One of our long-time favourite Brit small press comic creators Paul Rainey drops us a line to say that the Milton Keynes Art Gallery is hosting an exhibition of Pushwagner art this summer. This will be the first solo exhibition of Norwegian artist and comics creator Hariton Pushwagner outside of his native land and will include work from his Soft City, a comics work created off an on between 1969 and 1976 and which  “provides an account of mechanical, daily life in a dehumanized, dystopian modern city “, as well as numerous other works and paintings. The exhibition runs from 28th of June to 2nd of September.

(Jobkill from Apokalypse, by and (c) Hariton Pushwagner)

And alongside it they will be holding a number of art events including MKcomics, a small press comics fair which Paul is organising. The event will take place inside the actual exhibition space and it is not only free to enter, Paul tells us if you are a small press creator it will be free to exhibit. As Paul puts it “Currently, small press comics are one of the most vibrant, creative and diverse artistic scenes taking place in the UK and MKomix is your opportunity to sample just some of what is going on.” Absolutely no argument from us on that point, we know just how incredibly bustling, diverse and vibrant the UK small press comics scene is (it really is a great time to be reading Brit comics). MKomix will be on July 19th from 6 to 9pm in the Milton Keynes Art Gallery; for more details or to contact Paul about taking part check out the MKomix blog or drop him a line at paul(at)pbrainey(dot)com.

Well that was rather well timed, and no, I didn’t do it on purpose – what do you think I am? Organised? (I can hear Mrs B guffawing in the background).

After the review of Paul Rainey’s Thunder Brother: Soap Division up on Friday, Paul’s blog announces that Thunder Brother: Soap Division is returning tomorrow in a new saga entitled The Two Ronnies:

“Not a dream, not a hoax, not a shameless boast that I hope if enough people believe will come true; Thunder Brother: Soap Division returns in a new story called The Two Ronnies this Sunday March 4th. And that’s not all; TBSD will not break between stories as it has been but appear every Sunday, without fail, until the whole saga has run its course in who knows how many weeks, months, years time! Make sure that you subscribe.”

Well worth a read. Start with The Apprentice and Going Straight and then straight onto part 3.

By Paul Rainey

Rainey’s got previous form with a long running, multi-character epic after his time travelling soap opera odyssey There’s No Time Like The Present. That was a great series, sprawling sci-fi meets tight, very personal soap opera characterisation. It concluded with issue 13 in 2010.

And now he’s returned with Thunder Brother Soap Division, another sprawling multiparter that he’s been serialising online since August 2011. This shares many common threads with There’s No Time; that sense of building something to encompass a large ensemble cast dealing with life on an ordinary and extraordinary level.

I waited this long until looking at the whole thing to give myself a good long runup at the thing. And now, with two full parts online; The Apprentice and Going Straight (in both instances click the link at then read from the bottom up), I’m glad to be able to say I think Rainey’s done it again, creating something very, very good.

It all starts mundanely enough, with little Sally Timmins, 13-year old school girl soap addict, whose life revolves around her soap obsessions, and it seems the perfect job opportunity just opened up – an apprenticeship at something called Soap Division she’s seen in the local paper

There’s several page episodes of absolute normality, with Sally heading off for her interview, excited to be in a world where her obsession may prove useful, but then it all takes a sudden, and unexpected turn for the weird.

Or possibly not, since after reading “There’s No Time” I was halfway expecting Rainey to throw something weird my way, something sci-fi amongst the soap operas, although just how weird I didn’t know.

So how about this?…..

Boom, there goes the mundane. Welcome to the weird. Off she goes to Soap Division, off to investigate the world of the soaps, far, far closer than she ever expected, jumping between our world and those delivering the soap storylines, courtesy of Thunder Brother and the self dividing proto-sphere…

Yes, think something like The Truman Show but multiple shows, spread over multiple soap planets, all coordinated by Soap Division.

Okay, no more spoilers, I’ve tried to limit myself to things either very early on, or things Rainey himself used in his teaser stuff online. But trust me, there’s a lot more to explore here, lots of everyday, lots of sci-fi weird, all mixed up and brought together very nicely by Rainey, whose art here is a real step up, really good figure work, great colours

The second storyline, Going Straight, takes us further into the multi-dimensional Soap Worlds as Sally and Thunder Brother act to prevent a security breach that could blow open the whole multi-dimensional soap opera secret. And all along, we follow Sally’s troublesome first steps into the world of work.

Rainey perfectly plays off the bizarre and incredible with the mundane and down to earth stuff, and it’s a lovely concept, all executed with flair and style.

As with most webcomics I’d always recommend letting the episodes build up before you head over and read them all in one go. Rainey’s done the job for you here – The Apprentice and Going Straight just 12 episodes each – ideal to pick up and get straight into it. The next part begins very soon. Well worth bookmarking to see where he’s talking it.

Winner – Steve English: “Belle’s Magic Mobile”  scooped the big gong, winning  £1,000, certificate, plaque & publication in The Beano & various goodies, such as the Tartan Bucket itself, full of books and DCT merchandise (sorry no image, having trouble finding Steve’s comic online, if anyone has a link, let us know!)

Runners-up: netting £250, certificate & web publication (Beano Website) were Steven Baskerville – “The Ape Prentice”, Jamie Huxtable – “Elly’s Evil Teddy”,  Paul Rainey – “Jack the Robot”  and Adam Smith – “Holly Unlikely”.

Special Mention: Craig Balmer:  “Cookies” – Book and Certificate

Graphic Scotland also tells us that Ian Kennedy and Cam Kennedy were honoured with Lifetime Achivement awards at the event. David Bishop was also  there and blogs a little about a talk by the great John Wagner, dispensing some story writing widsom:

“Strong characters make strong stories. Events are fine, but you have to filter them through character. If you combine bad and good in the one character, that’s always stronger. The reader can take them how they like. Judge Dredd is a genuine hero and a genuine villain. I had him do something heroic and villainous in every story.”
Doctor Chris Murray commented “The standard was very high in all the submissions, but particularly in the final five that became the winner and four runners up. These were Steve English, the winner, and Paul Rainey, Stephen Baskerville, Jamie Huxtable, and Adam Smith. These were all excellent, and we’d congratulate all those who made it to the final five“.

Meanwhile one of our regular faves, Paul Rainey, sends us a link to his entry for the Dundee Comic Prize which he’s now posted online, Jack the Robot:

He’s being deliberately quiet about where the strip is heading, and so far all we know is it’s a tale of a young, soap addicted girl who might be getting a job at popular soap mag Soap Suds. Here’s the first couple of pages, updates Monday & Friday:

Andrew Cheverton usually works with Tim Keable on the brilliant Western comic West, and it’s a partnership I’ve really, really enjoyed so far – making it one of my favourites of 2010. But this year, the continuing adventures of their wandering gunman hero across the wild west continues with Stray Bullets, a short fiction series. The idea of Stray Bullets is to tell small chapters of West’s life and use various artists to illustrate each story.

And you should recognise most of those names as well – Rainey, WJC, Price, Ioffreda and even Cherverton himself gets a look in. But I’ll go on record now in saying that not one of them will nail West like Tim Keable does/will. His art in West: Distance particularly was simple marvellous.

I’m looking forward to the whole West: Stray Bullets series but especially the chapter by Cheverton and Keable – a great team-up. More details from Angry Candy as and when.

And available to buy right now is the latest issue of Martin Stiff’s The Absence, another one that made it onto my Top 10 of 2010.

The issue is currently on my review shelf, and I’m looking forward to getting a blissfully quiet hour or two this weekend to go back and read all 3 issues together before reviewing it. But if issue 3 is anything like as good as the first two, it’s an absolute must buy for all of you.

Details on Martin Stiff’s blog. Or go straight to Lulu and buy it.

And on February 19th Paul will be appearing as part of a new double act “The Two Pauls” at London’s Orbital shop. The other Paul in question is Paul Cornell. Whether they’ll be as good as Messrs Barker and Corbett only time will tell.

by Paul Rainey

Self-published.

“If you’re new here …. then you’re really going to be confused.” Those are Paul Rainey’s opening words in his editorial for issue 13 – the final part of his time travelling, dimensional warping, head spinning sci-fi soap opera odyssey after nearly six years of work.

There’s always the worry with a series that starts out complicated and then throws more and more twists and turns into the mix that the finale will never live up to the buildup, but I honestly think Rainey’s finished it off perfectly, resolving everything, squaring each character’s circle. There’s No Time Like The Present’s final issue provides a most satisfying finale to what has been an excellent series over the years.

The problem with trying to review issue 13 of course is that there’s almost no point at this late stage in covering this final issue – after all, who honestly reviews the final chapter of a book or the last 15 minutes of a movie? But it’s worth taking a look back at the series and seeing it as a whole now that the end has come and gone. And if you feel the need, there’s the previous reviews to go back to for more insight and plot points along the way (reviews of issues 1-8, 9, 10, 11, 12).

The whole work is practically a trilogy of stories – starting with Cliff and his sci-fi obsessive 30 something friends…..

“We join the story with Cliff; a 30 something sci-fi obsessive who lives as a lodger with Kelly…. hates her job, is desperate to leave and fears she’s never going to manage it. Cliff’s best friend is another 30 something sci-fi collector called Barry, who’s just not that nice a person….”

“…..it starts as a slice of life look at a group of mates with an unhealthy interest in Science Fiction shows and a collectors mentality …. But very early on Rainey throws a curveball into the story with the fact that one of the gang is getting future episodes of movies and TV shows from the Ultraweb. Such a  simple thing, thrown into the plot without fanfare, but it’s to prove the backbone of the story.”

“Slice of life meets a bit of time travel and future knowledge. Cliff and his mates living their lives against a backdrop of ennui and a general worldwide feeling of what’s the point? … Each episode is played out with a realistic, naturalistic tone, as each character’s life slowly and rather painfully develops in front of us.”

It then shifts 50 years into the future and Cliff, Barry and their elderly friends are in the day care centre, reflecting on their lives and all the incredible science fiction going on around them outside their door – all the time travelling, the Ultraweb, future Junction worlds, whilst they spend their time watching old, familiar episodes of Dr Who on the TV.

“From here you expect Rainey to jump to and fro, visiting Cliff et al in present and future, young and old. Except he doesn’t – that would be too easy, too obvious. Instead we’re with the old guys all the way, learning little bits about their lives through conversations in between episodes of crappy sci-fi. … But even with all of this time travel and jumps between timeframes, Rainey always grounds the work solidly with his characters. The amazing things occur off panel, affecting our cast tangentially.”

And finally, as the cast slowly succumbs to the inevitable result of old age and the funerals start mounting up we’re propelled forwards again, to rejoin someone who disappeared early on in the series and listen in as she recounts her life story to another old friend, 250,000 years out of time on a strange, new planet.

This is the best thing about Rainey’s work – the sense of amazing advancement is always secondary to the real lives of his characters. The final few issues see us take a near guided tour through the worlds of the future, full of time travelling coasters, trans-pods, personal chronometers, alien species and so much more. But far more important to Rainey, and to me as a reader is the emotional development of the storyteller, this woman out of time, coming to terms with a future she never dreamt of.

This final issue could have simply been Rainey desperately trying to tie up every loose end in his series, throwing things at us just to get it finished. But despite there being an awful lot of information on every page, it never overwhelms the true story, that of the characters we’ve followed through time and space. And then it ends with a remarkably affecting low key ending playing on all the ideas of ageing and acceptance of one’s life that we’ve touched on throughout the series – that was quite lovely and a perfect way to finish.

As I was looking through that final issue, looking for images to share with you it became clear that most of them were going to give away important stuff, but on reading it all again, these two panels struck me as a beautiful way to sum up TNTLTP, of the journeys each character has gone on, through time and space, young and old, the amazing thing isn’t the sci-fi world around them – it’s themselves and what they’ve done. Plus, I think that one close up panel really shows you how good an artist Rainey can be….

Rainey’s There’s No Time Like The Present really does deserve reading in one go, I guarantee that all 13 parts will have you enthralled and intrigued, and more than that, when read together this way, Rainey’s intricately plotted story genuinely shines. Now all it needs is to be collected. Publishers?

Paul’s work is available from the FPI online store and direct from Paul’s online shop. And in case you really needed further proof, Rainey’s put the first 39 pages online for your enjoyment.