From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Mon Aug 16 21:57:25 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2004 21:57:25 +0100 Subject: [review] [TRS] It Lives Message-ID: It Lives Posted by Mardou 'It Lives' is a collection of old and new comics by US talent Ted May. It's one of those lesser spotted hybrids which though really belonging with alt-comix, betrays an unsanitary amount of superhero culture festering around the fringes. Which in this case is no bad thing. Mixing American slacker culture (immortal lines from a departing reject, ejected from a band audition, "my brother's a DJ...in case you care.") with troublesome tiny toilet-battling superheroes. One of the troll-faced crusaders shouts "Coupon! 50% off your face!", to which his turd-fisted enemy replies, "Library! You in history book, me in POWER book". It's Golden (shower) Era, classic stuff! The sharp, if a little meandering, writing is matched with energetic artwork, a little sloppy at times but you can see all the elements are there in Ted May's technique and you can only expect to see him getting better and better. A funny and endearing little comic book, with plenty of punk spirit, nicely printed by Sparkplug comics. For More Info see: http://www.bugpowder.com/trs2/005416.html From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Mon Aug 16 22:09:41 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2004 22:09:41 +0100 Subject: [review] [ZUM!] The Confessional Message-ID: review by Pete Doreé Wow! Wow wow wow with a big side order of wow. Oh, and when you're finished, a fresh round of wow right over here. The Confessional? Yeah, it's alright... An intelligent, beautifully illustrated, multi-layered, stunningly printed mini epic with a genuinely surprising ending, This gives us The Devil Himself in the confession booth, about to lay a million years of misery and pain on one understandably less than willing priest. To go into what happens next would be to spoil the surprises, suffice to say that Chris McCay's script is fast, furious, clever and not even remotely didactic, while Lee O'Conner's art is beautiful and ugly all at once, expertly paced ( even having the confidence to leave great swathes of black and silence as they are ), and simply the best thing I've seen in ages. If I had to pick on anything, it'd be the preponderence of gray and shadows over actual detail, as some of the faces seem unfinished, but that's overcome by scenes like the visit to Heaven, which is genuinely gorgeous, with computer enhanced artwork helping the story, rather than hindering it as so often in mainstream comics. (Anyone seen the abortion they made of Barry Smith's Conan?) But it's the story that really sticks with you, particularly if you don't simply take the ending at face value, and realize that it, in fact, casts doubt on everything you've just read. Extremely clever writing, and a definite must buy. Remind me again, why aren't these guys working professionally? For more info see: http://www.zumcomics.info/c/confessional.html Discussion: http://forums.pauljholden.com/viewtopic.php?t=274 From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Mon Aug 16 22:09:24 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2004 22:09:24 +0100 Subject: [review] [TRS] Whores Of Mensa Message-ID: Whores Of Mensa Posted by John Robbins Probably fuelled by a fug of Bacardi Breezer and Marlboro Light, this flirty, giggly anthology of strips comes courtesy of libidinous cartoonists Jeremy Dennis, Mardou and Lucy Sweet. Comprising work created individually but with (mostly) symbiotic intent, the collection manages a cohesive, light-hearted whole, coloured by muted sophistication. Dennis offers 'The Palimpsest Pro', an amusing, character-driven piece which describes an interruption to the cartoonist's discipline and art-time by lusting literary sorts of yore, amongst them: John Keats, Aubrey Beardsley and Aphra Behn. (No, me neither.) Kind of lacking direction, and consequently impetus, this erotically charged strip is best savoured for its spellbindingly fluid cartooning of the clean-line variety, which dances oh-so-seductively from panel to panel with pic-teasing allure. The Sweet section opens wide with double entendre-strewn 'Justin Timberlake Laid My Laminate!' - "Ooh! You are awful!" indeed! - then frantically follows with short, punchy strips which mostly revel in the excesses of fad-informed life. Occasionally shooting blanks script-wise, but always with endearing Carrie Bradshaw-like exuberance, Sweet's sound design sense and delightfully earthy cartooning prove an irresistibly lovable combination. Appealing goofballery abounds in 'Dojo My Love' as Mardou beckons with a sequentially indulgent reworking-of-sorts of also-featured 1-page gem 'Sillitoe's Baby' - both of which are sexually concerned with The Karate Kid's Mr Miyagi, among others! With Mardou's artistic effort seemingly diverted towards achieving a visual polish at the expense of detail and textural nuance, her cartooning is mostly reduced to role of functional support. No bad thing this when final strip 'Fahrenheit 50/50' offers a clever script and fitting climax as it adapts book/movie 'Fahrenheit 451' for a comics audience - to hilarious and slightly unsettling consequence. Whores Of Mensa? You'll not find intellectual experiences peddled here. No, these whores are faking it. However, if you yearn for a bit of frothy, lip-glossed entertainment that tolerates little emotion and eloquently says nothing, this is the trick for you. It's the perfect book-buddy! For More Info see: http://www.bugpowder.com/trs2/005421.html From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Mon Aug 16 22:11:43 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2004 22:11:43 +0100 Subject: [review] [ZUM!] Pin Drop Message-ID: review by Pete Doreé This is bit of a mixed bag actually.'Silent' cartoons by Reinder Dijkhuis, the book improves as you get farther into it. The first strip here is the weakest (and luckily the oldest), as we follow Reinder (at least I assume it's him) going through a typical day with everything going wrong around him. 'Camera angles' are good, and you can see the first gropings towards an appealing style, but there's no real pace to the thing, skritchy-skratchy linework, and no real ending, just a kind of stop. Happily things improve almost immediately. When we had tails... is a retelling of the Eden story that works well, with much improved art, that doesn't overstay it's welcome. Sponge is also pretty good, with a real style developing. Seedy Sunset, next , is a real odd one about Reinder's trip to a nudist beach, and an encounter with a flasher, that stopped me in my tracks a little bit ( Hey, British sexual repression! C'mon in! ). The best thing here is the last piece, Crossroads an excellent fable about the journey through life that's witty, pithy, and not at all preachy, as well as being brilliantly drawn. Silent strips are probably the hardest thing to do, (I say 'probably' as I've never had the guts to try it) as you really have to get your body language and facial expressions spot on. Reinder manages it here, and although I'd like to see heavier linework which would bring out his extremely appealing style better, that's really just nitpicking. A good artist developing in the right way. For more info see: http://www.zumcomics.info/pq/pindrop.html Discussion: http://forums.pauljholden.com/viewtopic.php?t=276 From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Mon Aug 16 22:13:58 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2004 22:13:58 +0100 Subject: [review] [ZUM!] A Life in Comics #7, 8 & 9 Message-ID: review by Pete Doreé A Life In Comics by David Golding is a mini-marvel (hyuk hyuk). A pocket-sized 8 page bundle of fun where Dave's cartoon alter ego let's us in on the events of his chaotic life. Issue 7 is pretty good, as Dave intoduces us to his friend who's having some serious girlfriend problems. So serious, in fact, that he cannot be identified in the comic, so appears with a bag over his head (His name's Paul, by the way). The dialogue is sharp and funny, (there's a killer Spidey gag I'm dying to steal) while the art is cool and lively, helped immensely by the fact the characters look like Weebles (wobble but they don't fall down). This is really a stand-up routine in comic book form, at least as good as Captain Dolphin, but better drawn (sorry, Ralph!) Issues 8 & 9 are even better, as Dave regales us with the tale of his ex-girlfriend Sarah, who, "had a black heart that pumped satan's bile through her twisted body". As long as you're not bitter about it, Dave, that's the important thing... This really is quality stuff, individualistic, funny and smart. The only real drawback is that there's not enough of it. I'd say to Dave, spend the money, put all the issues into a book on decent paper, and it'd really fly. The material's worth it. For more info see: http://www.zumcomics.info/a/alifeincomics.html#7_8_9 Discussion: http://forums.pauljholden.com/viewtopic.php?t=214 From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Mon Aug 16 22:16:07 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2004 22:16:07 +0100 Subject: [review] [ZUM!] Zulu: Water Cart Rescue Message-ID: review by mooncat That great classic film Zulu is responsible for capturing the imagination of a lot of people. I know of at least one friend who rates it very highly, & I would imagine that Colin Mathieson would rate this as one of his all time favourite films. Since seeing it in his youth he has nursed an interest in the Boer conflicts & this particular episode in those wars seems to have lit his young imagination. The fire of that interest still seems to burn keenly from evidence of the text & editorial pages accompanying this comic. And there's the comic itself: a heartfelt desire to tell a story drawn from his specialist knowledge. Comics are a great medium in this respect, allowing the creator to tell a living, breathing story with little outlay. Until there is some way to get the images directly out of your brain & into a moving image format, then comics is the closest that you are likely to get to fulfilling those dreams. The story itself is all very Boys Own Adventures - all heroics & near death scrapes. It focuses on the events at the expense of the people, thus the people lack any real depth. I don't meant to belittle the subject matter, as this may well be based on actual events, but my views on the actuality of history are clouded by the fact that if you ask a dozen people witnessing the same things an hour ago what actually happened, then you may get a consensus - but you may well not get the truth. History is conjecture & consensus, thus this may well be real, but it's still just a story. The artwork may be a weak point. Colin shows signs that he has little in the way of prolonged formal art training. This does not mean that the whole thing is a hash - no - Colin also has, as stated, a love for the subject matter, so although I have no knowledge of the uniforms of the soldiers, for instance, I am satisfied that his everything is present & correct. This love for the subject, I suspect will not allow his pride to be besmirched by making any errors, so - while the penmanship does not exactly flow, it has life; while the human proportions may look wrong on occasion, the whole comic is constant in its presentation, thus the read is comfortable enough. It's in some of the less specific areas that I feel occasionally confused: is that a large rocky hill in the background, or smoke? I suspect the former, as I seem to recall images of memorials to fallen soldiers atop rock strewn hills in the sunset in documentaries I've watched in the past, but it's these little things, that when reading he comic in detail, I find disconcerting. That is reading thing in detail for the purpose of critiqueŠ when reading this comic at leisure I found it fluent enough, & would certainly recommend it to those with a passing interest in the area of war & comics. Although rough at the edges, this is professionally produced, packaged which adds to its aura of authority. For more info see: http://www.zumcomics.info/yz/zuluwatercart.html Discussion: http://forums.pauljholden.com/viewtopic.php?t=283 From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Fri Aug 27 06:31:54 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2004 06:31:54 +0100 Subject: [review] [ZUM!] Do-It-Yourself Silkscreening (or How to turn your home into a T-Shirt Factory) Message-ID: review by mooncat I wanted to review this particular comic because I wanted to keep it for future reference (one of the few perks for a ZUM! reviewer is that you keep the comix you review). Whether I will get to try out the instructions herein I do not know; I fantasise that I might - but the reality of home life may dictate otherwise. Still, one of the achievements of this comic is that it makes you believe that you might easily follow the instructions therein. It has an infectious gleeful enthusiasm for the subject which sweeps you along, making you want to join in... Ah - would that I had at least the beginnings of the equipment involved, the inertia it creates might actually carry through to reality. The cartooning, although clear & energetic is also a little plagued by insecure crosshatching: distracting the eye to incidental detail & filling areas that might separate better with a little white space or more dynamic lines. This hatching is sound enough in execution but often runs counter to the flow of reading or action. More assuredness & flow in the line work usually develop as a natural part of a cartoonist's evolution, so I would imagine that with this level of enthusiasm Jon Issacson could well be someone we will see more in the future. For now, the brimming excitement at the practical interest such a subject matter creates in the reader (I can imagine a few small press comic artists really getting to grips with all this) make this a coveted item for me. For more info see: http://www.zumcomics.info/d/diysilkscreening.html Discussion: http://forums.pauljholden.com/viewtopic.php?t=289 From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Sat Aug 28 23:17:04 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Sat, 28 Aug 2004 23:17:04 +0100 Subject: [review] [ZUM!] The Ralphie Diaries Volume 1 Message-ID: The Ralphie Diaries Volume 1 review by David Golding When I first picked this issue up I was surprised at what a simple and great idea this is; the format is that of a diary with each page as a page from a real dairy with drawings and thoughts that Ralphie had on that day... and its very funny: I laughed out loud more than a few times. You can tell that the jokes come from someone with a left of centre sense of humour; the 'cloud of midges' drawings are comedy genius. The art is very simple and done to great effect in a doodle style. If the art was super sharp it just wouldn't have worked as well. The point is you're meant to think this is a real diary...and maybe it is... There's a rant about the abuse of mobile phones and how he would like to abuse the person using it, there's a rant about picking the right comedy birthday card, (does anyone really buy the talking cards anyways), and the state of morning TV. It's fun and it's simple and that's what's so great about it. The only thing I would ask is that Ralphie puts more on the page; there's a couple of days where there's no entries at all, and this to me is a waste of space, which could have been filled very easily. So, give fatty Bridget Jones the boot and give Adrian Mole a slap - check out Ralphie! For more info see: http://www.zumcomics.info/r/ralphiediaries.html Discussion: http://forums.pauljholden.com/viewtopic.php?t=290 From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Fri Aug 20 09:40:04 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Fri, 20 Aug 2004 09:40:04 +0100 (BST) Subject: [review] Re: Reviews digest, Vol 1 #60 - 6 msgs In-Reply-To: <20040817052626.30454.73622.Mailman@list.zetnet.co.uk> Message-ID: <20040820084004.1019.qmail@web52304.mail.yahoo.com> Pindrop was published in 1997 0r 98. Some drop. Andy ___________________________________________________________ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun! http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com