Title: December 2012, Januaray 2013, Feburary 2013
Artist/Writer: Ian McMurray
Publisher: Self-Published
Purchase: http://squarecomix.tumblr.com/
Review:
Recently received this comics from Ian directly from Japan! I could not remember what from Japan I ordered, and I was pleasantly surprised when I opened it and found my favorite thing, comics!
Ian's comics are short quarter sized issues that deal with him living abroad in Japan. On his tumblr he has written, "I've been living abroad long enough for the novelty to wear off, and for the day to day reality of things to set in." I think this is a real focus of these comics. Like a Kochalka comic, McMurray focuses on the simple parts of his day that make them important. Each page contains one panel, that help tell the story through the featured month, but also are self-contained stories in themselves.
I really like the added touch of the Japanese subtitles in the comic, little attributes like that are critical in making the comic unique, while it also does a lot to the purpose of the comic as a piece of art. Ian's art is simplistic ink drawings, but again looking through his tumblr or issues of his Square #5 and #6, which I also received, his art isn't limited to this simple drawings.
The above panels are from a story in McMurray's Square #6 that I found pretty great. Ian's work reminds me of some of the best artists who deal with auto-bio comics, and fictional real life comics. Ian wrote me saying he plans to keep at it, and I hope he does.