COMIC EXPO 2006: 'ZINE ROUND UP
One of the great things about the Bristol Comics Festival is the chance to grab as many new independent press titles it’s possible to carry home in an overnight bag (and note down the web site addresses of stuff that’s gone “trade paperback” – the wonderful Blink Twice creation Malcolm Magic, for example – to order when you get home).
I’ve already plugged my hot pick of the Festival
elsewhere – Beaver
and Steve: A Shoeful of Trouble (click here for my review).
But in addition to that gem, this year offered a staggering assortment
of the strange, the straight and the twisted, from the Eagle-award winning Spring
Heeled Jack to the full colour Super F*ckers ($7,
published by Top Shelf), recommended by Tony Bennett
from Knockabout Comics. A hilarious pastiche of superhero
comic groups, this is clearly aimed at for older readers, but is a
brilliant barb pricking the false pomposity of its targets with unrelenting
glee. Check out the Top Shelf web site for the Super F*ckers “group song”.
In no particular order, here’s a selection of material I either bought or was kindly given for past plugs on downthetubes (my arms are three inches longer after carrying them all home, so thanks guys and girls!).
Top of my pile to read had to be the latest issues of the 2000AD-inspired Zarjaz (#2, www.zarjaz.blogspot.com)
and the usually humorous science fiction short story anthology, Futurequake (#6
out now, www.futurequake.co.uk).
Neither disappointed: although not quite as good as #1, I felt, Zarjaz #2 (A5
format £2.50) offers a highly polished homage to 2000AD, offering
a fine selection of strips wrapped in a unique Rogue Trooper cover. The
highlights, for me, were Nathan Adler and David Gray’s near silent Durham
Red strip – Gray’s
art is simply stunning – and an enjoyable Rogue Trooper story from Paul
Glasswell and Nick Dyer. There’s also a report on a recent Zarjaz exhibition.
Futurequake #6 (£A4, £3.50), inspired no doubt in part by Tharg’s Future Shocks but owing more, I think to SF short fiction and US pulp comics, is a delight. Well deserving its status of SFX Fanzine of the Month, this issue prompted me to pick up several other Futurequake publications: Mangaquake #2 (A5, £2.50) and Something Wicked #1 (A4, £3.50). Of these, Futurequake and Mangaquake are better served – given its higher cover price I found Something Wicked a little disappointing in terms of art, although scripts are strong. (Never Talk to Strangers by Richmond A. Clements, art by Ed Traquino and Dark Rider, Pale Horse by Cullen Bunn & Shawn Lee, art by Johnny McMonagle were the best stories in this collection).
Futurequake hardly misses a beat throughout the
issue: Just Because They’re After You by Keith Burns – a
silent strip of paranoia writ large – is magnificent, as is the fun Triumph
of the Will by Berridge/Clements, art by Stewart McKenny, a World War
II superhero story. While the art on other strips is not as accomplished,
writing is good throughout – I loved the punchline to Ancient Gods as
deities argue in a celestial bar. Only one strip proved predictable and
it would be churlish to identify which one. Definitely worth a try.
I’m still not a convert to the manga craze that’s swept comicdom these past few years but strips like Cyborg Butterfly by Sonia Leong in Mangaquake #2 might just sway me: this is a delightful tale, replete with required action and careful, lovingly told interaction, romance across species with little cloying. Again, another title deserving a try.
Hero Killers (Moonface Press, £2.50 – www.moonfacepress.com)
is the latest creation from writer Andy Winter and artist Declan Shalvey,
a one shot story of super villains hired to kill one of the world’s
greatest heroes. They think they have a surefire plan… but do they?
Shalvey’s art works well with Winter’s multi-layered script: there seemed a couple of hiccups in the storytelling and perhaps too much intrigue for a “one shot” story… but perhaps the one shot refers to a plot point and the stage is surely set for more stories in the same superhero universe. This is an accomplished piece of work, and while the art fails to gel, for me, in places (Shalvey needs to pull back more from the action at times and use more angles in his storyteling, I feel), the niggles are outweighed by the rich storytelling. If you’re a superhero fan, this is a good piece of work from an independent.
Changing pace, now: The Japanese Drawing Room: Victorian Travellers
in Japan (£5.99, the Russell-Coates Art Gallery and
Museum ISBN 0-905173-80-5) is a superb manga adaptation from Sakura
Mizuki and Sean Michael Wilson of the diaries of Victorian traveller,
Lady Russell-Coates, whose exploration of Japan with husband Sir Merton
in 1885 proves a rich backdrop for this historical “comic-umentary”.
Introduced with a revealing introduction from Shaun Garner (who also provides
a useful glossary of Japan in 1885), Mizuki’s art is faultless,
a beautiful study of the past recreated with a clever adaptation of Coates’ diary
from Sean, who indie fans will recognise as the brains behind such
titles as Angel in the Woods. This must surely be one of the
first times a British museum has ever used comics as an educational and
entertainment medium, and full marks to Renaissance South West and the
Museums, Libraries and Archives Council for supporting such a venture.
Let’s hope it’s
a title that achieves a wide circulation – I hear it’s already
sold out its initial order in some US comic shops.
Strangehaven #18 ($2.95, Abiogenesis Press, www.millidge.com) continues the intriguing story of a mysterious British village: creator Gary Spencer Millidge continues to enthral and delight with this well written, carefully plotted and wonderfully realised strip, devoted as it is to not just an ongoing, mystifying plot but brilliant characterisation and development. If you haven’t picked up Strangehaven before, then buy one of the collections and start there. Gary remains hopeful the tale may yet be picked up for television, although there has not been much progress since last year.
Marksosia’s Managing Director Harry Markos kindly
pressed several different titles into my hands during a chat with him
on several topics: this is a young British media company that has been
going for just over a year now, with interests in comics, books and music.
Its comics are a heady full colour mix that include a terrific Starship
Troopers title,
and titles such as The Lexian Chronicles, Scatterbrain and Shadowmancer,
the comics adaptation of GP Taylor's multi-million selling novel. Check
the web site for the full range – www.markosia.org.uk.
All US format, full colour titles they’re printed in Britain and their credits read like a who’s who of both established and rising, international talent: I particularly enjoyed Jazan Wild’s Carnival of Souls from writer Stefan Petrucha and artist Kevin Conrad, and Inaki Miranda’s art on The Lexian Chronicles, but check out the company’s full range and make your own selection. This is a company with a clear vision and deserves success in a often difficult business.
Monkeys With Machineguns #0 anthology (£2.50 – www.monkeyswithmachineguns.com), from the publishers of Hammer of Time, features a selection of gruesome but hypnotic tales written by Chris Lynch, drawn by a variety of artists. It’s a heady mix and the stories are engaging, but I’m puzzled by the lack of decent lettering given the high production values on the title. Of the stories, Society, a post-apocalypse horror yarn drawn by stu.art is my favourite of this collection.
I’ve been waiting for the second and final issue
of Bulldog:
Empire (£3.95, Albion Comics – www.bulldogempire.com)
for a year. Jason Cobley and Neil Cameron don’t disappoint with
the finale, an action-packed yarn featuring Winston Bulldog, the only
non-human Captain in the British Aerial Defence Force. Oh do keep up – dogs
are sentient beings in this weird future from Cobley and Cameron, and
they’re mad dogs, for the most part, too. Cobley’s script
never misses a beat, with plenty of entertaining twists: Cameron’s
art, featuring airships and flying steam engines, is a sheer delight
from cover to cover. Highly recommended!
The latest Solar Wind (#7, A4, £3 – www.omnivistascope.com) is a photostrip parody of 1970s, erm photostrip comics, and is the usual blend of hilarious stupidity and daftness. I particularly enjoyed editor Solar Wind’s visit to IDPC Media (the IPC building in south London providing the backdrop!), a guest appearance by Dave Gibbons and the definitely daft Enid Foulbroom story, as a 21st century witch tries to get back to her own time from the dangerous middle ages.
Omnivistascope #2 (ISBN 0-9550233-1-9 – www.omnivistascope.com) is a terrific science fiction anthology, produced to high standards by editor, and for the most part, writer of the stories, Paul Scott; featuring the combined talents of a roll call of British independent artists that include Matt Timson, Simon Penter, Oliver Redding and Chris Ashkam. As with last year’s first perfect bound collection, this is a fine mix of SF stories dedicated to Stanislaw Lem. Lubatek: From Beyond, a story set on a space wreck, and A Complex Murder are my favourites in the mix, but there’s too much here to praise than criticise. Again, another great creation from Paul.
Last, but by no means least, is the latest issue of Martin Eden’s superb superhero story The O-Men (A5, £2 – www.comix.org.uk/theomen). The first issue of a second volume offers more of the high quality, character driven storytelling we’ve come to expect from Martin: well-paced storytelling, shocking revelations and characters you can care about. An absolute joy.
Please note: This reviews merely scrapes the iceberg when it comes to the British independent comics scene: visit the Small Zone store - smallzone.co.uk - for a near-complete stock of the latestv indie releases.
