Old TRS - February 1997Old TRS - February 1997
These are the original reviews from the second volume of the first incarnation of TRS - The Review Sheet. Since Febrary 2000 Andy Luke has continued this tradition with TRS2 so if you actually want to buy stuff, go there.
I've posted this up as a curiosity and to add a bit of recent history to the procedings. In time I'll all six TRS sheets I've got archived to give a good picture of what was going on during 1997-8. So far you've got February and March 1997
Addresses have been deleted because most of them will be out of date. I've put notations after some reviews linking to current activity and any further info would be appreciated!
Pete Ashton, 2001
THE ASSASSIN AND THE WHINER #4 & #5 (A5, 20pg) The ‘Assassin’ of the title has left but the ‘Whiner’ remains in the form of Carrie. Although sounding like a road movie adventure comic, this is pure autobio stuff with cartoon diary entries from Carrie which while full of moaning and, yes, whining, do have a certain upbeat charm to them. The strips revolve around insomnia, failed dyke relationships, neurotic mothers and general paranoia, lifted up by a self aware/depreciating sense of humour and some nice introspective moments. Maybe it’s because I’m currently a sucker for autobio comics and haven’t become bored by them yet, but I enjoyed the honesty of this one and felt very much at home in Carries’ thoughts. One of the few US mini-comics which has done this to me. Recommended. $1.00 (+postage) from Carrie
ASTONISHING BEER STORIES #6 (A4, 40pg) If you don’t know Nigel’s work you’ll probably be put off by the minimalistic line drawings, but please bear with them as this is one of the most engrossing comics I get through the post. The story takes those inane conversations you get with regulars in the pub and breaths life into them, giving you a weird but compelling mixture of hard edged reality and bizarre flights of fancy. This mammoth 40 page comic starts with an attack on Thatcherite economics (which I have to say felt a little like preaching to the converted) giving the grounding for some in depth but never boring conversation between two wage slave disillusioned characters. Then the Reverend comes along talking about his dream about God who’s fed up with his do-gooder son taking all the fun out of heaven so he can’t get pissed with his old mate Lucifer. Add in a literary and intelligent script and the usual top-notch observed dialogue and you’ve got a winner. You have to check this comic out before you die! Only £1.00! from Nigel Sambells
THE CAPTAIN POWERCHORD SPECIAL (A5, 20pg) Collecting Garren’s single page strips from his local free listings mag, Captain Powerchord is a heavy metal superhero played for laughs, big laughs. This reminds me of Lew Stringer’s work (Combat Colin, Brickman) with it’s British humour sensibility and break-neck slapstick. It’s no comics masterpiece and doesn’t pretend to be - just good fun tooning. Very enjoyable, especially the detailed ‘History of Rock’n’Roll’ board game. £1.00 from Garren Ewing
DARK WEATHER #1 (A4, 20pg) Tony’s first attempt at writing his own scripts is a very sparse and brooding tale about two girls’ lives. Lots of post-teenage angst lifted up by the kind of scripting where panels of characters just staring at things have much more power than any dialogue or narration could give them. A very promising start way ahead of my expectations. 75p from Tony McGee
Curent work is Angel Nebula
DARK ZONE #13 (A5, 28pg) I’ve been getting this zine for the last 6 or so issues and I still can’t get into it. It just strikes me as the kind of writing that I detest in superhero comics - lots of posing and stating the-obvious dialogue with little room for emotion and character development. It’s good at what it does and never sinks to Liefield-style depths of inanity, but it just rings the wrong bells for me. I’ve said it before - many people I respect love this comic, so it you reckon it’s for you, give it a go. It’s most definitely not for me though. 80p from Evolutionary Comics
DEFECTIVE COMICS #111 (A4, 20pg) Since the last TRS Defective has moved on a few issues and we now have David Morris co-writing the lead strip. The Agents of Psyence have gone to Hell to aid one of their number who is trying to regain his dead father’s crown. Confused? Don’t worry. With 110 issues of continuity behind it you can’t expect to know where you are with one issue, but in the long term this comic is worth checking out. David’s scripting is noticeably different to Rik’s which is usually very fast and chocka, but he seems to be finding his feet well, especially with the political shenanigans in Hell. Chris Park’s art is a little more rushed this issue (this is a six part story) which, in my view, gives it a nicer feel with less rigidity. In the back-ups we have a double bill of Tim Brown. His Brin has been a little slow for my liking, but the Carry On Star Wars is growing on me. Frankie Howard as Ben Kenobi is perfect! £1.25 from Rik Hoskin
Radio plays based on his characters, writing for Talamander and Bedlam, Published Season X
DISILLUSION (A5, 20pg) Jim Cameron has been one of my favourite cartoonists since I first saw his Bobby Buccaneer strips and has since graced the pages of Vicious with his drunken Scots buffoon warrior. In Disillusion he takes a completely different track trying out the autobio comic diary on the recommendation of a friend. And it’s the best small press comic I’ve read in ages. As well as being a competent attempt at detailing his day in comics form religiously every night, it’s held together by the theme of disillusion, both with life and with losing an eye through MS. Jim travels around Glasgow meeting his mates and musing about life and the direction it’s going in. I found many thoughts to be the same as mine, which helped me to understand the, while the others forced me to look at my life from a different angle. What you’ll get out of this is up to you. “Can’t honestly see why anyone’d be interested in this” says Jim in the accompanying letter. I can. Send £1.00 to Jim Cameron
FIFTEEN NUNS (A5, 20pg, stock paper) I think the ‘art’ comic has come of age. The first story in here is a scratched up photo-montage about a rogue mummy in Manchester. It’s high on the irony but also has a decent level of suspense and I want to see what happens next. The preview for Fawn Lastrome looks to be another bad-girl space epic, but is saved by turning the genre on it’s head slightly. I’d be interested to see if they can pull this off over a longer period though. Finally The Bruising Pit is a surreal stream of consciousness effort which surprised by keeping me engaged. Normally I’d be bored or lost of both with this sort of title as they’re usually to up their own arses to be worth reading, but this seems to be something more. Curious! £1.00 from Ben Oaks
HAMISH & DWARF (A5, 32pg) Hamish is a Glaswegian bagpipe playing traveller and Dwarf is his dog. At first it looks like a Pete Loveday rip off, but it’s not. While Hamish does travel through the crustie landscape, he acts more as an observer, meeting with the stereotypes we all know from this genre but neither in a preachy nor critical manner. The narrative style is quite dreamy and the sarcastic commentary from Dwarf (in the same style as Tintin’s Snowy) is a nice touch. An interesting accomplishment. £1.00+SAE from Nigel Roberts
HOLOCRON #5 (A5, 36pg) My favourite fanzine with a capital FAN, this is definitely an amateur publication with a lot of love behind it. Being dedicated to Star Wars I’m somewhat bound to like it, and page for page it’s sometimes hard to justify this. The comic strips are pretty dire with very unimaginative scripting from Lee Davis, the text stories I can’t get into and the discussion of the novels which came after the films is lost on me. But even so, the sheer enthusiasm and joy behind the mag eggs me on. We need a Star Wars zine like this and if you’re a fan, you ‘re honour bound to get involved. £1.25 from Neil Bristow
MYSTIC JAM #8 (A5, 32pg) Maybe I was right. After seven issues of the one joke Mystic Stones strips Tim just ran dry. Whatever, this cauldron of mixed up short strips is much more satisfying. I think Tim was brought up is a household where the Daily Mail and Express were a fundamental part and this is his rebellion against it, combined with his mainstream feeling but definitely subversive sense of humour. Hence the sit-com ‘Leave It To Adolf” works perfectly! Plus the whole mag flows together nicely. 75p from Tim Brown
The joke kept going... Part Time Lights and Two Two Beam Up. Also, Talamander
OCTOBRIANA #3 (US, 36pg, printed, 2 col cvr) This take on the public domain Russian character is definitely starting to grow on me. Taking the sketchy publishing history and filling in the gaps we have two stories, one set in 1967, the other in 1996. The ‘history lesson’ is, for me, the weaker of the two, reading like superheroes-by-numbers but competent in it’s own way, while the present day adventure is more willing to parody post-Gorby Russia while still retaining the action-adventure feel. Writers Stuart Taylor and John Short definitely feel at home with Octobriana and their self-created supporting cast are well developed to carry the story. Competent art too. Becoming more than just a curiosity, this! £2.15 from John A Short
REFRACTOR #4 (A5, 12pg) This conspiracy zine is better than most because it doesn’t go down the X-Files route to mediocrity. Rather it reads like those late night “Why is it that...?” conversations where you conclude that they’re all out to get you, but you don’t give a fuck, cos you know... On top of articles about Karen Carpenter, computer’s resetting to 1/1/00 in three years time, the BBC and the Four Horsemen is a short script for Paul’s WHISTLEBLOWERS TV-show-that-never-was. Get hold of this (it’s free!) and see why you should order his Episode Guide. SAE to Paul Bristow
ROUND MIDNIGHT - A ROMANCE V#2 (A5, 52pg) Collecting parts 5-8 of what will become small press epic. It’s great to see Peter back on track again after an annoying bout of ‘real life’ because this story is just wonderful. A very personal, but never indulgent or preachy, meditation on love, dreams and reality. We have our mysterious Harlequin (Peter?) searching for a young girl with a woman who reminds him of a lover he thinks was real, but might be a dream, while he’s dreaming, or is she dreaming, or the girl, or all of them. A very unique and competent writing style which demands attention (and gets it from me) plus the loose, scratchy but effective art style I’m a big fan of these days. If you think small press comics are becoming derivative (aping either the mainstream of each other) then check this out. It’s what it’s all about. £1.20 from Peter Bangs
ROUND MIDNIGHT - AS SEEN FROM MY LIFE (A5, 20pg) 24 hour comic by Peter narrating his relationships with women, usually as shoulder to cry on. It has the potential to by a whining diatribe, but comes out very positively, and while the message is nothing new (talk to the people you love) it probably bears repeating. I think Dave Sim would say he was consumed by the female void! Free (SAE or order) from Peter Bangs
SICK HAPPY IDLE #14 (A6, 24pg) Amusing and frighteningly frequent texty zine with lots of random diatribes, newsprint cutups and toons which actually works pretty well. The sort of thing you never thought was being done and while oddly familiar, is like nothing you’ve seen before. If you want soundbites, it’s a bit like Bugs & Drugs, only more coherent, I think Worth checking out. £1.00 (5 for £3.00) to A.R. Shaw
Last I heard this was still going a year back and still exactly the same.
SUNBURN #1 (A4, 36pg, col cvr, printed) Canadian anthology which at first reminded me, with dread, of awful 80’s anthologies with little or no direction or substance. But fortunately the contents lift it above this and it’s actually a rather enjoyable read despite running a wide range of styles and subjects. The regional approach echoes the Brighton SOFA exhibition / comic where you get a snapshot of local talent and information on other projects by the creators, so it could be useful for getting into the Canadian scene. $4.50 (Canadian, inc postage) from Karl Thomsen
SURREAL SCHOOL STORIES #4 (A4, 28pg) Out of all the excellent Sleaze Castle titles and comics, this unlikely addition is becoming my fave. While the comic goes bonkers for parallel worlds and the like this prequel sets down, and expands on, the personal history of Jo Dribble during her skool daze. The text story (with copious illustrations) is written in the ‘ripping yarns’ style but is definitely for mature minds, especially with the amusing LSD+schoolgirls scene, and Terry Wiley’s grip on the complicated and intriguing plot is spot on. Brings a whole level to the Sleaze jigsaw puzzle. £1.40 payable to Gratuitous Bunny Comics
UNDER TERRA #6 (US, 36pg, printed) Being the final episode of book one (and the first I’ve seen) I haven’t got much to go on, but the basic premiss seems to be a bunch of young offenders marooned on Greenland (remember, this is Canadian!) who find an underground world lost in time. Within a potentially fantastical setting this episode is very down to earth with many pages of bickering conversation between the youngsters and an encounter with the ‘natives’. My curiosity is slightly piqued, but perhaps not enough to check it out. Not too sure why. Maybe if I read the early episodes I’d change my mind as there appears to be some substantial talent here, especially in the very detailed Gerhard-esque artwork. $4.95 US (inc postage) to King Ink
WARGODS OF ATLANTIS #3 (A5, 28pg) Kirby’s ‘bonkers period’ lives again thanks to Biffer Dek Baker, and he seems to have struck a chord as two of the finest inkers in the small press, Paul Davies (Fun Comics) and David Morris (um, everywhere), which bring a needed shine to the Dek’s boundless enthusiasm. This might not be your cup of tea, but it certainly entertaining, powered by the Love of Jack. Also, badly reproduced photos from the Brum Pub Meet! This is what zines are all about! 75p from D. Baker
Dek is still doing stuff although I haven't actually seen anything lately.