“But here’s a deal for you. If you’ll do it, so will I. 2012 will be the year I read 2000AD. 2012 will be the year YOU read 2000AD.”

(Prog 1784 cover by Paul Marshall and Chris Blythe – another one that makes me go hmmm, not great)

You know, it’s a strange thing…. when I first started doing this, I knew that Al Ewing and Brendan McCarthy’s Zaucer Of Zilk was coming to the comic very soon, and I was looking forward to it. But back then if you’d have told me that when Zaucer Of Zilk finished I’d be pleased, impressed, and thoroughly entertained by it for the 10-week run, yet still wouldn’t think it was the best thing in the comic – I’d have insisted you were mad.

Yet here it is, Prog 1784, and even though I want to know how Zilk finishes, even though once I did read it, it was every bit the good, solid, and entertaining end to something of a visual treat that I was expecting, some of the shine had gone from it, and it’s all that John Wagner’s fault.

Dredd simply dominates my 2000AD reading in a way I’d never have imagined possible before starting with this whole 2000AD thing. But it does.

Wagner’s writing is so tight, so beautifully done, all concerned with dealing as much chaos as possible into Mega-City One before the actual Day Of Chaos – we’re still on Chaos Day Minus 1 here – and right now, the sudden appearance and subsequent all too sudden removal of the remaining Dark Judges seems perfect. Because this isn’t Dredd against a super-villain type story. This is Dredd struggling to keep his city alive. And doing so with extreme measures, it doesn’t need the Dark Judges to make it horrific, its quite bad enough without them….

(Dredd – Wagner and MacNeil)

Yep, THE best strip in 2000AD, and as long as Wagner keeps going with it, I reckon one of the best things I’ll read this year, certainly a great contender for those end of year lists. Artists involved have been pretty damn fine as well, with MacNeil doing a good job this issue, and I’m looking forward to Edmund Bagwell next issue, although it looks like being just an interlude.

Having said that, the beauty of Wagner’s plot and script is how effectively he’s made this about everything other than Dredd, so an interlude may be, should be just as great as everything that’s gone before.

But don’t feel too sorry for Zaucer of Zilk, it’s had a good run, 10 episodes, all spectacularly drawn by McCarthy, all decently plotted, all very readable. I did say it at the start though, that there was always a risk of this being “just” a decent story rather overwhelmed at times by the incredible visual treats on offer. And I reckon that’s about right.

(Zaucer Of Zilk – Ewing & McCarthy)

Almost a polar opposite to Zilk is Cadet Anderson; no flash, no psychedelic colour schemes, this is simply about telling a decent, pretty much run of the mill tale. And even if hat sounds critical, it’s not meant to . There’s a fine, fine place for a simple, almost back to basics strip – not everything has to start of trying to be spectacular. There’s a lot to be said for doing it simple, and doing it well.

Grant and Yeowell are doing just that. And even have chance to bring a little intrigue and suspicion to Anderson’s mind along the way.

Rounding out the issue, Flesh and a Terror Tale. Flesh is simply seeing its time out for me here. I’ve little interest in in, and can honestly say that the initial fun of seeing big dinosaurs went the way of the dinosaurs a while back. Whilst the Terror Tale is alright but nothing more, not helped by Harrison’s artwork; which at its best looks strangely EC-ish, but all too often overcooks it and comes off as messy, fussy stuff with far too much going on in the effects department, and a heroine who starts off as Buffy Summers and then changes face in every single bloody panel. Terror Tales is, by its nature something of a hit or miss. Miss this time.

(Cadet Anderson – Grant & Yeowell)

(Flesh – Mills and McKay)

Terror Tales – Kitsuneland – Worley & Harrison)

Jack Davies, Catherine Reda, Luke Bayliss & Harry Griffin-Hayes, Sammy Borras, Lily-rose Beardshaw, Sarah Fogg

Inspired Comics

Hmm. The urge to pepper this one with hideous puns and food references is almost too much. You’ll forgive me “pepper”. I promise that will be the last of them.

Right then. Six comic strips all on the subject of food. All wrapped in a gorgeous, fun, sweet cover by Sarah Fogg. By the same comic collective, and featuring many of the same artists as Science Fiction Octuple Feature from last year.

Sadly, the cover here proves to be the high point, only really matched by Sarah’s own contribution; The Mysterious Land Of Under-Noodle. That was nearly as cutesy and sweet as the cover, a six-pager of territorial trouble between the forces of food species, all fighting over the gigantic mushroom that plunges into the broth sea…

(Sarah Fogg)

The other five strips all try really hard to do their thing, but for one reason or another they’re all a little under-par. There’s a good mix of styles and themes though, but no-one really delivers a fully formed, interesting story.

Jack Davies was one of the highlights of the last Inspired Comics anthology Sci-Fi Octuple Feature, but his Many Years Ago story here is pretty but confused, his storytelling a little all over the place, each panel looking attractive, but the relationship between panels not as good as his previous work. Again, promise, but not quite there.

Catherine Reda’a Bunnies Incorporated Into Various Food Items is simply a cute gag done too long – a single page would have been funny, but 5 pages, with 28 iterations of the same gag is really pushing it. In the Sci-Fi Octuple comic she took three pages to do a cute bunny gag that worked so much better.

The Italian Dish by Bayliss and Griffin-Hayes I simply didn’t like. Clumsy story, stilted dialogue, and no, not in a classic film-noir sense, grubby art too focused on the close-up to really give any sense of transition. Nope, didn’t like it, and that makes two for two from this team.

(Sammy Boras)

Sammy Boras’ Food Wars is a good looking strip, and tells a story of a TV cooking contest in readable fashion, but there was simply nothing that really hooked me in, it’s just lacking slightly, right on the cusp of impressing me.

Lily-rose Beardshaw is a weird one. Last time I saw her work I moaned about the reproduction and the muddy feel. But here it is again with The Butcher and the Tattoist. I’m beginning to think it’s simply her style, and I’ve got to say it does nothing to sell her work to me. There’s a talent here, most certainly, but it’s too hidden. And a story that says very little, wants to say a lot, and simply comes across as poor, badly worked out, and confusing doesn’t help.

(Lily-rose Beardshaw)

So ouch. That was a little harsh. I never like being quite so critical. But the most frustrating and annoying thing about Eat Me! is the potential that’s here. Davies, Boras, Beardshaw are all promising so much, yet just underwhelming here.

Next time? I do hope so.

You can of course see for yourself at Inspired Comics, where Eat Me is available to buy.

Written by Daniel Bell, art by Katja Lindblom, Iain Buchanan, Daniel Bell

Yes, PT Barnum presents…. yes, the same PT Barnum who runs the circus. Except in here, it’s the Psircus he’s running, the Psircus being a way for writer (and sometime artist) Daniel Bell to shoehorn PT Barnum into his comic in a sort of weird Professor X (less wheelchair, more elephants perhaps?) fashion, the leader of a secret society of psychics, and secret saviour of the world.

Once you get over that bizarre, slightly off-putting inclusion, what we have here is 28 pages of comic, and three stories that deliver this Psi-sage really rather well. It’s by no means perfect sure, but for what it is, for what it’s trying to be, it does a fair job.

Kathy and Icarus are two girls with psi-powers, and in the three short tales we get a couple of origins of sorts, and a joint mission. What I thought was handled particularly well was Bell’s control of his storyline. He’s obviously got something bigger he’s trying to tell through this and hopefully future issues, but he understands that to tell what he want to he has to tell the smaller stories first, establish his characters, work them into the plot, and if he’s clever enough, he can combine all of that into these 28 pages.

Quick answer – yes, he’s clever enough.

(Kathy Isn’t Right by Daniel Bell and Katja Lindblom)

Kathy’s tale involves young Kathy breaking out of the mental hospital she’s been incarcerated in to deal with what they see as her paranoid schizophrenia, but actually is her massive psychic power.

She’s part of a power struggle between the afore-mentioned Barnum and some other, unseen force that calls to Kathy to escape. And this is very much her first meeting with Barnum, her introduction to the world she’s to inhabit in the future.

(Icarus by Daniel Bell and Iain Buchanan)

Icarus’ tale has something of the Leon about it; the young girl being apprenticed in the ways of the professional assassin. Or at least that’s what she thinks she’s doing.

In actual fact, she’s a powerful telekinetic, and her trainer is more concerned with the power of her brain than he is the power of the gun. I could tell you more, but that’s a sweet twist in the story that’s yours to discover.

(The Pull by Daniel Bell)

Finally, in story three – The Pull – we get to see a little of the girls in action now, what feels like a few years after their individual origin-ish stories. Now they’re working for Barnum’s Psi-operation and out on a job tracking down a particular piece of lowlife with low level psi-abilities that he puts to all too pathetic use.

Kathy and Icarus trawl the local flesh pit nightclubs, posing as more prey for this nasty little rapist, and deliver a suitable punishment after a well worked psychic conflict.

Three stories, each one well done, short, sweet, telling a tale within the story, yet also delivering something more, something of the greater saga.

If I had to criticise, it would be over bits of the art. None of the three artists are particularly bad here, but neither do any of them really stand out. Personally Bell’s story with his own art is the best of the three. Too much of Lindblom’s work seems too rough to me, with some panels really making me question just what she’s trying to show me. Buchanan’s art is suffering as it seems to be merely a black & white version of the colour work on Bell’s blog. It makes the tones artificial.

But even as I write those criticisms I feel a little too harsh. What worked best of all was the story, and each artist delivers the story as best they could, without real detriment to my enjoyment. For someone who’s always more story driven than cares about the art, that’s just fine.

There’s some interesting questions left unanswered here, although never to the detriment of the story in front of you. But who is Sunnyside? Who are the girls reporting to at the end of The Pull? It’s not Barnum. Who was Barnum up against in his fight over Kathy? How long has all this been going on? Who is Icarus’ trainer, Barnums’ partner, something else, just another team member?

Just having this many questions and still having enjoyed the comic tells me that it worked, that it’s enjoyable as a single issue, yet full of enough to make me want more. That, I think, is proof of job done for any #1 of a comic. Well done to all involved.

Now, where’s issue 2?

By Robert Wells

Issue 2 of Rob Wells’ Crisp Biscuit Comics – and apart from the upgraded paper stock and the crisper printing, it’s essentially more of the same from issue 1 – reviewed back in 2011.

But don’t misunderstand me – more of the same is not necessarily a bad thing and Rob Wells’ work is light, fun, snappy – a one & two-page sketch show format of a comic to raise a smile and a giggle. It’s another nice little collection of his gag strips, all in colour, all with his rather attractive simple fine line.

Maybe not as funny as issue 1, maybe the novelty’s gone a little, or perhaps simply me in a bad mood? It’s always a risk with a comedy sketch show I suppose.

But there are some nice touches, especially if you’re a fan of The X-Factor – Wells is, me not so much…. but I know enough to find this funny, and thanks to Molly, even recognise the faces and names involved:

Or this one, with me on more familiar satirical ground (although my scanner hates the background – it’s a damn sight cleaner in the comic):

And then there’s the “whatever happened to….” series….

You get the idea, yes? So, looking at those three pages, did they raise a smile? A laugh? Yes? In that case you’ll enjoy Wells’ second issue.

Over at his blog you can get an idea of his strips, including several complete stories and earlier strips in many of the series continued thematically here.

Wells also sent along the latest versions of Crisp Biscuit Comics #1 and Colin Comix #1, crisper, cleaner, posher paper, and professionally printed, but still fun. I especially liked seeing Wells’ rather ridiculous and slightly sad little Hippo with a toilet problem once more, this time in colour:

You can buy Crisp Biscuit Comics #1, #2, and Colin Comix #1 and more from Wells’ website.

“But here’s a deal for you. If you’ll do it, so will I. 2012 will be the year I read 2000AD. 2012 will be the year YOU read 2000AD.”

Another week, another 2000AD, another week spent trying to avoid simply shouting at you about how bloody good I think Judge Dredd Day Of Chaos is.

John Wagner and a series of great artists, currently Colin Macneil, are delivering a huge, monumental epic of a storyline, with Wagner throwing more and more into the mix, culminating last episode with the reintroduction of Judges Fear, Fire, and Mortis.

Where he’s taking it… I have no idea to be honest. And I don’t think that’s because I’ve only been playing in the 2000AD sandpit for a little while, I think it’s down to Wagner’s willingness to not put any limits on where he’s taking this. Or at least that’s what I hope he’s doing. I really do. As it is, I’m so pleased to be along for what feels like a really important part of Dredd history.

In fact, it’s so good I actually feel slightly sorry for the other strips in the mag at the moment.

Dredd even manages to eclipse (and I’m amazed I’m saying this) McCarthy and Ewing’s Zaucer Of Zilk which, although still looking gorgeous, and developing something more of a dark edge alongside the psychedelia, is still just a story. It loses out to a Dredd epic.

The rest of the issue suffers as well in comparison; Grant and Yeowell’s Cadet Anderson works well, looks fine, reads fine, and just feels like a standard, well done strip. That’s not bad, sometimes the world forgets that average is fine most of the time. And if Anderson is a good, yet average, sort of strip, sadly Flesh is dropping to below average. Now the “oh wow, huge bloody dinosaurs” effect is subsiding, there’s not too much to interest me behind it, as anything Mills is trying to say about time travel is rather lost in being annoyed with Mckay’s continued insistence on upping the cheesecake. Not what I was here for.

No new strip this time, instead, it’s a Tharg Time Twister. Which is actually rather good, and a nice example to a lot of comic creators out there in how to deliver start, middle, and end in just 4 pages whilst also having something approaching a satisfying level of story.

(Zaucer Of Zilk by Al Ewing and Brendan McCarthy)

(Cadet Anderson by Alan Grant and Steve Yeowell)

(Flesh by Pat Mills and James Mckay)

(Tharg’s Time Twisters – Contractions by TC Eglington and Lee Carter)

Next week…. or right now if you’re a subscriber (and I refuse to do that – still enjoying the nostalgic novelty of the newsagent every Wednesday) … DREDD and Block Wars again:

Marc Ellerby has a digital omnibus of Chloe Noonan coming out very soon. Now, where’s the PRINT version?

News was from Ellerby’s FB, but no doubt it will be available on the Great Beast website sometime this week.

Howard Hardiman’s Lengths is now up to Issue 6, released later in May, and his collaboration with Julia Scheele and Sarah Gordon – The Peckham House For Invalids. Pre-orders available from Cute But Sad.

Steven Tillotson has new stuff in his online store – out of print stuff at silly low prices for digital.

Created by Ashram J Pure, featuring Jonny Wong, Javvy M Royle, Roland Hammed, Zack Slatter

Okay, where to start? Good or bad? Let’s go with the good and get to the bad later. But if you’re after a quick summary The Lion & The Unicorn is a really nicely presented misfire of a comic that just doesn’t provide anything like the experience the writer/creators are obviously thinking it should.

Good – it looks just lovely, if you like your artwork very computerised, very effects laden, very flashy. I’m not that keen on heavy computerised stuff usually, but the craft involved here is good, and there are images that I did really like.

I was looking through a pdf rather than a print version, but from the tone of the work, the presentation, the stylings, I can only assume that the print work is similarly impressive. Here’s a couple of the pages to give you an impression:

The real problem is, once I get past that initial impression of good, solid, craft, I start picking fault. I don’t like to, I certainly take no enjoyment from pulling apart UK published comics from new creators. But there’s a problem here that seems to be somewhat inherent in modern comics, and one I’ve been seeing a lot recently in a series of UK digital comics I’ve said thanks but no thanks to.

And it’s all about content.

Or lack thereof.

The first issue of any comic, especially something dramatic rather than alternative, has to really hit you hard, fast, brilliantly. Has to deliver enough content to keep you interested and involved. Otherwise the moment is lost, the short form of the comic not enough to keep me/you interested. Transmetropolitan, Sandman, Animal Man, or more recently Harker, The Absence, Mark Waid’s new Daredevil series – all perfect examples of a great first issue – you’ll no doubt have your own.

There’s just nowhere near enough in The Lion & The Unicorn within the 22 story pages to make it worth my while to keep going with. Add to the general lack of content the thorny problem of the artwork – page after page after page is pretty much a glorified splash page. 11 of the 22 pages have just one or two panels. And it means there’s just not enough going on in the comic, not enough to generate any interest in the story, just not enough.

In fact, flick to the end pages, the two page backmatter and the back page summary and there’s something there, something to set up a little interest. But why the hell isn’t that inside the actual bloody comic itself? Here’s the back cover (the only edit I’ve made is to increase the text size to make it readable at this scale):

Almost none of that actually appears in the comic in anything more than tangential or passing reference. There’s a little mention of corporations, but no context, there’s a visual setup of the country, but again not much context.

The pre-titles sequence (to borrow film references) of 7 pages does a great job, solid storytelling sketching out the scene, a mysterious death on the subway of an England of strange psychic tech, corporate controlled. But then there’s nothing to expand on this. After that opening 7-pages we see the old king on his sickbed, worried for his country and his legacy. His son Jonathon has a training fight. It ends with an ominous hand clutching some burning newspapers.

And that’s it.

In fact, the pre-title sequence is denser than the rest of the comic content-wise. Not the way it works at all. And sadly, it didn’t work at all for me. Don’t use the back cover to tell more story than the insides, it simply isn’t good enough. Using a back page of prose to tell me everything you missed in the comic itself – not good enough. And having lots of online content matters not one whit if the comic is essentially empty.

I hate railing on a UK comic, especially a new self publisher. But I’ve been seeing more and more of this sort of content light stuff recently, especially those utilising digital to deliver something that takes less than 5 minutes to read. What the publishers need to do is sit back and read their own works, subjectively. What content does it deliver, what reading experience? Is it enough? If the answer’s no, for God’s sake, go back and make changes. If you’re convinced that 1/2 panels a page is the way you want to go, then do another 20/30 pages, then repeat the honest read-through. Does it tell a good story? Or does it merely hint at something that needs clarification and expansion through text?

If that’s still the case, you’re definitely doing it wrong.

By Terry Wiley

IDCM

I’ve waffled on plenty in the past about Terry Wiley, about his collaborations with McKinnon and Kermode, about how Sleaze Castle is something of a lost epic. (Luckily, lost no longer – see details at the end of this piece.)

Well, this is VerityFair, and VerityFair is Terry Wiley’s one man show of a comic, featuring jobbing actress Verity Bournville; a waster, a mess, too loud, often too drunk, full of hang-ups, and prone to crippling nightmares. But she’s also the star of the show; exaggerated yet so believable character, witty, effervescent, flawed, wonderful …. yet another one of a series of well rounded, perfectly realised female characters Wiley has been responsible for. He seems to have a genuine knack of catching the style, the dialogue, the mannerisms so very well.

In the first three very impressive issues (1, 2, 3) you got to see Verity land a new agency that actually seemed to be able to provide work, including a slot on a certain well known TV music show that lets us see some of her past as “Pose Girl” (think New Romantic 80s Bez). Things look good, but life for Verity seems to have a habit of screwing her over, and her past comes back to haunt her, her nightmares send her to an old friends bed and back to a shrink she hasn’t seen for decades. These are bad nightmares, or, as Verity puts it….

“We are talking piss-the-bed, panic attack, lights on ’til dawn here. One of those – if you pardon the expression – fucks me right up.”

So…. a rounded character, full of easy conversation, often directly to the readership, full of the highs, lows, little triumphs, and life changing tragedies of real life, and just like real life there’s a mass of ridiculous comedy running through it as well. But this is Terry Wiley, so there’s also a riotous amount of over the top madness going on, and a massive amount of connection to so much he’s done before.

But don’t be afraid, although Wiley references, continues, flashbacks, and integrates characters from both Surreal School Stories and Sleaze Castle, you don’t need to know anything about those books to enjoy this great comic.

By issue 3 we we’re flashing back to Verity’s (surreal) school for a tragic, and unsolved death, that may still have a part to play in future issues.

This time we’re back to the present, although still locked in the past, as another Surreal School chum has died (confusingly another Lucy), lost to drugs long ago, a sadly overdue death this. Friends assemble, there’s a magnificent wake after an uncomfortable church service – always a bad idea, a church service for one of the former girls of Tycho’s; like Verity says… “They don’t know we vewwy well, do they?” before we get to see the old school motto; “Secular, Elitist, Agnostic“. Funny, funny stuff.

Wiley is expertly, delicately weaving all manner of tales in here, flashbacks slot in easily, without confusion, monumental moments revealed without fanfare, making them all the more important.

We even get to see just what caused the monumental “nuclear bust-up” between Jo and Verity that meant they haven’t spoken for over 20 years. It’s just after this wonderul moment when Jo fills Verity in on the whole Sleaze Castle experience:

Suffice it to say, even the thought of a reunion at the funeral is enough of a worry to send Verity back to the shrink. And if that’s bad, then the events post funeral, with a very squiffy Verity heading home post wake may well be enough to get her sectioned. I’m certainly not going to blow the ending, but it’s weird, it’s funny, it’s surreal, it’s vintage Wiley.

Add it all together; the funny stuff, the all too believable dialogue, the great characterisation and an all too human lead character and this really is proving to be a great comic from a great artist. And even better, I have no idea where Wiley is taking this one, but I know I’ll be here to find out.

VerityFair #4 is available from Wiley at Bristol Expo, and online from Wiley after that (twing@cix.co.uk for orders & Paypal). It’s ridiculously cheap at £2.50 b&w, £5 colour.

Sleaze Castle Etcetera – The Incomplete Final Cut, published through Markosia and featuring work by Wiley, Dave McKinnon, and Adrian Kermode, is slightly more expensive, with the limited hardcover available for £35, online and at Bristol and London’s Kapow Con. After that, there’s a paperback Sleaze Castle coming out for July, also at £35, and frankly, whatever format, it’s perhaps the best £35 you’ll spend for quite a while.

Written by Rol Hirst, art by Adrian Bamforth, Kelvin Green, Stephen Prestwood, Nigel Lowry, Andrew Cheverton, Martin Eden, Chris Askham, Rob Wells, Davey Metcalfe-Carr

Third issue of the series that Rol Hirst describes as:

“Welcome to the northern seaside town of Fathomsby; home to retired super-heroes, monster DJs, mutant prostitutes, pier-owning gangsters, disgruntled policemen and a woman who knows exactly what you’re thinking about, whenever you’re thinking about… S-E-X.”

I’ve already reviewed issues 1 & 2 and had a great time amongst the weird and wonderful inhabitants of the little seaside town with a difference.

It’s an ongoing series; Twin Peaks meets The Prisoner meets Hammer Horror meets American Werewolf meets superhero culture meets police procedural meets Eastenders meets …. well frankly you can add in pretty much anything you want, as Hirst seems determined to throw as much great stuff as he can in here.

But certainly the structure has that soap operatic feel to it, all short scenes, jump cuts, multiple characters, multiple storylines. Yet there’s overlap, and a sense that Hirst is pulling it all in a certain direction. The structure makes the very best of the multiple artists involved as well, with each new scene getting a different artist, and negating any problems inherent with so many competing styles.

So here we go for issue 3, and it’s simply more of the same. But the same proves to be bloody entertaining stuff.

Lets start off with the image from the inside front cover and go from there… here’s new to Fathomsby cop Sam Kamara finding out the limits of his remit from Deputy Chief Constable Becky “ballbuster” Corvida:

That gives you an idea of just how interesting and bizarre place Fathomsby is, right?

Everything here is building and building on the large cast of characters we’ve met thus far, and doing it awfully well.

Back in the first issue we saw irritable old git Harry Hall being menaced by the local troublemaking kids, saw the resulting bit of Victor Meldrew-esque ranting leave one of the kids squished under Harry’s unfeasibly large hand. Now the ripples of that event are extending ever outwards, affecting more and more people… until we get the feeling that we’re in some very, very intricately constructed piece of fiction, with Hirst calling the shots from the very start.

In this issue you’ll see how Dermot Kaye; Fathomsby’s local mobster type gets his pre-dinner kicks, see his tearaway son menace another resident; the patchwork undead DJ Frank Epstein, discover the link between vampire DJ Gary Gore’s sister and Kaye’s pervert network.

Meanwhile DI Kamara investigates the mystery of the dead 4-armed gigolo they pulled out the water last episode, and journalist Kathy Marr (whose uncanny ability to see everyone’s sordid little thoughts, whether she wants to or not, seems perfect for the town) arrives to look for her missing boyfriend:

(Kathy arrives in Fathomsby at “The Overview” hotel. But why is it in German? Yet another little mystery to add to the pile)

No-one in Fathomsby seems untouched by the weird, the sordid, the perverse. Everyone seems to have abilities, seems to have mystery surrounding them. Even the smallest characters have a chance to develop and come into the story. Take Kaye’s big and tall enforcer type, the man known only as Wonderful, a man with Tom Hanks’ biography in his pocket. Seems there’s a truly mindboggling reason for this. Trust me, it’s an image you wont be able to get out of your mind for quite a while…..

(Wonderful’s under pressure, but nothing shape-changing Jasper can’t help him with.)

Yes, Issue 3 of Too Much Sex & Violence does exactly what it says on the cover. And does more of what we’ve already seen. But it’s a clever, sick little thrill ride of a comic, not for the faint hearted, tongue lodged firmly (but not exclusively) in cheek, and something that promises to entertain for a long time to come.

I’ll leave you with this… as DI Sam Kamara chats to fornsic medical examiner Imogen Redback just after they’ve examined the corpse with quadruple arms, and double dicks. She sums up Fathomsby, and by extension all of Too Much Sex & Violence, so very well….

You may never know what’s going to happen next, but finding out is such weirdly perverse fun. You can buy all three issues of Too Much Sex & Violence so far in print or digital from Hirst’s shop.

By T’Sao Wei

Okay, Windrush is a quality little comic, interesting genre twist, the quirky, edgy end of the superhero spectrum, rough, raw, wearing its flaws right out front. But beside those obvious flaws sits something intriguing, something good.

It’s strangely formatted; hand bound A4, cotton binding up the edge, no spine. And that just made it feel like something far more amateurish than the insides deliver. Because once inside the comic itself, you can forget about the problems with formatting, and simply enjoy something that looks anything but amateurish.

We start on page 1 (above) with a daughter eulogising her dead mother, who’s described as “Windrush“, “The Lambeth Phantom“, a protector of Brixton, a hero, an example to the community. But the daughter isn’t speaking to a packed community church, she’s speaking to a small assemblage of freaks and weird folks you can see above; Uncle Henry, in dress suit and combat helmet, M-16 in hand, chief Inspector Nikita, Solo, Steam Punk, The Mechanic, Feiyi Huang – the dead woman’s martial arts training partner who talks of her skills in martial arts being extraordinary. It all looks very Grant Morrison-esque Doom Patrol.

So, mom obviously wasn’t your normal sort of community stalwart, turns out she was something of a moderator in gang wars, enemies on all sides, and the protector’s mantle has fallen to her daughter, along with the quest to uncover just who did the killing, and more importantly just who put the price on her mother’s head.

And Lauren herself is something out of the ordinary, as she puts on the mask and costume and performs some moves of her own, something superhuman almost as she floats above the rooftops. We’re in the realms of community superheroes, the legacy they leave behind when they die, sidekicks left wondering what they should do, friends and teammates left without a leader, without a reason to keep going.

Yet Windrush just doesn’t feel much like a traditional superhero tale, much to its credit. It uses some of the language, some of the imagery wouldn’t be out of place in your more unusual cape and tight comics perhaps, but this is something more. This is gangland conflict given masks and superpowers, superheroes and supervillains fighting over gangland territories.

And it sort of, just about works. Or at least it does in the main story, once I realised the last couple of pages were out of order at least. It builds up a good enough picture of a life, whilst showing us the daughter’s pursuit of her mother’s killers. There’s issues with pacing at times, and the back up drawn by Yusuf Supdarowa is a misstep. It adds little, although Wei assures us that it’s imperative to future storylines, detailing the adventures of Lauren’s weird tentacle wielding shadowy friend Ned Zeppellin. In fact this first issue could have done without the second strip altogether, it just breaks up what I read, creates unnecessary confusion, and just means I ended the comic wondering what went wrong.

Far better would have been to tighten up the main, ditch the back-up, smarten the presentation.

In truth, I’m conflicted with this one. The story is a simple twist in the genre, but it’s played off well enough to make it interesting.

Wei’s art goes all round the bases; from interesting and quirky, right through to just a little too rough and occasionally into just not good enough.

Where it does really fly (if you’ll forgive the pun) is where Wei gets kinetic. There’s such speed, such flow, such excitement when we do see movement, and Wei never overplays that aspect, leaving me impressed, wanting more, yet appreciating the stylish restraint.

Windrush is good, make no mistake. But it’s unforgivingly raw at the same time.

Sometimes that’s raw yet so promising and sometimes it’s simply not ready yet raw. T’sao Wei’s Windrush certainly has potential, but it’s a potential that struggles to reveal itself properly by the end.

You can buy Windrush at Wei’s Etsy store, and there’s an IndieGoGo fundraiser right now to publish Windrush and give it the format it deserves.