I lied to Jason Walz. I told him I was never too busy for him and then I got too busy. I should have had this review done a while ago, but that’s neither here nor there now it is. Crap Shoot was an experiment from the aforementioned Jason Walz; his goal was to practice new storytelling and art techniques while raising a kid. Walz also says in the beginning that this is likely the final issue of Crap Shoot which is a shame since I’ve enjoyed the variety of stories and interviews. That’s right Walz talks to three creators in this issue: Brian Fies, Terry Moore and Gene Yang. I’m not going to talk about the interviews because that would serve no purpose, but I will say that they’re all worth the time it’ll take to read them.

I’m going to skip the first story because it’s not one that you can do justice by writing about it. It’s easy to sum up, but that spoils the magic.

As for the second story, “A Story for Desmond” we find a father of a newborn unable to keep his kid, Desmond, from crying. He tells him a story about all the gifts that his grandmother left Desmond by describing his journeys. At this point it goes a little Muppet Babies as we see Desmond and his sock monkey doll go on all kinds of adventures that neither of them with their limited bone structure would actually be able to do. It’s a cute story, but the ending will definitely pull on your heartstrings.

The art is very clean and had a comic strip look to it at times. I don’t mean that as a slam either, some of my favorite artists come from comic strips. The line work is thick and there’s a lot of contrast between the black & white panels. Walz shows a lot of range artistically as well as he takes baby Desmond through jungles, oceans and even space.

The last story is from a guest creator, Drew Brockington, and called “The Pine Bride.” It’s a strange story about a lumberjack that can no longer do his job after witnessing something strange in the woods. It’s a weird tale for sure, but I really liked it.

The art is also extremely good. It’s definitely a different style than Walz’s, but more than that the inking is different. It’s lighter which works for the story. In particular the character designs are very unique and pleasant to look at.

If you haven’t checked out Walz’s other two issues of Crap Shoot you should do so. The production quality on this series is fantastic and magazine quality. The best part is that you can pay what you want meaning if you just want to read it you can, no excuses. If you do read it and end up liking it consider chipping in some money afterwards. The fact that you have industry interviews and fantastic short stories make this issue a great value compared to full priced comics.

Score: 5/5

Creators: Jason Walz, Drew Brockington Price: Pay What You Want Website