Small Press: Reviews

Information: ‘Urban Beasts’ is Written by Daniel Hartwell and Anna Rubins with artwork by Karen Rubins. It is a 24 page black and white manga style comic from Itch Publishing.









Review: This is the first time I have ever read (or even seen) anything from Itch but I have been aware of them within the whole UK SP community, so I was really looking forward to get into one of their comics.

Urban Beats issue one is about a character called Milo who for reasons I’d expect are revealed later on starts seeing animal heads on humans. You are also introduced to a second character called Caipora who… well actually I’m not going to say as it gives the game away. You’re going to have to go out and buy it to find out… go on… off you pop.

I’ve not been a big fan of Manga style artwork but I found this to be very pleasant to look at if even a few panels did seem a bit off but really when the other 99% are inch perfect then why quibble. Scripting duties by Daniel and Anna have produced a very good first issue with tight dialogue and a very interesting tail to tell (see what I did there). This is a great little comic and I suggest you should go spend your hard earned money on it.

Small Press Reviews

Information: Accent UK Comics latest anthology is called ‘Westerns’. It’s a 200 page black and white with a wrap around cover by Kirk Manley. It’s edited by Dave West and Colin Mathieson. You can buy it for £7.00.

Review: In my humble opinion there is no such thing as a bad anthology. I love the concept of mini comics all wrapped up in a book, loads of different genres, loads of different writing and art styles... it’s impossible not to love at least one comic in it. It should be said that no one does Anthologies better than the gang from Accent.

As with their last comic ‘Robots’ this one looks professional and could easily sit alongside any of the big boys on the bookshelves of Waterstones and not look out of place. As with all graphic novels of this type there are some weaker sections but these are few and far between and the rest are all brilliant.

The stand out shorts for me are The Legend of “El Burro (Stephen Lowe and Marleen Lowe) which has an outstanding story and great artwork to match. The next is Boots (Morgan Pielli) which is a clever little comic all from the viewpoint of the cowboys boots. The third one that really caught my eye was Last Train to Jubilation (Gary Crutchley) which starts off as a normal cowboy story and then quickly turns into a quality bit of Sci-Fi with top notch artwork.

Once again Accent pulls off a top quality anthology and I can’t wait for their 2010 effort “Predators”.

Small Press Reviews:

Information: 'Stranghaven' is a small press black and white. It is written and drawn by Gary Millidge Spencer and each issue (up to 18 issues now) are £2.40 each.









Review: It’s best I find to describe this comic as Twin Peaks having a baby with Darling Buds of May and I’m probably I’m still nowhere near describing this amazing comic series.

The main character of this little universe is Alex Hunter, a man who gets lost and crashes upon the town of Strange Haven. While staying here until his car gets fixed, he meets the people of the village and he grows more and more attached to the place. You get the feeling that everyone he meets has his or her own strange story to tell. Take for example the cult or Adam the Alien.

The black and white art is amazing, the village, people and everything in-between seem to be drawn from photos and end up giving a photo-realistic appearance.

This comic sucks you in and I can’t wait for my order of the remaining comics in the series to see where the story and people end up. Top marks.

Small Press: Reviews

Information: “Issue 1" is written and lettered by Michael Burness. Artwork is by Steven Howard the comic is published by Unico Comics and is 24 pages in full colour.









Review: I've just finished reading 'The legend known as...'. First off, I must say the production values, i.e. pencilling, inking, and colouring are professional quality and easily on par with much of what I've seen from various works from Image and Darkhorse. I also found the plot quite intriguing and unique ( an old man in an agrarian community reminiscing about a hero's exploits and his own struggles in a post-flood dystopia) and I'd love to see where you go with it. In regards critiques, since this is kind of an introductory issue, I can't really think of anything off bat.

I'd have to read more of the storyline to get a feel of the story your trying to tell and where you're actually going with it, but like I said, so far I do like what I see so far.

Small Press: Reviews

Information: “Styx” is a black and white self-print Horror Comics at 26 pages in length. It is created by Pete Worth and Steven McCumaskey. Written by Pete with artwork by Steven. It is published by Envision Comics.








Review: I would love to tell you what this comic is about but very little is giving away about the bigger story or in fact the story in the actually issue. This would be the part of the review where I would describe the story but in fact there is not much of a one. The main character needs to get back to “feed his kids” as he puts it. And that is basically the dialogue for the whole comic. Don’t get me wrong it suited the mood of the issue but I could not help feel that the writer should have stretched himself to fulfill a bigger monologue of some sort so the reader could feel more immersed in this universe.

The artwork is excellent. The inks on this are sharp and do the job brilliantly. The mood brought over by the artist puts you in the darkest bloodiest mindset that sets this issue up nicely.

As a single Issue 1 this comic simply does not work and I can’t see it being worth the money for what little is in there story wise. But as a preview issue, a taster of a bigger series then this works well enough. Personally I for one would like to see these two guys do a proper story driven issue based on this universe they have created and simply not use artwork to fill in the page count instead of moving the story forward.

Small Press: Reviews

Information: “Uncle Tickle” is written by Ken L. Jones & Kevin L. Jones. Artwork by Jag Lall and Lettering by Tom Luth. This comic is published by Unico Publishing and is 20 pages in black and white.









Review: This is a back to basic horror comic harking back to the days when all the best serial killers stalked the American landscape. The story begins with two friends looking at a shitty old house and telling each other scare stories of who they think lives there. This begins the back story of child killer Uncle Tickle. The dialogue is sharp, snappy and runs along nicely. The Jones boys have done a nice turn in creating a nicely rounded story that is simple but very enjoyable. Jag Lall’s “scratchy” artwork sets up the feel and soul of the comic and draws you into that world.

Overall this is a good attempt from the lads and I’d be happy to read more.

Small Press: Reviews

Information: Written and Lettered by Anthony Garcia, and Artwork by Jim Jimenez. This B&W comic has a 24 page count. Their website is www.twentytosix.com.









Review: Most comics I’ve read can fall in two distinct styles of artwork (Eastern and Western). Now I’ve seen a series jump from one style to another but never before now have I seen both styles within the same panel! Don’t get me wrong the art in this is good, on some panels great but it’s a bit weird to see two characters (John & Ron) chatting. One who won’t look out of place in a Bunty annual and the other looking like a generic mad scientist out of Akira. But bar that the artwork is stylish and works well.

The story in the first issue is poor. Reading only issue 1 it’s hard to give an extensive overview of the story arch so maybe after this issue it gets better. But in this issue it’s very… well generic. There is nothing of real surprise here and you never feel a connection to the hero or his cause.

The characters throughout are bogged down in cheesy dialogue with the exception of Ron who I warmed to but only because he looks like Kris Kamara. And least said about evil lady who shoots workers through the stomach when she’s angry the better. Don’t get me wrong I like a bit of mindless violence but come on at least make it warranted on some level.

Regrettably this issue does not want me to part with my hard earned money for the other four issues they have made.

Small Press: Reviews

Information: Written and Illustrated by Comfort Love and Adam Withers. This full colour comic comes in at 36 pages.

Review: Almost Blown Away! That’s this comic is three words… oh you want more words? Fine. Uniques is something you rarely see in small press comics these days and that’s a full run on a comic series like the big boys do. Too often I’ve read a SP Comic and got really into it to find that they stopped after Issue 1. With Uniques they are running with this universe in a big way. The story itself concerns the old chestnut of superhero loses parents blah blah blah. Damn I thought, It seemed this may go down the typical route of hero/heroine loses parents and goes on revenge trip. Which is all fine and good but when I read Small Press I want to see something new and experimental. Luckily I was wrong in my assumption of this series. The twists and turns are brilliantly executed and ensures I will buying issues 2, 3, and 4 ASAP. One down side is that it’s a little wordy… by that I mean you can say what you need to say without going overboard on the dialogue but being a first issue there is a load of stuff you need to get across so this is to be expected.

Artwork on the whole is great and shows some tremendous talent although one of two panels do look a little rushed but you’re talking about maybe 3 panels at most so that’s nothing but it does take the shine of a well polished piece of work. Now at the start of this review I said Almost Blown Away and the reason for this one solitary page that shows two dick characters stopping a robbery.

For some reason the story turns into cliché rubbish and high level swearing then back to the main story. I’m sure there is a reason for thins but it spoiled it a bit for me. Other than that I highly recommend this comic to anyone.

Small Press: Reviews

Information: ‘Sign Post on the Left’ is published by 01Comics.com. Story and Artwork is by Mitch Bryd and Barry Gregory doing the digital paint. This comic can be bought from www.indyplanet.com.









Review: A quirky little number this is in both respect of story and format. For some reason they’ve decided to lay the comic as landscape instead of portrait within the normal US sized comic. The title, intro and cover are all normal landscape. Why I hear you mumble? No freaking idea but my guess is that this was once an online comic as if the pages were drawn with more length than height if you get my meaning? Or maybe they thought it looked cool. After all it does look great but anyone watching you read this thinks you’re looking at some kind of comic book centrefold.

The artwork for Small Press is amazing and made all the better using Ka-Blam’s printers who for me are miles ahead from the competition. Mitch’s artwork is top notch stuff and reminds me very much of an Image title. By that I mean it looks uncomplicated at first glance but having a real look it’s very detailed and weighted.

The story is a belta! It’s basically about a bunch of people that live in a city which is populated by actual Dinosaurs running loose. The laid back trio in this issue get attacked by a T-Rex and decide enough is enough and leave town. It’s a strange concept but works really well. It’s a cracking little comic and a really good price as well.

Small Press: Reviews

Information: Written by Various, artwork by Various. This is the first Anthology release by Unico Comics.










Review: Seen as the first proper release from UK Indie newboys Unico Comics comes the anthology UNICO COLLECTIONS. This good sized comic (48 Pages) has a selection of small one off comics that Unico states are a taste of future full comic series that may be come available at some point. It’s interesting to see which of these small “show comics” in the book may one day make it into a fully fledged comic series.

The annual itself is excellent quality with much of it being in colour which is unusual for most small press comics and being almost 50 pages is good value for money. As for the work itself it covers many genres from Superheroes to Corrupt Cops.

All in all there is a story or artstyle to suit anyone’s needs. I highly recommend it.

Small Press: Reviews

Information: Written by Rob Dunlop, artwork by Peter Lumby and coloured by Eric Erbes. This started off as an online comic and now has grown into a number of published books. The series is published by Ablaze Media.








Review: For those new to the universe (the comic universe not the actual real life one) Tozzer is a 12 year old by who’s enrolled at a drama school in Hollywood. When a deranged film director and his psychopathic minions threaten the school, Tozzer and his mates must come to the rescue. This comic is aimed at the late teens audience with its adult humour and cutting film and sci-fi references.

The print quality on these books is awesomeand truly professional and kids it’s in true echnicolor to boot.The artwork in this isexcellent and does a very good job at portraying the world the little bastard lives in. There’s not really much more I can say about the art apart from when they include the many famous Hollywood types in this comic they get the characters 100% right in terms of giving them a true ripping the piss feel.

The writing is the strongest part of the whole thing in my opinion, it’s quick firing and witty as hell. How they get away without being sued is the biggest mystery. Especially in this volume where they is some blatant ripping of most of the Nerdboy library (Star Wars and Matrix to name a few) and if Michael Jackson’s lawyers ever read this the team best grab their passports and head for the Mexican border.

I’d highly recommend this series to anyone with a big bag of weed and a wicked sense of
humour.

Small Press: Reviews

Information: Hero Killers is an Eagle Award winning comic book written by Andy Winter and illustrated by Declan Shalvey. It was published by Moonface Press. Hero Killers was voted Favourite British Black and White Comicbook of 2006 at the Eagle Awards at the 2007 Comic Expo in Bristol.








Review: You can’t swing your dick in the small press comics community without slapping your bell against a blog/website/magazine review raving about how amazing Hero Killers is. So I though why the hell not and buy a copy. No way I can be disappointed with this…regrettably I was. Now look I’m not going to sit here and slag it off cause this comic won an Eagle Award for gods sake and those guys look like they know what they are talking
about. But I can’t feel like being left cold to this title.

The character seem a little two dimensional (no pun intended) and cliché. Serious these guys we’ve seen before in many a film or comic but the stand out character for me is ‘Power Cord’. Yes this guy may look like the lead singer of Nickleback but he had a real presence on the page. Witty banter and an interesting power of being able to derive superpowers from different
types of music I was ready to read this guy up and BANG that sucker is dead.

The premise of Hero Killers is quite a good one. This evil lass decides to kill off the heroes but starts with the small fry first and making a few dollars while doing it. And God bless her she
gets away with the plan as well until a stray sniper bullet misses the intended target
and the brown stuff hits about five fans at once. I’m not going to ruin the end for
you but it was an excellent reveal. The artwork in this is a bit hit and miss with me
to be honest. The first couple of pages just look rushed and Page 5 for some reason
turns has the last panel on it’s side. But as you get in the art gets better. My favourite
page being Page 12 with the bug zap at the bottom. All in all the pacing and layout of the
art is brilliant and it flows really well.

So will there be an Issue 2 and more importantly would I read it… the answer is yes.

Small Press: Reviews

Information: Dave West and Colin Mathieson at Accent UK comics have always hoped they’d get around to do this anthology. Anyone that knows them knows that robots are their favourite science fiction concept. Bigger than ZOMBIES, ROBOTS was launched at the Bristol Comic Convention 2008. It contains 41 seperate stories from a huge number of writers and artists.






Review: I was one of the lucky ones to buy a copy of this at Bristol for a very nice price of £8. Trust this is a bargain for near enough 200 pages of quality printing. The hard part of doing this review is mentioning everyone’s work, which will be impossible on my ikle Blog so I will just review my favourite comics in here. First up is…

Ned Iudd’s Museum – by Jim Thompson & Shaun Mooney
One of the final comics in the anthology is a marvel of story telling with regards
man’s ongoing quest to get machines to do all their shit for them. The comic revolves
around Ned Iudd who is a curator at a museum that deals in old robots from years gone
by. He narrates a story about how machines became the dominant intelligence on Earth
as man passed over more and more responsibilities to the machines. It’s a very dark
tale and the artwork by Shaun matches brilliantly to the feel of the story.

Divinity, Existence and Toast – by Benjamin Dickson
This is one of the better comics from an artistic point of view (well more to the style
I like should I say). The comic is about a woman who buys a robotic toaster that
wakes up one morning to decide that it is in fact God. The humour comes from the
relationship of the woman and the ego mad toaster and makes a very enjoyable
section in the anthology.

The Creator – by Tony Hitchman & Leonie O’Moore
Not great art wise but a cracking read with an excellent twist at the end.

Made Men – by Jay Eales & Charley Spencer
For some reason this reminds me very much of a Garth Ennis comic. Very dark and
violent and with a hero who is a complete bastard but you can’t help but love.

Teruo – by Paul Bowles & Marleen Lowe
A story based on a gangsters’ moll and a Ronin robot samurai that is charged to look
after her. Very good artwork with hints of Tim Sale about. The characters are nothing
new but you feel for them and especially the lead female character.

Small Press: Reviews

Information: The comic book is from Sweden and translated into English. Script by Kjell Emanuelsson, Artwork by Robert Sammelin and both doing the colouring. Availiable to buy from Lulu.com only.









Review: This is a primitive and brutal DIY comic book about the criminals Lucia Bruno, Marian Morrison and Oktan Say and in my humble opinion one of the best small press comics I’ve ever read. Everything is spot on with this comic be it the artwork, script, printing quality and even the size of print they’ve decided to go for. It really has a top draw feel about it. The script itself is about three members of a criminal crew set a good way into the future and feels like an after watershed Firefly (Joss Whedon’s greatest creation).

Emanuelsson constructs an excellent script that tells you all you need to know about the characters in the first two pages. The comic has some brilliant comedy scenes slotted into what basically is a violent comic. The art by Sammelin is 100% spot on by far the best I’ve seen in this market by some considerable distance and you can tell it was a labour of love.

I'd highly recommend this to any comic reader and it’s a damn shame that there sees to be no issue 2 on the books to be made.

Small Press: Reviews

Information: Blood Psi is a vampire comic published by Moonface Press and is written by Andy Winter and drawn by Keith Burns.










Review: Okay so here’s the deal with Blood Psi… it’s a Lesbian Vampire story! Now like me your first thought would be that this was wrote by some juvenile writer saying to himself “what’s cool?... oh shit yeah Vamps man… and oh, oh lets make her a Lezza… hot!” and you’d expect a low brow ‘sexipade’ into extreme violence and lesbian action.

Well not only would you be wrong but you’d be king of the wrongs! This comic is amazing. Andy Winter who wrote ‘Hero Killers’ has done a cracking job with the characters especially the lead who is handled in a mature and interesting manner and not the typical big breasted, character you’d expect or for that matter the typical type of Vampire you’d expect (Vamps having relations with Humans?!?!?!!). As a one shot story it works great but also can lead to a very interesting series. The artwork is classic black and white line work. Keith does a really good job with the interior art but it doesn’t blow me away.

Moonpress have a real hit on their hands with this one and for one I’d like to see more in this series.

Small Press: Reviews

Information: This is a strange duck because the artist and writer will not let there name be known and will simply go just by Grey Publishing. Issue one is only available on Lulu.com. It has a strange but very flashy website at www.greypublishing.com. The comic is black and white.








Review: “CARBON is a comic book magazine with properties designed for a more mature comic reader” or so the description in the introduction says but to be honest the only thing ‘adult’ about it is the ton of swearing and that certainly isn’t done in a ‘mature’ way. Between the mysterious use of no names and cryptic website this does have a feel of pretensions nonsense about it or maybe it’s just me being cynical.

Story wise it reads more of a basic introduction to the universe instead of a character lead story. The dialogue is simple and does the job but doesn’t really set my world alight. Besides, you can’t move on a panel without hitting a ton of asterisks hiding swearing and the such like.

It’s the artwork that really sells this. Its mostly pencil work with ink here and there to make certain stuff stand out. The pages that shine are the city sections where you get to see almost photorealistic shots of Times Square, which look amazing. Looking into for a bit more information it seems Carbon.1 was released in 2005 and there is no sign of Carbon.2. Which is a shame because the gothic universe of ‘Val-mar prince of the damned’ looks like it may have legs depending on what issue 2 had planned.

Yes this comic has its flaws but they are easily looked past, at over £5 for this comic I can’t see it selling a lot but if you get the chance to read it then please do.