This review was written by a good friend of mine, Professor Timonin (see the Honorable Magus list for more information), and it actually about a comic writer named Chris Baldwin and his comics over the years. Enjoy!

It is possible to read all the Calvin and Hobbes comics ever written. Likewise Peanuts. And Farside. And Bloom County, too. Cathy, also. For Better or For Worse, even. When those writers were done, they stopped, and the comics stopped too. With the exception of Peanuts, and to an extent, FboFW, the retirement (or death) of the artist resulted in space on the comics page, space that could be filled with fresh, new talent. Talent like Chris Baldwin. Except that no one thought to offer the space to Chris Baldwin, probably because his comics were on the internet, and the internet is scary territory for mainstream newspapers. As a result, the vast majority of American comics page readers have never experienced the wonder that is Little Dee, and that is entirely a shame.

Mr. Baldwin has been writing comics on the web pretty much since there was a web to write comics on. Bruno, which started in 1996 (1996!) was a lushly drawn (pen and ink, people!) slice of life comic about a young woman named Bruno. It was adult, in the sense that there were sometimes boobies, but, more importantly, in the sense that it addressed adult topics – life, love, death, work, taxes – in a serious and realistic tone. There were laughs, but it wasn’t a funny comic. Baldwin was clearly playing with what was possible on the internet – Bruno almost certainly could not have worked in most mainstream newspapers. Even in underground papers, it would have been tricky – the storyline was complex, and the continuity was vital – you couldn’t pick it up in the middle.

Chris Baldwin stopped writing Bruno in 2007. In the meantime (2004), he started a new project, which he hoped would get picked up by newspapers – Little Dee. There was no reason whatsoever why Little Dee could not have been in any major newspaper. It was the charming story of a little girl being raised by a bear, a dog, and a vulture. It had points where it was very much like Calvin and Hobbes, but it was entirely it’s own comic – an no newspapers would touch it. I think it got picked up by a couple of papers in Washington or Oregon, but it never took off. And that is entirely a shame. Little Dee ended in the spring of 2010 – Chris stated that he could have continued writing, were the comic earning him $10,000 instead of $8000, but that for $8000, he could only work if he felt passionate about the project. I think, really, true fans of Little Dee should appreciate that instead of a comic which slowly went from stellar to mediocre as the artist cranked out increasingly tepid storylines, we got a fantastic (and satisfying) conclusion to a fantastic comic. (Chris is currently running Little Dee in reruns, as it were – shortly after ending the comic, he started re-posting the comics in the original order, so if you start reading now, you’ll get the full effect of the comic as a daily.)

Plus, while winding down Little Dee, Chris Baldwin launched SpaceTrawler, which is entirely different from either of his earlier works. A space opera in the best of possible ways, filled with humor and adventure and danger and aliens with cat ears – entirely worth taking a look. SpaceTrawler runs Mondays and Wednesdays, and has only been running for a year, so the archive is still digestible. Go check it out!

(Chris Baldwin also wrote Bad Mile very briefly before he “hit a wall of inappropriateness” and collects a series of shorter works at Water Street)