Steven Solomon has exhibited paintings, collages, animation, and large single page comics internationally and domestically, but in recent years has been exploring the possibilities of sequential narratives through an ever intensifying series of minicomics: Speedpaste Minicomic #1 (2022); Bones Pulp Minicomic (2023); Eat An Onion Like An Apple/You Think You Are Meditating But We Can Hear You Snore (2024); Eight Page Giant (2024); and just debuting at the 2025 Brooklyn Independent Comics Showcase, Many Opinions and Errors.
Small press comics in Brooklyn, like everywhere else in the world, come in a wide variety of formats. Rather than taking an A4 sheet of paper DIY-style and folding it into an 8-pager, Solomon takes a completely different path with his upscale minicomics, looking more like a smaller paperback version of a Jules Feiffer or Saul Steinberg book. He judiciously uses minimal color throughout to highlight and frame his compositions.
The high quality paper and printing of Many Opinions and Errors belies the powerfully primitive drawings found inside. Solomon’s chimp and cyclopean characters start the book out eating, tearing apart and crawling inside their reading material. An absolute melee takes place in the space of just two panels, titled ‘When Is A Good Time For A Three Hour Meeting Part II’. There are four characters interacting inside the panel borders, as well as more characters spilling out from BEHIND the panels. Add a dash of Solomon’s patented ink dots and it makes for a very effective scene.
‘Role Models’ uses a splash of ink to frame the entire page, with three panels of his cyclops character jumping in and out of the panels and another three panels with “Sergio” and “Feiffer” listed as role models. Solomon seems to revel in playing with the form of comics coming up with clever variations on the conventions of cartooning. The book flows very well as minimalist strips are alternated with more complex compositions. The two-page ‘I Had a Dream’ falls into the latter category, the first page being two panels sampling the full page illustration on the second page of the story. This two page strip continues from the earlier ‘When Is A Good Time For A Three Hour Meeting Part II’ with the titles of both strips intermingling as dialogue in the composition.
Following a theme of reading and creating comics, Steven Solomon somehow manages to string together a loose narrative with the rest of his strips, as well. Making Many Opinions and Errors seem a celebration of his foray into comics making.
Steven Solomon (W/A) • Self-published, $8.50
Review by Gary Usher
