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The Mice: Catfood
Posted by Pete Ashton

copyright Roger MasonThis is a really well constructed 35 page story from Roger Mason, a creator who appears to be about to make the leap into the professional sphere with at least one 2000ad job under his belt. The mice in question are the few surviving humans on an Earth taken over by giant aliens to be used as a food processing plant. Part pest and part revolutionaries they're trying to shut down the plant by messing with the aliens business. In turn, the aliens are trying to eradicate them, especially after a human turned up in a can of All Day Breakfast. So they bring in a cat.

Other than the role reversal, the joke comes from the aliens being more human than the humans, fretting about quotas, breaks and health and safety regulations whilst under the thumb from a galactic bureaucracy. Meanwhile the human mice have become yer standard freedom fighting rebels, complete with scars, home made weapons and emotional pathos. Mason plays these two worlds off against each other well and neither seems contrived or false.

As for the art, it's obvious Mason is going somewhere. Those aware of current trends say his work is reminiscent of one Henry Flint and he's definitely got the ability to pull off action scenes and talking heads. Personally his work reminds me of Neil Cameron, but that's just my small press brain at work.

As mainstream-small-press goes, this is a gem and worth seeking out.

A5, 40pg, colour cover. £2.00 from Roger Mason, 18c Tompion St, London, EC1V 0HN. Online portfolio, email

copyright Roger Mason

Posted on December 27, 2002
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