Bristol International Comic and Small Press Expo - Part 1

This past weekend was spent at the annual Bristol International Comic and Small Press Expo - as I've said previously it was the first time I'd attending both days and, for me, this years Expo was one of the most enjoyable I've attended.

The event, which is staged across two neighbouring hotels, had just about everything any comic book fan could look for: loads of writers and artists chatting, signing and sketching; numerous dealers with longbox after longbox of bargain back issues (I managed to fill a big whole in my Daredevil collection); table upon table of generously discounted collected editions; a full programme of panels and screenings; some fantastic and unique items of apparel (particularly from the lovely folks at Genki Gear); new title launches; Cosplay; Expo Exclusives and not forgetting, at the Ramada Hotel, the now legendary 'Expo lunch pack'.

['... Move along ... move along' - car parking couldn't have been easier at BICSPE 2011!]
This week I'm looking forward to posting a number of short features about my visit to the Expo - some of the people I met; details of some of the [indie] books I picked up and I'll post a couple of the fantastic sketches that I came away with.

I think maybe one of the reasons I enjoyed this years event so much was that, for the first time, I had a 'base' for the weekend - somewhere to leave my bags; take a rest when my legs were feeling like I'd walked for miles and watch the crowds go by ...

Back in February or March of this year I received a very generous invitation from friend of Escape from Tomorrow Simon Breeze to accompany him to the Bristol Expo where he was launching the first collected edition of his comic JessieKane.

As you'd expect I was delighted to accept Simon's invitation and I really enjoyed the book launch and chatting with public and comic-professionals alike. At one point, with Simon busy chatting with one of the independent-publishers in attendance, I even managed to sell a couple of limited-edition prints on Simon's behalf with the buyer mistaking me for the writer/artist - I'm still not sure what I'd have done had he asked me to sign them!

We were based for the weekend at the Small Press Expo which was held at the Mercure Holland House Hotel in Bristol, just a short 4 or 5 minute walk from the Ramada City Hotel which hosted the 'mainstream' Expo. From the moment the doors opened in the morning to pretty much the end of the day around 5pm there was a wave of people coming and going through the two venues and, I was pleased to see for all the exhibitors in attendance, people were doing more than just 'window shopping'.

Congratualtions and thanks for another hugely successful Bristol Expo have to go to Mike at Fantasy Events UK and his fantastic team - I'm already looking forward to next year!

Jennifer Blood #1

reviewed by guest contributor Simon Breeze

How would I describe Jennifer Blood? When I first came across this title I knew very little known about it. Just that it was written by Garth Ennis and that it followed the story of a female vigilante who dressed in black and was armed to the teeth with more guns than you could shake a stick at.

I enjoy Garth Ennis's work, and I am a big fan of Tim Bradstreet's cover art too, so I guess I had nothing to lose by adding issue #1 to my monthly pull list from this tiny amount of information. I must admit I did wobble just a little as from promotion to pull list to arriving in my sticky mitts for when I heard the rumours that Jennifer Blood was going to be Dynamite's answer to Marvel's Punisher. Yes that's right, it is a female Punisher – Awesome! Or maybe not in my case. If I want to read Punisher, I'll go buy an issue of Punisher.

So you can only guess at my joy when I received my copy of Jennifer Blood and it turned out that its has own identity and has very little in common with Punisher. In fact once I got reading I very quickly forget the comparison and was quickly drawn into the world of Jennifer Blood.

Phew!

So who is this Jennifer Blood? I had visions from the cover art and previews that I'd seen of a Mr & Mrs Smith, only Mrs Smith was the one with the uber cool double-life that her husband and kids were in the dark about; some kind of super cool CIA agent or hit woman maybe? Well, kind of.

Jennifer Blood follows the life of an everyday suburban wife and her loving husband, two young children, car problems, housework and the million and one other things you would expect from the normal everyday life of a housewife in the 'burbs'. However, things take a turn for the darker for Jennifer when night time comes as she takes on the persona of the aforementioned, Jennifer Blood – black leather clad, gun slinging, martial-arts swinging vigilante, who is so cool that she even wears sunglasses at night!

Issue #1 is a clever mix of both aspects of Jennifer's life, the suburban wife and the vigilante, telling a neatly flowing story that is not only pretty much self-contained to this issue, yet also sets up the ongoing threads for a larger story arc and leaving plenty of mystery about what the hell is going on to keep you engaged and wanting more.

The story itself is told from a first person view through the eyes of Jennifer via her diary, called a 'War Journal' (did someone say Punisher?!): a pink and fuzzy diary that would not look out of place in a teenage girls top draw along with her socks.

As the story progresses you soon realise that you are getting a 'day in the life' of Jennifer Blood with this issue. What better way to introduce a new character and their world than to spend a whole day with them? We join Jennifer and her family in the morning, then follow her throughout her day from getting the car fixed, to cleaning the house, cooking the tea, helping the kids with the homework, putting them and the husband to bed (I liked this bit, I did wonder how she managed to sneak out unnoticed at night – well here is how you do it), getting tooled-up in her 'Batcave', kicking the bad guys butts and hitting the sack at the end of a long day.

It sounds bizarre doesn't it? Family life for the first part of the story, uber cool vigilante at night for the second part: however that is the genius of it. By the time we see Jennifer going on her night time mission, you have already brought in to her 'mum' role, so to see her beating a guy built like a brick outhouse with her bare hands comes as a surprise. Not only that, you start to worry about her! Is she going to make it back okay? What if she gets wounded, how is she going to explain that? What if she does get killed, what will that do to her husband and kids, how will they cope? You also can't help but enjoy the violence when it comes too, despite the nagging worry - it is full-on, tense and doesn't hold back.

There are some nice touches in the story, the comeuppance of the 'hands-on' garage owner who got what he deserved - and I'm sure what hundreds of women have fantasied about doing in a similar situation too. This comic also has quite possibly, after Alias #1, the best sex scene in a comic – EVER! I will leave that little gem for you to discover on your own and let your imagination go bonkers until then.

The comic is 100% worthy of its Mature Readers warning. It is gory, sexy, sweary, violent and very brutal in places too, yet it never feel like it is for the sake of it, more that that is just the way it is. I can't help but get a good 'Dexter' vibe from Jennifer Blood, in that it is a clever split life of opposites, and although you know you shouldn't be rooting for the 'Dark Avenger' personality, you can't help it. The humour throughout is brilliant and perfectly matches whichever of Jennifer's persona's she currently inhabits, light and fun as the wife, dark for the vigilante.

All of the covers sport fantastic and diverse art, Garth Ennis's writing is top notch as always and Adrino Batista and Romulo Fajardo Jr's interior art fits the story brilliantly. This single issue is a shining example of how a first issue should be and I can't help but feeling that Jennifer Blood is going to get amazing as things progress.

I give Jennifer Blood a 5 out of 5, it is simply brilliant and I can't wait for more!

Jennifer Blood #1
Written by Garth Ennis, illustrated by Adriano Batista, coloured by Romulo Fajardo Jr., lettered by Rob Steen, covers by Tim Bradstreet, Jonathan Lau, Ale Garza, Johnny Desjardins
Published by Dynamite Entertainment


My thanks to Simon for another enjoyable review. I haven't read Jennifer Blood but judging by Simon's review I think I ought to be picking it up - time to contact my shop I think and see if they still have this first issue in stock. Check out more fantastic Dynamite titles - including Warlord of Mars and Red Sonja at the Dynamite Entertainment website.

JessieKane - New 'Retro-Punk' Webcomic Starts Today with Zero Issue

Good friend and frequent contributor to Escape from Tomorrow Simon Breeze, science fiction and fantasy writer & artist, today launches his latest project - a weekly webcomic called JessieKane.

Simon first revealed details of the project to Escape from Tomorrow a few weeks ago and we've had to keep it under wraps until this point. Now Simon explains who Jessie and Kane are, what's brought them together, where their story has come from and where it might - just might! - be heading.

Over to you Simon ...

"JessieKane is a new webcomic I have found myself working on. I had no plans at all to even start anything other than scribbling down a few ideas and sketches over the course of the year and then maybe starting to pull it all together for publishing next year. Life has an odd way of throwing you a curve ball sometimes, which is exactly what has happened with JessieKane. Suddenly all of these ideas started popping into my head, and before I knew it, I had the main characters sketched out and the first year’s worth of stories done. It did not take long either to turn these stories into scripts and the sketches into concepts."

"I now find myself, just a few weeks after coming up with the idea, only a few days from the first page going live and having the following year almost written too. It has not been an easy few weeks, I think it has been the hardest I have worked on a project like this for a long time, and now I have the ball rolling, I need to keep it going!"

"JessieKane is set in an alternate reality where the world has fallen apart following the Cold War, society is in ruins, countries have turned into gang-ruled wastelands, and the only thing keeping humanity going is the remnants of the all-powerful, Western Alliance. It is an odd mix of the 80’s dystopian near future and modern-action sci-fi. I have created a word for it: ‘Retro-Punk’ - everything seems to be a ‘something punk’ and Retro-Punk seemed to sum it up nicely. You read it here first folks."

"Jessie is a young woman who has spent her life living in the No Go Zones of England working for gangs, scavenging, and anything else she can do to get by. She also has a strange love of her roller boots and is rarely seen without them on her feet! Kane on the other hand is a seven foot tall, genetically-engineered solider who doesn’t like killing anymore, and is presented with the dilemma of being ‘put to sleep’ or going AWOL. Being a bit smarter than your average gorilla, he opts for AWOL, which is when he meets Jessie and they form an odd friendship and embark on many a strange adventure together. "

"This webcomic is going to be bonkers, being put on the spot, I would say it is a female Han Solo with her sort of wookiee sidekick, scamming and fighting their way through the road warrior world of Mad Max with a good dollop of Resident Evil cream and a Steel Dawn cherry on the top. The art is my usual digital and as real-looking as I dare go. It is going to be fun, action packed, thought provoking, and a little bit ‘M’ for mature at times, but don’t let that put you off."

"The webcomic will be updated once a week, every Wednesday, I would do more than that, but the art is not the fastest to produce. The first week - the zero issue if you will - is the title page, and is therefore just a single splash page. I thought this would introduce the first story and give people a chance to have a look about the webcomic’s site. There is loads on there, wallpapers, cube-ecrafts, character and world information, etc."

There we have it - issue #0 is out NOW - click here to view - to be followed by issue #1 next Wednesday, and every Wednesday subsequently.

Star Wars Legacy #1 Reviewed

Continuing his fantastic ongoing series of reviews, friend of Escape from Tomorrow Simon Breeze has written at length about his love of Star Wars and Dark Horse's recent reissue of a first issue from a popular series.

Star Wars Legacy #1

“The Jedi Temple is attacked, an Emperor is betrayed, and the Sith are born anew! A lot can happen in a hundred years, but all of the above happens just in this first issue! Not since Luke Skywalker first stepped aboard the Millennium Falcon has the galaxy seemed like such a vast, exciting, dangerous place!”
[Source]

For continuity and canon, the Star Wars universe can be a very complicated place indeed! Star Wars: Legacy is quite cleverly set 130 years after the first Star Wars film, A New Hope. This has given it the flexibility to almost 'start again' without getting bogged down in all of the established Star Wars Expanded Universe ('EU'), or the current George Lucas vision of the saga via multiple re-envisions of the films and TV shows (Known as 'G'-level canon, see what I mean by complicated).

For me, I am one of those irritating Star Wars fans who likes what he likes and ignores the rest; kind of making up my own canon for the saga as I go. I often feel that the Star Wars universe is so vast and encompassing and has so many characters that you could go out of your mind trying to keep up with it all. I guess this is my way of saying I'm a little fussy when it comes to new Star Wars material, and I wont lie, maybe sceptical and a little difficult to please too.

Something that caught my attention, and sadly far too late to jump on-board with the monthly comic release of the story, was Star Wars: Legacy. Although the comic run started in 2006 and ended in late 2010 (and is about to get a new mini-series called War early 2011), my introduction to it was several years into the run and oddly via a two pack of Star Wars action figures packed with a comic. The action figures were of two of the most popular characters from the Star Wars: Legacy title, Darth Talon and Cade Skywalker and the comic packed with the figures was issue #2. A quick read of issue #2 was all I needed to peak my interest in the comic series (and yes you maybe sensing a 'but') but I wasn't convinced enough to invest in the collected edition, I needed more before I was ready to take that plunge (see, sceptical and a little difficult to please!).

Fast-forward to this year and the ongoing and brilliant trend for comic publishers to re-print first issue for a Dollar, and I have issue #1 of Star Wars: Legacy in my mits!

When I ordered this first issue, I must admit, I had a mixed bag of feelings towards it before it had even arrived on my doorstep. Something happened to Star Wars back in 1999 with the release of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace: it changed. Now this might sound like an obvious thing to say, but stick with me for a moment whilst I rant. Before 1999, Star Wars was all about Science Fiction and Fantasy adventure, action and fun. With the release of the three new films, Star Wars became about politics, and this bled into everything!

No longer were the Star Wars comics and books spawning from the Star Wars universe about strange aliens, cool spaceships and roguish space adventurous saving the beautiful princess and the galaxy. No, it was now all about some unpronounceable Jedi, Sith, alien or planet and the politics of how they all get along - or don't get along - and was it me or does everyone now have a lightsaber of some description? For some folk, this works and it is loved dearly. For me? I like my Star Wars to be about the fun and adventure in a galaxy far, far away (it's my age).

This was my concern: was Star Wars Legacy politics or adventure? I'm happy to say – both!

This first issue starts in the thick of things with the last of the Jedi battling Stormtrooprs and Sith as the Jedi try to flee for their lives on the planet of Ossus. The Jedi are but a handful against a huge army and things are not looking too promising for their survival.

Against overwhelming odds, Kol Skywalker stands his ground giving the few remaining Jedi, including his son Cade, the time they need to escape before his death. Witnessing his death, Cade is overrun with emotion and leaping into a fighter takes the battle with the Sith into the stars above Ossus. Seemingly killed in the fight, but as did his father, buying valuable time for the (now even smaller) group of Jedi to escape into hyperspace.

Phew! Almost the first three quarters of this comic are action packed! So much so it barely pauses for breath between lightsaber fights and space battles and leaves your head spinning, all good so-far ...

The story now slows the pace for the last few pages whilst it moves location to the planet of Coruscant, the hub of the Star Wars galaxy. That is not to say this last section doesn't have a few panels of action, however its main focus is laying the foundations for political intrigue and backstabbing (Hmmm ... Star Wars politics!). Simply, this is where we are introduced to the 'bad guys' of the story, so a lot of 'Lord this' and 'Emperor that...' and 'Grand Admiral Unpronounceable' debating and scheming about how they are not going to get along.

The book ends with the main bad guy, Darth Krayt, sitting on the throne, the new Emperor of the Star Wars galaxy, almost doing an evil laugh saying, '... My vision of galactic order is not yet reality, but it will be ... It will be...' I kid you not.

Now this last bit sounds like I'm mocking the comic, and being truthful I am, but only because I love all that 'cheesey' bad guy stuff. Darth Krayt is awesome, his is a typical big and scary bad guy with a vision and the will to carry it out, and true to his archetype, he has surrounded himself with fools and goons and needs someone of power to take the mantel of his legacy when he pass on. In this case, the assumed killed in battle Cade Skywalker who Darth Krayt must hunt down and turn to the Darkside of the Force! Brilliant stuff.

Technically the comic is very good. The story and the dialogue are very much classic 'space opera' with plenty of action and adventure thrown in for good measure – much like the original Star Wars films. For those who are fans of the newer Star Wars, there is plenty to get excited about too, lots of planets and people with unpronounceable names, everyone really does seem to have a lightsaber and swinging it plus there is Sith coming out of the woodwork, none of the '... two there are. No more, no less' rule. I don't think I have ever seen so many people tattooed red and black in a Star Wars comic before.

The art is fantastic, very cinematic and popping off the page as you read. You can't help but feel part of the action as it takes place. The panel placing and pacing is really good too, with the amount of action that takes place in this first issue, it could have easily have become stagnant and dull, however the creative team putting the art together have nicely managed to avoid this and instead presented a visual treat.

I'm going to give this comic a strong - yet cautious - 4 out of 5. Cautious? 4 out of 5?

Where was Darth Talon in this issue? She was on the cover and that was it. Could help but feel a little let down by this, a personal point I guess as it is her character along with Cade's that interested me in reading this title.

The politics of the Star Wars galaxy: yes not for me, but for some very important and in this issue at a level that works for me. However, I have a nagging fear that as the story progresses they become very central to the story, this does make me a little cautious.

My last grumble is that even though the story is set 130 years in the future of the Star Wars universe, you still need a good solid knowledge of the Star Wars universe. I grumble about this point from a personal point-of-view, as here was a great opportunity to create a title that anyone could read, instead there is a heavy tug of the apron strings of the already established Star Wars continuity from previous titles. Even me with my knowledge of the Star Wars franchise, still struggled in places to understand what was going on and the relevance of some of the situations: people, places, etc ... that were being referenced throughout the story.

In reality, all minor points, I found this a very enjoyable read, value for money, and yes, I will be picking up the first trade and giving it a go.

That's right, I'm sceptical and a little difficult to please!

Star Wars Legacy #1
One for One Dollar
Story by John Ostrander & Jan Duursemma, script by John Ostrander, Pencils by Jan Duursema, inks by Dan Parsons, colours by Brad Anderson, letters by Michael David Thomas, cover art #1 by Adam Hughes
Published by Dark Horse Comics, 2010

The Sixpenny Murder from Kult Creations - Guest Review by Simon Breeze

I picked this comic up at the Exeter Comic Expo back in September this year, and read the comic within a few days of that event, and I have done several more times since. Why do I feel the need to mention this? I think just to stress, off-the-bat, what a great example of an independently published comic The Sixpenny Murder is.

The story is based on the true events of the Tithebarn Street Outrage that took place in Liverpool in the 1800's and follows, as closely as possible, the real accounts of the event. For those not familiar with the event (and you're not alone there, I was too until I picked up this comic) the 'outrage' took place on the August Bank Holiday in 1874, where Richard and Alice Morgan were suddenly attacked by street thugs: an attack that sadly ended in Richard's death.

Doing a bit of research I found out that this was something of a 'first', an unusual and very unique incident for the time: strangers attacked in daylight, on a major city street by people they didn't know - a random, unprovoked and very violent incident indeed, and the comic reflects this very well within its pages.

There are several very appealing things about this comic. The first is the art, mostly as a comic it is one of the first things you see of course. David Hitchcok's art is fantastic and works brilliantly with John A. Short's writing. The style fits the age it is set in with great panel pacing and angling of the readers view, for black and white art it comes across as almost cinematic at times.

The next thing is John A. Short's writing - again brilliant. His story telling for this tale is bang on. As he states himself '... The important element in telling this story was that we should stick as closely as possible to the details of the case. I'm sure that some of the most lurid parts of the story probably come over as just sensational story-telling devices, but I want to assure the reader that everything of importance is based on reported events ...'. This is great writing, dialogue and pacing. Something else John A. Short also manages to bring to his story telling is the clever way he approaches the attack itself, starting after the event in the prison cell with John 'Holy fly' McCrave after he wakes from a nightmare to confess his sins to Father Bonte before he is hung, and then his telling of his version of the events becomes the story within the comic.

One big thing about this comic that is talked about in the final pages is how the comic came about. The idea of the comic is to tell a story in an engaging and interesting way to young people, the focus of this one being gang and weapon related violence, and try to use it as an example of personal responsibility. There are many parallels with the events of the 1800's that mirror many of todays youth and gang crimes and attitudes within the media towards youths themselves. One example that is sited within the comic is one of the newspaper headings of the day 'City of Savages'. That was used to describe Liverpool after the event, the young people on street corners were demonised by the Tithebarn Outrage as something to be feared and avoided, echoing many of todays news reports.

This is a fantastic comic and well worth the cover price of £1.99. I think every teenager should read it, I'm keeping my copy safe until my little boy is old enough to appreciate it, because I genuinely believe there is an important message within this book he will need to learn.

For everyone who is not a teenager? Well, you need to read it too, simply because it is a great comic, a solid 5 out of 5 for this one.

The Sixpenny Murder
Written by John A. Short, illustrated by David Hitchcock, lettered by JAS, edited by Emily Alison
Published by Kult Creations

You can find out more about The Sixpenny Murder and other Kult Creations publications at their website.

My thanks once again to Simon for his review - you can find more of Simon's work over on his blog. Later in the week, continuing our focus on Kult Creations, we'll be taking a look at another of their titles: Cross.

Warlord of Mars #1 - Guest Review by Simon Breeze

The original warrior of Mars returns from Dynamite!

Warlord of Mars is an enhancement of the Edgar Rice Burroughs story, Princess of Mars! If you thought you knew the story, think again! The series captures the grit and action of the original while expanding on it with new elements. The story is about John Carter, an ex-cavalry officer in the Confederate Army who finds himself mysteriously transported to Mars!

Joining him in his adventures there are Tars Tarkas, his Martian comrade, and Dejah Thoris, a Martin Princess. This series is written by Arvid Nelson and is illustrated by Stephen (Avengers/Invaders) Sadowski and Lui Antonio, and features covers by Alex Ross, J. Scott Campbell, Joe Jusko and Lucio Parrillo!

I'm a huge fan of retro pulp science fiction, especially fantasy science fiction so when I found out that Dynamite were publishing the classic Edgar Rice stories of the War Lord of Mars as comics, I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy and had it added to my pull list right away.

Then the fear set it! What if they mess it up? It is a classic after all, and there seems to be a strong history of stories like this being re-envisioned and turning into a big pile of Martian goo!

The days passed by, and honestly I would lay in bed at night drifting of to sleep dreaming of Martian Moon Princesses and green alien warriors wondering 'Have I made a mistake? Maybe I should cancel the subscription now while I have the chance?' To drift off in to the strange realms of my weird dreams with the final thought being 'It is only costing you a dollar, take a gamble!' Floating into faded thoughts.

Then the day came that settled my nerves and changed my worry to excitement and wishing the days away until my copy arrived. Dynamite posted the cover art on their website, and oh-boy what a treat! A five cover variant, each cover created by the artist in a classic fantasy science fiction style, the likes I haven't seen since I last looked at work by Frank Frazetta or Boris Vallejo - two of my biggest inspirations no less. Not only did they post the covers, but sample pages too! And how amazing did they look!

A week or so later my fevered and impatient wait was over - my comic subscription had arrived!

I took a gamble with the cover, I love them all, however I decided not to specify and let the fates decide. I pealed the packing back, and there it was, the cover I was dreaming of, one of my comic art heroes: J. Scott Campbell! I let out a triumphant whoop! My girlfriend rolled her eyes with an expression on her face of 'nerd' - eleven years of putting up with me you'd think she'd be getting use to it by now. I madly flicked through the pages, trying to take in as much as I could without blowing the story, we've all done that at one time or another, haven't we?

This looked good!

Then I sat down and read it. I couldn't believe it. So I had to read it again, what we're they playing at? I closed the cover, shock on my face. The crazy, crazy fools! They had pulled it off ... in spades!

This comic has checked all of my nerdy fantasy science fiction and comic boxes with a giant fat red marker pen. This has to be one of my favorite first issues for a while now. Arvid Nelson writing is bang on, the way he slips the story telling between Mars and Earth in 1866 is seamless, you never find yourself questioning any of it, no matter how 'fantasy' it gets. Stephen Sadowski art fits the story perfectly, again, right at home drawing cowboys and the wild-west as he is drawing the savage plains of Mars and alien creatures. The combination of the entire creative team behind this comic have click brilliantly to put together a wonderful story and reading experience.

The warlord of Mars is now a permanent item on my comic pull list, not only that I'll be getting the trade for sure. I can even see myself hunting down those variant covers as well.

A solid, ray-gun totting, scantly clad moon-princess rescuing 5 out of 5.

Warlord of Mars #1
Written by Arvid Nelson, pencilled/inked by Stephen Sadowski, coloured by Adriano Lucas, lettered by Troy Peteri
Cover Variants by Alex Ross (30%), Joe Jusko (30%), J. Scott Campbell (30%), Lucio Parrillo (10%)
Published by Dynamite Entertainment


Thanks to Simon for another enjoyable review - you can check out Simon's blog to see more of his work including a couple of features on the recent Bristol-CON10 event.

Skull Kickers #1 - Guest Review by Simon Breeze

This first issue of Skull Kickers is really fun. It follows two mercenaries, who remain nameless throughout the issue, and their adventures in a fantasy realm. We join them "James Bond" style at the end of their last adventure, fighting a pudgy werewolf and his cult followers.

Chubby werewolf and cult dispatched, we are then introduced to the pairs next adventure starting in the amusingly titled, Gizzard Inn. It is here that we discover that as helpful as our heroes are, their help is not wanted by the town and it would be best all round if they would just leave.

Before our two unlikely heroes can decide what to do, they are interrupted by the visit and untimely death of the Chancellor at the hands of a mysterious assassin who they confront and after a bit of a skirmish, escapes them.

The day passes and the circumstances surrounding the Chancellors death become more and more suspicious, thus leading to his aid hiring our two mercenary heroes to help him recover the Chancellors body from the town who are suspiciously holding it, 'pending further investigation'.

During our heroes twilight liberation attempt of the Chancellors body, they encounter a band of mysterious men who are stealing dead bodies too, and just to confuse matters further, the are being lead by a huge hulking mutant...

...To be continued!.

As I stated at the start, I found Skull Kickers a really fun read. The two unnamed characters who are the stories heroes are very likable and need little introduction. One is a huge 'gun slinging' human, the other a very angry red haired, axe twirling dwarf. The relationship between the two is believable and leads to some nice one liners and 'slap-stick' moments. For example, when they need to get to the Chancellors assassin who is hiding at the top of a high watch tower quickly, the large human tosses the smaller dwarf like a sack of potatoes up the side of the tower. Another example of this is when they kill the porky werewolf with a silver tea spoon, as only silver can kill a werewolf!

Jim Zubkavich's story is very good, it is such an easy read, you could easily miss just how much is going on within it. Woven within the main part of the story arc are lots of subtle threads to watch out for, some are casual throw-away lines, some are a bit more obvious. Some examples of this is the fact that the arrow used to kill the Chancellor was poisoned, as if being shot through the eye wasn't enough. The bodies thieves in the cliff-hanger ending which seem to have no relevance to the story, or even the mysterious assassin, who is there one panel and forgotten the next. All very intriguing stuff, leading you to believe there is a lot more going on than first meets the eye.

Chris Stevens and Edwin Huang's art is nice and 'chunky' and fits the story telling well, and coupled with Misty Coats's crisp and cell styled colouring, it gives the comic (in a good way) an almost 'animated' feel (a bit like watching a cool cartoon).

Overall a very good, fast paced and fun packed fantasy adventure, with lots of potential looking forward. If it has one negative, it would be that the fantasy world and characters you encounter are very 'of the genre' and in this issue they pull very few surprises. However, that is not such a bad thing as it is what you would most likely expect from a new fantasy comic title. This also gives the writer the space to focus in the first issue on the story, as you already know what to expect from a generic fantasy realm and its inhabitants.

I'm going to give this a 4 out of 5, it's good and it's got the potential to be really good. Plus it has an awesome title too!

Skull Kickers #1
One Thousand Opas and a Dead Body - Part One
Story by Jim Zubkavich, cover by Chris Stevens, pencils by Chris Stevens & Edwin Huang, inks by Edwin Huang, colours by Misty Coats and letters by Marshall Dillon
Published by Image Comics, $2.99


As always, my sincere thanks to Simon for taking time to review another book for us. Like Simon I also read and enjoyed this first issue of Skull Kickers - in many ways the relationship between the two central characters reminded me of the relationship between Asterix and his dear friend Obelix from the charming The Adventures of Asterix tales.

Don't forget you can find out more about Simon Breeze's work by visiting his blog or catching him in person in a couple of weeks time at Bristol-CON10.

Star Wars Blood Ties #1: Guest Review by Simon Breeze

Star Wars: Blood Ties #1

Written by Tom Taylor with art by Chris Scalf and letters by Michael Heisler
Published by Dark Horse

Here begins a multigenerational tale of honor and redemption, starring two of the heaviest hitters in the Star Wars galaxy-the father-and-clone team of Jango and Boba Fett!

Shortly before the start of the Clone Wars, Count Dooku sends Jango Fett on a mission that will affect the course of Boba Fett's life some twenty years later. But for now, neither of them knows what the future holds in store, and besides, they have their schedule filled dodging monsters and fighting bad guys!" - DarkHorse.com

Okay, off the bat, I'm a huge fan of Star Wars and unlike some of the fans of the saga I have no issues with the EU (Expanded Universe) - in fact I love it. 'Blood Ties' is a great comic and testament as to why the EU is such a fantastic way to explore the Star Wars universe, not tied down to just George Lucas's vision of how things should be, the EU has the freedom of many of the worlds greatest creators working on some of the best science fiction & fantasy stories about. These creators have the time and breathing space to explore characters and places that will never get the screen time on any of the television shows or films.

One of my all time favorite Star Wars characters is Boba Fett (try prising that action figure from my hand when I was a kid, in fact give it a go now!), and one of the best things to come out of the three new films is the character of Jango Fett, Boba's clone 'Father'. This comic starts around sometime before the Star Wars film "A New Hope" the actual time frame is given in the comic of being set between 1,000 and 0 years before the battle of Yavin (the big spaceship battle around the Death Star at the end of A New Hope), not very helpful at all? Well, if you have watched the films and read any of the EU comics, books or played the video games before, you know this is in fact quite a narrow time line for these characters and events, and as a reader you can easily place them in a lose period in the timeline of the Star Wars films and EU.

As I said, the comic opens with Boba Fett trapped in a room surrounded by 'bad' guys (being classed as one himself it is difficult to say for sure at this point just how bad they are), and a huge monster called a Rancor at his back (the monster that tries to eat Luke Skywalker in The Return of the Jedi beneath Jabba the Hutts palace) and things don't look to promising for our uber cool gadget-armoured bounty hunter. The comic now goes into a flashback (and by flashback I mean the rest of the comic), to a time when Boba was a young boy and still with his father Jango being taught the ways of the bounty hunter.

The rest of the comic follows the story of Boba's training at his fathers hands and Jango's hunt for a troublesome informer that could scupper the well laid plans of Count Dooku to overthrow the Republic (which clearly sets this part of the story not to far away from the events of the film 'Attack of the Clones'). Throughout the comic we get to see some familiar creatures, characters and places and the awesome spaceship, Slave 1 in a bit of action too. The first part of this four part run ends (and what feels all to soon) with a nice twisty cliff hanger, awesome stuff.

I think this comic is one of the best Star Wars ones I have read for the most part of this year. You could puff your cheeks out and sigh at the re-used formula of Jango and Boba doing the 'father and son thing' again, it is used a lot in the EU for these two characters, but that is what makes them great. Boba and Jango only work as the 'loner' or as the 'father and son' character, obviously dependent on the story and time setting, so to hell with it. I think it is a great formula and Tom Taylor's writing, both story and dialogue, are bang on.

Visually the story is very impressive, Chris Scalf's art is amazing and is fully painted throughout the comic giving it a realistic feel that really brings the page to life, it is almost like your watching a film in your head. His great use of lighting and colour on the page adds a real mood to the work that allows you to smoothly transit from scene to scene with no effort. While on topic of Chris Scalf's art, his cover is brilliant, a quick glance at it and you could be fooled into thinking it was a photo, real great stuff.

You may already know where this is going, a solid five out of five, anyone will enjoy this comic, Star Wars fan or not. I will go even further than that, if you know any Star Wars fan that doesn't 'buy-into' the EU, give them this to read, they will love it.


As always, my thanks to Simon for another great review - Dark Horse have published a number of preview pages from this comic book over on their website while if you'd like to find out more about Simon Breeze's writing and artwork portfolio head on over to his blog.

Torchwood #1: Guest Review by Simon Breeze

I'm delighted to present another 'guest review' from artist and writer Simon Breeze - this time it's not a title I personally would have picked up without his recommendation, but having done so I was glad I did ...

Torchwood #1

The Selkie
Story by John Barrowman & Carole E. Barrowman
Art by Tommy Lee Edwards & Trevor Goring
Lettering by John Workman

Broken, Part One
Story by Gary Russell
Art by Adrian Salmon
Lettering by John Workman


This is the first official comic from the popular Sci-Fi television show Torchwood. If you know little about it or have never seen it before, Torchwood is about a team of agents (called the Torchwood Institute, or simply just Torchwood) charged by royal appointment with protecting Earth from space- and time-traveling aliens. The team operate outside of the law and of the government and seem to pretty much do as they please to get the job done, the reason for this being that they were formed by Queen Victoria in 1879 after a less then joyful encounter with an alien (namely The Doctor from the television show Doctor Who). This leads to an adult (in every sense of he word) television series with one foot heavily based in British culture and the other in the often bonkers world of time travel and interesting visitors and monsters from other worlds.

So where does the comic fit into all this?

Quite well actually!

There are two stories in this fantastic first issue of Torchwood. The first is called "Selkie" and could be set anywhere in the show's continuity (series four is being filmed as I write this) and there is no real indication in the story as to where it sits. However this doesn't affect it in anyway due to its nature. Story 2 - called "Broken" - is clearly set between the television shows second and third series and unlike the one shot Selkie, is the first in a five part run.

Where to begin the review then?

I'll start with a general overview ... It is about flippin' time!

This is first comment about the comic I'd like to make. The nature of the Torchwood show, its characters and encounters makes it perfect for comics. So my next question is an obvious one, but just why has it taken so long? Who knows? However the wait has paid off. The issue starts with a forward introducing the comic and it's two stories (by John Barrowman, one of the stars of the television show and contributing writer to this issue) followed by the one shot "Selkie" and then the first of the five part story "Broken." The issue has four different covers and is twenty-eight pages long (with only one of those being given over to advertising) so all good, and fingers crossed that the two story content continues in the following issues of the comic, I really liked this feature.

On with the first story then, Selkie.

Selkie is written by John Barrowman and his sister Carole E. Barrowman and is labeled as "A Captain Jack Tale" and as such focuses on the Torchwood teams leader, Captain Jack Harkness. The story starts with Jack arriving by helicopter at Seal Island to investigate the mysterious discovery of several of the the towns men found washed up skinned on the islands beaches. It isn't long before Jack has figured out that it is monster called a "Selkie," an old Scottish mythical creature that is said to haunt the oceans of Seal island that is killing the men. As the story progresses it comes to light that the creature is in fact an alien that Jack brought to Earth many years ago from a dying world, and now he has to clean his mess up. The story then begins to twist further when he also starts to suspect the women of the island are involved with the deaths too.

This story is brilliant and is worth the cover price of $3.99 alone. The story is dark and has a few twists and turns that keeps you engaged from the first to the last page. Helping the story along is the fantastic art of Tommy Lee Edwards & Trevor Goring, their work really brings the rain soaked island in the cold north of Scotland to life just as much as it does the bright and dying alien world on the other side of the galaxy. It is fantastic, I can't praise this story enough, it really backs up my earlier statement that Torchwood lends itself well to comics.


Now onto the second story, Broken.

Broken is written by Gary Russell and is illustrated by Adrian Salmon and is quite different - but equally enjoyable - to the first story Selkie. This is not to say it is bad, however the stories and the art are very different to one another. Broken sees the return of an old Torchwood "bad guy" called Bilis Manger who traps the team in a temporal prison within a hotel built for the "Rift" (a rip in space and time that is located in Cardiff, South Wales), implying that it is capable of thought and self awareness. The team split up (Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones & Gwen Cooper) and become lost in the shifting and changing rooms of the hotel. The first part ends with the team being sucked into the Rift and Jack being told just before hand that the Rift is looking for something and if he can findout what it is and give it to it, then they may just survive.

Again, another good story, Gary Russell real knows his Torchwood, lots of little hat tips throughout the story and the characterisations are very good also. The first part ends on a great cliff-hanger which will leave you curious about just what is going on? Adrian Salmon's art is very stylised and my first read took me some getting into (remember, art is a subjective thing) however upon my second read, the art worked a charm, it is bright, colourful and chunky and it really works well with the story. So as with Selkie, another fantastic story.


I am going to give this comic a 4 out of 5, it was a really enjoyable read and it is great to finally see Torchwood hitting the comic presses. The only thing I would say against it (hence the 4) is that if you are not a watcher of the show, you may find yourself struggling in places. None the less, I still believe that there is enough story and suspense to engage even a casual viewer of Torchwood, and as for the fans like myself? Well, all I can say is this is what we have been waiting for, go out and buy it now!


As I say, thanks to Simon for another great review. Unlike Simon I've never seen Torchwood and I must say I certainly enjoyed reading this title. I found the first story - Selkie - more accessible to me as a 'non-watcher' than the second: as much as I quite enjoyed the Broken story I did, on occasions, find myself puzzling to understand just what was going on. I think as Simon has demonstrated in his review, some background knowledge certainly enhances the storyline.

Don't forget you can find more of Simon's writing and artwork at his DeviantArt site as well as his work and family blog.

Murderland #1: Guest Review by Simon Breeze

Guest contributor Simon Breeze returns with another contribution to Escape from Tomorrow, this time with a review of the first issue of a new series from Image Comics.

Murderland #1
If I was asked to summarise the first issue of Murderland, I would simply say that ‘It is most certainly not what you think it is going to be.’ And why would you say that, Simon?

Good question, I’m glad you asked!

The comic starts off quite well (not to say that it declines, read on and it will make sense) and you are sure you have a grasp on the characters that are being introduced, one of which is a female assassin called Method. Method is so called because of her chosen killing style, this being that she assumes a character needed to lure her target and then kills them, the name Method coming in for the reason that she really embraces the role she takes on, much like a method actor would, physically and mentally.

We are introduced to this via a narrated story where we see Method assume a character, lure in and kill a guy we are lead to presume is a target she is being paid to eliminate - this is never explained however it is implied later in the comic when her boyfriend questions her lifestyle and how she pays for it with ‘ill gotten gains’.

You with me? All good so far? Ace, I will continue.

Next we are introduced to the boyfriend, like I said who up to this point has been narrating the story, he is called Arabber (which means street merchant or entrepreneur - I had to look it up too!) and reluctantly he seems to be tangled up in his girlfriends work as his attempt to be an Arabber like his father ‘Didn’t work out’ for him. Next we are taken to the pairs next target who it is revealed later in the comic is a retired Mossad (the Israelis Intelligence Agency). The Mossad lives in a big house guarded by a group of your stereotypical goons who are quickly dispatched by Method, much to the horror of Arabber.

Now this is where things start to get more than a little confusing.

Method encounters another ‘assassin’ in the house and the most bizarre fight breaks out between them both which by the end leaves you scratching your head for a number of reasons. The first of which is you never get a clear impression of which of the assassins was actually there to kill the Mossad, was it both or in fact was one there to kill him and the other protect him? Who at this point knows?

The second reason, after unleashing a mix of fighting styles and weapons upon the other assassin, Method suddenly sprouts pointy bones from her knees and fingers, very much like the character Marrow from the X-Men and pins the other guy to the wall with them, yet leaves him alive for no clear reason (I’ll come back to this in a moment).

The next reason you’re scratching your head is Arabber, not only is he peppered with more knives than a porcupine has quills by the other assassin, he is also gutted like a fish at one point, literally his entrails spilling all over the place, yet Method carries him off at the end, still falling to bits, but still alive?

Finally, just as you thought the confusion was over, you suddenly find out via two new characters (FBI, CIA or Police agents maybe, again something left unanswered) that they are trying to find Method, the perfect assassin who never leaves anyone alive, until now that is, which is the other assassin, who strangely isn’t talking other than telling them to go find an ‘Arabber’.

Okay, it sounds like I’m bashing it doesn’t it?

Well, I’m not. Murderland takes one of two routes open to a first issue comic, tell a complete story and make it a good one so people will come back for more. Or tell the start of a story, make it compelling and leave a lot of loose ends so that the reader is so intrigued that they come back for more. Murderland clearly takes the second approach.

The story by Stephen Scott is a good one, with plenty to think about and maybe even read into, I feel if it suffers from one thing it is that he is playing the long game, writing for the trade. However in today’s comic market, that’s not a bad thing at all, it is how I read a lot of my comics now, so how can I complain?
David Hahn and Guillem’s art works well with the story, it’s fun and stylised, which keeps it light where a more ‘realistic’ art would make some of the fighting pretty horrific, it is also well panelled and paced and pops of the page when it needs to. Now having praised David Hahn and Guillem’s art, I have to say I’m a huge fan of Boo Cook’s artwork and have been for many years now, so I’m going to have to give his flip cover the award for my favourite of the two.

So I guess to finish on, would I buy anymore of this title? Yes I would, it is a fascinating and fast paced story, and with a quick read of Boo Cook’s blog I’ve managed to find out a bit more to the background of the story and where it is heading (which if I’m being honest at this point, I have had to do a lot of poking about on the internet with this comic, which I believe you shouldn’t have to do, it should be in the story. Any-who a minor point - moving on).

I would give this issue a 4 out of 5, the reason I wouldn’t give it top marks is that the story feels a little ‘messy’ in places, for lack of a better word, almost like there are too many loose threads being thrown out at the reader without enough explanation.

Murderland #1
Set the Method Down, Part One
Published by Image Comics
Story by Stephen Scott, art by David Hahn, colours by Guillem Mari, cover by David Hahn & Guillem Mari with a flip cover by Boo Cook


As always, my sincere thanks to Simon for another fine contribution to Escape from Tomorrow - remember, you can find Simon's work on his deviantArt site as well as his work and personal blog.

If, like Simon, you'd be interested in submitting a occasional piece for publication - a review, preview article, or news feature - then drop me an email, I'd be very happy to hear from you.

One Dollar Comic Books

Over recent months I've been picking up a number of $1 'special edition' comic books - Deadpool, Jack of Fables, Ex Machina to name just three. These reissued tales are intended as an opportunity for the reader to 'dip a toe in the water' before deciding whether to pick up a regular priced monthly or collected edition.

These promotions have worked really well for me - they've given me a chance to try some titles I wouldn't normally buy and then once I've read them I've been able to 'recycle' them onto friends and family with a 'you might like this ' - and, unsurprisingly, I'm not alone in my appreciation ...

Alias and Scalped - Guest Review by Simon Breeze

Alias
Written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Michael Gaydos and Matt Hollingsworth, letters by Richard Starkings & ComicCraft's Oscar Gongora
Published by Marvel Comics

Scalped
Written by Jason Aaron with art by R.M. Guera and Lee Loughridge, letters by Phil Balsman and a cover by Jock
Published by Vertigo Comics

As you read this you may or may not be aware of Marvel's Greatest Comics, a fantastic idea where you can pick up the first chapter of some of Marvel's most acclaimed publications for only a dollar (yes, a dollar!). What does this mean for us the reader? It means something that I think is a stroke of genius. Marvel are publishing the first issue of each run of comics associated to a popular graphic novel or traded addition of some of its most popular stories such as Marvel Zombies, Agent of Atlas, 1602, Hellblazer, Scalped, Alias and many more. As a reader this offers us a unique chance to relive those stories we loved or as a new reader, I guess, 'try before we buy'. The two comics that I'm looking at are Marvel's Alias and Vertigo's Scalped.

I'm going to start with Alias, and if your wondering, no, it has no connections to the T.V. show. Alias follows the character of Jessica Jones of Alias Investigations and as a comic falls under the Max Comics titles, so is pretty graphic in places and free with the language too. So if you are easily offend by such things, off the bat, I'd say this is one for you to miss.

The first issue neatly introduces the reader to the complicated world and equally complicated character of Jessica Jones, your more-than-average private investigator. It then looks to set up an intriguing story that continues into the following issues, of what seems to be a straightforward case of a missing person which takes a curious twist right before the end of the issue and leaves you wanting more.

So what did I think?

I thought it was brilliant.

I have already looked into purchasing volume one of the trades, so my hat off to Marvel, and job done as far as I'm concerned. The character of Jessica Jones is an fascinating one that I feel compelled to get to know better. Not only that, something that took me by surprise was that she lives in the Marvel Universe, which in itself sounds like an odd statement. Isn't this obvious? It is a Marvel title after all? Well No. My point is this. I've read a lot of Marvel, and I tend to find with a character of this nature, they are very good at 'distancing' them from the main stream characters. But not Alias: Jessica Jones and her world sit slap bang right in the middle of it, which just makes the story all the more interesting.

I loved this comic and I was hungry for more the moment I put it down and my comment of looking into buying volume one of the trades is a genuine one. A big five out of five for this book.

This takes me into my second comic, the disturbingly titled, Scalped.

The comic is issue one for the story Indian Country and follows the shaven headed, nunchuck twirling, foul-mouthed and hard as nails, Dashiell Bad Horse as he is recruited into the ranks of a Native American 'mobsters' outfit who hold control of Dashiell's old reservation. The mob seem to be into the usual thing of drugs, guns, murder and casinos and the reservation they govern over appears to be rundown and populated by drunks and the the dregs of their culture.

Dashiell is returning to this life after many years away, and through one thing and another ends up working for Red Crow, the untouchable head of the mob and governor for the reservation. Once in his employ as an enforcer of the law, Dashiell's skills and nasty temperament are quickly put to work amongst the population where he encounters familiar faces from his past. The journey ends with a bit of a twist that sheds a new light on Dashiell's actions and his want to return to the world he left behind all those years ago.

At first glance at the awesome cover by Jock I though Scalped would rock my world, a nunchuck wielding Indian? How could it fail? However upon reading my opinion changed a little. Scalped is a very harsh comic, it is very violent and full of angst, to be honest, I didn't expect anything less. Where I struggled was with it being set in a Native American reservation, something I know very little about, add to this the amount of Indian culture involved and it made it a tough read and very difficult for me to get into and relate to the characters.

That is the one drawback for this comic, which I believe sits on my shoulders for my naivety to that culture and way of life, and it is something I only mention in this review as I feel I may not be alone as a new reader to the world of Scalped to feel this way.

Putting this aside, the comic is very well written and illustrated, with fantastic pacing and action scenes, and you can't help but hate the main character of Dashiell Bad horse, which is the point of the story. Dashiell is mean, nasty and merciless as he brutally makes his presence felt amongst the population of the reservation. There is a big story there with a really rich cast of characters that begs for more attention than one chapter can possibly give. With this in mind, I would want to read more of Scalped, as it is something I think I would enjoy a great deal given time with the characters and their world, so I am going to keep my eye out for the graphic novel - Indian Country - and give it a spin.

I am going to give the stand alone first chapter of Scalped an odd rating of a four out of five for the unread future chapters of the graphic novel, as I can see the fantastic potential this story and these characters have.


Once again, my sincere thanks to Simon for another great contribution to Escape from Tomorrow - remember, you can find Simon's work on his new deviantArt site as well as his work and personal blog.

If, like Simon, you'd be interested in submitting a occasional piece for publication - a review, preview article, or news feature - then drop me an email, I'd be happy to hear from you.

Daredevil Cage Match: Guest Review by Simon Breeze

The title of this comic says it all, Cage Match. The story is a simple concept, who would win in a fight between the Man Without Fear - Daredevil - and the Hero for Hire - Luke Cage? The story very much reminds me of the end of the Rocky III movie, where Apollo and Rocky climb into the ring together for a friendly boxing match to prove who really is the best.

The story starts with Luke Cage and Daredevil patrolling the streets and alleyways of Hells Kitchen when Daredevil 'senses' a mugging a few blocks off. Being the faster of the two, he makes it to the crime scene first and takes out all but one of the muggers. This final and inexperienced mugger catches Daredevil off guard and pulls a gun on him, and whilst Daredevil starts to talk the nervous thug out of shooting him, Luke Cage arrives and intervenes by crushing the gun in the thugs hand as it fires - Cage believes he has saved Daredevil's life, while Daredevil himself sees things a little differently. The resulting disagreement between the two heroes ends with them agreeing to fight one-another for charity to see who really is the best. The rest of the story revolves around the fight that takes place between the two men at Fogwell's Gym, where there is more going on than there first appears.

I really like this One-Shot, cover to cover it is a really nice read. The cover is brilliant, and the first thing you encounter upon turning that front page is an old style boxing poster depicting the fight between Daredevil and Luke Cage, that sets the whole feel for the comic before you have even started to read it. Following that great poster, the story starts with the caption in the first panel 'Some time ago' which perfectly sums up this story to me. I couldn't help but feel a little nostalgia whilst reading it, it really did come across as a comic I would have read years ago, unburdened by years of Marvel universe and Daredevil continuity it just flows off the page like a comic from the past.

There-in lies the crux of this One-Shot, because of the way the comic reads and is styled it is a victim of its own brilliance. What do I mean by this? Simply that you pick it up, read it, love it, put it down and forget about it. For me, that is the perfect One-Shot, and it is what I believe they're designed to be: a 'fire and forget'. For people who might be looking for a longer lasting resonance from the comic once they have put it down, you could be a little disappointed with what this story has to offer.

For me however, this is a brilliant One-Shot, and I give it a solid four out of five.

Daredevil Cage Match
Written by Antony Johnston, pencils by Sean Chen, inks by Sandu Florea, colours by Matt Hollingsworth, VC's Joe Caramagna, cover by Ed McGuinness
Published by Marvel Comics, May 2010, $2.99

Cloak and Dagger: Guest Review by Simon Breeze

Last weekend, while at the Bristol International Comic & Small Press Expo, I had the pleasure of meeting-up and sharing a very quick lunch with locally-based writer and artist Simon Breeze. Over our lunch Simon was able to bring me up to speed on his ongoing projects - including his work on his comic The Doorway - as well as talk about the success of the Doctor Who story that he wrote and illustrated, Doctor Who and the Edge of Forever, which has been published at Myebook and viewed an incredible 26,000 times in just nine months.

Once again, I'm indebted to Simon for his ongoing contributions to Escape from Tomorrow ...

Cloak and Dagger: The Broken Church

This Marvel One-Shot is set in the world of the ever-popular X-Men, so as a reader of the X-Men the two characters came as a bit of a surprise. Now, I might just being a bit naïve, the X-Men universe is a huge place spanning many years and media platforms, you just can’t keep up with it all and I take my hat off to those that do. It was a pleasant surprise; no scrub that, a brilliant surprise when I started to read this book none the less, the two new characters (well new to me) are very easy to like and in a way relate too.

The story follows what at first appears to be a simple enough plot, Dagger (Tandy Bowen) and Cloak (Tyrone Johnson) are ‘in’ with the X-Men, Dagger is introduced to us via a training scenario in the Danger Room as part of a team of X-Men students for example. We very quickly learn that their powers are not from the mutant X gene, neither are mutants, which upset Dagger a great deal.

From this point on the story expands very quickly to reveal the symbiotic relationship between the two characters of Cloak and Dagger and their feelings of isolation and their struggle to just fit in, be with mutants or humans alike. Interwoven with this story thread is a plot about a group that is brainwashing mutants Clock Work Orange style to not use their powers. Chuck in a few relationship issues, a fight, Dagger wearing a costume that makes Power Girls look like the most practical one ever designed and a bit of a tear-jerker ending and you have your One Shot.

And what a One Shot it is, the art is breath taking, the page layouts are effortless to follow, the story hooks you in right away, the characters are likeable, the lettering is brilliant and Wolverine does not appear in this issue. I would really enjoy reading more about these two and finding out how things work out for them, so more please Marvel if you don’t mind.

I give this One Shot a solid 5 out of 5, with the vaguest knowledge of the X-Men you can pick this up and really enjoy it, and it left me wanting more, so what more can you ask for?

By the way, my Wolverine comment, I love the character and it was my way of saying, it was refreshing to read an X-Men centric comic that he didn’t make an appearance in, not even in the background.

Cloak and Dagger: The Broken Church
Story by Stuart Moore with pencils by Mark Brooks, inks by Walden Wong, colours by Emily Warren and lettered by Dave Sharpe
Published by Marvel Comics


Like Simon, I thought Cloak and Dagger was an excellent read: I'm not sure of Marvels plans for further Cloak and Dagger stories but I'd be very keen to read more.

Devil #1 - Guest Review by Simon Breeze

A vampire virus rages through Japan and only one man stands in its way - welcome to the world of Devil!

I am now about to cheat in writing this review as I can't sum up the story any better than the inside page of issue one of this action horror, so here is the blurb from the issue itself:

A virus is raging across the planet, turning people into bloodsucking super-humans referred to as "Devils." Most victims die within days, sometimes months, but there's a new strain, a new class of devil that threatens to overtake mankind with power and blood-thirst. This new class of Devils derives from an experiment to clone a virus victim, and it looks like science has created a true monster this time. Can Takimoto and the Devil Investigation Section of Tokyo police force stop this societal scourge?

This is a really great story that is well illustrated too, reading this comic was like watching an anime in high definition in my head!

The main characters, Takimoto and Migiwa are quite 'generic' for the manga genre, however this is a good thing, right away you know who these two characters are and where they are coming from with almost no introduction other than the first few panels in which they appear. The stroke of genius comes in with the Devils, they are very manga, yet very different too, the contrast of this against the two main human characters works really well; predictability vs mysterious, this means your never in your comfort zone, despite feeling like you should be and your not to sure what you will encounter on the next page when you turn it, brilliant stuff.

The story is very fast paced and action packed with short pauses for breath to let the previous panels sink in, this gives the story a chance to build nicely amongst all of the roof top running, car chasing, mad shooting and fisty-cuffs that takes place. If I was asked to sum this story up in one sentence, it would be this, '28 days later with Vampires instead of Zombies.' The story is fast, gritty and real and also elevates the vampire from the over diluted puddle of the genre they have become into something new, very much as the aforementioned 28 days Later did with zombies.

Having praised the comic so highly I am now going to throw in a negative or two (however one in my head it is a positive), if you have recently purchased a copy of the Twilight manga and are looking for one to follow it up, I'm sorry (no, I really am) this is not one for you. Within these pages you will find no pale faced and just wanting to be loved because I'm just misunderstood and twinkle in the sunlight two-hundred year old pretty school boys (shame). Instead you will find nail biting, head spinning edge of the seat action that adds a fantastic new spin on the vampire genre. The other disappointment with Devil is this, after reading only one issue I am saddened as there is only a four issue run! Four! Dam you Dark Horse! (You have to picture me shaking my fist in the air in rage and going, 'Grrrrrrr! As you read this bit). Even after reading one issue I would love to see this story taken further, much further than only four issues can take us.

I give Devil a solid 4 out of 5, why not 5? Mostly because of the short four issue run, the other reason is speech bubbling and captions, it is an annoyance with a westernised manga, the bubbles and caption boxes are always way to big for the text they contain, this I sometimes feel a little jarring upon reading. This is a personal and small thing, I do understand why it is this way, however this combine with the limited run smudges it down just enough to take it to a really high 4, if there is such a thing?

Devil
Story and Art by Torajiro Kishi and Madhouse Studios
Published by Dark Horse Comics

More on Devil at Dark Horse Comics.

As always, my sincere thanks to Simon for another great contribution. Remember, you can find Simon's work on his deviantArt site as well as his work and family blog.

If, like Simon, you'd be interested in submitting a occasional piece for publication - a review, article, or news - then drop me an email, I'd be happy to hear from you.

Chase Variant One Shot (Is All I Need) - Guest Review by Simon Breeze

I've been curious about the character of Chase Variant ever since I saw an image of her on a web site the writer Rich Johnston runs called, Bleeding Cool - www.bleedingcool.com. What caught my attention was the fact that Chase is a four armed leather-clad woman and she was blasting away with a nasty looking gun in each hand, it just look so dammed cool! So when the opportunity to read issue one came along, I couldn't wait.

Chase Variant is a difficult comic to sum-up with just a few words, the main story itself is not that complicated, however the world in which it takes place in is, and there is the crux of it. Chase is a modified, cloned assassin, whom fights against other clone assassins, who themselves can be modified in one way or another. Chase for example we discover in this issue alone has six lungs, four arms, two hearts and can repair physical damage to herself with a jolt of power. It doesn't end there either, some of the assassins are aliens, some huge monsters, the list goes on. That is something I really liked about the comic, really, really imaginative and convincing characters throughout the story, you never find yourself once, no matter who bizarre the character, saying, 'That character just doesn't fit the story!' There is good reason for all of it.

I genuinely cannot describe the story anymore than that without writing a huge spoiler right here, and I don't wish to do that as I think it is such a great concept it would be a shame to ruin it for anyone who has not as yet had the chance to read it.

What did I think of this comic then?

Brilliant!

The story is one of the most inventive and original that I have read in a while. Very quickly you find yourself pulled into the world of Chase Variant and intrigued as to where it is all going. The dialogue fits the characters and story perfectly and the art is great from cover to cover. I couldn't fault this comic even if I wanted to, it is genuinely that good. One of my bad reading habits is that I read mostly everything in trade, one advantage being that I don't have to suffer cliffhanger endings to much, believe me with this book I am suffering, and big! But cliffhanger is the wrong word to use, as it isn't a cliffhanger ending in the comic, the story is all done for the book, the world and the characters are not, and that is where I'm struggling, like a caffeine addict twitching away waiting for my next fix of coffee. What is going to happen to Chase next and how is the story going to progress from here? Two huge burning questions I was left with upon finishing this issue. So the writer and artists have done their job, get me the next issue NOW!

I would quite simply recommend this comic to anyone who can read, and if they can't read they should buy it anyway and look at the great art, I joke. If you like comics, pick this one up, you will enjoy it and want more when you are done reading it, I've already read it three times so far myself. I would give this comic an outstanding five out of five, a great first issue, I just hope that the guys can keep it going in future issues. (This last statement will make more sense once you have read the comic).

Chase Variant One Shot (Is All I Need)
Written by Rich Johnston with art by Saverio Tenuta & Bagwell
Published by Image Comics, 32 pages, $3.99


As always, my sincere thanks to Simon for another great contribution. Remember, you can find Simon's work on his deviantArt site as well as his work and family blog.

If, like Simon, you'd be interested in submitting a occasional piece for publication - a review, article, or news - then drop me an email, I'd be happy to hear from you.