Review: Sentinel Issue #10: Newtopia

I recently received a sneak peek at the upcoming Sentinel, issue #10 so thought I'd share some thoughts on it. I'd actually just done a re-read of the Halloween Sentinel, an anthology of horror tales presented by the particularly rancid old punk Philthy Luka, perfect reading for the season of course.

Issue #10 is back to the usual 64 page "Starblazer" format single story.  This one is a noir crime story set in the future in a Blade Runner/ Fifth Element style world with flying cars, skyscrapers and dubious nightclubs.  It's a world that has been visited by aliens and forever changed by their influence and tech.  I won't go into too much story detail here as I don't want to ruin it but I will say that it begins with a diamond heist.

I'm not a huge noir fan but the story, written by regular Sentinel scribe, Alan Holloway, has elements that I like, such as the heist, future tech and a fair smattering of violence, it moves along at a good pace too.  The elements I didn't like were the use of the names of real comics community people as characters, such as ECBT2000AD progcaster John Burdis and (praise his name) Dredd supremo John Wagner. These sorts of references, can raise a smile, but always take me out of a story and that was sadly the case here too.

David Metcalfe was on the pencils for this one and his black and white artwork fitted well with the noir feel of the story.   However, I felt that some of the panels were a little static and again, this time within the artwork, nods were given to referencing real life characters. Again this just served to lift my mind out of the story.

I always applaud the efforts of the Sentinel guys, getting comics out into the world isn't easy and I love how they continue to introduce new artists to the Sentinel fans.  This one isn't for me, but I look forward to the next issue and seeing what is served up.