DeadWorld: War of the Dead 1

 

Written by Gary Reed
Illustrated by Sami Makkonen
Letters by Nate Pride
Published by IDW

the three cents.

This is the first of a five part weekly horror series, as we see the return of the modern classic DeadWorld to the comic book realm. This is many years after a dimensional rift unleashes a full-scale zombie apocalypse, with the action of this particular narrative focused on Safe Haven, a college turned slaughterhouse turned blasphemous testing ground for potential cures turned well, safe haven. The incorporation of leprosy into zombie fiction is especially keen, with that and many other refreshingly new dimensions added to the musty sub-genre of zombies zombies zombies.

Reed writes beautifully, even in spite of the garishness of the set and setting. His characters are world weary, but in identifiably believable ways, exhibiting more depth and dismay than other, more recent zombie attempts at Romero fanfic. War of the Dead seems to revolve mostly around Mike, a robed victim of the leprosy experimentation, and Donna, a woman who has found herself in the unique position of being halfway possessed by one of the undead. This crosses over from traditional horror into pure, unadulterated dark fantasy, with violence and nudity and many other things for the grownups looking for solid escapism. Reed is building a valid mystery here, he’s showing us the exits, but knowing him there will be additional canonical laws turned inside out before the survivors, if any, can move on.

As strong as the writing is, the art is matching the strides with horrific detail and atmosphere. Makkonen is an unstoppable force of creative hellfire energy, and his pages are simply gorgeous. In a scary, rotting flesh kinda way. This is a zombie tale for adults, and the art abides that logic completely. Excellent storytelling sensibilities, claustrophobic and diseased atmospherics, and it all just looks dreamy. Pride does a commendable job on balloons as well, adding to the mature aesthetic subversively well. This comic mini is off to a winning start.

DeadWorld has a long history, but this is an easy jumping on point, and fans of Templesmith or Sienkiewicz will dig this look tremendously. But Reed’s story is compellingly authentic. The man has given more thought to the finite details of the dead and undead than many writers of such fictions. This is smartly directed horror, and not for the feeble-minded or the feint of heart. In Deadworld, saying the dead outnumber the living is an understatement, but the terror that is the Zombie King makes this a world all its own, entirely…

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Midwifed by nilskidoo - 31/07/12 - 1 comment

Michael Neno, Polymath to the Gods

 

Cartooning self-publisher Michael Neno is the guy who should have been winning various Eisner and Harvey awards these many years, if those awards were not complete bupkiss. A remarkably versatile and accomplished writer and artist, his growing body of work, from illustrating graphic novels and contributing to assorted anthologies to producing his own comic books, mini-comix and webstrips, comprises some of the most unique and insightful material ever published.

That’s a fairly ballsy statement, right? I must owe him money or something, right? Not at all faithful readers! Having only recently been turned onto his work via the Nix Comics anthology series, where Neno illustrates most of the “rock and rolling battler of the macabre” Vicar stories and the occasional painted cover, I am ashamed to confess that I have missed such richness for so long. His work on those books harkens back unsexily to the skills of legendary sequential artisans such as Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, John Buscema, Don Heck and Jim Steranko, but he only uses the finer attributes of such artists in a respectfully faithful homage, with Neno’s own madcap brushy goodness yet maintaining both the core and polish. He clearly studies the history of the craft and the nuances of its many megaliths, very painstakingly so, unlike those trendy artists who learned how to draw by tracing Rob Liefeld comics from the 90s. Neno is just shockingly original in all that he does, and that becomes not at all an overstatement upon reading some of his own materials. Absurdism, my favorite naked goddess, plays a big part in his work, as well as his continued fortitude in constantly thinking outside the box

Take for example, his Quacky Pig And Friends coloring book. His brushy style introduces us to the anthropomorphic cast of Quacky and pals Sally Mouse, Psychoid, and the shades of Bill Griffith Lovey Dovey (my obvious favorite), as they enjoy a fun day together, with such exploits as a snowball fight, going out for some lunch, engaging in a spot of birdwatching and checking out a parade. He writes this on that special Simpsons frequency though, where kids will of course have fun coloring in these spiffy full page illos just as much as their adult counterparts, as the meta is smartly flying high with buried observations and innuendo. I consider myself a regularly embittered person, but I love a good coloring book myself (and also will personally testify to coloring books being a guaranteed great gift for the grownup lady in your life, whether you want to get in her pants or not); but this book is laugh out loud funny with the nonstop non-sequitors and absurdity unharnessed throughout. Masterful storytelling, and a fantastic sense of humor, this Neno has.

And then there’s The Lovey Dovey Puzzle Book Summer Special, which is neither highbrow enough or lowbrow enough for such “alternative” publishers as Drawn & Quarterly or Fantagraphics, as it is simply too friendly a piece of art. Again, there is plenitudes of silliness for the children and/or stoners in your life, but the left-field hilarity makes this a true book for all ages and most mindsets. I presume Neno must have a bitch of a sweet tooth, to have been forced to wait in so many dental care waiting rooms to have apparently read possibly every issue of Highlights magazine ever published. This activity book is full of plays on the true/false and Q/A mindbenders, as well as mazes, connect the dots and the like, but all with complete disregard for the norms of convention and sanity.

I wanted to keep my copies of these books deservedly pristine, but they didn’t last 24 hours before I was digging through my boxes for more map pencils and markers. Dancing with rats and suffering plates of infinite spaghetti and dealing with meddlesome-reckoning death-birds and dreaming of dreaming of dreaming aside, Michael Neno is a frigging genius and a half. The world is okay once more.

Look for more fun (and ordering information) at his main website.

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Midwifed by nilskidoo - 31/07/12 - 2 comments

Crawl To Me

 

Created, written, illustrated and lettered by Alan Robert
Introduction by Walt Simonson
Cover by menton3
Published by IDW

the three cents.

Crawl To Me: The Evil Edgar Edition collects the full graphic story from the bassist/songwriter of Life of Agony, Alan Robert. Also included is a copious gallery of covers, alternates and unused from menton3, David Lupton, and Robert, as well as script pages, notes, character designs and sketches. It’s a rather nice package. But the story itself is a true wonder.

Robert paints a self-contained nightmare as a young couple take over a country house in the midst of a hard winter. But Ryan and Jessica are plagued, by their own neuroses, or by a haunted past of the house itself…or is it something even more despicable? This is sharp horror, from the psychological to the demonic to the utterly brutal to the surreal, and the suspense is kept startlingly vivid and frenetic. The true evil of the story is as demented as any we might find in the real world, being expertly portrayed in these pages of fearful symmetry.

His art is, as Simonson infers in the intro, like a hallucinogenic escapade, with ever-contrasting colors full of electricity pushing and pulling the reader to absorb as much of the implied dread as the characters are themselves experiencing. I see some CGI’d photos and some painted work and some digital work all layered together, creating a terminally realistic style which in turn gives extra kick to the violent terror of the plot. Great storytelling, with not a weak page or sequence to be found. This perfect synchronization of plot, art, letters and colors could rarely be matched by mainstream, assembly line books.

Crawl To Me is really, really readable. I have sat through possibly hundreds of B-horror flicks that paled in comparison. Additionally, considering that there is in fact a distinct message to this fable only empowers its excellence all the more. Robert isn’t a comics newbie anymore, but this will be one helluva hard act for him to follow.

Learn more here.

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Midwifed by nilskidoo - 30/07/12 - 0 comments

Red Flags 2.1

 

Writing and editing by Jim Hitchcock
Illustrated by James Tingley, Matjaz Bertoncelj, and Joe Williams
Covers and design by Joe Williams
Published by Red Flag

the three cents.

In this second anthology from the Red Flaggers, we get a spiffy mission statement, informing us that the creators of this comic have a burning desire to point to the writing on the bathroom wall. This is edgy material, with gripes to pick where concerns modern Western civilization, the ignorance of Joe Q Citizen, the bias of many archaeologists, and the visible erections of most underutilized horror tropes.

In P.O.V. artist Tingley does a simply wonderful job in breathing to life something not so far as distantly related to tales from the crypt ideology. One man’s really truly horribly bad day is another man’s red herring. In Eppur si Muove: Sanctus Lupus writer/artist Bertoncelj does for Catholicism what Robert Crumb did for incest. This is Chuck Jones with an ax to grind, and he’s using the Wailing Wall as a millstone. Wondrously artful and subversive. And in The Copy Editors, artist Williams shows how censorship is as old as Methuselah, retirement packages or no retirement packages. Willy actually does pages and pages of killer hieroglyphics on this piece of historical non-fiction.

Hitchcock and Williams do a great job packaging this book for publisher Biff Humble, pulling together diverse stories full of backbone and grace. The art is primarily black and white, but the styles are as imaginative as the writing is deadly. And this is a deadly book, in the same way that cigarettes are deadly. Most people who smoke do not literally die from related illnesses, and they certainly look cool and stoic as they cough inhale them coffin nails. So despite the implications we are force-fed neither is really all that deadly for most users after all is said and done. What was I saying? Oh yea- you’ll need a good smoke after all this hot and heavy Socratic action, by Jove. Yea, you’ll need a smoke and you’ll like it, you dirty little slut…

Stunningly insightful and intuitive, Red Flags is the kind of comic Homeland Security has been waiting for. If Homeland Security agents could read. And had artistic taste. And dramatic license. And morality. But who would win in a broken beer bottle fight, Peter Drucker or Susan Sontag? Hmm?

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Midwifed by nilskidoo - 29/07/12 - 0 comments

Interviews: Daniel Humphry

 

Daniel Humphry is the editor of the upcoming Off Life, a new comics anthology by way of alternative newspaper. Seeking only to introduce new readers in the UK to the medium while assisting struggling cartoonists themselves trying to break in, we of the LP applaud his grassroots initiative. You should too. Or else.

Daniel, has publishing comic strips long been a dream of yours? Are you a journalist by trade, or by passion?

I known it might sound trite but I’m a journalist by trade and passion. When working on a piece you believe in – and that you think has significance – there’s no better feeling. Launching a whole publication then, one where you believed in every page, felt like the next logical step for me – especially in comics which have been my love since I was knee-high.

Had you ever pursued anything like this before,or been drawn to any creative work for that matter? How did the idea for Off Life first take shape for you?

No, I’d not tried to publish a magazine before. I’d worked on a few street press magazines (Three, Crack and Pickles) and lived in Melbourne where there’s a real culture of offbeat street press magazines that maybe wouldn’t get the backing of major publishers. These magazines had real unique voices and loyal readerships who respected that. After coming back to England I realized that there’s no real arts anthology published in the street press model and that comic books lend themselves to it perfectly. The mission really is to  provide a platform for up-and-coming and indie artists who have something to say, while opening up the comic medium to a larger audience.

That really was the underground boom of 1960s underground comix, where greats like Robert Crumb sprang into the public conscious. I’ve always wanted to see a return to that energy and aesthetic. What format will you be going with- weekly or monthly? Slick or newsprint? I understand copies will be free, so will adverts pay the way, or are you on the run from the law for a series of bank robberies?

Hell, I’d happily fund the magazine with wanton robbery but everybody in the UK is so hard up at the moment I don’t think it’d get a dozen copies run! So advertising it is. Details for any companies looking to buy space can visit our site for contact details. Sorry for the cheap plug!

Anyhow we’ll be starting bi-monthly while we build up a bank of contributors and running on a high quality newsprint. It feels right sticking to that tradition at least.

I’d imagine word of mouth for a project like this would go a long ways in and of itself. Would you be offering copies to comic book shoppes, coffee shoppes, etc? And would mail order be a possibility, as for subscriptions?

Word of mouth will be huge for us, not just in reaching an audience but on discovering the talent too. Regardless of whether the magazine hits a mainstream audience it’s the comic community that will get this project off the ground.

We’re looking to distribute in places like bars, coffee shops, music stores, galleries, comic expos – places where the casual reader would have time to pick it up. Mail order is an option but we’ll also be running a free, beautifully designed online edition for people to read.

And what of the content- will there be articles to go with the comix? Is there subject matters or themes that you wouldn’t deem appropriate for the prospective readers?

There will be a short editorial opening, a Q&A with an established comic writer/artist and potentially a feature here and there, but 90% of the magazine will be dedicated to comic stories.

As for subject matter we’ve no set genre or style for writers. We’d like the stories to have something to say for themselves and as the magazine is intended for adults there are no real handcuffs on how they say it, but we also don’t want something to be ‘shocking for shocking’s sake’ – it has to be honest and clever. I’m personally big on the dark slice-of-life guys like Clowes and Burnes, but we’re open to everything.

What turns you off about comics, something you wouldn’t care to repeat?

I guess as in any medium there’s a slice of work that’s not for you. Some comics can be a little trite, or stuck within comics own tropes, for my tastes but for every formulaic piece there’s another breaking the medium’s conventions or pushing new frontiers.

Do you have a team in place, or is this a one man show? How did you all meet up? What’s your overall philosophy?

There’s a small team of us, made up of people I’ve met during my years in publishing and even designers I knew back at university. We’re looking to keep it a close knit group as we don’t want to dilute our basic ideas.

Where would you like to see this girl in say, five years down the road?

Ideally the magazine would be established with a monthly copy and a dedicated readership, have broken many new talents in to the comic industry and gotten a whole new audience in to comic shops. They’re high ideals but something to strive for.

I think your plan sounds perfectly feasible. I can’t wait to see it all come to life.

You and me both! It’s going to be a busy month now that word is out and submissions are coming in, but if even one of our contributors were to be picked up by a major or even a handful of  new people tune in to comics after reading OFF LIFE then it’ll have been worth it.

 

For additional information, bookmark the Off Life website, and follow them on twitter. Or else.

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Midwifed by nilskidoo - 26/07/12 - 1 comment

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