Old TRS - March 1997Old TRS - March 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Addresses have been deleted because most of them will be out of date.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
A-Z OF UNUSUAL SEXUAL TERMINOLOGY (A6, 32pg, by hand cvr) Arrived with 3 In A Bed (see below) but deserves its own review, this is the result of much research into ancient words for the old in out by the nefarious Jeremy Dennis. Each entry has a concise definition and illustration, framed by a few pages of basic terminology with multiple names for the nether regions. This is a wonderful little book, not only for the bizarre jargon but also for the art which is explicit but never pornographic, and always humorous.
ALCHEMIST #1 (A4, 16pg) An interesting project from David printing single comic strips he likes that otherwise wouldn’t see print, this could become a nice eclectic library of small press classics, especially with such an auspicious start. Combining the talents of Darryl Cunnningham’s script and Chris Frazer’s art, ‘Uncle Bob At The Earth’s Core’ is a fun story in the vein of Donald Duck telling tall tales to his nephews. In the service of the British Empire, Bob joins a expedition to the centre of the earth where he and his compadres help the underground natives defeat the Germans who got there first. Darryl’s story is delightful if throwaway, but Chris’ art is bonkersly great. It’s taken me about five years to get the hang of the warped cushion effect he employs, but I can’t get enough of it now. Well worth the minimal cost of two 2nd class stamps
THE ARGOTIST #2 (A4, 40pg) This is an arts review magazine connected with Liverpool University for discussing subjects in a manner somewhere between the academic and the popular. Look up dilettante in your dictionary. I assume it was sent to me because of the comics articles, and much to my surprise they were not only informative (a major worry when arts people get hold of comics!) but also interesting. The interviews with newspaper cartoonists Martin Rowson and Chris Riddell were neither sycophantic nor inane, offering an insight into their work and ideas. An article by The Wedding Present’s Dave Gedge about his love of comics was pretty pedestrian but nowhere near as awful as the usual minor celebrity confessions we’ve been subjected to (Craig Charles in the Price Guide anyone?). A piece on the Liverpool Cartoon Workshop is written for the ignorant and made a few questionable assumptions about what cartooning is, but was still well written and encouraging. A couple of pieces were too highbrow for me: editor Nick Watson’s analysis of cartooning seemed a little empty and an article on The Modern Graphic Poem went right over my head! The rest of the mag varies from the readable to the confusing, but usually offers some areas of interest and is predominantly well written with an emphasis on explaining and educating rather than showing off. All in all an interesting package I’d like to see more of. £1.50 payable to The Argotist
BULLDOG ADVENTURE MAGAZINE #14 (US, 28pg) Jason is rather proud of his current issue and rightly too. After a worrying few issues of near stagnation, he kicks up the pace and sends Captain Bulldog to Mars to investigate strange vegetable energy pulses. The story reads like a cross between old 2000AD and good sci-fi comics with the right balance of serious plot progression and humour and the art throughout is smart and effective - well assigned by Jason and written with the artists in mind. I don’t have much more to say other than this issue was really enjoyable and it’s good to see Bulldog back on form. Worth checking out, especially if you’ve been disappointed in the past. £1.20 from Jason Cobley
New Bulldog series just started. Details here
CAPTION The delayed new issue should be out at UKCAC but in the meanwhile I just remembered that the CAPTION97 small press convention has been scheduled for July 19-20. For details contact Jenni Scott.
Caption still running. Details here
CONCAVE UP #4 (US, 28pg, col cvr, prn) In the style of Rik Veitch’s Rare Bit Fiends, where Jesse illustrates dreams sent to him from around the world. Like RBF the narratives are loose to say the least, but oddly satisfying, linked together by single pages discussing what dreams are. A curious little mag that has the potential to take itself too seriously, but manages to avoid this. If you are suffering from a lack of RBF then you have to buy this. Generally recommended to try. Cover price $2.95 so add postage, payable to Jesse Reklaw, NonDairy Publishing
Jesse continues the dreamwork with Slow Wave
CONTACT #1 (A5, 16pg) Ceri Jordan’s first outing into small press comics writing (she’s done some fiction before) is a not bad alien contact story. What brings it above the usual is the tight plotting, leaving just enough questions dangling to engage curiosity, but not too many to leave the reader confused. Basically, stuff happens, characters seem to know what's going on, and events I can’t pin point build to quite an exciting cliff hanger. Art by new-to-me Martin Eden shows promise, with some interesting experimentation. One to watch over the issues. 60p from Debbie Moon
DEFECTIVE COMICS #112 (A4, 24pg) One of the nicest issues of Def for a while, this has major David Morris content. His script on the lead strip kicks off and shows a great improvement with episode 4 of ‘Family Responsibilities’ while in the back he illustrates a Dan Abnett (aparently he’s well famous now - hopefully not for being a Marvel UK editor!) multi parter with glorious panache. Abnett’s script feels a little odd in places (possibly because he normally writes things like Iron Man) but he seems to be enjoying the freedom with some nice moments and ideas. Back with Morris’ scripting, we find some wonderful art by Jessica (of Psychosense fame) whose Brit-Manga pencils are given a new depth by Chris Park’s near professional inks. Even if you don’t understand what the hell is going on, this is well worth getting to see what kind of talent is out there, and doubly essential if you’re a fan of David Morris. A wonderful surprise. £1.25 from Rik Hoskin. Also with a free Spice Girls 3 page comic which isn’t as horrific as it sounds, thanks to cutesy art by Jessica.
Radio plays based on his characters, writing for Talamander and Bedlam, Published Season X
FAT DOG #1 (A5, 16pg) I’ve got a bizarre sense of pride about this zine. Y’see, when I quit bookselling, Wendy got my job, continuing the tradition of scruffy comic reading oiks on the academic floor. Now she’s doing her own fanzine. This is primarily a music zine with the usual gig reviews and stuff, but also has a couple of strips by Simon Mackie who I have a lot of time for. Like all first issues, it took blood sweat and tears and will be looked back on with embarrassment in years to come, but shows promise. Wendy is open to contributions, especially about comics, so get in touch. Great to see a new zine out there! Free with SAE to Wendy Ashall.
ESPYLACOPIA #4 (A4, 28pg) Still not sure what to make of this zine. It strike me as a humour/parody/arty/something zine with a strip in it. The strip, ‘Bats’, looks to be an Arkham Asylum rip-off, but uses this to tell a neat story about this guy who thinks he’s Batman but is actually a sad old bum. A bit like The Bogie Man in ways. The rest of the mag is certainly entertaining, but I’m not going to try and explain how or why, or whether you should buy it. I just don’t know! £1.50 from W. White
FIFTEEN NUNS #2 (A5, 32pg) This comic screams out to be labeled pretentious, but can’t be, because it actually reads well and appears to have a fair bit of thought behind it. As if the creators had thought “That’s be cool” and then “Why would that be cool?” and then “How can we make it really cool?” The strips are usually based around neat ideas (such as drug dealing nuns and such) and the execution is constantly experimental. Surprise success is, again, ‘The Bruising Pit’ - possibly the most engaging stream of consciousness comic about washing machines I’ve ever read. On top of this is the brill editorial voice with sarky reviews and commentary throughout, giving the mag a nice zine feel. Not sure if it’s great, but definitely fun. £1.00 from Ben Oaks
THE JOURNAL OF SILLY #9 (A5, 48pg, prn, spot colour) Again, around 100 single panel cartoons crammed into one zine make for a humour overload with the jokes diluted somewhat, but if you’re a coinsure of Private Eye cartoons then this is probably for you. Not much more to say other than best read by opening randomly, laughing, and closing again. I’d be interested to see if some articles in here to accompany the gags would work. They’re organising a cartoon convention of sorts, CARTOON 97, on Sunday May 18th - write for details. £1.00 payable to The Journal Of Silly
Cartoon fairs were still running last year. Knife (one of the editors) does the It's Grim Up North London strip in Private Eye
MENG & ECKER - LORD HORROR’S CREEP BOYS #10 (A4 book, 256pg, prn, col cvr) Wow. Fucked off with the inane attitudes of comic shops, Savoy have decided to go for the book trade with this monster issue of the self proclaimed ‘best comic book on Earth’. It’s not hard to see how this comic was found obscene in 1992 (some of those banned strips are reprinted here) as at first glance it’s a racist, ultra-violent, pornographic sick-fest, but I think you have to look deeper than that, and when you do you kinda see it as a mirror, or something. I dunno - it’s too complicated to explain in such a small review, but it looks beautiful, reads frighteningly, and makes you question everything you thought was true and right, leaving you to scrabble around for something, anything to make things right again. It might not be the best and it might well be obscene (although I don’t think it is), but it’s the most sickening stuff available in the medium, and for that reason you have to read it. Get it now before they ban it again. £9.95 from Savoy Books.
Current activity unknown. Website
REAL DEAL #5 (A4, 28pg, prn, col cvr) This is shit. Badly drawn urban and sci-fi fight stories with no purpose and little real shock value. Tries so hard to be dangerous and comes over very sad indeed. Kinda useful hardcore punk/death metal info in the back, but hardly worth it for that. Sorry! $2.00 (+postage) from Real Deal Productions
SAPPHIRE MATRIX #5 (A5, 20pg) Issue five and I still have to say that this comic shows promise but hasn’t quite delivered it yet. Maybe this is because with boundless enthusiasm Azim has written countless stories and has yet to run them all, hence he hasn’t had a chance to learn from his mistakes or grow yet. There’s nothing horrendously wrong with SM, it’s jut there’s nothing here to rave about. I still have hopes though, especially as there is a need for a decent sci-fi anthology that isn’t complete shite. Maybe in a few issues time things will start picking up. £1.00 + SAE to Azim Mohamed
SCENES FROM THE INSIDE #7 (A4ish, 150pg, prn, bonkers col cvr) My problem with Scenes in the past has been the shortness of the strips, not giving much actual content to such a wonderful collection of artists. Now with the bumper book format, Scenes hits the big time, allowing many of the contributors 5-10 or so pages to do their stuff. Great long strips here from Glenn Dakin and Phil Elliot (the hero-gods of British comics!), Luke Walsh, James Kochalka, Ed Pinsent, Andi Watson (with a Sam Jam strip!), Chris Frazer and many more. This is the perfect introduction to the alternative comics scene and while, like any anthology, not all the strips will appeal, there’s enough variety here to make your eyeballs pop out. It looks, feels and reads wonderfully. Can’t give more praise really, other than to hope they don’t go the same way Inkling did when they switched to this format. Amazing. £5.00 from Drat & Blast Books.
This was sadly the last issue. I have a box full of them if anyone's interested!
SPACE OPERA #1 (A4, 28pg) This is very interesting. Weller is writing stories about a bunch of English 1930s superheroes (or so he claims) in a tale full of whimsy and innocence about the battle between heaven and hell. In doing so, he creates (or recounts) a history of writers and artists in a documentary style and draws the comic itself in a very unique and striking b/w style. The art is very fluid, held together with rigid panels, sometimes 22 a page. All in all it’s a very well thought out piece which should hopefully develop into something resembling a classic. I hesitate to recommend it at this early stage, but I definitely reckon it’s worth checking out if you’re after something different yet oddly familiar. £1.50 payable to Visual Associations, Michael Weller, 3 Queen Adelaide Court, Queen Adelaide Rd, Penge, London, SE20 7DZ.
Completed and collected last year. TRS2 review.
3 IN A BED PRESENTS... RENT (A5, 20pg, opaque green ink cover) After threatening to cancel 3iaB and then releasing the wonderful Closets and Cloisters collection, Jeremy has relented and reinvented her comic somewhat. We find three of the old characters moving in with three new ones, establishing the comic in a five floor house. This allows Jeremy to establish a soap-opera feel, aided by the neat idea of tying the story into a Twelve Days of Christmas lyric which works very effectively. One point of note is the way 16 pages of comics take a long time to read - a testament not only to the intricate, free-flowing art, but also to the well observed characterisation which makes you pay attention to every detail and nuance without being aware of it. If she hadn’t already, Jeremy Dennis has come of age. £1.25 (payable to D Cugley) from Alleged Literature, Also a new mini: What Was I Drinking Last Night (A7, 16pg, by hand) which is pretty self explanatory.