By Dustin Cabeal

Saltlick won’t be for everyone. It’s weird first and foremost, and it’s not attempting traditional storytelling. It’s just three strange stories with sometimes abrupt endings. The resolution you’ll get will come from your own enjoyment of the stories and not because the story ended. It’s damn weird, but I loved it.

It has everything you could want, dicks, piss strange tiny people (they’re actually tiny, I’m not being derogatory). The first story is about a man with a gash on his body that won’t heal. He talks out loud to himself the entire time which works because it's not as if it’s for the audience, but rather he’ll only believe what he’s saying if he hears himself say it. The ending left me wanting more from this strange story, and I have no idea if it’ll continue or not. If it does, I would be onboard, but on its own, it’s satisfying in a strange way. Again, not a traditional he’s your closure wrapped in a bow type of way.

The second story is even stranger, but I got what it was going for with its strangeness. At least I have an interpretation; I have no idea if I’m right. To me, it was all the thoughts in your head about work when you’re not there. Will they manage without me? Should I feel guilty about not being there? What if this or that happens? To me, it was about disconnecting from those thoughts. Could be wrong, probably am.

The last story… Made me laugh. It’s the most straightforward, and so I don’t actually think I need to say anything about the plot, but it gave me a chuckle. I hope there’s more from this story as well, but we’ll see.

The art is excellent. I can’t think of how to describe it other than a better version of Shannon Wheeler’s artwork (and I’m a big fan of his work so chill on that shit right now because I’m not putting Wheeler’s work down). Even then, I’m not giving it enough credit, but then I don’t know how else to describe it. The style is clean with bold line work and just two panels per a page. This controls the pacing extremely well and leaves you interested and focused on each page. There’s just something familiar and great about the artwork that I can’t put my thumb on; hell I even waited to write this review hoping it would come to me and it did not. It’s just really fucking good okay, is that good enough for you? I fucking hope so…

If you like indie comics, then this is one you should check out. It’s alternative or whatever other labeling you want to put on it. It's something that can only exist as a comic and is creative for the same reason. Strange little finds like Saltlick are why I read and review comics so that I can share the finds with others. This is a good find.

Score: 5/5

Saltlick #1
Creator: Harry Moyer
Publisher: King Bone Press
Link to King Bone Press web store