Week of 6/22/2026

If you read last week’s update, then you know I’m doing a whole summer event circuit to build up to the premiere of the new Shapes storyline Clara & Pinky in September with limited edition posters on sale.

The Market at Pettaway — Pettaway Coffee, 406 E 21st St, Little Rock, AR 72206, June 27 5-8PM; no cover

Philly Punk Rock Flea Market — 1301 S Columbus Blvd, Philadelphia, PA 19147, July 17 4-9PM & July 18-19 10AM-5PM; Admission $6-15

NJ Punk Rock Flea Market — New Jersey Expo Center, 97 Sunfield Ave, Edison, NJ, July 25 10AM-7PM; Admission $15, free for kids 12 & under

Minthorne Market — Minthorne Street, Staten Island, NY

Paper Plains Zine Fest — Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vermont St, Lawrence, KS 66044; no cover

I’m still doing the discount sale to celebrate my online shop’s relaunch until next Saturday! Just use the code SUMMERTOUR2026 at checkout for 30% off! Shipping not included and $7 order minimum.

An passionate manifestation of all that is hood, Blerd, profane, holy, and everything in between, Philly-based cartoonist Rob Wood’s self-published book collection contains a mix of comics originally appearing in the Reptile House Comix anthology and new material divided into sides similar a record.

SIDE A

Crazy Little Comix #1 – Best friends Daryl and Alpho decide to sell art at the Black Market ( BIPOC centric, that is). The audience ain’t hip to Daryl’s cutting-edge abstract art until he presents his work to the White Space (don’t expect too much subtlety here) who readily dig his style. Daryl isn’t hesitant to cast his buddy aside while making his way up in the arts world.

While Daryl does indeed rise to top gun in the scene, it’s very much at the expense of his dignity. It’s clear the white gatekeepers don’t actually respect him as person, viewing his work as more of a token commodity they can appropriate and pawn off on. Like many a minority, Daryl ignores the racist microaggressions because he gets so wrapped in the big picture of making it big. After becoming famous, he adapts the tone of the oppressor viewing his low-income peers as the other that he’s above.

Without spoiling the ending, Daryl does learn the hard way that he’s still a black person before anything else.

Black Planet – We now transition from a rag to riches urban commentary to an Afrofuturist pastiche to classic EC Comics. After climate change kills all of white society, a new generation of black people form nescient of Eurocentric notions and fully in tune with their indigenous roots.

Of course, like a virus that persists away, Western society’s remnants infects the new African race when they discover old informational media containing 1950s social etiquettes. Damn you, white devils!

Passion for Lust – Consistent with the previous story’s motif, we have a deconstruction of 50s romance comics. From interracial flings to the capitalist political establishment, Wood packs a lot in a few pages.

Bigger Bear – I can’t figure out why Bigga Bear socked the guy for saying bigger to… oh, I get it. Still not sure how his AI shirt ties into the joke.

Downer Duck Goes Nuts – Who gets stuck with all the bad luck? No one but Downer Duck, who lives the lonely male routine of watching porn, chugging beer, and smoking cigs. Well, the latter two aren’t so readily available in the Philly burbs of Collingdale, so it’s mostly just watching porn and indulging in red pill fancies about getting revenge on women. What women? Just women because he hasn’t been laid in six years. A future mass shooter in the making if he wasn’t so lackadaisical.

SIDE B

Crazy Little Comix #2 – Follows up on the aftermath of “Crazy Little Comix #1.” There’s not much else I can say without broaching spoiler territory, but there’s a slightly optimistic black power revolutionary bent to it.

Land of the Dead – Beware the mark of the beast, for it manifests not in the phantasmagoric but in charismatic technocrats whose power we’ve passively accepted over us as we see in this prescient caveat. We have met the enemy, and it is them.

Unplug – This apparently is an adaptation of a testimony from a “tricknowlege abuse-victim runaway from the YouTube podcast Unplug, which discusses “the occult, esoteric, and conspiracy theories through the lens of a godly perspective.” As you’d imagine, this comic leans on the more spiritual side of matters, setting the recurring motif for most of Side B of Barbeque Block Party.

Where Side A wallows in chaotic irreverence cynicism, Side B takes a step back to introspect on the immaterial from a Pan-African infused Abrahamic lens. This isn’t to say that element is avoided but it’s more pulled back.

Ghetto Ninja – Fun pantomime comic about a ninja making his way through the urban dystopia to save his lady. Fans of 80s action B-flicks will dig this.

The Judge of all the Earth – Visuals of the Microwaved Supersize Street Fightin’ Cockroaches kicking heathen ass accompany Biblical verses Luke:1-2.

Pray – Another textual adaptation, this time from Pastor S.M. Lockridge’s Pray for Your Life sermon.

The Void/Runaway Slaves – And we wrap up with a profoundly metaphorical reminder of the power of art in finding meaning in an otherwise turpitude-infested existence of sheer confusion.

Comics Ranked

1. Crazy Little Comix #1 & #2

2. Black Planet

3. Downer Duck Goes Nuts

4. Land of the Dead

5. Ghetto Ninja

6. Passion for Lust

7. The Void/Runaway Slaves

8. Pray

9. Unplug

10. Bigger Bear

11. The Judge of All the Earth

Overall, I can tell you Rob Woods is a quite multifaceted brutha in the Philly comix scene to look out for, with Barbeque Block Party encompassing all these dimensions. I was certainly more keen on Side A of the book’s incisive commentary, especially the top three ones in my ranking. “Bigger Bear” is the only one I didn’t think much of. I love puns, but the bigga joke was too face value for me to find funny.

Side B leans more towards adapting Wood’s various sources of inspiration, containing a generally hopeful tone. “Land of the Dead”, “Ghetto Ninja”, and “The Void/Runaway Slaves” reflect those elements well. However, “Unplug” and “The Judge of All the Earth” are too on-the-nose about their Christian themes for my tastes. Mutant cockroaches clobbering pagans isn’t exactly my idea of spiritual nourishment (though I could be misinterpreting the imagery). I think “Prayer” articulates that religious introspection more delicately, also resonating as a general reminder to show gratitude.

You can buy a copy of Barbeque Block Party at American Book Warehouse and follow Rob Woods @deaddrepressedpunk on Instagram.