From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Sat Oct 2 09:00:27 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Sat, 2 Oct 2004 09:00:27 +0100 Subject: [review] [ZUM!] Two to Beam Up #3 Message-ID: Two to Beam Up #3 review by David Birchall I was a bit confused with this one; I guess because it's mostly set around a comics convention, and I've never been to one of those gatherings, so there's some context missing on my part. There are some really funny bits looking at some of the curious people found at these things; pie eating, people constantly sniggering about jokes they've forgotten, my favourite bit was the return of Alan Moore from, "Psychogeographically exploring NCP carparks in Nuneaton" for a brief period. There's also various outbursts of obscenity that break up the comic in a rather intriguing manner. The drawing is fairly loose, but conveys the violent mood swings, traumas, and nuances of the characters with a certain clarity. I tend to enjoy this kind of minimal, scratchy drawing, probably because its something I do! Another amusing element is the apparently crazed relationship between the two writers. I've no idea whether this is for dramatic effect or if they do really shout "gayboy" with vicious malice down the phone at each other. There are moments where you feel kind of uncomfortable and ponder if the writers are actually nuts or whether it's just a big joke.... I found this comic slightly befuddling most of the time, although there are some very funny bits, I'd imagine a lot of this would make more sense if you'd read 2000 AD regularly or went to comic conventions, but then perhaps not. For more info see: http://www.zumcomics.info/t/2tobeam.html#2tobeam3 discussion: http://forums.pauljholden.com/viewtopic.php?t=301 From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Sat Oct 2 09:03:27 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Sat, 2 Oct 2004 09:03:27 +0100 Subject: [review] [TRS] Little Demons Message-ID: Little Demons Posted by Mardou Curiously pedantic beyond his almost seven years of age, Tim Odlum narrates this tale of inner demons that (literally) seem to lurk behind the tonsils. An illustrated short story by John Robbins it falls into that category of children's literature where adults too can enjoy the proceedings as the wry humour throughout it keeps escaping Tim's funny bone and is for the reader's benefit. It's a very soundly told story. The story opens with the slightly 'mard arse' Tim (I'm sorry, I can't think of a better adjective!) shying away from a large promotional Barney the Dinosaur in the street, disgusted that he can see 'another' Barney inside the costumed mouth. This inspires Tim's overactive imagination to convince himself that he can see people's inner demons in the same way. Starting with the school Bully, 'Big Bum', his daily tormentor, soon all the kids in class are paying attention to Tim's special powers and the story escalates to it's funny and poignant ending. Although told in the first person narrative, the reader is given room to identify with the exasperated and disinterested adults around the narrator. Although the adult level is undeniable it manages to stay true to the child's point of view due to a playfulness in the language. A matter of some curly-wurgency to the author, evidently. The story is coupled with pen and ink illustrations, which despite being quite expressive and match the tone of the story, aren't of the same quality as the writing. Having said that, Little Demons is very good and easily the equivalent of lots of currently published, short format kid's books. For more info see: http://www.bugpowder.com/trs2/005459.html From reviews@lists.zumcomics.info Sat Oct 2 09:14:07 2004 From: reviews@lists.zumcomics.info (reviews@lists.zumcomics.info) Date: Sat, 2 Oct 2004 09:14:07 +0100 Subject: [review] [ZUM!] Honeypears #2 Message-ID: Honeypears #2 review by David Birchall I think I first saw this zine at Ladyfest Manchester and spent a happy few minutes trying to read as much as possible. I spent considerable chunks of the day looking at really cool stuff with no money (boo hoo). They had a really excellent comic gallery too, which I think some of the work from this zine was in. Anyway, this is a mixture of beautifully drawn and inked cartoons and a few articles on various subjects. The stories have a pleasantly circular and evasive quality about them, you have a feeling they might be telling you everything you need to know, without ever making it explicit. Perhaps he answer to an important, burning question, but you forgot what he question was. The story 'To Catch a Bishop' reveals to us a few snaps of someone's life, (maybe a secret agent of some sort, it seems to imply) but leaves you pondering not just what this person is actually up to, but maybe what we're all up to. The line, "A pawn? To catch a bishop? Is that all I am to you?" has echoes of relationships falling apart and to end, as well as the realisation of the valuation of human relations in a hierarchy within a spy ring. Another story, 'After The Trial' continues the idea of writing around something without ever revealing what it is. It traces the life of a woman 'after her trial' giving you glimpses of her life, never telling you what she was tried and acquitted for, murder, poison and foul play are all hinted at, but the narrative shifts around, always slightly out of view. There's a really interesting article about girls comics of the 60's and 70's published by DC Thomson, which follows histories of writers, artists and particular comics in some detail, and then the falling market for girls comics in the 80s. It was also interesting to hear that DC Thomson have archived and saved a lot work going back to the 30's. They'll also show you round if you ask nicely as the author of this zine did. The other piece of writing is an interview with Glasgow artist Kenny Hunter. There's some fascinating insights, Kenny works mostly as a sculptor, but draws on comics and music/pop culture as a strong influence, as well as classical high art. The piece discussed mostly here is a public sculpture of an anonymous fireman outside Glasgow train station, which actually seems to be enjoyed by people as a piece of public art that anyone can relate to. It makes a refreshing change from the horrible corporate sponsored cow sculptures in the centre of Manchester at the moment, which are allegedly 'public art', even though I still can't figure out how they could possible be relevant or of interest to anyone other than for a momentary, "Oh, how weird". There's an awesome woodprint of two skeletons getting married on the back cover, which I think is by the early 20 Century Mexican woodcut guy whose name I can't remember right now. Anyway, he did whole series of these skeletons doing everyday stuff, something to do with the Day of The Dead I think, the prints themselves are totally unnerving and beautiful at the same time. This zine is ace. For more info see: http://www.zumcomics.info/h/honeypears.html discussion: http://forums.pauljholden.com/viewtopic.php?t=303