Spud Picks: Three Very Small Comics, Vol. III

Three Very Small Comics, Vol. III
by Tom Gauld
Published by Cabanon Press

March Spud Pick

March’s Spud Pick is Tiny Book “Three Very Small Comics Vol. III” by Tom Gauld. Published by Cabanon Press in 2007, this small envelope of tiny comics is a delight. The comics are “The Art of War,” “Gardening,” and “The Gauld Collection, Case W (misc).”

The variety and size of Gauld’s three comics are whimsical, but the stories keep the volume from losing all nuance. Both “Gardening” and “The Art of War” are tongue-in-cheek observations on the follies of human behavior. The characters are oblivious to their own ignorance, but the irony is on full display for the reader. Then, “The Gauld Collection” turns out to be a light-hearted examination of mortality: the author has drawn a strange collection of artifacts beginning with “W.” The objects would be comedic if it wasn’t for the realization that possessions are usually archived after the possessor’s death.

These “Three Very Small Comics” prove that being small doesn’t always mean small-minded. To explore the whole Tiny Books collection, come to the Small Press Library at the Annex!