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REDEYE 6

Anthology Magazine 108pp

Colour cover  b&w interior

£4.00/$8.00/8 Euro [Ireland &Europe add £2] 

This was a magazine I had been looking forward to and even the idiotic postal service damaging it was not going to spoil my read!  Billed as “The latest issue of the vital magazine for indie comics” I did snort quietly to myself and utter the words “We’ll see”. 

Redeye 6 features interviews with popular Wildermere and Mixy creator Alex CF,and the creative team of John Wagner,Kev Walker,W.R. Logan and Matt Smith –the people behind the latest Judge Dredd “megaepic”:ORIGINS. The autobiographical cartoonist Lee Kennedy; legendary Zenith artist Steve Yeowell; and critically acclaimed cartoonist for The Guardian and one half of Cabanon Press, Tom Gauld, [who also provides the cover] are also interviewed.  

For me,and no doubt Paul Brown,the big draw in this issue was the feature on the 2000AD Art of Mike McMahon –possibly one of the most creative modern British comic talents who deserves far more recognition than he’s received so far!  There’s a detailed retrospective of “V For Vendetta”- from sketchbook to DVD release in The Road to Larkhill, And,yes there is more,an exclusive guest column from the legendary creator Pat Mills on the nature of fandom.

There is the  first of a ongoing feature:Redeye has an exclusive 10 pp preview of REGARDS FROM SERBIA -Top Shelfs’ latest book,and it includes a commentary from the creator, Aleksandar Zograf; plus preview art from upcoming titles, news, and an massive expanded reviews section.The art reproduction and printing is great [luckily I have glasses!] and it is a superb package all-round. 

The closest thing I can compare it to would be Paul Gravett’s old Escape magazine.It might seem pricey but it really is worth it because it is the only magazine of its kind in the UK.

Voodoo MacBeth

Norris Burroughs

66pp  B&W  A4

£5.00/$10.00 

In 1935, during the height of the Depression sweeping America, an era of social inequality, a brilliant twenty year old actor and magician named Orson Welles, set about producing and directing the New Negro Threatre Project. In an audacious move, he choose Macbeth, reset in 19th Century Haiti, and starring one Eric Burroughs as Hecate. The uniquely personal memory of the landmark event which launched Welles’ meteroic rise and the controversy in

Harlem at the time is related to the actors’ son Norris Burroughs, and now into a new stunning oneshot from Engine Comics.  

That’s the blurb from Engine Comics but what is the comic,or Graphic Novel as they prefer to call it,really like? 

Obviously,for Norris,this is a very personal project.  Telling a piece of history in comic strip form is not easy –especially when it concerns the genius Orson Welles! I think Norris has achieved his purpose and,after all,most of us would not know the details of most of the early black film actors and their careers were it not for family keeping notes and passing the stories along. 

After all,to Hollywood,most of the black actors they ‘promoted’  were pushed into bulgy-eyes “Yas,Boss!” roles.  Woody Strode and Paul Robeson we know about as respected actors but I have to admit I knew nothing of  Eric Burroughs. 

Initially,I had my doubts about the art style but I do tend to get very critical at times! The art does its job;it sets the story atmosphere and shows us the characters.  I think it looks and reads perfectly well.  I’d go as far as to suggest that it could be used educationally as well as for entertainment. 

As with Classical Comics and Shakespeare,for youngsters who might find it boring reading about Welles or Burroughs from text books,the visual format helps and may even garner further interest from youngsters to either look at black theatrical/cinematic history and/or Welles.  So,I’ll give this book high marks.

Black Harvest Moon

Terry Stock [writer] & Colin Stanford

36pp  A4 

£3.00/$6.00/6 Euro  MATURE READERS 

According to the synopsis:

The story begins five months after vampires have taken over LA.and have begun invading the rest of the world. The focus is on Bobby and Lisa who are fleeing with other refugee The story charts Bobby’s descent into the darker and degraded depths of his human nature. I have to admit that vampire and zombie stories tend to leave me a little unimpressed these days.  In the 1980s the horror genre ran throughout the Small Press and Independent comics from dark and gloomy to humorous.  But vampires and zombies seem to be back.

I liked the inclusion of character sketches and pencil art at the end of the comic –I think the pencils looked better in some ways than the inks!  This is nothing new because most artists who ink their own work often complain that the pencils were better –or that the “inker ruined it!”  The artwork is okay and,again,does its job but I had the feeling something was missing. 

I had to read a couple of pages back over as I thought I’d missed something –whether the comic or script was cut down I’m not sure.That said,if you like horror and vampires and a few expletives –Black Harvest Moon is for you!

FUSION no.3Anthology 

52pp   A4  b&w

£3.00/$6.00/6 Euro 

The cover seems designed to give the look of a yellow,stained old document –the look of an old Penny Dreadful,perhaps? 

So what is inside?There’s “Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea” by Bealby & Sampson  -the end is ruined by the last page of the story being printed out of order.  I assume that it is out of order or else it makes no sense.  The art was so-so but it wasn’t that bad –I would suggest anyone looking at drawing an historical strip get costume references,though!

“The Shunned Pastor” by M. Olivent.  Lots of lovely black and white work in a very –I was almost going to write Bernie  Wrightson style – interesting style.  This was a treat for me as few artists tend to use black and white so well;the balance has to be just right.

“Widdershins” part 3.  Andy Bealby writes while Ant Mercer draws this Medieval tale. It looks like the pencils were used rather than inked and the look is unusual enough.  Hard to comment on a story at part 3 but looks interesting [it’s in ten parts by-the-way].

“Metro City’s Finest” by Myron Macklin is another using stark black and white and I’m in two minds about this –so it makes me think !  I’ve seen similar styles in US Underground comics.

“An Unsavoury Habit” by Ed Traquino I’ve seen in at least two anthologies before –including Traquino’s own publication.  But if you’ve not seen it before there is a good twist at the end and Traquino deserves far more exposure.

“Deviants” is a preview of B. Benshaw’s strip-to-come.  Art looks nice.

The trouble with reviewing anthologies is that there are very few that will satisfy you 100%.  Having published anthologies I know that something you personally hate will by liked by others and strips you like…well…FUSION strikes a nice balance and I’d recommend it to those not just wanting to read Marvel or DC but see grass root artists. 

Fusion no.4

Anthology  52pp  A4  b&w

£3.00/$6.00/6 Euro 

Very Beardsley-like cover!  Garen Ewing’s “The Rainbow Orchid” is a historical adventure series with the look of Blake and Mortimer about it.  Growing an orchid might not seem to be the basis of an adventure but it really is!  And thearchitecture drawn in the strip is superb –the only other British creator I know who putsso much detail into buildings is is the great Matt “D’Israeli” Brooker.  Thecover price is worth paying for

Ewing’s strip alone!“The Freak” by James Fletcher had okay artwork but was a little confusing.  Act 1 is followed by Act 2 -which is literally the same as Act 1 but from the victim’s point of view.  Might be that the writer was trying to be a bit too clever:if you are going to do this you need to be a very skilfull writer. But that’s just my quibble.

“The Underworld Express” is another strip written by E.Bealby an illustrated by…Ed Traquino! I’ll not give any story away but this little gem is worthy of the old Charlton Horror comics.

”The Corpse” by Steve Causer [W] and Jamie Baker [A] I have more than a few quibbles with. It is a lesson in how not to do a comic strip.  Using a computer to do lettering is not a problem and I so this.  The problem is that the word balloons from basic programs tend to be too big and when the “tails” are missing you have a problem guessing who is saying what.  The splash page is ruined by this over-sized word ballooning.  If you are going to draw as well as use photo images then it has to look good.  This was a ten page nightmare to look at.  The word balloons were just too over-whelmingly outsize that,even if the art was superb it would have been ruined and how the editor let this through is beyond me.

“Cow Secrets” now it was a relief to get to Roger Langridge’s bovine one-pager.  Pure joy.“I Was The Dancing Monkey” by Mardou and Fortenski was fun as was “Shadowflax” by –Kennedy[?] and “The Really Heavy Great Coat” by John Freeman [W] and Nick Miller [A] was a very fun read and the style was a joy.Over-all,still a good issue and worth getting a copy.Remember,you can check out other titles and order direct from Engine Comics at:

http://www.enginecomics.co.uk/homenews/homenews.htm