What do you think of Rasputin Barxotka so far?

Could any of you kind readers please help me out?  It would mean a lot to me if you could please leave an honest review at any of the sites below.  Detailed reviews would be ideal, but a star review would work too:

• Comic Basement
• Comic Hovel
• Comic Listing

I would be super grateful if any of you could do this for me.

Today’s bonus update was brought to you by:

Tristan J. Tarwater’s Back That Elf Up!

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I have to report a lot of grooviness with today’s update:

• I posted a preview of February’s donor wallpapers and some cool treats for Bronze, Silver and Gold members in the members section. It’s totally free to join at the basic level.
• Holy smokes! Tristan T. upgraded her bronze membership to gold by donating a bit of labor.  We have $255 in donations and that means we’ll be posting a bonus update this Wednesday.  I am seriously very grateful for this.
• The final segment of So, Now You’d Better Stop will be starting on February 13.  That means you’ll only have to wait twenty four or so weeks until the next book, Superkiller Rusalka Week.  If you want to make that happen sooner, help me pay for Mandarr and Paul’s help by getting a membership.  If you can afford $5 or more, try out one of the paid memberships.  If you want to make a smaller donation or feel like giving a little extra, get a free membership and make a donation for the wallpapers.  Remember, every time we hit $250 in donation, we’ll add an extra update.
• We will finally be getting a cover for Go To Hell Bahktale Vasquez.  I looked at the rough sketch and it is freaking amazing! I can’t wait to unleash it upon you all.
• Finally we’d like to thank Geneva and Angie for the sweet shout out at The Prophet’s Garden.  I made some fan art, and they dug it.  That kind of stuff delights me!
• Fixed the continuity errors with Romeo’s facial hair.  Sorry about that.

That’s all for now.  :D

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I will be doing a review on this one sometime in the future.  It will be worth the wait.  Trust me.  For now, just check out the site.  It’s super cool.

Kirby Miller, Serial Killer

This is nothing more and nothing less than a badly drawn and totally tasteless webcomic starring a serial killer, his mom’s disembodied voice and a teddy bear. Kirby Miller, Serial Killer is idiotic entertainment and a mindless pleasure I cannot deny myself.  I should be ashamed of myself for loving this webcomic. Then again, I am guilty of inflicting the original pre-reboot Rasputin Catamite upon humanity, so casting stones is definitely out of the question.

A Review of The Prophet’s Garden by Angie Hood and Geneva Rosett-Hafter

This lovely post-apocalyptic graphic novel is very much a work in progress. The text needs proofreading and the navigation is a bit difficult to get used to for those of us who are accustomed to Comicpress-type sites. Having said that, both are problems I’ve struggled with on my older webcomics so, I am sympathetic. Many of the pages of the main comic are in the form of rough sketches, which might be jarring to some readers. Looking at the loving renderings of Geneva’s finished art and based upon what I have read from the creators’ notes, this is as a result of an effort to keep a schedule rather than any willful desire to produce a substandard product.  Personally, I don’t mind this very much since the authors do plan to eventually finish the pages and I personally enjoy observing the creative process. My only real issue with the pages are the word balloons. The text would be a lot easier to read if these were considerably more opaque.

If you can get past the presentation issues, you will be treated to something very special in The Prophet’s Garden. From a storytelling perspective, Angie and Geneva’s piece seems heavily influenced by manga as opposed to the typical American end-of-the-world superhero action rag. This helps create a framework for much deeper character development, detailed relationship studies and a more subdued plot progression. Although some of the typical conventions of manga with a mad-messiah are present, there are enough deviations in the formula to make the characters worth caring about.  The subtexts about the frustrations of living with physical disabilities and the results of a complete economic collapse after a major disease outbreak, gripped me even more than the main plot. Being disabled and highly concerned about our government spending our societal safety net out of existence, ultimately caused me to get sucked me into Hood and Rosett-Hafter’s dystopian world.

The manga influence thankfully does not extend to the artwork beyond attention to detail and some genre-specific visual conventions. Instead of clean lines, pristine adherence to anatomical mechanics, enlarged eyes and exaggerated bodies, Geneva’s soft color illustrations evoke an air of purposeful primitivism with humanity that is rarely seen, let alone successfully executed in the comic genre. When Loki and I were first looking at the illustrations, we got into a small debate as to whether her work was pastel and pencil with digital adjustments, or digital pastels on pencil.  Although I lean towards the latter, I concede that the use of digital media is convincingly natural. Although the stiffness of the art can sometimes be an off-putting drawback of any composition inspired by primitivism, there are enough beautiful dancerly poses to balance out the natural limitations of this style. Being heavily influenced by Russian neo-primitivism in my own work, I can’t but help appreciate Rosett-Hafter’s approach.

Although The Prophet’s Garden is not going to satisfy people expecting a fully-developed webcomic that’s ready for the mass market, it is most certainly worth examining as a diamond in the rough waiting for a bit of polish. I highly recommend this graphic novel for anyone who enjoys storytelling rich with nuance and who can appreciate watching the creative process unfold.

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Awkward does not even begin to describe this situation. I feel for both Marlborina and Gloria.

Being in the same room as my ex-husband’s mistress during our divorce proved incredibly uncomfortable for me. I’m sure she felt similarly. Thankfully, that was long ago, but it still inspired this scene.

I would like to thank Tristan T. for her paid bronze membership. This is our first paid membership EVER, so getting the PayPal notice totally made my day! I am dancing right now because, we’re $245 away from the next bonus page. YAY!

If you missed our blog this weekend, check our latest and most amusing guest art piece to date.

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I haven’t laughed this hard over a commission in a very long time! I wrote the script to elaborate on this (spoiler), and Viskamiro did the rest.

If you are not familiar with Viskamiro‘s work, check out the refreshingly different Hallodri webcomic. This production is probably one of the most insane satirical yaoi stories that I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading.  It isn’t politically correct on any level. The stylistic shifts on the art are wild and often unpredictable. The experimentation is rampant and completely without any hint of self-consciousness. Most of all, it’s the extremely hilarious story of a genderless pansexual farmer who isn’t exactly bright, but is charming all the same. I felt like a total bastard for enjoying this webcomic, but I have no regrets and I highly recommend it to people with a high tolerance for random and delightfully offensive. In fact, I liked it so much, I had to donate immediately, get commissioned art and an ad!  I hope you all enjoy Viskamiro’s work as much as I did.

Warning: If you can be offended, you will be offended.

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I am guessing that Crocodile Magazine was the Soviet answer to Punch, though I lack the historical documentation to confirm it.  Its pages are full of propaganda and gracefully drawn comics.  Some of the humor is confusing out of context, though some of the panels made me laugh aloud.  It’s worth looking at for the artwork alone.  There’s a fantastic online archive, if you want to check it out.

The Unknown Russian Comics

These are totally fake satires, but I really wish they were real.  The art is just fantastic!

Octobriana (NSFW)

Although it is an extremely elaborate literary hoax created by a Czech art thief to cover up his misdeeds, it’s hard for me not to like the concept Octobriana.  She was sold as the iconic and sexually-charged heroine of the Russian Underground.  Because of the wide confusion about her exact provenance, and the futility of enforcing copyrights over a character that was released into public domain by her fraudulent creator,  many comic artist have incorporated her in their own works.  My first encounter with Octobriana was in Cherry Comics (NSFW).

Having a series of Soviet Russia-themed comics, I am actually surprised that I haven’t played around with Octobriana,yet.  Maybe I should.

Vladrushka (REALLY NSFW – 18+)

John Linton Roberson’s Vladrushka comes across as unspeakably dirty, maddeningly offensive and yet, it’s surprisingly intelligent and scathing satire.  The stylized artwork is unusual, elegantly gritty and surprisingly effective at conveying the decadent lifestyle of the protagonist and her equally insatiable co-stars.

On My Wish List

Komiks: Comic Art in Russia

Do You Have A Favorite Soviet or Cold War Themed Comic That You Love?

If so, let me know in the comments section!

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SOPA-PIPA has gone down in flames!

I am artist and I believe that copyright can be used for the good of my industry. Having said that, my livelihood is not worth giving up my freedom. Thanks to everyone who participated in the black out.

“Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor Liberty to purchase power.” – Benjamin Franklin

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Artifice by Alex Woolfson and Winona Nelson

Delicious writing and lovingly drawn art mesh together in this compelling graphic novel. The story takes place mostly as a conversation between Deacon, an android soldier, and  his interrogator, Maven.  Deacon suffered from a malfunction that led him to betray his owners and he must spill the beans as to why.  The fight scenes in Artifice are absolutely brutal, but Maven’s mind games are far more terrifying. The violence is gracefully tempered by goofiness and some of the hottest yet romantic love scenes I’ve ever in a long time.  Artifice is part science fiction, part psychological thriller and fully tasteful erotica.  It’s a must read, and it is definitely absolutely worthy of your donations.

Stupid Snake by Aviv Itzcovitz

I learned about Aviv’s work during a casting call for my webcomic, Rasputin Catamite, and I’ve been a huge fan ever since.  This often violent and completely wordless graphic novel is probably one of the most imaginative sword and sorcery fantasies that I’ve seen in a very long time.  The art is absolutely stunning and the visual story moves at a breakneck speed.  The cast of characters is absolutely insane in a good way.  Be sure to grab a copy of the Stupid Snake print book while you’re there.

A Broken Winter

Quite possibly one of the most emotionally draining page turners I’ve seen in a very long time, A Broken Winter is the disturbing tale of a child who was unlucky enough to be born the son of a dissident.  The manga-inspired art is beautiful yet relentlessly painful to look at.  The fact that this is a fantastical science fiction story, does not detract from A Broken Winter’s believable depiction of how of prisoners of war are treated in a world that is running out of resources. I am a hardened fan of horror, and most ero guro barely phases me anymore.  This graphic novel actually gave me nightmares, not just because of the gruesome evil depicted, but because the brief and tender moments of humanity made it all the more hideous. I don’t recommend this graphic novel this if you are a sensitive individual, are unused to hard horror or, if you suffer from emotional triggers.  However, if you are prepared to handle A Broken Winter‘s heavy psychological demands, you will not be able to stop reading.

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Ain’t sexism grand…

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Mandarr and I have officially reached the halfway point in the redrawing project; twelve pages down and twelve more to go. It has been a complete blast to be sure. To see the completed image, click on the thumbnail and let us know what you think.

Free Rasputin Barxotka Membership

When the first twenty four pages of Rasputin Barxotka are finished, you will only be able to see the old ones in the membership area of Rasputin Barxotka. If you’re broke, don’t worry. The original pages will be available at the brand new free membership level for this website. All  members will  be able to enjoy  this site ad-free, in addition to getting the opportunity to purchase our members-only donation wallpapers. We just posted the first one with Getter wearing stockings and Tsar engaged in a compromising position. If you’ve been following Rasputin Barxotka, you probably can imagine what’s going on. Want to see the super hot preview? Join for free!

Rasputin Barxotka also has paid membership levels that let you access extra goodies such as the full blog archives, special fan service images and other goodies that coming very soon.  Getting a paid membership is like giving a donation to support independent art and getting extra benefits. Unlike other websites, our paid memberships do not renew automatically, so there aren’t any inconvenient cancellations to deal with. And whether you renew or not, you get to keep your free membership for as long as we can make it available.

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