Three quick recommendations from my weekends reading and one new Kickstarter, it's a mixed bag of styles and genres that's for sure.
First up is Cannibal XXX, by Paul PJ Johnson this is certainly the most NSFW comic I've read in a while and certainly not one to leave out for your kids, but it is a brilliant read. The premise is that a director of porn films, who is also married to the worlds best porn star, wants to create a porno masterpiece. He recruits some of the brightest and best talent in the industry and finds a deserted island to film on, not realising that it is, in fact, inhabited by the titular cannibals.
It goes without saying there is graphic sex and cannibalism throughout the comic but it's not all about shock and gore. Paul has a brilliant fast paced cinematic feel to his writing, bringing these characters to life without making them two dimensional. If you've ever heard the documentaries by John Ronson about the porn industry, you'll know how deep and dark that particular rabbit warren goes and how nearly everyone involved is scarred in some way physically or mentally, many using drugs just to get through the day. This aspect of the characters isn't overlooked, which gives them a depth that I didn't honestly expect to find here.
If you have a strong stomach, a love of the VHS horror films of the 80s and just bloody good comics you will love this, I'm so glad that I listened to Damian Edwardsons Omen to That podcast and found out about Paul's work. I can't wait for episode 2, but in the meantime Paul has a catalogue of other titles such as Razor Bastard that I intend to check out. You can get a copy by DM'ing Paul via Facebook messenger.
Murder by John tucker is a small A6 piece of perfection containing two short stories Narrowing and Poseidon. John was Influenced by the small one and done independent zines he encountered as a student so wanted to create a love letter to those with Murder.
If you've not read any John Tucker before you can catch up with his entire back catalogue, digitally, for just a fiver. His stories have a surreal edge and are always written with a great ear for day to day language.
Murder Volume 1 was a limited edition print run with no reprints but keep your eyes open for volume 2 in the future. Be quick though it's just a one week Kickstarter.
Finally on my read pile was Kazana The Slayer which is Sentinel issue 5, I got a sneak peek from Alan and Ed. As you might guess from the title it's a Conan the Barbarian style tale where we find our Hero, a wondering swordsman, comes to the aid of a village under attack by an evil overlord. The fully painted story was originally created by Sentinel artist Ed Doyle sixteen years ago. He has gone back and worked on some of the art while writer Alan Holloway has reworked the original story.
It's a satisfying read that doesn't ask a lot of the reader but to sit back and enjoy the ride. It has undead, skeletal warriors and a heroic muscular man wielding a sword smiting all before him. What more could you ask for? The Kickstarter starts tomorrow, Tue 10th November.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sentinelcomic/sentinel-issue-5-kazana-the-slayer
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