reviews archive
reviews archive
The opinions expressed are not necessarily the opinions of this website. If any publishers on smallzone would like their comic reviewed on Incoming! please email a PDF of your book to: grahammogford@hotmail.com with full details of where to buy the book and who created it. |
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A combination of sketches and stories based around Martha a frustrated illustrator stuck in a dead end job, with a few extra’s thrown in. It is a great comic in every way. It epitomises small press, it is packaged well and is entertaining. You could see a film of Martha being made in years to come. It is an easy read, it has some interesting thoughts thrown in and conveys some great jokes in amongst the stories. There is a quirkiness to it that appeals and the characters are well developed. Being issue 7 perhaps this is why it is as it is, as Martha Keavney has had plenty of time to hone this title and it shows. For all those people starting out in sketch style comics take a look at this and learn. It would go on my list. by Steve Causer D
When the package arrived with the next load of comics for me to review I eagerly opened it and was automatically drawn to this title, and this is something that cannot be said for a number of comics. It looks professional. It shows that the creators have thought about this and about the package they wanted to put out. The print quality, the covers front and back really appeal and Kieran McKeown is a stunning artist and if the covers, especially the back is anything to go by, I won’t be surprised when he is hunted by some bigger companies. So what is this about? It seems to be a parody of many existing comics, books and films with the most obvious being “Jekyll and Hyde”. We are faced by two X-files style main characters, Deadman and Hyde. I am assuming that the female is Hyde and the male Deadman. I say this, as it seems Adrian Kermode has committed what I see as one of the biggest sins and not actually naming the characters in the story. You could say that this has been done on purpose but the fact that one line in the last panel on page 17 is the only reference does seem that there could have been more thought put into the story build up. A first issue is always hard to deliver, as you want to set up so much and actually start telling the story. There are fundamental parts to ensure you get in, otherwise you will not hook your readers to want to know more and buy the next issue. Kermode could have used the first issue in a more structured way as many of the components of the plot are elements that people are already familiar with – men in black, aliens, X-files etc so there is no need to tell them about this, they will bring this to the book and fill in these parts of the world by themselves – this should be used. The two main characters investigate an alien landing and discover a dead top official whose brain is not human. From a clue that resembles a stick of rock the two agents set off to the dead official's holiday camp in Burlington on sea. The script flows at a great pace and it has an appeal as Kermode creates an interesting take on an already existing world but gives an edge as he moulds in references from a bundle of other genres and films. There are loads of questions left to answer and parts that you think – okay, why? What? How? Like for example the alien running around and at the beginning, what the government official had to do with the crashed alien ship? Why the sleepy seaside holiday camp has a steel enforced entrance? What are the Zombies all about and who is the weird old man who wields a knife? I always say these are questions that will be answered in the coming issues but as the last page says end you think perhaps not, which then brings you back to the fact that perhaps more could have been done with the story, and indeed many of the jokes and visual gags thrown in just to ensure every cliché was covered might have been better bumped to sustain a more rounded script! This is not a bad book and if I had a small press comic list (maybe I should get one) this would go on it. It has enough to be entertaining and the art is incredibly nice. I have probably not given as much attention to McKeown’s art as perhaps I should as it does lift the story and make you not care that there are areas that throw up many questions. There are a few pages where the visuals perhaps could have been used in a more creative way but this may have been the script. Overall a book that would definitely sit amongst the mainstream on retailers shelves, as it is a sleek professional book that oozes the charms of two new creators. Keeping the readers would be the hard part, but in the small press arena it is a gem. by Steve Causer
This is what I call small press. Two new creators starting out on the road to comic creation by self-publishing their book. This is a tale of horror, intrigue and suspense. It opens with zombies attacking and literally pulling a woman apart. Horror fans this is the one for you. The rest of the story is about a couple of boys meeting up with some girls in a cabin in the middle of what I am assuming is the DEAD WOOD. A strange demon like character is milling around and the girls seem not to be as they should be, after coming out of the wood. Not a lot happens but it is enough to introduce you to this story and set up for the next issue. It throws loads of questions up about who all the people are and what will happen next? The script is delivered well and conveys the story in a competent way. This would go on my list as I would be interested in what happens next. This could be a great story given the right direction and Redington has great control over the story and paces it well. Kingseller does a good job, he could benefit from looking at styles in vogue at the moment and bringing in some of these influences. His scratchy style is not one that appeals to me and does not help the script. Don’t get me wrong the art and story works, but you can almost see, with a tightened script and a more commercial art style this really flying. by Steve Causer
The second title in the pack from Charaydis Comics, which again has high production value and looks great. Written again by Adrian Kermode, I was looking forward to another twisting tale delivered with the same elegance as Deadman and Hyde. I am afraid I was disappointed. Doctor Sorrow is a tale of an un-dead supernatural crime fighter. He seems more of a morose talking, slow pacing never actually doing anything zombie. I may be too harsh here as Kermode tells of an un-dead strip club run by some ancient demon. Doctors Sorrow seems to know what is going on and what all the creatures are as he tells his assistant as they battle and brawl their way through to the main lady. Kermode’s wit oozes through the script with one liners appearing where you think perhaps a one liner should not. The premise of this story is fine, maybe not original but it has it’s own unique personality. I just don’t think it has been delivered in a way that plays to its potential. The moronic Doctor Sorrow has been given a presence that turns him into a laughable character instead of one to fill you with fear. The plots twists and changes that add in elements which don’t really bring anything to the story, like a dragon that chases the main characters and then is attacked by the army, releasing Doctor Sorrow and his chimp to go back to the lady devil running the show. What does this bring to the story? The art by Mike Juniper works well with the script, awkward in places it is competent and allows the story to flow well. It is not jaw dropping and at times heavy on the ink, but Juniper does a good job and yes I will agree with Kermode in his opening statement in the comic that you will probably see Juniper working on more prestige titles than this one. This is a great start for Juniper and he handles the script and the delivery well, with good direction he will be playing with the big boys someday. One to watch I feel as it does create a dark and foreboding world and does have appeal lets just hope it develops over the issues. by Steve Causer F
I am not sure what to make of this. It has been produced well and delivers a whole series of sketches based on the character Fetishman. A rubber suited character that is contained within his suit to the extent he has no visible arms. It does just what it tries to. The sketches are funny in places and the rubber suited gimp allows a host of situations to become funny as he bumbles his way as a superhero. Geoff Banyard has created a nice small press comic that delivers witty, creative and humorous sketches. The art works and complements the sketches. The book itself has been crafted with some thought as there is a great deal of attention been put in, as shown by two pages of cut out and keep characters. If I had to be critical and it is hard to be so on titles like this as they are produced by the creator in this style so you can not appraise them easily against anything else, but the reproduction size is a problem and it is sometimes hard to read the panels. I am not sure how large the illustrations are to begin with but it might be an idea to give a bit more thought to the finished pages and all the elements to make it easier to read, otherwise people wont. by Steve Causer
Most of the artists I know (which ain’t that many I’ll admit, but enough to start generalising wildly) are still at the ‘struggling’ stage. Thankfully none of them are at the garret/absinthe/DIY plastic surgery stage of the classic tortured genius, but equally none are at the ‘I’ve just blown my nose, that’s another 5 million from Mr Saatchi’ stage. Reading this series of slice of life strips I get the feeling that this is pretty much par for the course for the graduate artist. The inside covers feature a young freelance artist’s dealings over the telephone with the Art Director of the Times newspapers, the central strip deals with the ups and downs (mostly the latter) of a newly graduated artist trying to break into the world of graphic design and there is an intermission which touches on the joys of computer art packages. The main part of the comic is book-ended by the start and end of a couple’s holiday and contains the same charming pessimism shown by the artist bits. I really liked this comic. The occasional crappiness of ordinary life is captured so well, both in the artwork and the natural dialogue in the strips. Not too sure about the regional accents in the first strip as if they aren’t done perfectly they can jar and in some cases can appear a bit condescending, but this is a minor point. Overall it captured those crappy moments so well you can’t help but smile – ruefully, I admit, but smile nonetheless. And who could honestly complain about that? by Graham Mogford G
As the comic itself points out this is not anything to do with making tea, the steaminess is of an altogether different nature, and despite my having a strong affinity with our national brew, indeed having a mug of it by my side as I write this review, the comic is all the better for it. It is a seemingly casually thrown together story set in ‘a chronologically challenged XVIIIth century Caribbean’ which was initially created to contain a one panel piece based on the idea of the indefinite, and which takes as its start a cover drawing which reworks the famous Vivienne Westwood cowboy t-shirt. The main characters, Captain Kat and Septimus Le Plage come from the creator’s previous graphic novel, ‘Gurkin Trifle – Voyage of Trepidation’, which I must admit I am not familiar with, but I shall be trying to get hold of as a result of reading this. Although it seems to be casually thrown together, it most certainly isn’t. The artwork has an effortless freshness and liveliness which makes good use of blank space and a variety of framing layouts to speed the reader through a bizarrely surreal, sexy and anarchic plot, which plays as fast and loose with the laws of story construction and physics as it does with historical veracity. The comforting familiarity of a trifle, spiked with the sharpness of a gurkin may not be to everybody’s taste, but it is something worth trying once and if you do, then maybe, like me, you’ll end up hooked. by Graham Mogford H
If you love Asterix, then you are either going to love or hate this comic, and if you have any sense then you are going to love it. This is a brilliant, breakneck farce concerning the misadventures of a British couple on holiday in Spain who accidently discover a load of cannabis worth over a million pounds which has been left temporarily on the beach by a group of smugglers. They decide to smuggle it back to England themselves with the help of the hero’s brother who knows more about the drug trade than them as he watches loads of British gangster movies. Unfortunately, one of his brother’s friends has informed on them to Customs and the gangsters who own the drugs are also hot on their trail to get their investment back. The artwork is most definitely in the style of Uderzo and is not ashamed to admit it, with a little reference gag thrown in as a chambermaid says, ‘Estos ingles son loco!’ while tapping her head (‘These English are crazy!’). There is the same fluid dynamic line as Uderzo which helps propel the story along and the same love of tiny background detail and little jokes from minor characters which helps give the narrative real depth and life. The hand lettered speech bubbles add inflection to the characters’ voices, which again adds realism to them. In short this is one of the best comics I have ever read and providing you have no problems with drug references and swearing you must read it. You will be carried along with the plot and by the time you have finished you will want to take a deep breath and start all over again. Seriously recommended. by Graham Mogford I
This anthology is put forward as one of two things in the introduction: either a tribute to the creators who inspired Oliver Smith to break into the small press, or a shameless attempt to cash in on established creators to rake in the cash and pad out a too short short story. From what I’m beginning to pick up about him from reading his comics I suspect it is both in roughly equal measure. The other contributors are Oliver Lambden, Daniel Merlin-Goodbury, Douglas Noble, Laurence Powell and Chris Reynolds. If these are the people who inspired him then it is a fine choice as the contributions to this comic are uniformly excellent, combining distinct, individual drawing styles with a range of stories dealing with autobiography in a variety of ways, from playfully philosophical to charming simplicity. At this point I’ll slip in a bit of autobiography myself. One of the strips really struck home to me in this comic: one of the Days of Death strips by Chris Reynolds. This one told of how he had left work early and travelled home via the escalator at Kings Cross which was the scene later that day of the fire in 1987 that killed over 30 people. This one really hit home, because I went through Kings Cross underground station that day on the Circle Line as the fire was burning in another part of the station. The train slowed down as it reached the platform but did not stop, so we knew something was wrong and as we passed slowly through the station the carriage filled with the smell of burning. It wasn’t until I got back home and switched on the TV that I realised what had happened and what the burning smell was. A beautiful, thought provoking little comic, which stays with you in the mind after you’ve finished reading it. Excellent choice of contributors, Oli, and excellent choice of trainers too. by Graham Mogford L
I read this mini comic and was filled with inquisitive interest. I applaud the creators of such work as they seek to deliver something very personal to themselves. They do not join in the convention, the norm or the “what it should be”. They produce what they want. Many times these do not work, but you always have to review or read them in the context that they are meant. These are not comics that are seeking recognition from the mainstream audience; they are looking to carve a niche for themselves and act sometimes more as a self-rewarding project for the creator than an actual need to be rewarded with recognition. Not having read Low Born #1 and never having come across this before I am drawn to the quirkiness that the small stories deliver. It seems to be a mixture of sketches and quirky stories. The overall appeal is good and you get a strange feeling after finishing it, that resonates an “I would read more of these, but I am not sure why”. I think you have to like mini comics to get this. Although it is only 50p I don’t think the normal comic fan or even small press fan would pick this up if they saw it, but if they do they will enjoy it. I get the feeling that this is just the tip of the iceberg and would love to think that this mini as well as the creator could become something bigger in the future, and perhaps this is someone/something to keep an eye out for. The art is what you would expect for a mini, sketchy, loose and minimal but it works. What really hooked me was (and I am hoping this is intentional) that each story never seemed to have a resolution, almost no ending. There is a great narrative story in the middle that is actually very thought provoking but there is no climax or real substance to the way it finishes - it just does. by Steve Causer M
Sub-titled ‘Stars of Tomorrow Showcased Today’ this is a selection of five strips by various creators and two interviews with Simon Bisley and Tom Nguyen. The strips may well contain some of the comic world’s future stars and the useful, practical advice given by the two pros will no doubt help one or two others onto the path of potential stardom. The first, ‘Skin Deep’ sets the scene for an ongoing story of the clash between two supernatural beings (vampires? werewolfs?) and has the feel of one of those recent Hollywood movies on similar themes. Although this is not particularly original, very little in life is when you get down to it and more importantly it is well drawn and plotted by Rob Lunn and Michael Moseley respectively. The second and third strips are Future Shock type stories and both do the job well, ‘Insect Head’ is drawn by Russell Bennett and ‘Antimatter’ by John Seralde and both are written by Arthur Wyatt. ‘Gemini’, by Jason Dube (art) and Gary Wilkinson (writer) is a tricksy multiple layered clone based tale with Manga artwork. The final strip is a horror western which has a neat plot and is nicely drawn by Rand Arrington, but for me the writing was a bit clunky and was probably the weakest part of the whole comic. According to the creator credits the writer David Hayes has won awards and has films, books and comics available worldwide, so maybe this is an aberration. Oh well. Overall a professional product which not only showcases rising talents but more importantly encourages new creators to take up their pencils and start making comics. I look forward to the next issue where maybe some of those people will be featured. by Graham Mogford
This is a wide ranging anthology of British small-pressers, from more established creators, through up and comings, to first time contributors and as such is a valuable snapshot of the British comics scene in 2006. In some ways reminiscent of the classic NME C86 compilation album/cassette which encapsulated the mid-80s Indie music scene, not least from its wide variety of contents. None of them are less than good and some are brilliant – personally I loved Emily Webber’s ‘Curse It All’ and Nich Angell’s ‘M.O.T.’ ‘Pavement’ by Andrew Cheverton is quite an effecting little piece, as is ‘I Lost Myself’ by Oli Smith and the X-box strip is worth the admission on its own. I would have loved David Baillie’s ‘The Writer and the Monkey’ if it had been big enough to read clearly and there was a rather confusing pagination error in Chris T’s ‘Helena’s Bar’. Aside from these couple of quibbles it is an excellent production. The whole thing is sandwiched between the two parts of a ‘Game Show’ strip, by the publishers, Oliver and Lawrence, a bit like De La Soul’s ‘3 Feet High and Rising’ though the game show has a touch of ‘You Bet Your Life’ from an early Judge Dredd. But enough mindless wallowing in nostalgia, this is a cracking little anthology that anyone seriously interested in UK small press should buy and then use it as a guide to which creators they should be following up on. Oh, and finally, I’m not convinced by Oli Smith’s attempts at being hard in the creator biographies pages – I’ve read some of his work and it’s full of beautiful, light artwork with deftly written poetical prose that engagingly encapsulates the everyday, so if he wants to take it outside, I’m ready. The big girl. by Graham Mogford P
First of all let me say that this is not the sort of thing to buy if you don’t like Hammer Horror films. I do. When I was a teenager I sometimes caught the tube all the way to New Cross Gate (South of the River – pretty scary in itself) in order to visit a comic shop there that specialised in horror and I bought a stack of Hammer magazines which featured in each a comic strip adaptation of a classic Hammer Horror, usually spread over two or three issues along with an article about the films. ‘Paragon’ is a sort of small press version of the same thing. The bulk of the comic consists of an adaptation of the film ‘Scars of Dracula’ by Dave Candlish and has the effect of watching the film on fast forward. The artwork is good, but the fast pace of the retelling means the panelling can feel a bit forced, which is a shame. The other main strip is drawn by Dave as well, to a script by Pete Salmond and shows how effectively his layout can be when he has the room to spread out. The story itself has a sort of Hammer feel as well, but more the House of Horrors TV series than the movies, though with the sort of hallucinatory feel that would have been way beyond a TV budget in the late 70s, especially when they had already paid out for Patrick Mower. In addition to this there is an article by Kevin Lyons on the early days of Hammer films and a reworking of the artwork for ‘Salem’s Lot’. There is also a rather curious strip in the form of ‘Jikan, the Demon Hunter’, set in Ancient Japan, which appears to be in the form of three panel strips and we get five of these on the two inside covers. Unfortunately the story stops in mid-fight as there is not enough room (!) and it seems a little pointless to me to include this in the otherwise well balanced issue. I’m not criticising the strip itself, as there isn’t enough there to get into it sufficiently to make a judgement, I’m criticising putting it in at all and even putting the character on the front cover, if there wasn’t enough room for the whole story. I’d like to see Jikan given a full run, maybe even a whole comic to himself and for the next issue, if there’s another Hammer adaptation I’d like it to be given the room it really deserves to build the tension. by Graham Mogford S
This is an anthology comic produced by the Great God Shark and his race of Shark-men. Or by a group of South African comic creators. You pays your money, you takes your choice. I must admit that the South African comic scene is a subject on which the amount I know could be written on a postcard with a paint roller and I would guess this is the case for most of you reading this. If so then do something about this appalling state of affairs and buy this comic, now. It is an anthology that is wide-ranging in styles of artwork and storytelling and contains some truly brilliant examples of both. For example, the strip ‘The Birthing Fields’ by Serkis and Bent is a haunting piece that will stay with me for a long time; ‘The Inner Workings of Red Rabbit’ is a beautifully written and illustrated artwork by Dom Sable written on front pages torn from paperback books, in some cases with the original titles or dedications adding to the overall effect; and finally the Ninja story by Tom McNally still has me chuckling quietly whenever I recall it. There are four other strips by Jesse Brettenbach, Andrzej Nowicki, Sebastian Borkenhagen and Simon Tamblyn and Tom McNally, all of which are equal to these in quality and effect. If this is the type of thing being produced in South Africa now then we need to see much more of it in this country. by Graham Mogford
This is basically a vehicle for a couple of previews of the next issue of Sancho, the Irish comic featuring the Mexican ex-priest destroyer of evil of the same name. It also contains another three short strips to fill out the comic to a reasonable size. The Sancho strips are fantastically drawn and the first contains the sort of scabrously scatological anti-Catholicism that can only be produced by Catholics, while the second features a punch up between a zombie Elvis and a zombie Buddy Holly, Big Bopper and Richie Valens. As the saying goes, what’s not to like. The other three strips have two one pagers, the rather Viz-like ‘Hairpin Hardpush’ and ‘Bublo Milk Chocolate Bubble Bar’ an examination of chocolate addiction with a touch of Catholic guilt, and a longer strip ‘Another Beginning’ which for me was the highpoint of the comic. This is a short story by Sparky, illustrated by Al Nolan which deals with reincarnation and revenge with a nice little twist and is worth the price of the comic alone, even without the others. Well written, beautifully drawn, including a nice cover. Worth getting and if you’re Catholic and feel guilty after reading it there’s nothing in it that a couple of ‘Hail Mary’s shouldn’t shift. by Graham Mogford W
I am probably not the best person to review this comic, as I have always had a fairly casual relationship with US superhero comics. I dabbled with the Silver Surfer and Spiderman in my teens (and later) and read odd one offs of several other Marvel and DC titles, but I’ve always had a sort of take ‘em or leave ‘em approach. I can appreciate that this will horrify some people, but I’ve always been more of a British comics man – I can bore for England on the subject of Alf Tupper or the Trigan Empire – and I’m just making this clear before we start, just in case anyone who knows more about the subject than me decides to tear apart my comments below. This is one of those small press comics that looks like it wants to be one of the big boys and the artwork looks good in that US superhero way. The superheroes look like they should and so do the huge pieces of scientific equipment that help with the exposition at key moments. The script also works in the same sort of way and if you are getting a lack of enthusiasm coming through in this review then I must refer you back to the first paragraph. I feel terribly guilty about this – I feel like I should be taking the comic to one side and saying, ‘Look, it’s not you. It’s me. I’m sorry.’ Personally, I found that reading ‘Watchmen’ changed my view of the superhero and it took something as brilliant as ‘DC: the New Frontier’ to really keep my interest again after that and unfortunately this wasn’t quite up to that level. However, that’s just me. If you like US superhero comics, and I know there are a heck of a lot of you out there, then you’ll probably love this and it is such a sleek, well produced comic that it is certainly worth trying by any lover of the genre. If you are and you try it and hate it don’t blame me – what do I know about this sort of thing, I’m off to re-read my Dan Dare Space Book. by Graham Mogford Y
The inside cover clearly states “these stories are true” and I think that is the appeal of this mini comic. You are being told a slice of the creator’s life. Jen Michaels has thought about a way of conveying the things that have happened to her and produced this. It is almost a diary for her and why not. Comics are a great way to express yourself and the small press arena is the place to do it. Written and illustrated by Michaels, this mini does what mini’s do and gives you an enjoyable time. It probably has something over others due to the basis of the stories and the realness they bring. I liked it. I thought it is nice to be brought something that allows you to see someone else’s life, it is reality TV in a comic. Okay the art will not win any awards, but then that is not what these mini’s are about. The only real downer on this is the price at £2 I don’t think people will pay it. by Steve Causer Steve Causer is the man behind Warpon Comics. Check out their website at: www.warpton.co.uk Z
I find it hard to imagine anyone interested enough in comics in this country to be reading ‘Incoming’ that doesn’t have at the very least a soft spot for the galaxy’s greatest, but if any of you do exist then you might as well stop reading this review now. Though I expect you did as soon as you read the title so I just wasted a full sentence on you, or rather two. For the rest of us ‘2000AD’ has become such an established part of the UK scene that sometimes we tend to take it for granted, and that is why ‘Zarjaz’ is so important. It takes familiar characters, whose back story we are all familiar with and twists things slightly, encouraging us to take a fresh look at old favourites. This begins with the cover, a graff |
