The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

“Some bloody holiday this is” – Harker issue 9

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Harker issue 9 Plot, story, script – Roger Gibson. Plot, art – Vincent Danks Ariel Press. And here we are again, another issue of Harker, another review (for the others try here). By now you can probably write these for yourself. But for those who haven’t been paying attention this is my standard description of Harker: “Harker’s a great [...]

Forget the monkey, we talk to the Organ Grinder

Thursday, November 5, 2009

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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 [...]

PJANG 3 – watching the world end, from the outsider’s perspective…

Friday, October 23, 2009

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PJANG issue 3 by Rol Hirst, art by Andrew Cheverton, Nigel Lowrey, Davey Metcalfe Self-published The third issue of Rol Hirst’s People Just Aint No Good (see here for the review of #1 & #2) – three stories, two hits, one not so much, and all dealing with the point of view of the outsider to one degree [...]

Solipsistic Pop launch at the ICA

Friday, October 23, 2009

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The Solipsistic Pop anthology launches during this year’s Comica at the ICA in London on November 8th. We’ve mentioned this cracking-sounding collection a number of times on here as Tom Humberstone has been adding preview pages to the SP site – with it featuring some brilliant talent from the vibrant British small press comics scene [...]

Musetopia – bring on the puns…..

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

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Musetopia by J. Homersham Self-published. There’s really not that much I can say about Musetopia. Not because it isn’t good, merely because it’s a very simple, very visual 14 page mini comic. And when those 14 pages have just one panel gags on each page there just isn’t that much to be said (unless you really want to [...]

At last – comics for real Manly Boys!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

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The Manly Boys Annual by Steven Tillotson & Gareth Brookes An Appalling Nonsense / Banal Pig Production Imagine Viz crossed with those horrible “Boy’s Books Of Doing Lots Of Things Your Dad Thinks Are Cool But You Will Hate” that seem to infest the bestseller charts at Christmas. That’s The Manly Boys Annual by Steven Tillotson and Gareth [...]

We Are Words + Pictures: Robots for the cover, Covers EP for the insides (oh, the irony)

Thursday, October 8, 2009

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We Are Words + Pictures: The Robot Zine & The Covers’ E.P. by Matthew Sheret, Julia Scheele & Sarah Gordon. Self-published (Two from Words + Pictures: top – The Robot Zine, bottom – The Covers Zine) Two self published comic collections from the writers and artists who call themselves Words + Pictures. Nicely put together stuff. The Robot Zine may [...]

Everything You Never Wanted To Know About Crohns Disease – Surely too good to be done in 24 hours?

Monday, October 5, 2009

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Everything You Never Wanted To Know About Crohns Disease by Tom Humberstone Self-published I’ve seen a fair number of 24 hour comics over the years. It’s a simple concept; 24 hours, 24 pages, start to finish, no prep. The results are everything you might expect more often than not; rushed, sketchy, fractured works that are artistic exercises rather [...]

Rob Jackson’s Great Deeds Against The Dead

Monday, September 28, 2009

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Great Deeds Against The Dead Issue 1 by Rob Jackson Self-published The first part of Jackson’s new supernatural horror story two-parter is a horror of the psychological kind rather than an all out gore-fest. Much the better type I’ve always found. And Jackson’s creeping tale of lost love, old age and voices from beyond the grave works so [...]

Surrealist stories of Donkey Heads and Hoovers…..

Thursday, September 24, 2009

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Donkey Head issues 1 & 2 by Daniel Baker Self published When you describe your comic as “envisaged as William Blake does Tintin” you’re really setting the bar quite high. And although I can see what Daniel Baker’s trying to do with Donkey Head and why the William Blake, Tintin and clear line references do sort of [...]

More of those Necessary Monsters…

Monday, September 21, 2009

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Necessary Monsters issue 3 & 4 by Daniel Merlin Goodbrey and Sean Azzopardi Self Published. “There exists a world of horrors beneath the one we know. Where the creatures of our nightmares stalk amongst humanity and play their games of vengence, murder and intrigue. To police this world there is the Chain; a covert agency of monsters [...]

Howard Hardiman’s Polaroids From Other Lives: Volume 2.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

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Polaroids From Other Lives: Volume 2 by Howard Hardiman Self published Howard’s Polaroids series continues with the idea of writing a series of imagined autobiographies; detailing snatches of other people’s lives. These are very short comics (just 12 pages here), mere fragments of a tale, more akin to illustrated poetry than actual comics. But within the small page [...]

Jake Harold’s Justine Tyme….

Monday, September 14, 2009

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Justine Tyme Chapter One: Dreamgirls and Lazer Cannons by Jake Harold Self-published I read Jake’s debut comic Tards (superheroing meets mental and physical disability) and just didn’t like it at all; childish, unfunny, deliberately gross and badly written. But I was pleased to see a while ago that Jake’s moved on – in fact, he now hates his [...]

In praise of the Pasty….

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

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The Pasty Anthology cooked up by Rob Jackson, ingredients assembled by Steve Butler, Francesca Cassavetti, Jim Medway, Dave Hughes, Anthony Mercer, Rob Jackson and Matt Badham. Self-published. Sometimes you do wonder what on Earth people are thinking when they come up with the ideas for a theme for their anthologies. Rob Jackson’s latest certainly wins the award for [...]

Bloc – creation myths carved in stone

Monday, September 7, 2009

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BLOC By Oli Smith and Oliver Lambden Self-published. The UK small press equivalent of a dynamic duo here. Smith and Lambden are well known around these parts for their individual works: I enjoyed Oli’s sentimental early works (reviews here) and more recent I Toddler and Grumpy Days (review here) and likewise think Oliver’s artwork on Tales From The [...]

Tag Archive | "UK small press"

“Some bloody holiday this is” – Harker issue 9

Forget the monkey, we talk to the Organ Grinder

PJANG 3 – watching the world end, from the outsider’s perspective…

Solipsistic Pop launch at the ICA

Musetopia – bring on the puns…..

At last – comics for real Manly Boys!

We Are Words + Pictures: Robots for the cover, Covers EP for the insides (oh, the irony)

Everything You Never Wanted To Know About Crohns Disease – Surely too good to be done in 24 hours?

Rob Jackson’s Great Deeds Against The Dead

Surrealist stories of Donkey Heads and Hoovers…..

More of those Necessary Monsters…

Howard Hardiman’s Polaroids From Other Lives: Volume 2.

Jake Harold’s Justine Tyme….

In praise of the Pasty….

Bloc – creation myths carved in stone

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