From the Beano and 2000AD to The Walking Dead...

Imagine me as Rod Serling with a Black Country accent for a minute, and….Picture if you will a young boy in the 1970s.  He is sat in front of a Calor gas fire, wearing obnoxious 70s PJs, eating breakfast and reading that days comic. Around him, his mother prepares for another day and his father shouts goodbye as he heads out to work.  For the time it takes to read a comic the boy is transported to other worlds, fights the Japanese in WW2, menaces Walter with Dennis.  The monotony of school life is forgotten and a day of adventure beckons.

Those warm, rose tinted memories are, I believe, a big reason for my return to and increased enjoyment of reading comics.  Even now, before I head out to work each day, I allow time to sit eat breakfast and drink a coffee, while reading my latest comic. Obviously some things have changed, it's more likely to be read on a tablet now and not the old bog roll paper of the 70s with the family name scrawled on the top of the front page.  But what hasn't changed is the ability for the comic to transport me away from, and set me up for, the day ahead.

I enjoy a bit of reminiscent reading and going through the collections from 2000AD, or a Warlord annual.  But my favourite thing is discovering something new and being blown away by it.  As I had a 30 year hiatus from comic reading, something new to me can be, for instance, Watchmen or Garth Ennis' Punisher run. Both of which I absolutely loved and was actually blown away by.

My most recent discovery, made during lockdown, was The Walking Dead.  I have watched every episode of the TV series, even the shonky seasons, and kept the faith.  However I'd never so much as looked at a TWD comic.  Then I saw a Humble Bundle offer of the entire series of digital trades with even the FCBD issue and the 'Here's Negan' one shot all for a minimum donation/cost of just £15.

That was easily some of the best money I've spent on comics!  I am a massive Stephen King fan and one of the things I really enjoy about his work is the characters he breathes life into with his writing.  For me Robert Kirkman did the same with The Walking Dead comics, from page one I felt that I was at home and sharing that zombie infested world with Rick, Shane, Lori and the rest of his cast.

I was amazed by the amount of dialogue that Kirkman would get into a page or even a panel and it never felt too much.  I feel for Charlie Adlard trying to set out panels to fit the action and the dialogue but he did and in beautiful black and white style too. His portrayal of everything from grotesque violence to grief stricken characters was spot on throughout with some beautiful splash pages for good measure.

So, I made TWD my breakfast reading and every morning I woke up looking forward to finding out what happened next. I was really strict with myself and didn't read it at other time of the day as I wanted to drip feed the enjoyment and stretch out the pleasure. A few days ago it all came to an end though, much like lockdown.

I felt genuinely bereft, it was an emotional ending and, I felt, beautifully tied up too. Now I have that empty feeling like when I've finished a King epic, such as The Stand.  I know how this goes though, I'll peck at a few titles raiding Comihaus and some digital content from Comixology and then a new infatuation will come along.  

I maybe won't be jumping on my Grifter and pretending to be Judge Dredd patrolling the big Meg, but happily comics and great storytelling can still add some adventure and distraction to my daily life.

Review: Tony Osmond is a Movie Star!

Yesterday I brought a digital copy of the new comic from Tony Esmond called Tony Osmond is a Movie Star!  It's the latest release from Tribute comics who have previously released The Whore Chronicles and the brilliantly funny, Atomic Hercules.  Tony's collaborators on this one are Cliff Cumber on art and Ken Reynolds lettering.

First up this is definitely one for a mature reader, this ain't no all ages special to pass to little Billy to read.  Page one opens with the sight of the titular leads cock and balls swinging in the breeze and a very naked satiated woman, or two on the bed surrounded by discarded bottles of booze.  Tony Osmand, who I'm sure bears no resemblance whatsoever to the author, is a hard drinking, womanising and violent actor.  Imagine Ollie Reed, Richard Burton, and Richard Harris had a love child with Charlie Bronson and that's Mr O. 

We see the type of 80s action films he makes reflect his character like "Always Bet on Automatic" where he uses two pistols to dispatch a gambling rival, leaving more than a little claret on the walls, table, floor….you get the idea. As was typical of a film star of that generation Tony makes an appearance on Wogan with Bananarama performing but this is no ordinary performance.  Much like when a drunken Oliver Reed appeared on Michael Aspels 80s chat show, Tony leaves his mark on the audience. All this and we're only halfway in.

My old man was a bit of a lad, in his day, with a penchant for a Saturday night drink and even a punch up.  The blokes would knock seven bells out of each other, then go back in the pub for a pint together. For me this comic just gave me the feel of that era and the hellraiser actors that my dad loved to watch.  The days when films were just balls out action and no fucks given for political correctness.  Tony Osmond wants to bring some of his reality to the boring lives of his audiences, just in a very visceral way.

The story is brought to life by Cliff Cumbers black and white artwork, I love a bit of black and white and this is just great work.  His eye for the small details, facial expressions and violence reminded me of Geof Darrows work on Hard Boiled. Great shading and sound effects too, I'll definitely be searching out more of his work. The angular speech bubbles and letters used by Ken Reynolds add to the hard edged feel and really lets you hear the characters voices.

Tony Osmand is the ideal antidote to the sterile picture perfect movie stars of today, no Hugo Boss ads for him, more likely to be splashing the Brut all over.  For me Tonys Osmands first outing hit all the right beats and, like the best films, gave us a cliffhanger.  I can't wait for the sequel.

You can get your digital or physical copies of Tony Osmond is a Movie Star from: 

https://neverironanything.bigcartel.com/products