Review: Pencil Fight #3

Pencil Fight #3
Featuring Tim Biskup, Brian Ralph, James Jean, Craig Thompson and Various.
Published by Grass Hut Corp. $6 USD

The names above will bring in some comics readers, but impressively, some of the best material in this square-sized, perfect bound magazine comes from others. The theme of the issues is "When Plants Attack," and somehow a lot of what's in here actually fits that strange thing, and it's good stuff. There are articles on the environment-threatening Giant Blackberry (no, really), an interview with an artist who paints studies of wood, and a nifty photo essay/interview with a hipster and his collection of great, mostly foreign toys and figures, some of which are in a houseplant setting to fit the theme. With this and other articles and interviews with artists, musicians and toy designers, the magazine is essential coffeetable fare for hipsters, something you can pick up and be amused or delighted by every time. The mix of art, comics and journalism is fresh and lively, and just the antidote for those tired, bewildered or annoyed by anthologies like BLAB!.