Review: Kiss My Axe

Pat Mills' Slaine has always been a favourite 2000AD character of mine, he was so different from all the other characters in British comics at the time.  In typical Pat Mills style, he was no super slick faultless hero, he was an awesome Celtic rogue and I was hooked from episode one.  So when I heard that Uncle Pat was writing a book about the creation of Slaine it was on my to buy list right away. It took a bit longer to see publication than first expected, other projects got in the way, but now we have it and as soon as the digital edition went on sale I had to buy it.

The book begins with the genesis of Slaine in 1981, with his then wife and artist of episode one Angela Kincaid. Then takes us on a journey through each Slaine story bringing us right up to date with the final Slaine saga, Dragon Tamer with art by the amazing Leonardo de Manco. 

This could easily have been a dry piece of writing, simply listing dates, ideas and artists for each saga. But, the old punk of British comics hasn't let us down! Pat has written a very honest and open book that not only tells of the ideas and processes behind the creation of our favourite Celtic warriors stories. He also opens the door on the sort of machiavellian machinations he had to deal with from certain editors and others in the comics industry.  Equally, he weaves through the book the story of his own quest to discover the identity of his biological father and how that, and the personalities of the possible fathers, influenced characters within the stories. 

Did I like everything about the book? No, personally I could have lived without the addition of comments from readers and fans of Slaine that are peppered throughout the book.  But it does highlight how Pat reads and listens to the feedback from the fans of his work. A lot of the current crop of 2000AD writers, artists and editorial staff could take a prompt from this attitude.

If you're a fan of Slaine, 2000AD, or just the creation of comics I highly recommend Kiss My Axe for a great insight into the creation of a character and the behind the scenes of the British comics industry.

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. 

Recommendation: The Labours of Heracles: Legends for Growth and Healing

Sometime, in the early part of this year, I was interested to see beautifully drawn pictures of Hercules, performing his various mythological labours, appearing on my timeline.  These were by the superb artist David Hitchcock.  David's work first came on my radar when I met him at ICE Birmingham in 2018 and I purchased a copy of his excellent adaptation of Charles Dickens' The Signalman. It turned out that David was drawing the pictures of Hercules for a project by Professor Laurence Alison on the life, labours and death of Heracles. Turns out Heracles is the original Greek name for the hero and the Romans changed it to Hercules - every day is a school day eh!

This project really caught my imagination because I was listening to the audiobook of Stephen Fry's Mythos.  Like many of my generation, my first and lasting memory of Herc was from his character in 1963s Jason and the Argonauts, played by Nigel Green. I have so many memories of watching this classic during school holidays. However, apart from this, I never really knew a massive amount about Heracles or his labours apart from the odd one like killing the Nemean Lion. Needless to say when the opportunity came to support the Kickstarter campaign to get this project off the ground I backed it. 

I chose the option of an A5 sized Novella, written  by Laurence Alison and illustrated throughout by the incredible artwork of David Hitchcock. As the Kickstarter reached its stretch goals I also received some A5 prints of a selection of the artwork.  Sadly I couldn't back the tiers that would have allowed me to get some of the sketches created especially for Kickstarter. 

I could have devoured the book, but I rationed each chapter which covers part of Heracles life or one of his labours.  This allowed me time to reflect, particularly on each labour and look for the meaning in Heracles'  actions or relate it to my own experiences working frontline at an  NHS specialist hospital. This was something recommended by the author, as each of the 12 epic labors has a lot to teach us about endurance, revenge, mental illness, violence, punishment, trauma, bereavement, friendship, love, and masculinity.

Amazingly, illustrating each labour has never been done in a book before.  The detail and nuances of each illustration reminded me of reading Bernie Wrightsons Frankenstein. There is so much to see in each piece, it is obvious that the artist was having a great time with this project.  

There are resources available to go along with the book too.  Here's a link https://www.ground-truth.co.uk/heracles

If you want to get hold of a copy for yourself you can drop a message to Andrew Richmond here: https://andrewrichmondart.com/contact/

Sneak Peek: V2A - The WASTELAND CHRONICLES - DOOMSDAY

I'm a fan of most post-apocalyptic books, movies and comics, Mad Max is one of my favourite franchises. So when Drone, lead singer of post apocalyptic rock band V2A, got in touch with me offering me a look at V2A - The WASTELAND CHRONICLES - DOOMSDAY a graphic  novel unashamedly set in the same kind of world as Mad Max I was very happy to accept.

In this 52 page full colour comic (is 52 pages long enough to be classed as a graphic novel?) The characters of the band V2A have been brought to life in two connected tales which are described as Mad Max meets Suicide Squad. 

Drone has worked with writer Dave West and artists, PJ Holden and Gustavo Vargas with colours from Matt Soffe to bring this Project to life.  You may recognise the names of Holden and Soffe from their work for 2000AD among many other projects. Gustavo Vargas is an artist I'd love to see working for 2000AD the creator of an awesome collection of Peruvian Cyberpunk comics, including the recent Puno. 

As you might expect from that role call, the quality of the artwork is top notch stuff, I was really impressed. The story itself, for me, wasn't the strongest element here however, it serves as a great scene setter. The excellent world building and characters give a lot of scope for the story to soar as, hopefully, more issues will follow. 

If you want to get your hands on a copy, perhaps one with a variant cover by the awesome Ryan Brown (above) then you can back it here:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/v2a-wasteland-chronicles-doomsday#/

The Kickstarter was 800% funded which bodes well for the future and seeing more from Drone and his crew. 

Recommendations: Monsters and Sentinel: To be a Hero

After a bit of a break I thought I'd come back with a couple of recommendations.  First up, after a lot of subtle and not so subtle hints I received a copy of Barry Windsor Smith's Monsters, for fathers day.

I'm sure that you've heard of this book by now, or most likely have a copy, but for anyone who hasn't I can wholeheartedly recommend this book to you.  It's a weighty tome, beautifully bound in hardback form, and quite rightly as it sees the culmination of 35 years work from BWS.  He has written, drawn and lettered this magnum opus of a book, 380 pages of beautiful artwork and gripping story.  The lettering and form of the speech bubbles that guide us through the panels is just awesome, a much overlooked skill. 

The story revolves around a young man, Bobby Bailey, who in 1964 walks into an army recruitment office and sets in motion a course of events that he was always destined to become an intrinsic part of. BWS weaves the story on many levels across many timelines involving the physical and metaphysical exploring themes of fate, destiny, reciprocity and redemption. 

It is an intense, often dark, read but it drew me into its world and wouldn't let me go from the turn of the first page. I sat and read the first 100 pages in one sitting, if it wasn't for family life and things I had to do I reckon I'd have just sat and read it in one hit.  

You may have gathered that I quite enjoyed this book, it's already right up there in my top ten of comics/graphic novels.  Get a copy today, you really won't regret it. 

Next up is a recommendation to check out an upcoming release. It's the 8th book from the guys at Sentinel Comics called 'To be a Hero'. Written by Alan Holloway with art and letters from Andrew Richmond.  

This is the first superhero book in the Sentinel releases and takes us on a nice ride with a few surprises along the way.  It is very meta and cleverly self-referential, I won't say anymore so as not to ruin the read for you but it's not like any previous Sentinel issue.  

I really enjoyed Andrew Richmonds artwork and the styles he plays with here including some great silver age Kirby style even with some crackle in one panel.  I hope to see more from Andrew in the future and no doubt will as he's already been involved with other indie projects such as Brawler and The77.

The Kickstarter launches 10th July (to 7th August), with a modest goal of just £800 to cover all costs involved, including commissioning Mike White for his awesome limited cover, featuring the character Kilowatt Kid. 

Recommendations: Edge of Extinction and Crackpot

It's been a while since the last issue but we can finally get our hands on the next part of the zombie horror comic, Edge of Extinction from writer Baden James Mellonie. I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek of issue #4 from Baden and I wasn't disappointed.  The dial has been turned up to eleven for the action in this one.

Our protagonists find themselves in the middle of an army operation attempting to take down a hoard of zombies.  Giving aid to a wounded officer they head for the safety of a nearby hospital. Guess what, it's not too safe there either and things are taking a new and unexpected turn.

This is a great, fast paced story with art to match, Paul Peart-Smith really conveys the chaos of battling the undead foe on the streets, contrasting with the relative calm of the hospital.  If you've missed out on previous issues or want to get you hands on #4 you can go to the Eighth Continent Publishing Facebook page or visit http://www.eighthcontinentpublishing.com/

As ever you will be able to take your pick of a superb array of variant covers from artists such as Stephen Samson, David Millgate and a cover from Marvel and DC cover artist Ryan Brown which is simply amazing art (see above).

The next comic couldn't be further away from the death and mayhem of Edge of Extinction. It's Crackpot, the newest comic from the team that brings you The Sentinel and I got a sneak digital peek.  Crackpot unashamedly leans into a nostalgia vibe with it's comedy strips that echo The Beano, Nutty and Whoopee.  A range of artists and writers have come together to contribute to this one like Sentinel stalwarts Alan Holloway and Ed Doyle to 2000AD alumnus, Michael Carroll.

The comic boasts 10 strips with only one that's not played for laughs, called Tammy's Troubles.  This is a format reminiscent of humour comics of the past that would carry one, harder edged story among the laughs.  I think my favourite must be Furrious Four, it stars the titular Katana wielding cats in feudal Japan - what's not to like?  With perfect art for the strip from Morgan Gleave.

I'm going to come straight out and say that Crackpot isn't for me, my tastes have changed since my days reading the Beano. However, it's obvious to see the love for the genre, from the writers and artists, that pervades through each strip. So, if you are in the mood for some old school laughs, that harkens back to the glory days of the British humour comics, Crackpot is the one for you.

The Kickstarter for Crackpot is underway now until 3rd of July: http://kck.st/3c1Qg4d

Recommendations: Planet Loss and As Before, So Behind

First up is Planet Loss by Luke Oram, a superb graphic novel that translates a 32 minute song by the band Wallowing.  It addresses problems of today such as social injustice,  greed and oppression of peoples, but mirrored in a dystopian future society. Planet Loss sees one man reach breaking point and make a stand.

The artwork is just brilliant, at times, reminiscent of Geof Darrows art on Hard Boiled. His colours are just gorgeous and bring thus alien world to life.  But what really stands out is Lukes story telling, he has to do the heavy lifting with his art as there is no speech from characters. 

Find Luke via Facebook and PM him if you want to grab a copy of Planet Loss, you really won't regret it.

Full disclosure Luke is currently working on my story "Project Revenant" due to appear in issue #6 of The77.  Look out for the Kickstarter soon.

Set in a very real here and now is As Before, So Behind.  I heard this recommended on The Awesome Comics Podcast by Vince Hunt.  It really is a beautiful, but difficult, book to read as the creator talks to his infant son who died shortly after his birth.  

This hit me hard as it was only a year ago that my own daughter was born. I'm not too proud to say I shed a tear or two.  Just 79p on Comixology, worth a read.