Against the Tide
Drops Issue 2 Matthew Cooper and Connor Montgomery I covered the first issue of Drops a while back. Now writer Matthew Cooper and artist Connor Montgomery are continuing the story with a second issue. Dystopian doesn’t really begin to describe the type of society described in Drops. Not just a fascist police state, but also a satanic occult conspiracy. Dog headed torturers and goons in … Continue reading Against the Tide
Cyber Conquistadors and Cuisine
Anticucho & Other Peruvian Cyberpunk Stories Created by Gustaffo Vargas Colour Flats – Laura Dragon, English language adaptation – Fraser Campbell, Proof Readers – Tom Woolnough, Gab Contreras As I look out of the window the rain drizzles down on a grey Scottish Sunday in June. It feels like summer is a fiction, a concept that belongs to the past. Something stolen from us by … Continue reading Cyber Conquistadors and Cuisine
Dreaming and Drowning
In Our Dreams Awake Issue 2 I reviewed the first issue of In Our Dreams Awake back in 2022. The book tells the story of Jason Byron a man living in a mediaeval theocracy where technology both mundane and exotic is forbidden. But when he dreams, he seems to slip into a very different world. This realm is a post-apocalyptic flooded city and Jason is … Continue reading Dreaming and Drowning
Descend into the Dark
The United: Going Underground by Jonny Cannon Who doesn’t love a slightly-off alt-historical setting for a comic? Nostalgic but unsettling. The near future as someone from the 70s or maybe the 80s might have viewed it. If this sounds like the type of vibe that Alan Moore consistently went for in strips like Captain Britain and V for Vendetta, then you would be on the … Continue reading Descend into the Dark
Seven Times Seven
49 Days by Agnes Lee Published by Levine Querido Kit is on a journey and it is not an easy one. It begins with an unpassable cliff set beside a roaring tidal sea. Every time she tries to pass, the sea smashes her against the rocks. The only way to move forward is with patience, care and perfect timing. But it is too easy to … Continue reading Seven Times Seven
Collision Course
Gareth Hopkins has always gone his own way in comics – which has always made his books like Petrichor and Explosive Sweet Freezer Razors amongst the most interesting to read. Gareth has now come together with his daughter Martha to create a new publishing imprint, Absolute Collider. The press has published works featuring art by Gareth and Martha as well as writing from rapper Andrew … Continue reading Collision Course
Safety Dance
Safe From Harm by Joan Edam One of the first books I reviewed on this blog was Safe From Harm by Joan Edam. There has been a lot of water under the bridge since then. Lockdown, war, pandemic, inflation, fire and flood. Comics have come and gone. But, lo! Joan Edam has completed and collected his book. If, like me, you are going to Thought … Continue reading Safety Dance
Brooklyn Splendor
So Buttons issue 13 Harvey Pekar was a great American creator. An obsessive, an autodidact, a working class guy from Cleveland who was mostly broke but loved jazz and loved making comics. A talk show regular who had a film of his life made. A great film. And of course a comics creator who produced a remarkable body of work through his book American Splendor. … Continue reading Brooklyn Splendor
Strange Kingdoms
Underground Kingdom Comix UKC Crime and UKC Horror. There are trends in comics much like music or any other art form. It is a medium that can encompass many genres and it should seek to appeal to all kinds of people. In my experience there are good and bad comics in all genres. I’ve read great superhero comics and ones so derivative, pedestrian and amateurish … Continue reading Strange Kingdoms
Sticky post
With a KMRIA – Poguetry in Comics
The music of The Pogues and comics. When people think of the Pogues and especially the band’s astonishingly gifted Bacchanalian frontman Shane MacGowan, they might think of drunken Irish jigs with a sprinkling of censored Christmas tinsel. But look beyond the greatest hits served up by the algorithm and you will find songs of astonishing beauty, poignancy and sometimes anger. I personally consider The Pogues … Continue reading With a KMRIA – Poguetry in Comics
Daredevils and Warriors 