From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Fri Jan 2 22:53:06 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2004 22:53:06 +0000 Subject: [review] [ZUM!] Second Message-ID: Review by Pete Dore=E9 'Second' is a lot like reading someone's dairy.=20 It's also a lot like those Russian cartoons where=20 people are chased by buildings, for no apparent=20 reason. Some pages are barely more than=20 sketchbook drawings, while others are fully=20 realised strips. It's almost like a jam session=20 between two artists. There's no credit for who did what, but I suspect=20 the whimsical, lighter (in design) pages are=20 Simone's, while the darker, brooding strips are=20 Tom's; and they bounce well off each other. Most of Simone's work is fun, and deeper than it=20 first appears. I particularly like 'Monkey Nut &=20 Harrowed Marrow' and the one about 'The Daddy &=20 The Bunny' . Her style is loose (maybe too loose=20 in places), a bit like 'Purple Ronnie' , and in=20 fact would fit well on cards or T-shirts. Tom's best piece here is 'Outside', tho' 'End Of=20 Season Finale' about two wrestlers killing time=20 before the big match, has it's moments. His style=20 is dense and detailed and bounces well off of=20 Simone's work. Both artists seem interested with small moments,=20 and with feeling more than plot or characters. I may be the wrong person to review this, as I=20 prefer character over everything. As=20 self-expression it's fine, and it's very well=20 produced, but I don't actually feel that=20 connected to it. =46or more info, please see: http://www.zumcomics.info/s/second.html From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Sat Jan 3 23:14:17 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Sat, 3 Jan 2004 23:14:17 +0000 Subject: [review] [ZUM!] Hardly The Hog #2 Message-ID: Review by Scruff The first thing that strikes you about this comic is the front cover. It feels nice and heavy. It's a nice size and it's very, very shiny. It even has some shiny gold bits! Must of cost a bit to produce. So why, WHY has it got one of the worst drawings in comic book history scrawled upon it? WHY go to all that expense and then ruin it with a picture that is worse than anything else the comic itself contains? As soon as I saw it I thought "Christ, this is gonna be poo". If I saw it on a shelf in a shop, I wouldn't even pick it up. I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover but... well, that saying was written before marketing men existed. The second thing wrong with this comic is the drawing and design of the main character, Hardly the Hog himself. Out of all the characters and people in the comic he is the most badly drawn of all. In each frame he stands out like a sore trotter. In fact, to be honest, Hardly is a bit of a pig's ear. This is strange as the rest of the characters show some potential artwise. There is a style hidden here that, with some work, could shine but it all needs cleaning up. There is also a third crime: a dream sequence. A dream sequence containing Dali style lines depicting hearts and hands. How many more of these will I have to suffer in my lifetime? I hereby promise to shoot the next similarly crafted dream sequence creator. Individual sections of text can be well written but the story as a whole seems jumbled. I have nothing against Mystic Pig antihero demigods, semi pagan settings etc. In fact I'm a great fan of fantasy but this comic needs a serious clean up on every level before it will go anywhere. I just couldn't warm to any character, story or art in this comic. It did show enthusiasm though and it may be worth picking up the next issue to see how things have improved. Oink. For more info pease see: http://www.zumcomics.info/h/hardly.html From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Sun Jan 4 13:02:22 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Sun, 4 Jan 2004 13:02:22 +0000 Subject: [review] [ZUM!] King Cat #57 Message-ID: Review by David Birchall Yes, Yes, I was most excited when I realised I was going to get to review King Cat ! As you can maybe tell, it is one of my very favourite things, so this review is going to be in no way objective, but then very little is in this world. There's always something really touching about John Porcellino's drawing. The child like simplicity of it passes over you and wraps you up in half forgotten innocence. In the first story this sense of wonderment I'm rambling about appears as John sees a clear sky on a warm spring evening, watches his cat through the window, then the rain falls and it brings out tiny insects that go "zha". It's all quite lovely really. He follows up the insect thing later with a four page bit about Pillbugs (i think I'd call them Woodlice) which is kind of fascinating in the way that its good to see people putting time and effort into thinking about things that I'd never even consider, Another story illustrates those simple moments of human connection when giving away a table becomes an act of real kindness. What else? Lists, (as always in King Cat : informative of the writers life, whereabouts, and habits, as well as being amusing...), arty passages of frozen rivers and fog with text like, "I spend far too much of my time drawing", right towards the end a Herman Hesse poem illustrated, there are also various drawings of fine young cats in various poses (always good!). Definitely recommended. For more info, please see: http://www.zumcomics.info/k/kingcat.html#57 From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Mon Jan 5 18:10:56 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 18:10:56 +0000 Subject: [review] [ZUM!] Food Geek #2&3 Message-ID: review by Scruff Food Geek #2 I consider myself quite knowledgeable about food. In fact I'd call myself an expert, so I was quite looking forward to reviewing 'Food Geek'. The comic itself is a neat little package and the whole thing was clearly printed. As the title suggests the whole things about fooooooood; one of my favourite subjects. There is quite a lot squeezed into this bite sized booklet. Recipes, recipe strips, strips involving food, restaurant recommendations... you get the picture. As a veggie myself I was also pleased to find that a lot of the stuff was vegetarian. Unfortunately 'Food Geek #2' did nothing for me. The strips were OK but they didn't amuse or inform me. The stories are pleasant enough but once again, neither highly amusing nor informative. I found the whole comic self indulgent and a strange mix of attitude and tweeness. Food Geek #3 An immediate improvement over issue#2. This little comic about all things in foodgeekdom raised the odd smile or two and gave me a new curry recipe to try. 'How To Make 'Bazaarialoo '' Like Carrie is a well drawn and, more importantly, clear recipe strip. 'Death by Soup' by Billy is an entertaining short anecdote of why you shouldn't just swallow anything to impress someone you fancy. Carries ramblings are a sort of foodgeek foodblog and can be an interesting read. Definitely worth a dollar. For more info see: http://www.zumcomics.info/f/foodgeek.html From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Mon Jan 5 19:11:04 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 19:11:04 +0000 Subject: [review] [CI #166 The Imortals] Message-ID: Review by Jon Edwards The Imortals #1 By Atkins & Doyle; =A32.50 from www.smallzone.co.uk 10 Cleaveland Avenue, High Ercall, Telford, Shropshire, TF6 6AH. With a tip od the hat to Judge Dredd and Robocop=20 this 16-page, photocopied 12-issue series is set in a dystopian future - a=20 brain-washed police state where the unfortunately=20 named lawman Skrote rebels against his=20 conditioning. Despite some nice ideas, the=20 rough-edged black & white visuals - although=20 possessing a certain verve - nevertheless compare=20 unfavourably against the impressive standards of=20 other small press endeavors nowadays. 5/10 http://www.comics-international.com/Reviews/small_press.html Comics International reviews first appear within=20 the format of the magazine & are thus designed to=20 fit the constraint of being within 50 words. From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Mon Jan 5 21:23:36 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 21:23:36 +0000 Subject: [review] [CI #166] Phobias Message-ID: Review by Chris E Bunting Phobias By West + Hitchcock & various; Accent UK; =A33 from D. West, 2 Mill Lane, Holmes Chapel, Crewe, CW4 8AT. Nice phobia-filled stories. Dave Hitchcock sets=20 the ball rolling in style with an agoraphobic=20 vampire; then Chris Doherty brings in the Clowns;=20 Dave West demonstrates arachnophobia and super=20 skilled panel layouts, while Ben Dickinson and=20 William Volley form an excellent union for a tale=20 of loneliness. This really does come across as a=20 more professional creators' gathering than a=20 small press one! 8/10 http://www.comics-international.com/Reviews/small_press.html Comics International reviews first appear within=20 the format of the magazine & are thus designed to=20 fit the constraint of being within 50 words. From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Mon Jan 5 21:33:00 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 21:33:00 +0000 Subject: [review] [CI #166] The Rainbow Orchid Part One Message-ID: Review by Kelvin Green The Rainbow Orchid Part One By Ewing; =A32.50 from 57A Heathcote Drive, E. Grinstead, RH19 1NB A young Archeologist sets out on a quest for a=20 legendary flower, only to encounter nefarious=20 types out to stop him. This is a spectacular=20 work, at once echoing the classic classic style=20 of Tintin while forging something new. The art=20 is wonderfully attractive but what impressed me=20 the most was the slow-burning exquisitely=20 constructed plot. Great stuff. 9/10 http://www.comics-international.com/Reviews/small_press.html Comics International reviews first appear within=20 the format of the magazine & are thus designed to=20 fit the constraint of being within 50 words. From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Mon Jan 5 21:39:49 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 21:39:49 +0000 Subject: [review] [CI #166] Tales to Demolish #2 Message-ID: Review by Jon Edwards Tales to Demolish #2 By Haven; =A32 from www.smallzone.co.uk 10 Cleaveland Avenue, High Ercall, Telford, Shropshire, TF6 6AH.. The Author accidentally kills acclaimed indie=20 comics creators Dan Clowes and Adrian Tomine, who=20 vow vengeance from beyond the grave. Origional,=20 surreal, subversive humour from US amateur Eric=20 Haven, who reveals a knowing satirical streak=20 towards the medium in this 24-page mini-comic.=20 The tight, disciplined art is at times striking=20 in its elaborately cross-hatched glory,=20 reinforcing the overall polished presentation. 8/10 http://www.comics-international.com/Reviews/small_press.html Comics International reviews first appear within=20 the format of the magazine & are thus designed to=20 fit the constraint of being within 50 words. From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Mon Jan 5 21:47:10 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 21:47:10 +0000 Subject: [review] [CI #166] Thudd the Barbarian Message-ID: Review by Alex Thompson Thudd the Barbarian By Critchlow; =A32 from C. Critchlow, PO Box 371, Southport, PR8 6YE. The muscle-bond meatheat barbarian is hired by a=20 couple of questing scholars searching for the=20 elixir of eternal life in the northern wastes:=20 enter comical encounters with frozen giants, ice=20 pixies and frozen beer barrels. Carl Critchlow=20 effortlessly manages to expand his White Dwarf=20 parody strip to a comic size, filling it with=20 gags, while his muted colour scheme has a=20 surprisingly European feel to it. Now id only=20 Bil could be encouraged to resurrect Gobbledigook! 8/10 http://www.comics-international.com/Reviews/small_press.html Comics International reviews first appear within=20 the format of the magazine & are thus designed to=20 fit the constraint of being within 50 words. From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Mon Jan 5 21:54:21 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 21:54:21 +0000 Subject: [review] [CI #166] Young Man of a Certain Mind #1 Message-ID: Review by Jon Edwards Young Man of a Certain Mind #1 By Martinson; =A32.50 from www.smallzone.co.uk 10 Cleaveland Avenue, High Ercall, Telford, Shropshire, TF6 6AH.. A would-be graphic designer reflects on his=20 unfulfilled ambitions and the foibles of his=20 fellow workers. A rather fractured narative and=20 a main support character who remains oddly=20 nameless detract little from this US creator Lars=20 Martinson's accomplished cartooning - bold=20 linework, lightly rendered, vaguely not unlike a=20 minimalist Robert Crumb. The main protagonist=20 is, perhaps unintentionally, a wonderfully=20 realised, self-absorbed irritant in this lovingly=20 produced 44-page quality book. 8/10 http://www.comics-international.com/Reviews/small_press.html Comics International reviews first appear within=20 the format of the magazine & are thus designed to=20 fit the constraint of being within 50 words. From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Tue Jan 6 05:53:28 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2004 05:53:28 +0000 Subject: [review] [ZUM!] O Men #1&2 Message-ID: reviews by Scruff O Men #1 A soap opera with superhumans as the characters is basically how Martin himself describes the O Men . You'll note the term superhuman rather than superhero as Martin states that his characters, "do not run about all of the time in skin-tight costumes". The creator does his utmost in the prologue to inform the reader that this is not your usual superheroes vs. superbaddies stuff. If this was/is the intention why is it that by page 12 the three main characters (previously of a now defunct superteam) are fighting it out with a group of supercriminals for the remainder of the book? It all seems to be standard superhuman fare with the odd bit of swearing thrown in to make it a little more street. Perhaps the soap opera part will become more obvious in the rest of the series. The art is not too bad. It is clear throughout and gets too the point in most frames. I found the character and costume design a tad boring. This may have been a conscious decision by the creator to get away from the pants-over-the-trousers effect but he may of gone too far in the opposite direction. If you're into the genre then this may be worth watching. Personally, a comic in this genre has to be pretty special to hold my attention. This did not. There is nothing intrinsically bad about the comic but nothing to mark it above anything else either. O Men #2 The three reunited members of a disbanded superteam are back again. Still on their final mission to capture five dangerous escaped criminals. The thing that surprised me about issue 2 of the O Men was that the artwork has already started to improve. The clarity and use of space is far better than issue 1. This made the whole comic a far easier read. There is a far more developed use of black. I still believe Martin's claim of a soap opera has yet to hit the mark. There is nothing in the story that differs from the usual darker superhero tales. Every supertale shows some of the 'normal' life of its hero(s) and the story in The O Men is no different. The O Men is developing nicely. If a little more thought gets put into the soap opera side of it then this may appeal to many people. This one gets a thumbs up for potential. For more info please see: http://www.zumcomics.info/o/omen.html#1 From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Tue Jan 6 08:57:54 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Tue, 06 Jan 2004 08:57:54 +0000 Subject: [review] [TRS] Red Eye #1 Message-ID: <6.0.1.1.0.20040106085745.02c9ee60@mail.zetnet.co.uk> Posted by Jez Higgins Red Eye #1 Everything old is new again. Or something like that anyway. Barry "Engine Comics" Renshaw seems to have enough energy and enthusiasm for ten normal people. In addition to writing, drawing, editing and publishing more comics than almost anyone on the planet, he's launched Red Eye, a magazine about comics. Presumably it's so named because the only time he has to put the thing together is when he would otherwise be sleeping. To an old duffer like me, Red Eye, is at once new and familiar. There are shades of Arkensword in the UK comics news coverage, a touch of Battleground in the articles on 2000AD, Strangers in Paradise and Don Lawrence, and a bit of Vicious in the discussion of what makes a good comic shop. But so what if I can see these echoes, conscious or not? They don't stop Red Eye being a good, interesting read. Chris Weston's Don Lawrence article I found especially interesting. Rather than simply bemoaning Lawrence's status as an unappreciated genius, Weston describes his time as Lawrence's apprentice to draw a warm portrait of the man. While Weston's article is the standout piece, the rest of the magazine is also strong. Stu Young does especially well to draw some sense from Warren Ellis. There's a long interview with Martin "The O-Men" Eden, which while occasionally lapsing into fawning, has a go at tackling the "why *do* you it" question. It's to Renshaw's credit than nothing here is bad. Physically, this is up to Engine Comics usual high standard. The layout is clear, the reproduction good and the paper feels nice and chunky. A few of the illustrations are slightly pixilated, but it's a minor quibble. For more info please see: http://www.bugpowder.com/trs2/005206.html From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Tue Jan 6 15:08:08 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2004 09:08:08 -0600 Subject: [review] [Poopsheet] OUTSIDE IN #50 Message-ID: <004a01c3d466$e642dc40$2516fea9@pavilion> This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0047_01C3D434.9A04CE60 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Review by Rick Bradford OUTSIDE IN is a zine of artist self-portraits that was begun by Steve = Willis (CRANIUM FRENZY) in 1983 and has gone through several different = publishers over the years. The most recent, Bruce Chrislip, has decided = to bring the 20-year project to an end with issue number 50. = Contributing self-portraits to this landmark issue are P. Williams = (cover), Erik Sutter-Kaye, Lee Kennedy, Linda Vik, Billy McKay, Larned = Justin, Matt Dembicki, Marc van Elburg, Ben T. Steckler, Christoph Meyer = and Eric Reynolds - quite a diverse line-up. There's also a drawing of = R. Crumb by editor Chrislip. My favorite self-portrait in this = collection is Eric Reynolds'. I'm pretty sure he's not actually a duck = but it's a nice drawing just the same. I don't know how to measure OUTSIDE IN's impact on the comix world but I = can tell you it's an important project. I only wish I'd become aware of = it prior to the late '80s as I'm still missing most of the early issues. = It seems a shame to see it formally end but who knows, maybe someone = else will be inspired to start a similar project one of these days. Any = takers? For more on the history of this long-running zine check out the article = here: http://www.angelfire.com/zine/poopsheet/outsidein.htm For more info please see: http://poopsheet.blogspot.com/ ------=_NextPart_000_0047_01C3D434.9A04CE60 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Review by Rick Bradford
 
OUTSIDE IN is a zine of artist = self-portraits=20 that was begun by Steve Willis (CRANIUM FRENZY) in 1983 and has gone = through=20 several different publishers over the years. The most recent, Bruce = Chrislip,=20 has decided to bring the 20-year project to an end with issue number 50. = Contributing self-portraits to this landmark issue are P. Williams = (cover), Erik=20 Sutter-Kaye, Lee Kennedy, Linda Vik, Billy McKay, Larned Justin, Matt = Dembicki,=20 Marc van Elburg, Ben T. Steckler, Christoph Meyer and Eric Reynolds =96 = quite a=20 diverse line-up. There's also a drawing of R. Crumb by editor Chrislip. = My=20 favorite self-portrait in this collection is Eric Reynolds'. I'm pretty = sure=20 he's not actually a duck but it's a nice drawing just the=20 same.

I don't know how to measure OUTSIDE IN's impact on the = comix world=20 but I can tell you it's an important project. I only wish I'd become = aware of it=20 prior to the late '80s as I'm still missing most of the early issues. It = seems a=20 shame to see it formally end but who knows, maybe someone else will be = inspired=20 to start a similar project one of these days. Any takers?

For = more on the=20 history of this long-running zine check out the article here: http://www= .angelfire.com/zine/poopsheet/outsidein.htm
 
For more info please see:
http://poopsheet.blogspot.com/
------=_NextPart_000_0047_01C3D434.9A04CE60-- From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Tue Jan 6 16:46:01 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2004 16:46:01 +0000 Subject: [review] [ZUM!] Catfood Message-ID: reviews by Pete Doreé Catfood Catfood is part of a series called 'The Mice' and it is that unbelievably rare thing, a fairly original idea. Sometime in the future, giant aliens have invaded earth, in comparison to which humans are (you guessed it) the size of mice. In this section of the saga, we follow two of the aliens, Cota & Z'Dan, as they attempt to run their breakfast food processing factory, health and safety breathing down their necks, an inspection from their biggest client imminent, and all the while, those pesky humans doing their best to mess up production. This is all very British in execution, like '2000AD' before it disappeared up it's own arse. The aliens are not terrifying monsters, just bored menial workers, and the humans aren't fighting a great revolution to free the planet, just trying to moxy up the works. They really are 'mice'; insignificant and pointless. The alien's are actually more likeable and better defined than the people, and I especially liked 'The Feeder' , the alien who comes to inspect the site, who speaks through his intermediary. The human's, by comparison, are fairly bland. (Tho' they may've been better realised in other instalments). Interesting that their nominal leader, 'Mulligatawny', looks exactly like 'Abslom Daak, Dalek Killer' (remember him?). The art is good to great, with a vague hint of Chaykin about it. (The panel where the mice are knocked flying by the alien's 'cat' is particularly good) Design is excellent, tho' overall there isn't enough detail and, in fact, the whole thing may've worked better in colour. But this is a good, unusual comic, with a strong premise. Maybe if finances permitted, a book collecting all Mice stories would iron out the problems. For more info please see: http://www.zumcomics.info/c/catfood.html From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Wed Jan 7 06:07:37 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Wed, 7 Jan 2004 06:07:37 +0000 Subject: [review] [ZUM!] Giant Clam #4 Message-ID: reviews by mooncat Giant Clam #4 "Poofs only issue" At times I feel I review too many of Ralphie's comics & am too close to them to be objective in my assessments. I like Ralphie's work a lot - it makes me laugh - which is a rare & precious commodity. So - in the effort to maintain some objectivity I showed Giant Clam to a few of my work colleagues. Granted this is not exactly a wide demographic - they being male & under 30, but thinking about it - if I stood in a street proffering this comic to random people I might end up coming to the attention of the authorities.... This comic seems to have good reason to be kept on a high shelf at home, so that the kids do not see it. On viewing 'Bob Byrne's' contribution to this issue one colleague declared, "That's sick!" - after he had stopped laughing that is - he is a sick little puppy himself. A selection of other comments are: "Brilliant" "Hilarious" "Really funny" "The 'Biscuit Man' one doesn't work so well." "That 'Black Dog of Depression' is good. " And finally: "It's too early in the day for that kind of stuff - "Dust laughs at us" - I dunno..." ...this being from the afternoon shift arriving at 2:00 in the afternoon? There was also some marveling at how so much expression could be imbued into so few lines. I didn't bother to show the comic to one of the other lads - as, well - he doesn't seem to like comics at all - which is probably sensible, I guess... So - what am I to conclude from these observations? Well - oddly - that I am right - that Ralphie does create good funny comics that have a certain amount of universal appeal - really - honest - that's my official scientific view on the subject - & if you don't like these observations you can just fuck off! OK? good. For more info please see: http://www.zumcomics.info/g/giantclam.html#4 From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Wed Jan 7 21:56:49 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Wed, 7 Jan 2004 21:56:49 +0000 Subject: [review] [ZUM!] Hardly The Hog #3 Message-ID: reviews by Steve Edgell Hardly The Hog #3 You don't *have* to be a frothing-at-the-mouth Tory journalist to feel that you can demolish all adversaries with a swift flourish of innate verbal acuity. But if by some unimaginable circumstance you are, wipe the sputum from your lips, brush the saliva from your chin, press a tissue on ZUM!'s pages for a moment and read on. Even you will find something reassuring in the figure of an anthropomorphic porcine lead character who can complain: "I find your pattern of speech vulgar and your manners non-existent. I take it you are Americans?" Now if only Osama Bin Laden had been able to say that to George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld instead of aiming passenger jets at the World Trade Centre or hinting ominously about the Cave of Death. Would the world be a different place? Hardly The Hog is an insufferable boar. And therefore he is a figure of English fun. Every scrap of brayed diction, every carping nuance of spoilt middle-class English utterance is here. If the Amis family had been born with snouts, trotters and pointed ears instead of what they seem to have, this is how they'd be. US readers gulled by its comic book guise into buying a sample copy of HTH may find Hardly typically annoying. Some yanks may bang on about the French now but there is little more likely to get up the colonial snout than a patronising, indolent Brit. The English, it seems, are too damned busy sitting around being civilised to actually do anything. Every moment of Englishness is a conversational gem, glittering with allusion and erudition amid the festering stink of its historical inertia. Irony has provided limeys the delusion with which to trounce a world of triteness, overbaked ideas and obvious notions without having to work up the slightest sweat. Luckily, beyond the smoothness - or suaveness, or both - some real sweat has been worked up here by Alex Coward : refining dialogue, discarding ideas that either didn't work or were too witless. Likewise Jamie Coward's careful page and panel compositions wring an awful lot of narrative out of his choice of pictorial devices - simple, uncluttered lines and shaped areas of solid black - striking a balance between the need to define character and the need to lay out clear sequences of story. My only quibble is whether the comic really should just be for adults, as are so many independently produced comics submitted to ZUM!. English kids should at least get the chance to pollute their minds with something like this rather than with Temazepam or Atomic Kitten. Ah yes, details, details...in this issue Hardly is attacked by a mammoth shark, which reluctantly he despatches only after resorting to use of a firearm, and is rescued by an odd trio of American seagoers, one of whom, Merton Broody, takes Hardly to Enmity, the town Broody is sworn to protect. There. For more info please see: http://www.zumcomics.info/h/hardly.html#3 From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Fri Jan 9 23:11:07 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Fri, 9 Jan 2004 23:11:07 +0000 Subject: [review] [ZUM!] Hellcar Comix #2 Message-ID: reviews by Steve Edgell Hellcar Comix #2 I almost felt on former home ground for a moment when I opened the pages of this zine. Music, comics, alternative culture, grungey black and white screened photos on newsprint. At first sight it's like a blast from the pre-Mondo, pre-web zine scene. In fact, what this boils down to is an indy anthology comic funded by music promotion. Good ploy. Use cash from an area where there's relatively a lot of money for development and promotion to provide an outlet for a medium where there isn't. Hellcar has a circulation of 8000. That's a lot of readers for small press comics. Hellcar doesn't feature much written editorial. The zine's pages are mainly filled with music label display ads, plus there's a cover CD with promotional tracks from the bands advertised. The rest is comics, graphically sophisticated but some a little slack storywise. Reading them is a little like trying to read Garo if you don't understand Japanese, but I think it's meant to be irony. The standout is Witch Killers by EFF , about a young comic reader who dreams that he's attacked by his piano teacher, in reality a witch. Daniel Gallant's The Wedding Solution , which pastiches the style of a children's instruction book, and E White's fine 1-page rendering Ramona & his tepid exploits (weirdo declares love), also get an honourable mention. The cover CD is varied collection of 19 bands playing music in genres from techno to country. Includes Shuggie Otis's 'aht a mi hed' which caught some airplay in the UK not so long ago, and a track from Jools Holland faves, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club . There's also an Onion Head Monster animation (QuickTime) by Paul Friedrich for CD's 'enhanced' section. PC users: all the usual autorun inf and .exes are here so you don't have to worry (perish the thought). Mac users: just locate the QT movie and click on it. The audio section plays as usual. For More info, please see: http://www.zumcomics.info/h/hellcar1.html#2 From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Mon Jan 12 22:59:08 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2004 22:59:08 +0000 Subject: [review] [ZUM!] Flying Monkey #2&3 Message-ID: reviews by Steve Edgell Flying Monkey #2&3 Young blokes with pens and word processors, learning their craft. At a guess I'd conclude that the pages drawn with thick lines are by Andrew Livesey and the ones with thin lines are by Simon Perrins . This isn't a sophisticated distinction but it makes things easier for me while I try to work up something a little more informative. Each issue contains a mixture of short stories and one-page ideas. On the evidence here, Perrins is the stronger storyteller. Most consistent are a series of situation comedy shorts with regular characters, Daz and Dave , nucleus of a group of mundane young men, and Spinal Tap -like parody in stories about a prog rock quartet, Valinor . The humour is based in character and accuracy of observation. Perrins's panel breakdowns and scripting far outweigh the strength of his variably finished drawing and rendering. Andrew Livesey is the more fluent illustrator. Livesey's contributions are the obverse of Perrins's, containing all the graphic definition and pictorial certainty that Perrins's lack, but with a much flimsier grasp of character and narrative - and spelling. In issue 3 it seems at times as though Livesey's work is attempting to channel the styles of one or two comic artists who surfaced in Deadline in the late 1980s and early 90s. By issue 4 it's moved on to a distinctive reworking of slightly earlier clear-line styles, which probably has a lot more longevity. The appeal of these comics is not just in the quality of their execution but also in the potential their contents indicate. The small press is a place where a couple of people can experiment at being creators . That's what's happening here. It's one of the many things the small press is for. For more info please see: http://www.zumcomics.info/f/flyingmonkey.html From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Tue Jan 13 15:03:46 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2004 09:03:46 -0600 Subject: [review] [Poopsheet] MY UNCLE JEFF References: <20040113062556.14168.23886.Mailman@list.zetnet.co.uk> Message-ID: <005601c3d9e6$737bbb20$2516fea9@pavilion> MY UNCLE JEFF Review by Mike Hunter Despite the lip service paid to "family values" in our culture, that venerable institution gets scant coverage in the comics medium. Oddly, even autobiographical comics rarely touch upon family dynamics, or creators may, at best, devote a short story to their parents' dysfunctional marriage. Which makes the Eisner-award nominated MY UNCLE JEFF, a work intended as Damon Hurd's paean to his father's younger brother, particularly unusual and daring. The slouching, walrus-mustached, gap-toothed, tattooed Uncle Jeff - an amiable, salt-of-the-earth type - is introduced as a study in contrasts from Hurd's ramrod-straight, conservatively groomed and dressed father. "They are the paradox that makes genetics interesting," Hurd notes, "...people that deep down share some intrinsic characteristics and values, but their lives have gone in two completely different directions..." A family reunion at the home of Hurd's elderly grandfather forms the framework of the book. Pedro Camello's strong artwork, with clear layouts and deft use of shadow, adds vitality and drama to scenes that would have been visually dull in less gifted hands. Relatives do "catching up," and a brief bio of "My Uncle Jeff" plays across several pages: from mischievous youth, to a tour in Vietnam ("dishonorably discharged"), marriage ("When are you going to grow up?" the Missus says) and divorce. But several panels show Jeff, indeed a big kid at heart, romping through the years with young Damon, and we understand why Hurd concludes the page by saying, "He was a great uncle." For me the highlight of the book is a two-page spread, "My Family Tree," covering the mother's side of Hurd's family, from which he is now cut off ("...When the chips came down they shunned me. They betrayed me. They abandoned me..."), and haunted by, because of the fact that he still loves them. The portraits there spotlight Pedro Camello's exceptional gift for vivid characterization (he received no reference photos of the persons involved for the book, and created all from his imagination), the faces not quite full-blown caricature but with its touch of exaggeration well employed. And the descriptions of each person there encapsulate one of the most striking features of Hurd's writing. He'll mention "My step-grandfather Burt...I've always felt that pedophile sounded too stately...He's the reason my sister is afraid of her own shadow..." Then, when we're ready to consign Burt to cartoon-villain Hell, Hurd will add, "He loved jazz. He loved me. He was the only grandfather I ever knew." It's a technique deployed to powerful effect throughout the "Family Tree," and elsewhere in MY UNCLE JEFF Hurd likewise lets us mentally pigeonhole his uncle Steve, who "talks of killing various animals...with his car...and then eating them." We label him a redneck lout, but then Hurd continues, "He raised my cousin Chrissy, a victim of...cerebral palsy until she died...at the age of 18...No one loved her more than him...no one." In a culture and its media where we're accustomed to cardboard heroes and villains, it's a bracing shock to be reminded what a mixture of contradictory qualities people in real life can be. And it's why voices such as Damon Hurd's, willing to think outside the "good guys" and "bad guys" boxes, are so valuable for the continuing literary growth and health of the medium. For more info please see: http://poopsheet.blogspot.com/ From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Tue Jan 13 22:52:39 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2004 22:52:39 +0000 Subject: [review] [ZUM!] Amateur Message-ID: reviews by Steve Edgell Amateur Once upon a time, in a comic community not so different from our own, it seemed that there were only two sorts of people. You could either be a 'fan', usually a buyer, reader and collector of US comic books, or a 'pro', a writer, artist or editor working to produce the comic books bought, read and collected by fans. The comic retailers and 'dealers' seemed to be left out of this social relationship, unless they doubled as fans or pros, and pros often doubled as fans anyway. So the fan was the common element and the pro was a kind of superfan, with special contributory powers. This was, in effect, a fan's-eye view of social identity, with comics and their contents as its currency. Fastforward to just after the comic collectors' speculator bubble burst. The slump in the direct market, the firm sales system of distribution built by fans - their bid to become 'pros' - that had grown to encompass almost the whole US comic industry, precipitated a questioning and a revaluation of the currency on all sides. Amateur captures some of the feeling of that latter period. Chris Butler's written intro puts it in its very title 'Marvel Comics Were Ace' - ie they aren't anymore. It's not simply a matter of disappointment or desperation. It seems to involve a kind of yearning to have Marvel comics ' value restored. Amateur puts the yearning into practice, taking the next step and trying to reinsert Marvel superheroes into a history marked by personal understanding or brought by the passage of time. First up, Steve Martin's treatment of Captain America puts Cap in 1942 Russia following the Red Skull , but in a winter setting which could be derived from the Nazi's invasion of the USSR as they slaughtered their way through what is now Belarus. Martin puts in the scenes that would have been left out of a Marvel Cap story: bodies from mass executions taken away for a christian burial, soviet guards kicking crucifixes from graves, an old woman making Cap wear the military fur hat that belonged to her dead son before returning Cap to the fighting. The second story, New York 1966 by Gavin Butler and pre- Guardian Jonathan Edwards , features the FF with Johnny Storm as alienated youth in Lost Weekend mode who hides from his sister and Reed Richards in a friendly lesbian bar. In the last story, Chris and Gavin Butler have Peter Parker drag Matt Murdoch uptown to pull by impressing a pair of ladies with Pete and Matt's super identities. All stories turn on common humanity and a lack of uncomplicated resolution - that is, truer to social identity as lived outside the classic comic fan community, or indeed the classic Marvel comic. The FF story contains the closest attention to illustrative detail, enabling Edwards create strong characters graphically. However, despite a trite ending, it's Cap's moment in Russia which is the most touching, in that the real history of Eastern Europe is still out there, and still haunted by memories made of the materials used for this story's background. For more info please see: http://www.zumcomics.info/a/amateur.html From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Fri Jan 16 22:35:26 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2004 22:35:26 +0000 Subject: [review] [ZUM!] Pewfell Porfingles Adventures #3&4 Message-ID: review by Steve Edgell Pewfell Porfingles Adventures #3&4 This is Chuck Whelon 's slightly circuitously routed translation to US comics of UK comedy takes on American sf and fantasy genres. The templates here are Adams and Pratchett, as evidenced in narrative ploys like 'Space is enormously, intensely, incredibly, infinitely big' etc and in the figure of Porfingles, a barely competent wizard, as main character. Equally the fun, as in the Discworld and Hitch-hiker series, is derived from undermining the grandiose sweep of genre convention with everyday banality - such as the Earth destroyed to make way for an interplanetary traffic bypass - while using its generic framework to develop a narrative. A few plot elements should give you a flavour of the storyline. An implacable girlie alien, dressed like an SS pole-dancer from the video of Mel Brooks's 'Hitler Rap' , lands in Spirekassle. Carrying a huge machine gun, she terrorises the town's inhabitants and shoots Bish Bathenwell, acolyte of the goddess Hornbag and friend of Pewfell Porfingles. Pewfell is esconced in The Hog Nuts after a night's drinking with two of his other friends, local villain Pedwyn the Jackle and Fug the barbarian. Turfed out of the pub after refusing to pay up, Pewfell and Pedwyn make a hash of dealing with the alien invader until Pewfell's orc-slaying wife turns up. Pewfell finally accedes to pressure from his wife to tidy his room but, while doing it, is distracted by the sight in his crystal ball of Bish's soul with Hornbag crying out for help. Pewfell rushes off to find Bish's body and bring it back to life again, forgetting that he still hasn't tidied his room... Inevitably the arrival of Pottermania has skewed discussion of genre fantasy but Whelon's relatively incidental references to hogs and warts (The Hog Nuts is Pewfell's boozer of choice and Warts is a day of the week) clearly made it into print while Joanna Rowling's bestseller would have been a mere information sheet listing on her commissioning editor's hard drive. Add to this Whelon's enduring attachment to the conversational affectations for which British speech provides such a rich resource and it's plain that what we're talking about here is what consumer magazine reviewers would call an 'eclectic mix'. Of course, fantasy is not exactly an uncrowded field in comic publishing. Unlike his many counterparts, however, Whelon self-publishes in the small press and in these two issues, doesn't have quite the wherewithal to develop his stories at length. To their detriment, his ideas seem cramped and confined in the small space he has available. In issue 3, this is compounded as the drawings start off in halftone, which doesn't work as all detail is lost. But the rest of the comic is cluttered anyway as Whelon crams too many panels on a page and fills too many of those panels with hatching. In issue four there are more pages and Whelon dispenses with the hatching. As a result the drawing is tidier and the story is more lucid. Although there are still too many panels - I counted 11 on one - on this comic's A5 pages, there are sequences which show how much more powerfully Whelon's drawing can be put in service of his comedy's intentions. For more info please see: http://www.zumcomics.info/pq/pewfelladventures.html From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Sun Jan 18 22:53:49 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 22:53:49 +0000 Subject: [review] [ZUM!] Andrew Luke's Comic Book EPISODE III Revenge Of The Cantina Message-ID: reviews by mooncat Andrew Luke's Comic Book EPISODE III Revenge Of The Cantina Um, well - you could say that Andrew Luke is a bit like a comics naive artist - something like an Alfred Wallis* - long may he continue & plough his own furrow, but this comic just confused me, and not in a good way either. It is largely based on a parody of Star Wars , & not being an aficionado of this particular merchandising commodity, I would imagine there are huge swathes of satirical backhanders that are completely lost on me... at least, I would hope so; I didn't really find it funny. It does have a plot - a story arc - but the panel to panel story has no real flow, making it an uncomfortably disjointed read. I hear Chester Brown creates comic pages from individually drawn panels & arranges these on the page. I have a suspicion that there is a similar process involved with the production of this comic. I would guess that Chester has a vision of the finished page: how the panels interact to create a cohesive flow, & probably how that flow is positioned in the overall scheme of the comic. The panels in Andrew's comic can often be treated each as individuals - there sometimes seems little regard as to how they might fit into the larger scheme of the page, let alone the comic as a whole. To add to this disjointed reading there is the wilful desire to have the comic read sideways - you have to hold it sideways & lift new pages from the bottom. I have nothing against unconventional formats, but this just added to the awkwardness of the reading. It perhaps has a logical start in the parody of the text scrolling title sequence that all (?) Star Wars films seem to have as a signature, but it doesn't perform well for comics. I guess it could be considered a 'wide screen presentation' but the gag is not exploited. In the artwork, elements like the crosshatching are untidy & even inappropriate. Hatching is used for shading or implying direction, but Andy's usage seems to have little consideration of the effect the hatching creates when applied. Regardless of the density of hatching, no real sense of depth is achieved; unfortunately it often just sits there, in stripes. Okay - so Andrew displays rudimentary drawing skills & these do not really help with the clarity of the reading, but to be positive, it does have to be said that he looks like he's had fun creating it. There's a use of cut outs & differing media: pens, paints, which makes it all look more interesting than many of the charmless efforts that I've seen. It's just a shame some of that fun spirit didn't manage to imbue itself into my reading of it. *Alfred Wallis: http://www.austindesmond.com/HTM/ArtistCV/Awallis.htm For more info please see: http://www.zumcomics.info/a/andrewlukescomic.html From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Mon Jan 26 22:20:42 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2004 22:20:42 +0000 Subject: [review] [ZUM!] Hong Kong Pussy Message-ID: review by Steve Edgell Hong Kong Pussy Not a lot to do with Hong Kong. A lot to do with pussy. Mostly to do with the Camp X-Ray that is the history of US comics from the mid 1950s until fairly recently. The historical allusions start on page 2. The EC horror comics that were so reviled by Estes Kefauver's investigation committee are revisited yet again from our side of the Comics Code divide. Instead of the Crypt Keeper or the Old Witch hosting the narrative corruption, here it's the Crack Whore in irony overdrive and no knickers, luring kiddies to her Dungeon of Depravity, enticing them to take a toke of 'that crack' and witness a world of perversion, promising "this time, I'm gonna make ya bleed". I've lost count of the times such material has been reheated in pop culture, let alone the comics small press. Given this saturation, the most practical option is, while retaining all the classic lugubrious brio and flourish, to crank up the intensity to the point of near unintelligibility. And that's what we get here: a jokey fantasia of autoeroticism where wank and wank fantasy fuse, story unravelling as body parts merge with each other and almost every other line seems about to turn into an orifice. There are some tips of the spunk-encrusted member to more recent comic inventions, such as Chris Ware's gigantic lettering: pages 3 to 5 could more or less be summarised graphically as FUCK YOUR SELF STUPID, CUNT FACE, FUCK FUCK FUCK, WANK WANK FUCK, COME. However the main target is the madness of porn. In a sense, it's a testament to the enduring quality of the taboos enshrined in the Comics Code , even now when the Code itself is pretty much moribund, that little comics like this can need to exist. It suffers the problem of all transgression - its impact is reliant on the power of the taboo it flouts. However, since sex taboos have disfigured comics and comics publishing for so long, it's not as though there's no starting point at all. What else could be bad about this comic? Illustratively, its rendering puts it a little on the wimpy side. The Crack Whore's face, for example, might be a mess of repugnant shit but Pussy's pissy little hatched lines don't really show or tell it. That's fixable, but it'll be ZUM!'s Pussy#2 review that sees it. For more info please see: http://www.zumcomics.info/h/hongkongpussy.html From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Tue Jan 27 17:45:09 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 17:45:09 +0000 Subject: [review] [CI #167] BAM #26 Message-ID: Review by Chris E Bunting BAM #26 by Cobley + Ewing + Irving & various; =A32 (+ 50p p&p) from J. Cobley 94 Elm Road, Wisbeach PE132TB Bulldog take centre stage, but to add variety,=20 there's James and Neill Cameron's amusing=20 Cleansing Services: Special Ops, Garen Ewing's=20 consistently well-crafted Rainbow Orchid, and=20 even a story drawn by Frazer Irving. With over 50=20 pages for =A32.00 this is well worth the price of=20 admission! 8/10 http://www.comics-international.com/Reviews/small_press.html Comics International reviews first appear within=20 the format of the magazine & are thus designed to=20 fit the constraint of being within 50 words. From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Tue Jan 27 18:00:50 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 18:00:50 +0000 Subject: [review] [CI #167] The Girly Comic #4 Message-ID: Review by Kelvin Green The Girly Comic #4 by various; Factor Fiction Press; =A31.50 (50p p&p)=20 from 38 Clarkes Road Wigston, Leicester LE18 2BE The highlight of this issue for me is a wonderful=20 non-story about rats, with a scratchy look that=20 is fittingly almost non-art The other stories are=20 all either well drawn, well written, or both=20 ("Seedlings" is a good example of the latter),=20 but unfortunately do not make much of an=20 impression. There is excellent work here, but=20 it's all rather bland 7/10 http://www.comics-international.com/Reviews/small_press.html Comics International reviews first appear within=20 the format of the magazine & are thus designed to=20 fit the constraint of being within 50 words. From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Tue Jan 27 20:47:42 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 20:47:42 +0000 Subject: [review] [CI #167] The 0 Men #21 Message-ID: Review by Kelvin Green The 0 Men #21 by Eden; Ominous Comics; =A31.50 from M. Eden, 19a Trevalyan Rd Tooting, London SW17 9LS Doctor 0 and Anathema chat, and much is revealed=20 Martin Eden writes a very low-key story that=20 nonetheless manages to shock the reader with its=20 revelations and twists. The art isn't up to it's=20 usual quality, but the story is the best yet. Wow. 9/10 http://www.comics-international.com/Reviews/small_press.html Comics International reviews first appear within=20 the format of the magazine & are thus designed to=20 fit the constraint of being within 50 words. From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Tue Jan 27 20:49:49 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 20:49:49 +0000 Subject: [review] [CI #167] Rant! #1 Message-ID: Review by Jon Edwards Rant! #1 by Coxhead; =A31.50 from Smallzone 10 Cleveland=20 Avenue, High Ercall Telford, Shropshire TF6 6AH Almost like a demented version of TV's Room 101,=20 UK creator Andrew Coxhead uses this 22-page black=20 and white anthology to vent his spleen at some of=20 life's annoyances (noisy neighbours, ties), the=20 bizarre (serial killers), and to indulge in his=20 love of saucy sci-fi warrior babes. Although a=20 trifle inconsistent and marred by a lack of=20 backgrounds, the brushwork is clean and competent=20 in an entertaining mini-comic of much potential. 6/10 http://www.comics-international.com/Reviews/small_press.html Comics International reviews first appear within=20 the format of the magazine & are thus designed to=20 fit the constraint of being within 50 words. From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Tue Jan 27 20:52:04 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 20:52:04 +0000 Subject: [review] [CI #167] Triple Six #1 Message-ID: Review by Jon Edwards Triple Six #1 by Fletcher & Ham; =A32 from Smallzone 10 Cleveland=20 Avenue, High Ercall Telford, Shropshire TF6 6AH The first two serialised strips in this 28-page=20 A5 anthology quickly descend into depraved mass=20 slaughter, while the third - Who Was Jack the=20 Ripper? - is merely depraved. Combining Nazis, zombies, vampires, naked chicks=20 and gore - sometimes within a single panel! - the=20 over-the-top content is explicit but=20 tongue-in-cheek. The highlight, however, is Ham's=20 confident, spontaneous linework, given form by=20 applying grey tones using an ink wash, and which=20 certainly lends a visceral quality to the carnage. 7/10 http://www.comics-international.com/Reviews/small_press.html Comics International reviews first appear within=20 the format of the magazine & are thus designed to=20 fit the constraint of being within 50 words.