The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

For an explanation of all this – see here. Next up we have the entry from the writer and artist team of Jason Cobley and Paul Harrison Davies – a reworking of their Hugo The Zombie strip from the Accent UK Zombies special. Following that we have the entry by illustrator Frances Castle as she presents a tale of genealogy and strange regurgitations – Sherwin Cottage and we close with a funny strip on that difficult question every woman faces over the D.O.B. Question by Natalie d’Arbeloff.

(Jason Cobley & Simon Harrison Davies – Hugo The Zombie)

(Frances Castle – Sherwin’s Cottage)

(Natalie d’Arbeloff – The D.O.B. Question)

And The Winner Isn’t: Introduction to the idea and a complete list of featured entries.

For an explanation of all this – see here. To kick things off, the first “non-winner” that I saw online a couple of weeks ago: Rob Davis. Rob put his excellent entry “How I Built My Father” up on his blog here, complete with a little explanatory commentary here. And then David O’Connell brings us Blip, featuring a very pretty and fun story of the four elements. Finally for now, Luke Pearson’s Some People.

(Rob Davis – How I Built My Father.)

(David O’Connell – Blip)

(Luke Pearson – Some People)

And The Winner Isn’t: Introduction to the idea.

Last weekend, the Observer/Cape Graphic Short Story prize was announced. Our post on it is here, together with rather a lot of comments. Even before the winner’s announcement I had been thinking it would be nice to put up a few of the “non-winners” as the quality of the work looked really high. But since the competition ended, more and more strips have been posted and there’s quite a heated conversation going on about the rights and wrongs of the winning entry.

So before we start looking at the “non-winners” I’d just like to clarify a couple of things:

1. The Cape/Observer competition was just that – a competition. The judges picked the winner based on their opinions. You might have picked differently. I might have picked differently. It doesn’t matter. The judges decision, as they say, is final.
2. This series of posts is not intended as a slight on the winner and runner-up, more a celebration of the quality around the competition this year.
3. And that title above is obviously tongue in cheek! Because, like it says on the Random House Graphic Short Story Prize page:

“We ended up receiving an absolutely record breaking number of entries this year. Quantity was without a doubt matched by quality and the judges … had an extremely hard task on their hands picking just two winners. The increase from two to four pages of the Observer Magazine allowed for the development of some fantastic narratives and ambitious artwork.”

So over the weekend we’ll be running a few of these “non-winners” for you and you can see for yourself exactly how high the quality was. We’ll just put the first pages – it’s then up to you to go and investigate further…..

One very nice idea that came from the comments on our original post, was Frances’ idea to set up a Cape/Observer Flickr photostream to showcase the entires. And here it is – looks a bit empty at the moment – hurry along and add your work folks.

Also, Khaled Abou Alfa writes to let us know that he’s thinking of putting something together around the entries – details here.

Over at The Beat, Heidi has some exclusive Jeffrey Brown art from the just released Strange Tales #3 from Marvel Comics. I read the first and loved it. Haven’t picked up 2 or 3 yet, but I certainly plan to – and so should you.

Jamie Smart puts up a page of Desperate Dan work from the Dandy Annual 2009. Very nice indeed. He even did the front and back covers for the annual – sadly, they weren’t used, but he’s posted those for our great pleasure as well…

All images © DC Thompson.

Another anniversary, this time everyone’s favourite claymation man and his dog. Nick Park’s wonderful creations, Wallace and Gromit are 20 years old this week. Just like Sesame Street this week and Asterix last week they got their own Google Doodle, just as they should….

Happy birthday lads, here’s to many more.

Aardman Animation W&G site.

Lady S Volume 1: Here’s To Suzie

by Jean Van Hamme and Philippe Aymond

Cinebook

In many ways this is merely a female equivalent to Van Hamme’s Largo Winch series, featuring as it does a privileged hero character with a mysterious and somewhat shady past and a nasty habit of getting themselves into all manner of trouble. But seeing as Van Hamme writes such good thrillers around this premise and seeing how much I really, really enjoy Largo Winch I was rather looking forward to settling back into this one and enjoying another brilliantly crafted Euro-comic thriller. And Lady S, whilst it’s not up there with Largo Winch, is still a great thriller.

The Lady S in question is Suzan Fitzroy, adopted daughter and principal assistant to James Fitzroy, the roving US ambassador in Europe. But the story everyone knows; of a New Zealander adopted by James Fitzroy after Suzan’s parents died in a car crash is a complete fabrication. Suzan Fitzroy is actually Shania Rivkas, an Estonian whose parents were murdered by the KGB, and who barely made it out of the Soviet Union alive. A chance meeting on a train with the Fitzroys eventually turns her away from a life on the run, of petty crime and constant danger. She’s adopted by Fitzroy, who’s links with her family go far deeper than Suzan first realised.

(The moment Suzan Fitzroy’s new life disintegrates and she realises a figure from her past is not as dead as she believed. From Lady S by Van Hamme and Aymond. Published by Cinebook.)

But her past life is about to come back to haunt her and a meeting with a fellow thief she thought had died many years ago brings this secret past life back to haunt her. She’s contacted by a mysterious “international agency” that “works towards world peace” – and they have enough on Suzan/Shania to ruin her life and her high flying ambassador father. So Suzan becomes Lady S, a very high class spy circulating in the highest diplomatic circles.

(“And now, explain your plan.” That’s the moment Suzan Fitzroy becomes Lady S, as her mysterious blackmailer walks away. From Lady S by Van Hamme and Aymond. Published by Cinebook.)

Here’s To Suzie spends an awful lot of the book filling us in on the intriguing life of Suzan and how she came to be Lady S. As you might expect from Van Hamme it’s all done wonderfully well, flashbacks are seamlessly interspersed throughout the book and the diplomatic settings and international intrigue is set out with pace and excitement – albeit a more sedate pace than the average Winch tale – no explosions or car chases here. It may be a variation on his Largo Winch theme, but it’s a good one.

Likewise, the art by Aymond is well done throughout, the nearest British equivalent that came readily to mind is Steve Dillon, and Aymond is more than capable of covering everything Van Hamme throws his way – from glittering society balls to escaping across frozen wastes.

Of all the new discoveries I’ve made through Cinebook I really believe that Jean Van Hamme is my favourite. I’m now at the point where I see his name and I know I’m in for a thriller far, far better than anything I’ll read in traditional US comics. And Lady S, although it may not be quite up there with Largo Winch is no exception to this rule.

Richard Bruton is currently humming the theme from The Avengers

Ohhh, soon, soon!!!

Its Comiket time this weekend! Back and now relocated to the ICA’s ground floor theatre which allows for even more space for exhibitors, some fab talent from the British small press comics scene will be there, check out some of the folks on the list: Aben Maler & Steffen P. Maarup, Alternative Press,  Jimi Gherkin, Banal Pig Press, Atlantic Press & Steve Braund, Sean Azzopardi, David Baillie, Daniel Merlin Goodbrey & Douglas Noble, The Bedsit Journal & Richard Cowdry, Capes & Drapes & Van Nim, C2D4 & Martin Buxton, Cobalt Cafe & Zarina Liew, Cute But Sad Comics & Howard Hardiman, Decadence & David Lander, Donkeys Tails & Christopher Bateson, Marc Ellerby, James McElvie & Kieron Gillen, Fabtoons & Francesca Cassavetti, Famicon -  Leon Sadler, Stefan Sadler & Kitty Clark, Glyndwr University Graphic Novels Course (Dan Berry), David Greene, Ink Soup & Graphic Short Stories @ BIAD (Chiu), Aidan Koch, Last Hours & Excessive Force, Ellen Lindner & Jeremy Dennis, Philip Marsden, Kat McMorrine, Mild Tarantula – Josceline Fenton, Modern Monstrosity -  Oliver Lambden & Laurence Powell, Murky Depths & Terry Martin, My Eye is on Fire & Chiu, Ninja Bunny – Philip Spence, Nobrow, Luke Paton, Pittville Press – Kieren Phelps, Popcorn Peacock – Timothy Gavin, Paul Rainey & Martin Eden, Karen Rubins, Gwen Kortsen & Paul Fryer, Savage Messiah & Laura Oldfield Ford, Semiotic Cohesion & Terome McNally, Skinny Bill Comics & Hannah Glickstein, Solipsistic Pop & Tom Humberstone, Space Babe 113 & John Maybury, Tempo Lush & Richy K. Chandler, Tozo – David OConnell, TP Cat Melody Lee & Terome McNally, Ushio & Chris Bottoms, We Are Words + Pictures & Matthew Sheret, Ali Winstanley & Edwin Rostron.

Phew! How can you resist a line-up like that? There’s a goodly number of the blog crew’s faves on there, so if you’re in town please do go along and enjoy yourself and give some deserved support to the vibrant UK small press scene at the same time. Comiket is on Sunday 8th November from 1 to 6pm (entry is free) and there will be live drawing and DJing (we all know you can’t keep those Modern Monstrosity blokes away from the decks) afterwards; check the site for full details and links .

Taking time out from setting bonfires of MPs expense claim forms this November 5th, here’s Alex Fitch in a V For Vendetta mask to update us to the latest programmes he’s involved with over the new few days; as ever for more details and links to podcasts of previous shows check the Panel Borders site:

Strip!: The Art of Brendan McCarthy, tonight at 5pm on Resonance FM, podcast afterwards on Panel Borders

Starting ‘British Mavericks’ month on the show – a series of conversations with illustrators whose work is surprisingly avant-garde for mainstream comics – we have an interview with pop art surrealist Brendan McCarthy. Appropriately for Guy Fawkes’ Night, Brendan’s work is the comic strip equivalent of fireworks, mixing lurid colours with hallucinogenic rendering that he has managed to smuggle into British periodicals such as 2000AD and Crisis and more recently has led to work in the field of film and animation design, working on TV series such as Reboot and the new film ‘Mad Max 4: Fury Road’. Today’s interview was conducted by author and librarian Pedro Galvao in front of an audience of Graphic Novel fans at Minet Library in Camberwell as part of Lambeth Readers and Writers Festival during the summer. (The episode was recorded and edited by Alex Fitch)

(some fantastic art by Brendan McCarthy for Doctor Strange, due next year from Marvel; pic via Heidi at The Beat)

ELECTRIC SHEEP SUBTERRANEA: Marebito (2004) + The Phantom Empire: The Thunder Riders (1935)

Electric Sheep presents subterranean screenings of minor masterpieces, oddball B-movies and genre classics in the convivial surroundings of Cinéphilia West. Join us every second Sunday of the month for a feature film and a chat, preceded by an episode from a serial or series, which will be shown over a season of screenings. On Sunday 8th November, as part of our season of underground-related films, we will be screening Takashi Shimizu’s Marebito (Stranger from Afar, 2004), a deeply sinister exploration of fear, obsession and urban paranoia, set in the Tokyo netherworld. This will be preceded by the second episode from the sci-fi Western musical The Phantom Empire (1935), in which a cowboy, who is also a radio show host, stumbles upon an ancient but highly advanced civilisation living under his ranch… Has to be seen to be believed! If you missed last month’s instalment and want to catch up, you can do so here: http://www.archive.org/details/phantom_empire_chapter_1

Previous podcasts:

Reality Check: Time travelling Hobbits and other paradoxes

In a pair of Q & As recorded in front of a live cinema audience at this year’s Sci-Fi London Film Festival, Alex Fitch talks to the directors of two new low budget films: The Hunt for Gollum and Cryptic. Joining Alex and director Chris Bouchard on stage, members of the cast and crew of The Hunt for Gollum talk about making an extended short film that stands up to the quality of the official Lord of the Rings movies, in an adaptation of material by J.R.R. Tolkein that was a labour of love for all involved, even when recreating Middle Earth in Epping Forest on limited resources. Alex also talks to producer / co-director Danny Kuchuck about his film Cryptic which mixes teen therapy with tropes of murder mysteries, revenge thrillers and time paradoxes to create an intriguing Sci-Fi drama .

Panel Borders: Banal Pigs, borrowed toilets and other manly anthologies

Continuing ‘anthologies and collectives month’ on the show, in an interview recorded at this year’s Small Press Expo in Bristol, Dickon Harris talks to Steve Tillotson and Gareth Brookes about their self published comics, including The Manly Boys Annual, Can I borrow your toilet? and The Banal Pig Landscape anthology; Dickon then catches up with Gareth again at the Alternative Press Fair Collaborama! in Borough to talk about performing small press comics as poetry.

Panel Borders: Inside the Fleece Station

Concluding ‘anthologies and collectives month’ on the show, in an interview recorded on location at the Old Police Station The Fleece Station in Deptford, Alex Fitch talks to artists Sarah McIntyre and Viviane Schwartz about their work including books such as Morris the Mankiest Monster and There are Cats in this book plus the benefits of sharing a studio that has a web and public presence.

Paul Gravett has posted up a review of a stage play which is based on the experiences of Mike Diana, an underground comics creator in Florida who was subject to a heavyweight legal assault by the authorities which, among other things, cost him his job and landed him on probation for years (remember, kids, you only have the right to free speech and expression as long as the authorities don’t object to what you do with it), despite help from the CBLDF. David Johnston, an American actor and playwright has created Busted Jesus Comix, a play based on the events which happened to Diana over his Boiled Angel photocopied comics, here taking the fictional Marco and his Busted Jesus Comix as the central plank of the play; from Paul’s review:

“Drawing on this strong body of true material, Johnston develops and refashions it further into the story of his entirely fictional Marco. Centre stage, mainly on a high stool, throughout the 70 minutes, Henry Blake plays the vulnerable teen with depth and subtlety, as he is barraged by his wheeler-dealing lawyer, his brittle blonde Behaviourist shrink, two shrill fundamentalist moral guardians in drag, and the screaming male chorus from “Up from the Closet”, a “faith-based” counselling group intent on reprogramming Marco into a Jesus-loving heterosexual. Almost without notice, the action can jump from these scenes to another encounter Marco has in an awkward interview for a job in a coffee shop in New York, where he’s fled to with only $8 left in his pocket. This scene too can be interrupted by two guys in hockey-style white face-masks and red T-shirts (one of a Boiled Angel cover) as they enact some of the disturbing but ridiculous scenes drawn in the comic.”

I’ve never read Diana’s original work and I’m not even sure its something I’d be particularly interested in reading, but that’s not really the point – the heavy handed censorship in a supposedly free society is; something which always makes my blood boil. It sounds like an interesting play and certainly gets a thumbs up from Paul both as a play and for publicising a censorship event many probably haven’t even heard of. Busted Jesus Comix  runs at the Above the Stag Theatre in London until November 28th.

The great Gilbert Shelton will be at Gosh! Comics on Saturday 14th of November from 3 to 5pm (check the blog for details) to sign copies of the recently published Fat Freddy’s Cat Omnibus from Knockabout; and stay tuned, hopefully have some more Gilbert related news for you in the near future.

Regular contributor to the blog, the Megazine and many others spots, Matt ‘madman’ Badham has been confusing the Twitterverse recently with multiple references to needing more artists and some project, ominously entitled ‘Grinder’. Intrigued and not a little alarmed at the title (visions of giant robotic meat grinder stomping across the land devouring humanity; I must stop watching so many B movies) I decided to investigate and find out what these cryptic references to a title, the need for artists and taking turns with panels meant.

FPI: Matt, what’s it all about? Is this a new comics project or, as the name might imply, a fiendishly evil scheme for world domination under the guise of Project Grinder, doubtless to be conducted from some hi-tech underground lair?

MB: I’m a bit embarrassed to be answering these questions (you’ll soon see why). Still, I suppose this is an opportunity to flag up how rich and diverse the small press comics scene is in this country.

The short answer: GRINDER!! is the best deathsploitation comic I haven’t written yet.

FPI: Okay, you have me in that sort of fascinated by the promise of pulp and B movie references state I get into when I hear a new Tarantino is coming (you had me at ‘deathsploitation’), so what’s the long answer version?

MB: The long answer: last night Doug Noble (ace cartoonist) and I were chatting about the recent Cape/Observer/Comica Graphic Story competition. One question we considered was whether a genre (sci-fi, horror, whatever) entry would have any chance of winning… our thinking was that winning entries would probably reflect the sensibility of the Observer’s art pages and that would rule out genre stuff. Anyway, we started to light-heartedly discuss the idea of entering a genre story next year to test our thesis. Before we knew it, we were bandying story concepts back and forth. Out of that was born GRINDER!! The basic plot is as follows (some of this came from Doug; some from me): Max Grinder is on the run in Mexico for a crime he didn’t commit. A corrupt cop framed him (Max was having an affair with his wife). The cops catch up with him, he’s accidentally zapped with an experimental teleportation device and teleported to a hostile alien planet.

(no, they’re not talking about Matt, its a scene from a recent page of Complex by and (c) Doug Noble, borrowed from his site)

Anyway, as the night went on, I found myself thinking that it would actually be a lot of fun to write GRINDER!! And get it printed up to flog at conventions for charity or just put it online. Problem: no artist, and who was I going to persuade to draw my mad ramblings anyway?

And then, sudden inspiration. I could ask lots of artists to contribute, each one providing one panel. Asking one artist to work for free for a whole comic felt wrong, even a page felt like I’d be taking the piss. But one panel on a not-for-profit enterprise that wasn’t taking itself too seriously, that felt like it might be fun for people…

(Of course, one artist per panel brings its own problems. For a 24-page comic that’s about 144 contributor copies before I even sell any.)

Anyway, I’m hoping that I can rope Doug Noble and Andrew Cheverton into helping me write the comic, although I’m not sure Doug is aware that I’ve taken the ball and ran with it (Andrew is now credited as a co-creator along with Doug after coming up with a two-word title for the first episode, but, boy, was it a good two-word title!)

I’m also hoping that I can persuade a musician friend to do a deathsploitation ‘John Carpenter’-like soundtrack that can be mounted as a free CD on copies of GRINDER!!

FPI: This year’s Cape/Observer/Comica winner has certainly sparked a fair bit of commentary on the blog (see here) and I suspect you’re right in that something overly genre would have less chance of winning (which is also the case in major literary awards all too often as well). Back to Grinder – from what you’re saying I’m guessing we’re going to be treated to some of the beloved staples of Grindhouse and B movies and pulp novels?

MB: Well, I have certain elements that I want to include:

Scorpions.

An intelligent, talking monkey.

Nuns.

A teetotal, slipper-wearing assassin.

Alien punks.

A comedy robot.

A handgun that blows up if used by anyone other than its owner (Dredd homage).

A philosophical bomb.

Mexican wrestlers (although I’m a bit worried about whether I can write Mexico and Mexicans without falling back on slightly racist clichés).

Subterranean creatures.

Clowns.

An alien religion.

Bikers.

More scorpions. Lots more scorpions.

FPI: Hopefully scorpions of the stinging, multi-legged variety and not the band… Are you ready to name some of the names involved and what they’ll be contributing?

MB: I’ll gladly name them, but they might decide not to contribute once they’ve read this interview.

I tweeted a request for artists who would be willing to draw one panel for me for a new comic I was doing. The following artists responded (check out their blogs and websites, gentle readers, they’re all fantastic. (Well, they’re not all fantastic artists. One’s a computer programmer. They’re all great people, though.))

They are: Gary Northfield, Andrew Cheverton, Chris Doherty, Paul Harrison-Davies, David O’Connell, Rob Jackson, Sarah McIntyre, Mo Ali, Vicky Stonebridge, Neill Cameron, Jez Higgins, Garen Ewing, Mike, Dan Berry, Philip Spence, Warwick J Cardwell and Jon Scrivens (and, possibly, a 2000 AD artist).

FPI: That’s a fair old list of talent to be starting off with! Is the title a homage to the affectionate term applied to the low budget, usually exploitation movies, Grindhouse?

MB: Yes. The whole exercise is also inspired by browsing Johnny Ryan’s Prison Pit in a comic shop.

(cover to Prison Pit Book One, by and (c) the one and only Johnny Ryan, published  Fantagraphics)

FPI: Good old Johnny Ryan, you can always count on his corrupting influence. Are you planning to physically print and sell it or will it be online or, as is increasingly the case, will it be both physical and digital? Any ideas when you hope to release it and is there a site where readers can follow the progress of Grinder?

MB: Who knows? I’ll start a blog if and when I finish the first draft. Determined to release it if it’s good enough, even if all the artists have dropped out and I have to self-publish it as a script book with ‘concept art’.

FPI: Are you looking for more contributors and if so where do they get in touch with you?

MB: I am, but let’s hang fire for now. I’ll be in touch with more news when I have it (i.e., when the first draft of the script is written).

FPI: Matt, thanks for that, sounds like a fun project; we’ll be sure to post more on it further down the line and meantime you can follow Matt via his Twitter.

The Chimpanzee Complex – Volume 1: Paradox

Written by Richard Marazano, art by Jean-Michel Ponzio

Cinebook

I love big , epic Sci-Fi. Always have. And there just isn’t enough of it in comics to keep me satisfied. Every so often something comes along though that gets it absolutely right, does everything big Sci-Fi is meant to do – all the wonder, all the majesty of space, all the complex technical stuff, all the unanswered questions. And that’s exactly what The Chimpanzee Complex does. It’s Big, epic Sci-Fi done absolutely right.

It’s 2035. Space exploration has become increasingly sidelined as the years have passed and a planned Mars exploration has been effectively mothballed. No-one cares, the money’s just not there and the astronauts on the Mars program have to cope with having their years of training and their dreams put on hold. But then a space module falls into the Indian Ocean, an all too familiar space module, with all too familiar crew-members. Which triggers a huge panic on the part of the authorities, because if these crew members are who they claim to be, then who was it who……

And that’s where I’m going to have to leave that particular thread. Because that’s the first big reveal, the key that everything else hangs off in this first part of the trilogy and the trigger for everything that follows.

(The first mystery of The Chimpanzee Complex (and there are many more) – just who are these two, ever so familiar astronauts. And what on earth are they doing in 2035? Art by Jean-Michel Ponzio, from The Chimpanzee Complex Volume 1: Paradox, published by Cinebook.)

A few pages into the book and I was hooked. I was loving everything about it and found myself really engrossed in the book. I didn’t know the identity of the mysterious visitors and was reading voraciously to get to the reveal. Which is why I don’t plan on spoiling it for you by revealing the identity of those two astronauts, even though it’s a fairly open secret. If you want to know, have a look round the Internet. But if you trust me, if you go into this one just expecting a great bit of epic Sci-Fi and knowing that there’s something important from the past coming through to the present of 2035, you’ll get so much more out of this.

Our central character here is Helen Freeman, who should have been the first woman to set foot on Mars. But she’s a victim of the cut-backs and has had to come to terms with the fact that her very reason for living all these years, the culmination of her training and the distillation of her dreams may just have vanished. But the mysterious spacecraft and it’s equally mysterious astronauts throws her a lifeline; suddenly there’s a need to go back into space, a mission to the Moon and on to Mars to find out the secrets that both may hold. But to do so she’ll have to make the most difficult choice; her dreams or her child, who’s already used to a life of disappointment and a mother who puts her job above her daughter.

The “chimpanzee complex” of the title describes the term used by NASA to document the experiences of chimps used as test pilots in early space flight. Smart enough to understand they have no control over their circumstances, they became increasingly unstable, aggresive and essentially “blow a fuse”. Whether this chimanzee complex refers to the two rescued astronauts or will go on to describe Helen’s situation – manouvered as she is by events beyond her control to be taken further and further from her daughter, we just don’t know.

The difficulty of Helen’s choice, and the hopelessness of the situation she suddenly finds herself in is very well handled here, but it’s still merely a very well done sub-plot. The meat of Chimpanzee Complex is all in the big Sci-Fi. And that’s done so very well. The mystery of the astronauts at the start is just the beginning of a series of big secrets and stunning mysteries that will no doubt develop as we get further into the book. Again, I’m not giving any of them away – I want you to share this book, to come to it without much prior knowledge and to enjoy it every bit as much as I did.

Little touches matter in Sci-Fi and with this taking place in the very near future of 2035 it was pleasing to see that the tech of the day was just right – nothing too outlandish, all the principals done right, helicopters still instead of hover planes, Spacesuits, Orbiting Spacecraft and Shuttles just one generation of development from now. Nicely done.

(A mother takes off, a daughter is left behind. And then we get the beauty and grandeur of space and the wonder of spaceflight. Art by Jean-Michel Ponzio, from The Chimpanzee Complex Volume 1: Paradox, published by Cinebook.)

The art is lovely, very photo-realistic, Arthur Ransom style stuff (artist of Judge Anderson, Button Man etc and not, as Google keeps trying to tell me, the man who wrote Swallows and Amazons). But it’s not quite perfect and suffers from the occasional really bad panel where the poses are just too static or even completely wrong. It doesn’t happen too often, but when it does it’s a real shame as it does the one thing art in a complex fantasy like this should never do – drag the reader out of the fantasy to concentrate on why the art looks so bad. But such lapses are thankfully few and far between, Ponzio’s art really serves the story well, with the photo-real style working very well in this near future Sci-Fi setting.

The one real issue with the Chimpanzee Complex is the length. Each of the original French volumes was a mere 56 pages each. But it’s just not long enough. This is a trilogy that demands collection in one omnibus volume. Then it would be perfect. Because reading just 56 pages has made me desperate to find out what happens next. And I really don’t want to wait. More please. And soon.

Richard Bruton.

“Dude. You just staked the zombie version of yourself. You are going to be in therapy for the rest of your life.” That has to be one of my favourite lines of the week as Morbius the Living Vampire stakes his zombie counterpart in Marvel Zombies 3, paperback edition hitting shelves this very day. Written by Fred Van Lente, art by Kev Walker, (c) Marvel