent break up, you will identify your ex-psycho on this side and have a hearty (and relieved) laugh. Take solace, it was the right decision. And for "Reasons to Stay by Her Side," this side will give the self-aware co-dependent a good chuckle. As for me, I certainly see a former boyfriend-turned-stalker depicted on this side. The draw-dropping stick-figure art, as well as the story, is by Brian John Mitchell.
For comics that are only as big as a Goliath's thumb, I'm giving these two thumbs up!
~ Katie Riley, Comic Related

In many ways, minicomics are the purest form of comicbook expression. Written and drawn in an artistic form of guerilla theatre, they are photocopied and stapled by people who genuinely love the artform and see it as a way to present their thoughts and ideas and not just as a way to make their name. Whenever I hit a major con, I always put aside a piece of my budget to find and buy new minis. But occasionally, I also receive some in the mail for review, and that was the case with these three minis from Brian John Mitchell. And Mitchell has taken the minicomic to an even more literal place; rather than the usual 8.5 by 5.5 inch mini, these are two inches by two inches, about the size of a matchbook.
XO #4 is the best of the three, a surprising and darkly finny piece of work. A man arrives home from the grocery store to find his female neighbor arguing with her lout of a boyfriend and intervenes against his better nature. What happens from there goes south in a hurry, and the ultimate resolution has a wonderfully black heart in the center of its chest. Melissa Spence Gardner does a terrific job of using the tiny amount of space on the page to its fullest effect, employing her inks diligently to maximize the panels’ ability to move the story forward. One recommendation- I didn’t read the PR about the story ahead of time, and I was glad because it contained a spoiler that would have taken some of the edge off the story. Should you choose to buy one of these, avoid any descriptive text.
Right behind XO in my preference would be WORMS #2. This story, which focuses on a young woman waking to find herself in a nightmarish hospital, fills its pages with tension and dread, and again finds a way to use the small format to positive effect. Artist Kimberlee Traub goes with a more minimalist look, allowing the reader’s imagination to fill in the blanks as the girl tries to free herself from what appears to be a horrible fate on the horizon. Mitchell’s script is mining a rich vein of traditional sci-fi horror tropes here, but it doesn’t feel warmed over.
Lastly is LOST KISSES #6, Mitchell’s meditation on whether or not the woman in your life is right for you. It’s a flipbook, presenting the good things on one side and the bad on the other, and while I understood what Mitchell was trying to do (be funny and work out some issues he’s gone through in his past) it just never took hold for me. I felt that way in large part because nothing here felt surprising or revelatory; instead, it felt like old hat- like a supplement to “He’s Just Not That Into You.” Put up against his work in the other two minis, this is definitely the weak sauce in the Mitchell oeuvre.
~ Marc Mason, Comics Waiting Room

This trio of tiny, self-published minis are so fat Mitchell forces each one into its own little plastic bag to hold it shut. In truth, I had to cut one of them open to get it out. At only about 2 x 2 inches I can't even imagine how challenging it is to collate, align, and staple them. But of course the size gives them instant charm.
The format really only allows one panel per page and for two of these books—the ones with stories—it works especially well. Unlike a traditional comic page made up of multiple panels, here, whenever the story turns in an unexpected direction it's a bigger surprise because you can't glance ahead.
Lost Kisses #6 (48 pages) is uncredited, but I think it was written and drawn by Mitchell. Initially, the charm of the book's size, its title, and its first person narrative style made me think it was an autobiographical comic about the love of the author's life. But on closer reading, I learned it's only inspired by real life and individual entries may be entirely fiction. Each page is a gag cartoon that riffs on the thought expressed in the caption below. That's another unique aspect of the layout—start at the bottom and read up. Maybe this issue is a double-issue. Whatever the reason, it's set up like an Ace Double. Read the first half, flip it over and read the second half. The front cover is the same on both sides. Every gag is about relationships and they range from amusing to very funny.
Worms #2 (52 pages) was written by Mitchell and drawn by Kimberlee Traub. It's a fast-paced horrific thriller with humanoids, worms, and espionage. Thankfully, Mitchell includes a one-page recap of the action from issue #1. The story takes full advantage of the format and unfurls at a frantic pace with a creepy cliffhanger ending. More Worms please!
XO #4 (44 pages) was written by Mitchell and drawn by Melissa Spence Gardner. The most common use of XO I've seen is shorthand for hugs and kisses, but a lesser known use means "Oh No". And that one certainly seem to fit the story in this issue called Neighbors. Let's just say it was not a wonderful day in the neighborhood when this brutally funny story took place.
You get the feeling Mitchell and crew have a lot of fun putting these super mini comics together and they're a lot of fun to read too. For $1 each, you can't go wrong. Check out the Silber Media website for lots of free downloads. Scroll to the bottom of the home page for links to Mitchell's comic series.
~ Richard Krauss, Poopsheet Foundation

Two different mini-comics tell two very different stories all in a format no bigger than a book of matches.
Indie writer Brian John Mitchell continues two of his "tiny" projects with new issues of his mini-comics XO, about a serial killer trying to reform, and the slice of life story Lost Kisses, about a young man trying to understand life, emotion and everything that goes with it. Both comics are only about the size of a book of matches and black and white.
In this issue of XO readers take a trip back to the past and witness the first time this assassin for hire killed. It may not be for the reasons you think…
In Lost Kisses the narrator ponders his bad luck at relationships, questions his lack of feeling and then must struggle with a sudden diagnosis that, while it explains certain things, now raises more questions.
Mitchell has a genuine talent for managing to write stories that read densely in just a short amount of space. This issue of XO, however, feels a bit more like a vignette rather than a complete story. The spare, clinical prose, while it does give insight into the mindset of a man who can kill with an equal, clinical detachment, also keeps the reader too much at arm’s length. The tale ends up feeling more like a vignette or a scene rather than a complete story.
Lost Kisses, on the other hand, not only feels complete, it leaves the reader a bit dizzy and pondering. The narrator embarks on an almost adolescent cataloging of faults and failings and yet breezes over them with a self-deprecating humor that borders on self-flagellation. The reader goes through an emotional turn as they may find the author’s attitude at times juvenilely annoying and at other times feel a kind of sadness and sympathy for his plight. The interesting point being that the narrator himself experiences no real emotions throughout and does not experience the same events in the same way the reader takes them.
XO is illustrated by Melissa Spence Gardner in a simple, slightly manga-influenced style that nevertheless manages to convey quite a bit in just a little space. With a canvas only the size of a matchbook she wisely focuses on close-shots and keeps the details and surroundings to a minimum – but not so little that readers cannot follow the action. Lost Kisses, however, is illustrated by Mitchell himself and features his usual stick-figure style. Being stick-figure based, he focuses on representational and metaphorical action rather than attempting for any kind of realism.
While both of these titles manage to provide quite a bit of story and impact for a buck a piece, this month’s edition of Lost Kisses is the more well-rounded read. If you are in the market for something a lot different, something imminently portable, and something that you can read in class or a meeting without getting caught then these mini-comics are worth a look.
~ Tonya Crawford, Broken Frontier

Format can do a lot to influence the attractiveness of a book, but even unique and unexpected styles of bookmaking can blend in at big conventions like MoCCA or APE. However, at a small Midwestern show like the Madison Zine Fest, unconventional books have a chance to really stand out.
It was there that I noticed three ultra-mini minis (1.75×2.25?) sleeved in small plastic bags and sitting unattended on a banister. I thought about taking them. They would fit in my pocket. No one would know. The sensation passed, however, and good karma struck back. The books were given as a gift to my table mate who gave them to me. Now I share them with you.
Baby corn, puppies, doll-sized furniture - typically these and other small things define cute. One might expect that XO, a series of mini minis would be cute as well. Even the series’ title XO implies kisses and hugs and touchy-feely stuff. However, these books are anything but cute, because each contains a story of murder.
It’s completely disarming and even kind of funny, if such a topic can ever be funny. The stories are told from the first-person perspective of a guy who without emotion keeps killing people either by accident or without remorse. The guy is a total sociopath, and the things he does are so unbelievably dry and strange, it makes the book’s plastic slip-case seem like a metaphorical body bag or some caution to keep out the younger set.
Each page is filled with a single illustrative panel hovering above a few sentences of plot, in a kind of Far Side style perversion. The odd combination of art, layout and typography makes the stories seem even weirder. Thick, awkward lines outline human shapes and thin straight lines accent the shadows. Each drawing is trapped tightly in a box and clipped at all sides to make room for the words. The font used is some standard sans serif, one you might use on a website or a term paper or, you know, an unassuming murderous comic book series.
Each book left me stunned and laughing awkwardly just to release the unexplainable tension. I’d call them modestly awesome. You can pick up copies of XO dirt cheap for $1 apiece or all three for $2 from Silber Media.
~ Sarah Morean, The Daily Cross Hatch

Here’s another tiny mini by Brian, as it looks like he enjoys sticking with that matchbox format. This it’s a fictional (I hope) tale about a young man’s first murder, as he sees another man with his girlfriend and snaps. Smashing a head in is generally a sure way to kill somebody, and the man spends the rest of the tiny issue methodically dealing with the body and the consequences, slight as they are. It’s a thoroughly creepy book and Melissa does a great job with very little space to convey a complex range of emotions on these characters. This is probably $1 like the other issue and you could still get all of these comics for a pittance, not to mention the ridiculously tiny envelope they could all fit in…
~ Optical Sloth

In XO, we have violence and some good artwork by Melissa Spence Gardner. The story is about a so-called hit man, who kills his co-worker's girlfriend and then winds up killing his co-worker. The artwork is pretty good and the story is horrifically scary!
~ Paul Dale Roberts, jazmaonline

XO #3, First Time with talk about Lost Kisses #5 Am I Freaking Cerebus?
Two miniaturized comics that you can place in your top shirt pocket. How does Melissa draw so well in XO #3, with hardly any room to draw? XO#3 is a very dramatic story on how a young man catches his girlfriend in bed with another man and how a heated crime of passion turned to accidental murder!
With Lost Kisses, Brian uses stick figures to tell a sad, but comical story.
For more information, email them at: silberspy@silbermedia.com Check out their website at: www.silbermedia.com/lostkisses or www.silbermedia.com/xo
My comments on these comics: "Miniaturized comics with a gigantic entertainment wallop!"
~ Paul Dale Roberts, www.jazmaonline.com

I've always been a big fan of mini-comics. Spending time in the early 90s in Boston meant that every record shop, comic shop, penthouse and outhouse in a 5 mile radius carried tons of them, usually for a price so low you wouldn't blink to pay it, and get tons of reading value out of them. More to the point, with these comics you really could "see the brushstrokes" and get some real kicks out of seeing the work in progress, and know that someone out there had your own brand of odd humor. However, I never imagined that I'd see mini-comics as small as this output from Silber media.
Looking to be about the size of a large business card, and fitting exactly one panel to a page, these 22-page beauties fit just about anywhere, and are a blast to read. All three were written by Brian John Mitchell, with Mitchell, doing the art on Lost Kisses, Gardner the work on XO and Traub on Worms. That's the cover to Worms #1 on the top left.
The books cover different genres, even in only 22-26 panels. Worms is a horror/thriller, about a girl whose home is invaded by people she really doesn't expect, XO is about a guy who can't stop killing people, and an opportunity gets served up to him, and Lost Kisses is a sad kind of love story. Lost kisses alone is worth the price of the package, as it's this alternately bitter, sometimes biting, sometimes regretful look at a guy who has a lost love die at an early age. They've both moved on, and years have passed, but he hasn't figured out who to blame/hate for her death. He goes through lots of stages in a pretty short time.
~ Bart Gerardi, Paperback Reader

There is one eerily real scenario played out in this comic. The story starts off calm as we are introduced to a man who is watching after his grandmother when an intruder breaks in. From there the tables turn rather quickly and a much darker plot is revealed.
The artwork is decent, though there are some basic elements that could be better.
The writing again is decent but struggles a little. But overall, for the premise alone, this one gets a stronger nod. If developed in full this could turn out to be a very interesting story.
~ Brant W. Fowler, Silver Bullet Comics

XO has strong human interactions and incredible drama.  Lost Kisses #4 is a lot of philosophical insight of the world around us.  Worms #1 contains a lot of mystery.  It entices you to keep flipping the pages to see what is actually going on with the story.  These cute little books are enjoyable to carry around in your back pocket and when boredom sits in, pull one out and ENJOY!
~ Paul Dale Roberts, Jazma Online

A young man struggles with the vagaries of life in Lost Kisses, a sociopathic assassin tries to change his life in XO, and a young woman experiences a dream world in Worms.
Independent writer Brian John Mitchell crafts three very off-beat mini-comics – each one only about the size of a book of matches. The results are surprisingly deep and fascinating stories told in a minimum amount of prose and space.
In Lost Kisses a 20-something, directionless young man learns that a former girlfriend died of cancer two years ago. The story follows his reactions as he deals with guilt, the randomness of life, his own self-centeredness, and the future. XO moves in a totally opposite direction as a sociopathic hitman tries to retire from his life of death and develop a heart and conscience. In this outing he does so by agreeing to stay with his elderly grandmother while his parents go on vacation. An unexpected event, however, could set his plans for redemption back. Finally, in the last mini-comic, Worms, a young woman finds herself wrapped up in a nightmare involving strange things, shadowy conspiracies, and a fight for her life.
Mitchell proves to be an able and capable writer, perfectly capturing voices and spirits with just a few words. His protagonist in Lost Kisses is someone readers have either known or been ourselves – a young person trying to make sense of an insane world that seems to ask much of us and ask nothing of us by turns. The ruminations are silly, funny, sad and serious – just like life itself. With Worms, Mitchell’s writing style changes drastically and here he perfectly captures the voice and logic of the dream world. Things happen, things that make no logical sense but, as with any dream or nightmare, the sleeping mind simply accepts it. The reader travels along with the unnamed protagonist, wrapped up in a story that, while the details are different, feels like a place many sleepers have been in their own dreams. The third of these mini-comics is also in many ways the weakest of the three. While XO strives for black humor and dark satire it still feels a bit hollow. The unnamed protagonist remains distant throughout the story and so takes some of the bite out of both the irony and satire.
The art is as diverse as the titles themselves. Lost Kisses is penciled and inked by Mitchell himself and consists of a series of stick figures. Despite the limitation one might think this would impose, Mitchell manages to make the simple figures quite expressive and subversively fun. XO features the work of Melissa Spence Gardner and is, perhaps, more what most readers are used to. Her work has a cartoonish quality with a bit of an amateurish gloss still to it but it works for the feel of these home-grown comics. Besides that, Gardner manages to create effective figures that move well within the story. The final artist is Kimberlee Traub for Worms. Kimberlee’s style is very abstract – some pages put one in mind of a Picasso print. While, to a certain extent, this is perfect for the nightmare world of the comic, the panels do, occasionally, get a little too abstract, making it difficult to understand what is supposed to be going on in the panel.
For a flavor of something a little different, any of these three comics would be worth the purchase price. Be forewarned, the little books can easily slip out of your hands but on the other hand they are immensely portable and can go anywhere with you.
~ Tonya Crawford, Broken Fontier

While we’re on the subject of people who were nice enough to send me comics, I really ought to mention Brian John Mitchell, who contacted me a while back about sending me a few of his mini-comics.
I’m not really what you’d consider a mini-comics guy–unless of course said mini-comics involve the One-Man Army Corps–but I’m always interested in seeing new stuff, so I asked for a few and he sent them over.
And the first thing I noticed, of course, was how tiny they are.
About 2 postage stamps, I'd say.
I imagine that’s the first thing everyone notices when they see them, since Mitchell’s putting the mini back in mini-comics with his work, and it’s a novel format that I found utterly charming when I sat down to read them. Each of the three he sent me (one issue each of XO, Worms, and Lost Kisses), is around 44 pages, with each page as a single panel, and while they’re not really my thing, they’re pretty enjoyable.
Pictured above is Lost Kisses, which, coincidenally enough, probably best fits my stereotypical definition of “mini-comic,” seeing as it’s an autobiographical tale done in the fine art of stick figures, where Mitchell deals with finding out an ex-girlfriend of his recently died of cancer. And it’s the best by far, mostly because of jokes like this:
"Stick with me & you won't get cancer!" "I think I'd prefer the cancer."
[If I had a nickel for every time this happened to me...]
In another novel concept, all of Mitchell’s comics can all be viewed as videos or purchased as physical copies on the website, so if you’re curious, check it out.
~ Chris Sims, Invincible Super Blog

With digital editions of his comics available for free on his website, writer (and sometimes artist) Brian John Mitchell is obviously more intent on telling his stories than making a profit. A few of them arrived in the mail a couple days ago, and they’re presented in an unexpected medium; black-and-white, laser-printed, two-inch square pamphlets with a two-staple binding. It makes an impression.
XO #2 is the continuing story (and I don’t really mean continuing; you don’t actually have to have read the first one) of an extremely troubled and seemingly gentle man who deals with a dangerous confrontation in an ultra-violent manner. I was both entertained and disturbed at this vicious story, the artistry of which kept making me feel like I was sneaking a peek into the notebook of a demented high school kid.
~ Squashua, Ain't It Cool News

The anonymous main character/narrator gives an account of an encounter with public domestic violence and the rather extreme way he steps in to solve the problem. Simple and clean art from Gardner and a direct reporter/journal writing style from Mitchell. It's a pretty good read, but pretty easy to misplace at 1 3/4" x about 2". Adult language.
~ Wade Busby, Dimestore Comics

When comic writer Brian John Mitchell describes his series of comics as minis the size of a matchbook, he’s not kidding. Individually wrapped in little plastic baggies and bound by two teeny staples in their spines, they’re two inches in height and width. And you don’t need a magnifying glass to read them, which makes them instantly awesome. If that doesn’t sell you, how ’bout the fact that each series is the brainchild of a musician, comic illustrator and tattoo artist? The first series, Lost Kisses, is written and drawn by Mitchell. Issue #6 is unique as it’s a split: the front half addresses the pros of staying in a toxic relationship, while the back half addresses the cons. Despite its simplicity in design and illustration (stick figures), the comic tackles the emotionally troubling issues that many couples face. XO is the second comic series and is a collaboration between Mitchell and comic artist Melissa Gardner. This one has the most elaborate artwork of the various series and I love it because it plays on the same kind of humour as TV’s Dexter. It’s about an ex-hitman who’s trying to reintegrate into normal society. But wherever he goes, he finds himself in a situation that ends in him murdering someone. Worms, the third series, is written by Mitchell and drawn by tattoo artist Kimberlee Traub. Based on the classic escape-the-corrupt-hospital theme, issue #2 is written in the vain of Poe, Kafka or Lovecraft, with references to the latter two if you’re dorky enough to catch them (sorry, no Cthulhu cameos). It’s all very surreal, really, and I sure as heck wouldn’t want to wind up there.
~ Amy Greenwood, Broken Pencil

Silber Media sent me three little matchbook sized minis from Brian John Mitchell and friends.  Each mini is about the size of a matchbook.   I like mini-minicomics a lot.  They are just cool to look at and hold and they fit in your shirt pocket.  They are great to pass around to friends.  Everyone should have more of them and cartoonists should make more of them.  They are not the easiest minis to make though.  When you work at that size it is really hard to cut the paper correctly.  If you are off by just the least little bit then you have ruined at least one copy.  Maybe more.  They are also hard to write and draw for.  You have to take into account the lettering size, page transitions and the composition.  Mitchell seems to have all the logistics figured out.   Each of these comics work at one panel per page which is perfect for the size and works really well with the pacing because each page turn is a story transition.
Lost Kisses is a collection of one page thoughts on the writer's relationship with women drawn with stick figures.  The first half of the book is from a positive point of view and then you flip the book and start over and you get it from the negative point of view.  It is both cute and disturbing.
worms is a dreamlike horror/thriller with art by Kimberlee Traub.  The art is minimal but iconic and expressive for such small panels.  The story moves a natural yet dreamlike pace assisted by the one panel per page format.
XO features more ambitious art by Melissa Spence Gardner.  The writing is a lot deeper as well.  The main character performs some very violent acts as if they were any other mundane tasks.  It's American Splendor meets American Psycho.
Each of these three minis came in it's own neat little plastic pouch and simply put they are just freaking cool looking.  Sliber Media is primarily a music label.  You can check out there impressive catalog here.
~ Shannon Smith, file under other

Brian John Mitchell gives “drawing thumbnails” a new meaning with his itsy-bitsy thumbnail-size comics. He’s publishing three series of 2?x2? comics: Lost Kisses, Worms, and xo.
~ Kirk Chritton, Comics Career

One of the things I find perennially fascinating about comics is the way constraints can spur artists on to new heights of creativity. Sometimes the constraints are aesthetic and sometimes they are purely physical; sometimes they're self-imposed and sometimes they're imposed from outside. Often there's no way to tell which is which as you read; only the artist knows whether the decision to, for example, use only black ink came from economics or aesthetics. Sometimes it's in the overlap between economics and aesthetics that the most fertile ground is to be found.
One extremely obvious physical constraint that gets overlooked precisely because it's so obvious is size. Most comics tend to be within a relatively small range of sizes; there's a lot more variation on the market now than there was 20 years ago, but for practical reasons, comics much bigger or much smaller than the standard US floppy format tend to be niche productions. So it is with Brian John Mitchell's minicomics, which are so small they should really be called microcomics. Smaller than a box of matches, they are; so small that you could lose one between the sofa cushions without even creasing the pages. Even smaller than the 8-page Greenbelt comics I blogged about three years ago, which were made on one side of a sheet of A4 card. The fact that he's managed to create coherent and interesting stories in such a tiny space is enough to raise eyebrows.
The stories themselves are relatively conventional. XO (art by Melissa Spence Gardner) is a straight-up power fantasy of the "protagonist gets to kill unpleasant people without consequences" type; it's competent but unremarkable. Lost Kisses (art by Mitchell) is a stick-figure comedy series about bad relationships which may or may not be autobiographical. I found it very funny and occasionally infuriating; the main character is self-absorbed and sometimes a little self-righteous with it -- a dangerous combination. I waver between thinking that the humour I find in the series is entirely unintentional (and feeling very uncomfortable) and thinking it's entirely intentional (and laughing like a hyena). The truth is probably somewhere in between; certainly Mitchell sometimes seems to be laughing at his protagonist, but some of the most off-putting statements seem to be the ones where he is most sincere, and that makes me wonder.
Probably the best of the three is Worms (art by Kimberlee Traub), a sci-fi thriller about a girl embroiled in a bizarre conspiracy involving people being injected with apparently extra-terrestrial worms. The storytelling is straightforward enough, but Traub's stark, expressionist art does an impressive job of conveying the main character's bleak situation and her nightmarish mental state.
It's obvious that Mitchell is only starting out with these comics; he may want to use them as a springboard for something on a (literally and figuratively) larger canvas. I'd be intrigued to see what a more experienced creator could do with a set of teeny-tiny pamphlets like these. But as an experiment, these microcomics are so pared-down that it's hard to avoid the conclusion that this is a bit of a dead end from an artistic point of view -- the ne plus ultra of minimalism. There's never more than one panel per page, which limits what can be done in the way of visual or narrative effects, and while, as I said, limits and constraints can encourage creativity, too extreme a set of limits can be stifling. These microcomics are interesting, but not likely to start a trend.
~ Purity Brown