What is a YEET? You'll have to ask Mike Jones, the editor of "YEET Presents", an independent anthology comic published in the state of Michigan in the U.S. He also writes and draws some of the stories you'll find within this black and white comic. However, this comic is actually the combined talents of many people. YEET has been published off and on since 1994! In the past couple of years it has been published more frequently, almost on a monthly schedule. I won't claim that I know much about the history of "YEET Presents", so I'll just give you the lowdown on the past few issues that I have received.
Issue #27 features three stories. The cover pictured above is for "Wonder Squad Part Four" by Brad Hyman. This is the conclusion of a superhero parody about a former team of heroes who parted ways after a public fight among the members. A man with no powers, by the name of Wondrous, held a grudge against the hero known as Dr. Spectral, who has telekinetic powers. Wondrous acquires a weapon called the Agony Dynamo which he plans on using to destroy Dr. Spectral's band of misfit heroes. The story features some nice art, a lot of humor and well-developed characters.
After a letters column you need to flip the comic over for the next two stories. The reverse cover (not pictured) is for the story "Creatur" by Quentin Bennett and Fish Lee. This is apparently part nine in a series (and I haven't read the other parts), but it's not too hard to follow. A scaly, green monster with human intelligence is part of a power struggle between corrupt individuals and those who know he isn't evil. Fish Lee's art is really good, with a lot of detail that enhances each panel. This is followed by fan art and a short story called "Rage Against the Machine" by Mike Jones and Tod Higgins. It ties in with a series of stories in "YEET" about The Black Fury, a superhero now in the public domain originally published by Fox Publications / Fox Feature Syndicate.
Issue #28 was just released, and a month or so after issue #29! Each comic came from a different printer in an effort to see if newsprint or slicker, thicker paper is preferred by the fans. Issue #28 has a newsprint interior, and this time eight color pages! I have mixed feelings about this issue, so I'll just tell you about them.
The cover and first story in this issue is "Guardians of the Blue" Chapter 3 by Mac of BIOnighT with art by Kent Clark. (Yes, that's his name.) Mac originally wrote and drew all the previous installments, but felt that he didn't have the time to devote to drawing everything he wanted for his series. After seeing Kent Clark's art he was satisfied with handing over the art chores to him. And Kent's art is very good! This time we have the story of a hero who is out of control, and beats a petty criminal who wanted good clothing for his daughter. The story flashbacks to the hero's childhood where the reader sees him abused by bullies and then by his alcoholic mother. Not the type of story you want to read if you need something to cheer you up, but a well-done story nonetheless.
The second story is "The Adventures of Jade!", the aforementioned color story. This is the debut of a new jungle girl character (at least I think she's new) written by Brian Cole, drawn by Jo Wong and colored by Suyman Repaja. The title of this story is "Minos: The Hands of Fate!", a nod to the bad horror movie Manos: The Hands of Fate. So far, so good. But then my eyes see a well-endowed jungle woman skinning a decapitated jungle cat! Ewww! Sorry, but as a fan of the jungle girl genre I don't recall anything so graphic in classic stories from the Golden Age of comics. And why does every modern comic book artist need to draw oversized breasts on the women? The colors are very good, but twice in the story characters known as the "white couple" are mentioned - yet every human character in this story is white! Were the natives meant to be black? The story itself is okay, but with characters double-crossing each other it's hard to care for any of them.
The final story is "The Candle Man" by writer Don Everett Smith Jr. and artist Gabriel Perez. This is a basic urban legend horror story in which murderous youths find out that a scary legend is very real. It reminds me of a lot of silly but watchable horror movies I used to watch on cable TV. Another letters column follows this story and the back cover (pictured above) is The Black Fury. I was able to get the front and back of this issue in the same photo due to getting two copies, like all the other subscribers did.
This brings me to last month's issue, #29. Pictured above is a Black Fury cover that pays tribute to the cover of "The Blue Beetle" #13. Inside are six stories, including some good stuff such as the pulp fiction of "The Crooked Man!" by writer Allan Rowlands and artists Caley Tibbittz and Dan Schaefer; the humorous "...And a Dog..." by Brian Cole and Gregory Woronchak; a one page frontier delight (not titled) by William Messner-Loebs and Randy Silverman; and (on the flip side of the comic) "Holy Wars", a Universal Monster and Marvel Comics mash-up by writer / layout artist Michael John De Stasio and art by Charles E. Butler. Someone will have to explain to me exactly what is happening in a three page story titled "The Interview", and what the source material the author is referring to is. I don't keep up with everything, folks!
As a bonus for subscribing to "YEET Presents" through their Patreon program (see link below) I also got a reprint of "Ultra Force" #1. Cover to cover it's twelve pages and mostly looks like an artist's sketchbook. There's a lot of talking heads and posing, and includes a character who looks like Wolverine from The X-Men. The story makes little sense and I'm not even sure what order I'm supposed to read the panels in. But thanks for including this, Mike!
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