Honest Review Month Goes Audio Again! Adam Warlock with Dave Robertson.

I sat down this evening with Dundee’s own comics creating guvnor Mt Dave Robertson. We talk about the run that leads through Strange Tales to Warlocks’ own named series and finally into a couple of Marvel annuals.

You can have a listen right here https://neverironanything.podbean.com/e/episode-7-a-meeting-of-minds-adam-warlock-jim-starlin-and-dave-robertson/

This is a book at the height of the cosmic seventies weirdness. It is beautifully drawn with a multi-levelled narrative that makes it a classic of the time and still very readable. We compare highs and some lows and examine the themes and visuals in depth. Does the story end too soon? Should it have run onwards into those gauntlet comics? What is Starlin trying to say?

We also chat all about Dave and his comics imprint Fred Egg Comics. Some great releases such as his suburban time-travel story Belltime and many more. Hop over to http://fredeggcomics.blogspot.com/ and grab some to read. You can also find Dave on Twitter @FredEggComics

Many thanks for listening.

Honest Review Month Goes Audio - ‘A Death in the Family’ with Damian Edwardson.

ON this Audio Episode of Honest Review Month my self and one half of  Art92 Collective’s Damian Edwardson take a deep dive on one of the most controversial storylines ever to hit the Bat Books.

Batman issues 426-429 featured the death of the then Robin after a public vote decided if he should die or not!

Written by Jim Starlin with art by Jim Aparo, Inks by Mike DeCarlo and Colours by Adrienne Roy this really got some interesting conversation rolling. Was it a crass commercial decision? Did it work as a story? Why did the Joker hog most of the story and get the best costume changes? Why was Superman acting so strangely? 

There’s loads to ponder in this new episode that you can find here https://neverironanything.podbean.com/e/episode-6-batman-and-a-death-in-the-family-with-damian-edwardson/ 

You can also find out about the mighty Art Collection that features Helena and Damian at their website here https://www.artninetwo.com/ Have a look for their great comics and art.

Many thanks for listening.

In Review - ‘Cut-Man issue 1’

Cut-Man issue 1.

Written by Alexander Banks-Jongman.

Art by Robert Ahmad.

Letters by DC Hopkins.

Published by Action Lab - Danger Zone.

£2.99 - 25 pages - Released 

The Story - ‘Hank Kelly cannot die. With this revelation, his life is thrown into a world of fame and fortune. But can fame and fortune repair his broken family? Meanwhile, detective Rosalind Lovejoy makes a fateful discovery: Kelly’s immortality has a dark cost.’

The Review - This came out on the recent rather underwhelming New Comic Book Day. I had only a couple of weeks ago written a review of New York City Gallows that is also a comic drawn by Robert Ahmad. (He’s a busy dude!) So I thought I would buy this one and have a look.

I’ll start with the cover which I have to admit was also somewhat underwhelming. The colours and the framing are just not working for me. Who in editorial decided that such a drab colour scheme should be eye-catching in a sea of comics? The smoke from the car on the left of the page feels like it has cut or even torn the side off and the skyline with the Empire State Building in prominence is less than convincing. The lack of visible injuries also don’t really explain the large trail of blood? (It just looks like he’s had some red paint splashed on him?) It’s hardly a bold new issue is it? It’s not even a scene in the actual comic.

The story starts out with what appears to be an argumentative inner monologue within the mind of Hank Kelly. A tortured person who lays sadly on his bed in his humble apartment seemingly talking to himself. The story then switches to a discussion with a therapist after a credit box. This short discussion seems a little over-acted but I’m going with it for now. And then suddenly he’s back in his apartment having a shower. As an opening few pages I’m not exactly feeling thrilled. He then meets a girl and she comes back to his place, he calls his therapist and walks to a child custody hearing. And I’m already well over half-way through this comic. If I wasn’t reviewing it I would have given up.

Finally of page 16 of a total 25 pages something finally happens. I won’t tell you what as there is a chance you’ll want to read it.

Then in the period of only five hours a crowd of people are gathering outside a hospital and declaring Hank an ‘Immortal Man’ or a ‘Super man’. After Five hours? There’s even a banner declaring he is Jesus Christ reborn?! The end of the issue seems severely rushed. Sadly the writing and structure of the opening issue make it both dull and unconvincing.

The art makes use of the the one colour on black and white that we saw with Darwyn Cooke’s Parker books. It is in the most part very well done and communicates story and emotion (albeit at moments a little over intensified) with style. If this had a better cover and a little more of an engaging and less confusing plot (who was that voice in the opening scene?) I’d definitely be on board for the next issue.

I can’t help but think that the book would be better with more oversight from editorial. One of the panels clearly has the unused tail of a word balloon out of place over a character’s face for example. This oversight may also have spotted the uneven plot structure and failing cover.

Many thanks for reading.

In Review - ‘Starring Sonya Devereaux: Naked Are The Damned 2’ issue 1.

‘Starring Sonya Devereaux: Naked Are The Damned2’ issue 1.

Written by Nick Capetanakis and Todd Livingston.

Art by Brendan Fraim and Brian Fraim.

34 pages - Main Story in full colour with a Black and White backup.

£3.99 (digital) - Released August 2016.

Published by American Mythology Productions.

The Story - ‘No budget is too low, no dialog too cheesy, and no plotline too thin to keep Sonya from appearing in these straight to DVD flicks. From horror - to action - to erotic thriller, each issue is a laugh-filled send up of a different genre and movie – but they all have one thing in common: Sonya Devereaux and FUN! Okay, that’s two things. But just like gravy on mashed potatoes is delicious, Sonya in a crappy movie is hilarious! Now showing: THE NAKED ARE THE DAMNED 2: Satan has possessed a greedy CEO that wants the farm land owned by Camille’s (Sonya Devereaux) family. With the help of a voodoo queen, Camille must use her wits, charm, and skill to defeat a zombie army!’

Review - I know what you are thinking! You are fully expecting me to dive into criticising this comic aren’t you. Well my comics chums I’m not going to. It isn’t perfect that’s for sure but it also doesn’t take itself seriously. I read this book in my lunch break today and I absolutely loved the bare-faced ridiculousness of the characters and the plot. But (NEWSFLASH) that’s what it is meant to be. 

The comic is bookended by Sonya introducing her own new straight to DVD movie at a Horror Convention. The audience is filled with geeky male fans who both adore the buxom Low-budget movie star but are also keen to point out all the plot holes and missteps in continuity in ‘THE NAKED ARE THE DAMNED:2’. So consequently most of the comic is an adaption of this movie. A flick that has Troma or Full Moon Studios written large across the story, genre and dialogue - and to me that makes for a saucy reading experience. For anyone who likes bad horror and science fiction movies this should be right up their street for a carefree half an hour of reading.

In the faked movie portion of the comic the writers throw themselves wholesale into cheeky and trashy dialogue. ‘Camille’ is at once an innocent farm girl with a Daisy Duke style of dressing but she also resorts to Karate Kicks and the use of heavy ordinance firearms and explosives and throws herself into Lesbian pornography. The Voodoo element of the story has one eye on a smart mouth and the other on a quick buck. My favourite written sections are when all the ‘models’ get together and one of them keeps calling Camille a ‘Slut’ no matter what the sentence is about.

The art isn’t perfect and has that Zenascope cheesecake feel to many of the pages and some of the action is a little stiff but it works pretty well in the most part. The colouring is a little on the nose here as well but for me I have to admit that it’s all I wanted in this read. It’s fun and takes the piss out of it’s own T and A over exaggerations to make it pretty darn hilarious.

Other ‘movie’ experiences you can have with Ms Devereaux include Vampire Academy 4 and Debutante Desperado. Not coming to Sky Movies anytime soon - BUT THEY SHOULD BE!!!!!

Look up some more of these sordid comics at http://www.americanmythology.net I’ve just had a quick look and it seems that you can get a free digital copy of this comic over there.

Many thanks for reading.

Some Rabbit Detective for you?

Hopper: Detective of the Strange - The Case of the Man-eating Printing Press.

Created, Written and Illustrated by Rob Barnes.

Edited by Tom Stewart.

Published by Fair Spark Books - 24 pages - Full Colour.

Release date TBC.

The Story - A suspicious death occurs in the Daily Sentinel newspaper. One of the staff after struggling with one of the vending machines is crushed to death! But the mystery does not end there. A couple of the employees at The Sentinel claim that they saw the aforementioned vending machine follow the victim down the hallway before crushing him. And why is there a Voodoo Doll in the machine?

Luckily, Hopper is here and ready to investigate.

The Review - I find these books by Rob Barnes both an absolute joy to read and a complete breath of fresh air in this locked in and cynical world we find ourselves. His previous series out of Fair Spark books was the buddy fantasy book Gallant and Amos which I also really enjoyed. But Hopper has the edge for me in quality. This is a sharply crafted comic. It has a Hanna-Barbera meets Kolchak: The Night Stalker vibe with all the right age specific tone and fun. Mix into that a portion of Roger Rabbit and some Dick Tracy and you’ve got a great ride of a mystery story.

This is also a whodunnit and I’m purposely leaving out some of the more important plot twists so as not to ruin it for you!

The Hopper cast is slowly growing and feeling familiar in this second story. We have Gladys the gutsy cab driver who throws herself into danger at a moment’s notice and possibly might have a crush on Hopper. We also have the uniformed Patrol Officer Bull who uses his hard head and horns to crash through front doors. Throw into the mix psychic advisors and voodoo curses too.

‘I think they mighta flipped their wigs.’

Mr Barnes also throws a little nod to the older comics fans amongst us..... but I‘ll let you have a look to discover that particular name/character.

The art is also the next step up for Rob Barnes and has a clean style but never crosses that line into the computer nonsense we get in some other overly glossy cartooning elsewhere. You can also spot the love that the creator has for both this style and the characters he has created. There’s a real bounce of movement in the panels! I highly recommend you have a look for this when it comes out.

A portion of the profits of the sales of this book goes to The Little Heroes Charity helping kids in long term hospital care. You can donate by going to this link https://www.littleheroescomics.co.uk/sparkcon-2020 

You can find more out about the creator at his website here http://www.arghcomics.com/ or follow him on Twitter @barnz63

Head over to Fair Spark Books at their website here https://www.thesparkmag.co.uk/ and follow them on Twitter @fairsparkbooks

Many thanks for reading.

Honest Review Months Goes Audio (Again)!

Today we are back to the audio format with a great chat between myself and the comics creator Johnny Cannon. After a small amount of confusion that I have to cough to we decided to talk about a short run on a nineties Marvel Comic called Quasar. Why did we choose this book? Because it contains the underrated art of one Mike Manley.

You can find the episode here https://neverironanything.podbean.com/e/episode-5-quasar-darkhawk-mike-manley-and-jonny-cannon/

For those unfamiliar with Mike’s art it’s worth noting that he moved over into the field of animation for a decade or more after a good few hundred issues of art in the pencils and inky areas. He’s back drawing comics again and currently working on the Phantom newspaper strip as well as teaching illustration.

We have had a blast reliving a bygone era and the conversation goes all over the place.

You can hear it here and leave comments on this blog or find me on Twitter @Ezohyez.

You can find old JC and his comics here https://cannonhillcomics.bigcartel.com/ and find him on Twitter @Cannonhillcomics

Many thanks for listening.

In Review - ‘Kanu’s Trek issue 1.’ From King Ball Comics.

Kanu’s Trek issue 1.

Writing and Art by Justin Walker.

Colours by Nikolai Radivojev.

Cover by Teodoro Gonzalez and Justin Walker.

Published by King Ball Comics - 24 pages - Full Colour.

£1.99 on ComiXology

Released 18/9/2019.

The Story - ‘Kanu's Trek is a tale about a man who leaves his home, a crumbling Utopia, in search of a mythic forest out in the vast wastelands. He encounters an entity partly of his own making, and through their conversation, Kanu is able to reflect on his past and make tough decisions about his future.’

The Review -. This was another find on ComiXology and for a change is at a fairly reasonable price. The cover is a strange one as it doesn’t seem to reflect what is inside and also isn’t really of a design that automatically makes you click on it/reach for it. Something that shows the reader more what they are likely to get from the book would be a much better way to go in my opinion. The text also suffers from being a little illegible too. An easy fix for issue 2 I’m guessing.

I have to admit that after taking a random and blind punt on a comic this was an interesting/intriguing surprise. It is a slow character driven narrative that basically revolves about an older man in a desert talking to a pile of rocks. It shows a meditative reverence to the situation that this man named Kanu and the world around him has fallen hard into. In fact many of the panels are focused on the lined and bearded face of Kanu who quietly utters his lines whilst unsure if he is going mad. But he remains an attention grabbing study. He is also at moments both spiritually contemplative and prone to acts of sudden violence.

A warning though is relevant here too. There isn’t much that happens in this launch issue. It also takes a while to figure out what is going on and why .... but that is kind of why I enjoyed it so much. If you are in the right mood this will stretch your investigative process and be pleasing with some fresh panels layouts and a great digitally coloured set palette.

A plague has hit the planet. But what is the source of this plague. Could it be a plague of consumerism? Or war? Or anger? Or greed? This place is called ‘Utolp’ been seems a long way from a Utopia. This harsh reality clashes in this slowly told but never boring exploration of where we might go next as a race. 

The art is strong and colourful with a small nod to Manga and indie underground comix mixed together. It has scope and the world feels fresh and has a mysterious reality to even that talking stone circle.

This was a small little gem in a sea of ComiXology Submit that I will be checking back on.

You can find out more by visiting the King Ball publishers page on ComiXology here https://www.comixology.co.uk/King-Ball-Comics/comics-publisher/17164-0?ref=c2VyaWVzL3ZpZXcvZGVza3RvcC9wdWJsaXNoZXJJbmZv

Many thanks for reading.