Lunch Break is a short round-up of favorite webcomics appearing here each weekday at noon. Here’s something for you to enjoy over your lunch break or whenever. The premise is simple: it’s another day on the internet. Here’s a new or forgotten comic that seems interesting. Have something to recommend? Email us: crosshatchdispatch@gmail.com.

1. Andertoons by Mark Anderson // date unknown
2. Relationshapes! Pt. 5 by David Rees // March 31, 2011
3. The Beasts of K-7 by Malachi Ward // date unknown
4. Paying for it excerpt by Chester Brown // March 16, 2011
5. So…She Moved in With Me Anyway by Jonathan Baylis and T.J.Kirsch // 2006

– Sarah Morean

Hive 3: A Somewhat Quarterly Comic Journal
Ed. by J.M. Shiveley
Grimalkin Press

Hive is a theme-less comics anthology that’s edited by J.M. Shiveley and printed by Grimalkin Press — Shiveley’s ambitious DIY publishing company. To wit, the third issue of Hive is being sold through a Barnes & Noble store.  See?  Ambitious.

Yes, individual B&N stores have a history of carrying books from small-time publishers, but those titles tend to cover local history and still look like “books.” You know, soft- and hard-cover vanity-pressed books.

None of these terms describe Hive 3 which is folded concertina-style and has a double-sided letterpress cover. Hive 3 is certainly a fat 2-in-1 booklet, which is something I thought I’d never see in a big box bookstore.  I’m calling that an achievement.

That said, while printing experiments in comics are admirable, there are some clear issues with the publication style of Hive 3.  It’s eye-catching, sure, but there’s just too much going on with the printing of this book that doesn’t make sense for the material.  I guess if you’re going to charge $10 for a self-published hand-made black-and-white anthology, it should really have something distinctive going on, but I’m afraid this issue has crossed the line from unique to gimmicky.

To be fair though, a book shouldn’t be judged entirely by its cover, and what Hive 3 presents deep down inside is a high-quality selection of short comics and art.

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UTU
by Malachi Ward
Self-published

It seems weirdly appropriate to review this book on Christmas Eve.  I hope you will enjoy the irony.

UTU is beautiful comic book set in two worlds: the highly techno-savvy future and the mystical, superstitious past.  The book’s author Malachi Ward claims it is his “finest and only work to date.”  For a first comic, I’d say it’s pretty ambitious, but successful.  Definitely worth a look.

UTU is about a guy who is able to move between time periods, but has no control over either.  In 5102 B.C.E. he is the god of gods, UTU, who nobody seems to respect, and in the future he is just some lonely guy who can’t even pull a girl at the bar.

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