Obscure Comic of the Month Double Feature - Tapestry Comics

Obscure Comic of the Month is a column where I take a look at a comic or series that hasn't really been talked about. This covers independent comics, zines, weird spin-offs, webcomics and more.

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Bayeux and A Flower in a Field of Lions by Tyler Button with art by Gerry Kissell, Amin Amat and Ryan Cody – Tapestry Comics 2016 - 2018

Contains Spoilers for actual historical events that actually happened

There's probably plenty of interesting places I could start when talking about Tyler Button's two purely historical comics, from the choice of subject matter, to the execution of writing, but in this instance, I'm going to begin talking about the art.

Tyler's works first caught my eye at Harrogate Thought Bubble 2021, where having passed his table a couple of times, I couldn't take my eyes away from the beautifully illustrated artwork. Looking over, my eyes were captivated by the images of medieval soldiers lined up in their vivid amour and brightly coloured tabards. Sharp green fields gave way to the chaotic melee of battle. Swords flashing in the midday sun. I had to check it out.

Trepidation began immediately, however, once I heard Tyler's accent. There's a stereotype, rightly or wrongly, that America is somewhat cavalier in it's attitude to history, no doubt proliferated by Hollywood leaning more to mythologizing the past rather than accurately depicting it. I've travelled far enough around the states to know it's an unfair stereotype, but one that's hard to shake from the unconscious.

Fortunately, it took barely a minute talking to Tyler that made it fundamentally clear that he knew what he was about. A funny, charming guy with a taste for the details, it was obvious his comics would be well worth reading. I picked up A Flower in a Field of Lions, his comic covering the life of Joan of Arc, and would return a year later to Harrogate Thought Bubble 2022 to grab Bayeux, his story of the Norman conquests.

As I've already made clear, the art is stunning in both comics. Vivid and lively, with a sense of action and movement, and most importantly an understanding that medieval fashion could often be bright and colourful, which modern media often shies away from. On the art alone, I'd say the comics are fine pieces of work, but as I already knew from my chat with Tyler, there was going to be more going on under the hood.

When retelling historical events, most adaptions slip the story into simple good guys and bad guys. No thought is given to the Germans getting conquered by Maximus's beloved Rome in Gladiator, no time to consider how the Scottish nobility treated their own peasants in Braveheart. Tyler's storytelling utterly rejects this approach, understanding that there were no 'right' sides in eras of great injustice and oppression, but instead these were periods of transition and shifts in power.

I first encountered this in A Flower in a Field of Lions. Most stories of Joan of Arc depict her as a true hero and liberator of France, cruelly executed by the English invaders. The comic instead, takes a closer look at the messy truth of the matter. France's war had been brought on not by England but the ambitions of Armagnac and Burgundy. Joan herself, far from a messiah, was confused but well intentioned, raised up by a country in need of a unifying icon and then cruelly exploited for the same reasons. England themselves tried to ransom Joan to back to France multiple times only for France to refuse, happy to be rid of what had by then become a nuisance and a liability.

It would be easy for Tyler to slip these stories into nihilistic territory, where everybody sucks and nobody is likeable, but it's a testament to his writing that he doesn't do this. Instead we are shown the character's own priorities. Their pressures and desires, and the choices they are forced to make thank to the values of their time. This is most clearly demonstrated in Bayeux, which could have so easily turned into a story in favour of either the invading William or defending Harold.

I've long said that we've never seen a film about the Battle of Hastings because it's so difficult to reduce that story into the binary of good and bad. Is the story a tragedy, a story of England's last great defeat against French invaders? Or is it a heroic victory, the conquering battle that gave birth to the 'true' English nation and in the long run Britain as a whole?

What Bayeux does is draw inspiration from it's namesake, taking the story further back, exploring the history between William and Harold long before the battle in 1066. Meticulously researched, it covers the rarely discussed relationship between Harold as exile and William as bastard, and through shared experience allows us to understand these characters priorities, and the psychological foibles that their shared history had thrust upon them. Both are charismatic and genuine, and both are equally drawn to war by ego and perceived righteousness.

Both Bayeux and A Flower in a Field of Lions are stellar work, magnetic in their writing and wonderful in their aesthetic. The art by Gerry Kissell and Amin Amat on Baueux and Ryan Cody on A Flower in a Field of Lions brings vivid life to Tyler's writing, and are a perfect fit for the tone the stories are trying to strike. Eminently readable and hard to put down, the books by Tapestry Comics manages to strike that almost impossible balance of being accessible yet nuanced. A towering achievement.

During my chat this year with Tyler, he gave clear indication that he had more stories to tell, and I'm really hoping I'll be seeing more of this past coming in the future.

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Jack Harvey 2022. Bayeux and A Flower in a Field of Lions (c) 2018 Tapestry Comics. Images used under Fair Use.

One Hell of a Night

 Hello all. It's a great day for bringing you some brand new material that's been in the pipeline. While the story is maybe more suited to spooky season, treat this as an early Christmas present. 

With phenomenal art by Sam W, here is a tale of crime, sex and the evil that lurks within the heart of us all... and maybe beyond.

One Hell of a Night 

(click to enlarge)

And there you have it. I think Sam did an incredible job on this one, bringing so many extra elements to the story that my script didn't even hint at, but it's all the better for it. 

How the Life Is Strange Comic Managed to Surpass it's Source Material - An Obscure Comic of the Month Special Edition.

This column normally takes a look at obscure comics. For every every sixth month, instead of taking a look at a comic that nobody talks about, this special edition will take a look at a comic I feel not enough people talk about.

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Life is Strange by Emma Vieceli, Claudia Leonardi and Andrea Izzo 2018 - 2022

Contains Major Spoilers

The year is 2015. It's a good time for fans of adventure games. Thought long dead or relegated to cult status for years, the runaway success of Telltale Games' The Walking Dead had heralded a return to form for the genre, as well as fulfilling the promise of actual episodic gaming that had eluded developers for so long, treating each episode as though it were an episode of a TV show, and the entire product as a season.

Yet despite the success, few were willing to throw their hat into the arena. One contender, however, would walk in with their own comparator to Telltale's monopoly, and that was Dontnod Entertainment's Life is Strange. Far from the grim apocalypses and far off worlds that Telltale had offered, Life of Strange was a slice-of-life mystery. Concerned with a young woman's return to her home town. The plot escalates as she saves a friend's life and discovers that she has the power to re-wind time.

The time travel mechanic was primarily touted as what set Life is Strange apart from Telltale's entries to the genre, but it was the slowly unfolding mystery that kept people around. Drawing elements from Twin Peaks, Donnie Darko and numerous teen dramas, Life is Strange soon picked up a strong following. While it's student vernacular was lightly mocked, the characters in the story quickly drew audiences in, and soon enough, the shipping began.

I don't know whether Dontnod always intended for there to be romantic chemistry between Max Caulfield, the protagonist, and Chloe Price, her abrasive childhood friend, but I certainly expect the developers pivoted to play more into this aspect once they saw how much of the fanbase was made of young gay women. This, however, would prove to be a double-edged sword, as the more the story played up the relationship between the two women, the greater the betrayal it felt once the ending finally hit.

The game concludes with a player choice, rewind to the start of the game and allow Chloe to die in order to reset the timeline, or witness the town and most of the other character in it be destroyed by a time-vortex hurricane. This, alone, was controversial in and of itself, robbing the player of any possibility of a happy ending for Max and Chloe, but the way it was executed would proceed to draw a great deal of ire from the fanbase. Max and Chloe would only acknowledge romantic feeling for each other with a kiss in the ending where Chloe dies, while the ending where she lives felt underwritten and far too brief to feel satisfying.

The term queer-bating is used to describe a situation where a writing team plays up the possibility of a same sex relationship between two character to drum up interest from gay audiences without ever planning on following through. To many, Life is Strange was guilty of such a crime, and debate ranged heavily on the quality of the endings, with many labelling the game problematic, while others wrote the game off as not worth playing at all.

The fury would soon cool however, in part thanks to a well revived prequel in Deck Nine's Before the Storm, that stayed mostly distinct from the plot of the main game and focussed on an unambiguously queer relationship between Chloe and Rachel Amber, the missing soon-to-be-found-murdered girl of the first game. Likewise, metric tonnes of fanart and fan fiction, where creators chose to just come up with their own ending, cushioned the blow.

Still, with news that series was going to continue with an anthology format, focussing on a new story and new characters with every game, it didn't seem as though we'd be seeing Max or an alive Chloe any time in the future.

However, in 2018 there came an announcement that nobody saw coming. Titan Comics would be publishing a comic sequel to the first game, continuing on from the ending where Chloe lives and Arcadia Bay is destroyed.

Expectations were positive, but tempered for a lot of reasons. The outcome of the Sacrifice Arcadia Bay ending was lamented as too grim and underdeveloped, with many worrying that the comic would fail to improve upon this. Likewise, the decision to release such a story while the main games continued with a new cast of characters caused many to wonder if the comic was being released merely to placate people who just wanted more Max and Chloe. On top of it all, while Titan Comics has had a fine pedigree of solid comics, it's video game spin-offs tended to fall on the superfluous side, and rarely ran for more than four issues.

All in all, a cynical shadow hung over the series like the storm clouds over Arcadia Bay. So it was to the surprise of many that the first story arc in the series turned out to not only be very enjoyable, but intriguing and thoughtful too.

Jack's October Update

As we continue through autumn into winter It's time for me to start rounding up my current state of affairs when it comes to the remainder of the year's projects.

As mentioned previously, I'm still having problems with the tendonitis in my left wrist, so I'm having to choose my projects carefully as not to exacerbate the problem. I was hoping that the pain would start to dissipate after a few weeks away, but it's sticking around. I'm currently investigating further treatment that will hopefully provide a permanent solution, but for now I'm going to try and not let it interfere with my creativity too much.

- As you may have already noticed, a new Sea of Spheres story, The Right to Know, has just commenced. Part one is up, with the remaining three following each Monday. Artwork, as ever by the fantastic Windlass.

- Work continues apace on my collaboration with SLAM! The artwork on this comic is looking fantastic, which you can see a little bit of below, and I can't wait to show more of it to you.

- I'm continuing to get The Illustrated Guide to Drinking Beer out there. Physical copies of the comic are now available at the Ennerdale Brewery and The Harbour Master Whitehaven.

- It's been confirmed that a follow up to the West Coast Minicon will be happening on the 25th March 2023 and I once again will be in attendance selling prints and books. I'll post more details closer to the time.

- I'll once again be heading to Harrogate Thought Bubble in November. Not exhibiting, just visiting, happy to say hello and chat.

- Other than that I'm currently working on a few more projects that I'm not ready to give more details on, but expect more comics and short stories to be in the pipeline. Next month marks the one year anniversary of my revived Obscure Comic of the Month column so expect an extra long special in celebration of that.

As ever you can follow me on Twitter, Tumblr, Deviantart and find all my recent writings on AO3.

Thanks for reading.

Obscure Comic of the Month - Twenty Thirty Three

Obscure Comic of the Month is a column where I take a look at a comic or series that hasn't really been talked about. This covers independent comics, zines, weird spin-offs, webcomics and more.

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Twenty Thirty Three Special Edition by En Gingerboom – 2019

Mild Spoilers

When writing about comics for this column it sometimes becomes difficult to know exactly what to qualify a comic as. In the author's notes, En Gingerboom classifies Twenty Thirty Three ultimately as a failure of a project. It originally started life as a children's book, bouncing between fantastical fairytale fair and a more grounded, but still optimistic, post-apocalyptic tale of survival . The various iterations were something that the author developed over a series of years, and ultimately settled on a short, dialogue-free comic featuring reinterpretations of the more fairytale versions of the characters.

As a supposed failure I'm not really sure how to talk about Twenty Thirty Three. So I'm just going to talk about it as a I would any comic. From the get go the story is deliberately vague. We only know the character's names and circumstances from ID cards printed behind the front and back covers of the book itself, and the rest of the story simply gives snapshots of a life lived by three young girls travelling from somewhere to somewhere in Britain.

To tell a story with such sparsity requires a great sense of place and character. To be communicated entirely through images even more so. The tone carried entirely by what we see, not by what we are told. At this Twenty Thirty Three is very deft and intriguing from almost the outset. The nature of the apocalypse, if it can even be classified as one through what little information we actually have, is left deliberately obscured. In a sense it doesn't even really matter, it's the survivors that this story is concerned with.

The young girls Molly, Ruby and Phyllis all have distinct visual flair, and as the story goes on, strong personalities. Flipping through the pages, moving from panel to panel, you will find yourself moving backwards and forwards, re-reading earlier points with a greater understanding of who these people are and what motivates them. While there are moments of threat, the heart of the story is about the act of living. Food is cultivated, stories are shared and love and friendship happens almost between the margins.

The grounded nature of the story for the most part does not prevent some of the more fantastical and fairytale aspects bleeding through . Mrs Mackenzie, the girl's magical witch mentor in earlier iterations of the story, still appears in the main plot and this serves to make the scope of the story feel larger. Likewise there are implications of greater supernatural events happening in the background, and at one point more explicitly in the foreground, but again their nature is left vague and open to interpretation.

The exact message of the story itself falls into the hands of the reader to decide. Is the story whimsical, or is there a more sinister edge bubbling under the surface? Ultimately, I think it's this ambiguous nature that makes Twenty Thirty Three so successful. The story is like a puzzle, with the reading and re-reading akin to fitting jigsaw pieces into place, and while I don't think this picture will ever fully be filled out, there are greater mysteries to be explored for those willing to look.

The Special Edition includes all the work in progress from earlier iterations and the writer's commentary, which makes not only the further study of the plot more engaging, but also serves as an intriguing look behind the curtain at where the story started and how it got to where it is.

Is the comic a failure? I don't know, but if it is it's certainly an interesting one.

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Jack Harvey 2022. Gawain and the Green Knight (c) 2019 En Gingerboom . Images used under Fair Use.

Sea of Spheres - The Right to Know

 

Welcome, once again, dear readers, to the next instalment of the Sea of Spheres series. This story, The Right to Know, is a bit of a departure from the previous stories in the sense that it leans into a more science-fiction influenced part of the setting. I've tried to balance the writing in such a way as to make it believable that this takes place in the same, more fantasy influenced world of the previous stories.

Of course, as ever the artwork is by the fantastic Windlass, who has if anything absolutely nailed the balance and really stuck the right aesthetic of 'fantasy world with modern technology' that I'm trying to go for.

In the aftermath of a catastrophe that left an advanced dimension jumping ship crashing into the savage sphere of Gemini, the Horns that reside there soon found themselves with technology far in advance of their rivals, but with little practical knowledge of how it all worked. A half-century later, detectives Garrick Ceraface and Cardina Mordang, while on the trail of a missing scientist, soon find themselves on the wrong side of the law, and learn that the cost of keeping their civilisation afloat might be far greater than they could ever conceive.

Link under the cut:

Obscure Comic of the Month - Gawain and the Green Knight

Obscure Comic of the Month is a column where I take a look at a comic or series that hasn't really been talked about. This covers independent comics, zines, weird spin-offs, webcomics and more.

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Gawain and the Green Knight by Emily Cheeseman – 2017

Mild Spoilers for a centuries old folk tale

Normally on these columns of mine we'd spend most of the time talking about the story of the comic I'm writing about, but things are a little different this month, since Emily Cheeseman's Gawain and the Green Knight is, as you've guessed, not an original tale, but rather an illustrated adaption of the ancient Arthurian myth, we're going to be looking more at story decisions and interpretation through adaption.

Standing more as a singular fable, rather than a core part of the larger canon of the Arthurian saga, Gawain and the Green Knight tells the story of the haughty and ambitious nephew of a now settled and ingrained King Arthur. Eager to prove his mettle, Gawain stands in for Arthur to take up the challenge set by the mysterious, and possibly supernatural, Green Knight. Cast a blow against the knight's neck, and be returned in kind within a year.

The Green Knight is one of those stories of which it's component parts can change from telling to telling. Most recently the 2021 film adaption chose to give the story a dark and surreal edge, leaving Gawain and the Knight's ultimate fate ambiguous. Cheeseman's take, by contrast, leans much more optimistically in it's flavour, Gawain is ultimately well meaning, though too quick in action, and his entire quest only begins in part due to Arthur doubting the Green Knight's supernatural prowess even exist.

Like most adaptions, Cheeseman has to decide what to keep and what to discard and so spends the majority of the book covering the later part of the story regarding the Lord and Lady of the Manor. She renders a mostly accurate version of this tale, reiterating the myth's themes of take and return, and chooses to ultimately link the subplot to the reveal that the Green Knight and the Lord of the Manor are one and the same. It's not a version of this character many adaptions choose to go by, but for me I find it a neat and tidy way of tying the story up, while hamming it's themes into a clear finale.

The entirety of Cheeseman's adaption is rendered wonderfully in her very simply shaded, but boldly coloured, characterization of the world and characters. The comic's mood sits somewhere between a picture book and concept art for an animated film. The characters are colourful but the simplicity of the design allows Cheeseman to communicate a definition to their personalities that a perhaps more gritty or cynical visual take would have made it harder to do.

Despite being a more faithful telling of the story without any significant twists or reinterpretations, Cheeseman manages to pull off probably the definitive version of the story in my eyes, and it's relatively direct and simple panel layout means I can go back to it regardless of what mood I'm in. While the comic is, if nothing else, ideal for any audience, as it loses nothing of its grand scale and sweeping vistas whether you're 9 years old or 90.

Gawain and the Green Knight is an expertly executed book, and highlights the vivid and magnetic quality that Cheeseman has as an artist and a storyteller. It's a warm and optimistic version of the story, but one that loses none of its wit or its sharpness, and is a clear example of why these stories and sagas from hundreds of years ago continue to resonate with us even today.

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Jack Harvey 2022. Gawain and the Green Knight (c) 2017 Emily Cheeseman . Images used under Fair Use.

Obscure Comic of the Month - The Gatecrashers: Book Two

Obscure Comic of the Month is a column where I take a look at a comic or series that hasn't really been talked about. This covers independent comics, zines, weird spin-offs, webcomics and more.

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The Gatecrashers: A Night of Gatecrashing Book Two by Zachary Mortensen and Sutu – Ghost Robot 2016

Mild Spoilers

We last covered Zachary Mortensen's The Gatecrashers during my previous iteration of this column. I was impressed by his intricate cyberpunk adventure story, and found myself drawn in to the world, eager to see where the story was set to go. With Book Two, however, it would appear I'd have to wait a little longer to get there.

Rather than continuing the plot set up in Book One, the clandestine mystery Hex Spencer had found herself caught up in, Book Two instead jumps back to an earlier point in her life, to cover a period where Hex was just starting out as a Gatecrasher and still had one foot in a life of poverty and crime.

Why Mortensen chose to go in this direction I'm not too sure. Especially since the last issue of Book One seemed to be heading in such a definitive direction. I suspect that, given that the world of independent comics can be a flighty and precarious one, Book Two was intended to be a somewhat soft reboot. A brand new story that could appeal to new readers who had maybe missed their chance of catching Book One, with the intent to return to the main plot once a larger readership had developed.

Either way, this leaves us to formulate an opinion of Book Two on its own merits. Despite sharing Its protagonist and world, the pace of Book Two is very different, showing us a less responsible and more cynical version of Hex before she had taken a more principled direction with her life. The plot concerns the retrieval and delivery of a suitcase full of eyeballs, while tracing its journey to and from the black market. Book Two deals with a more morally compromised Hex, who has yet to decide how selfish she wants to be with her life.

Despite the brief change of direction, completely new secondary cast of characters, antagonists and a protagonist with a much different feel to the way she had been seen previously, Mortensen's writing is still as strong as ever, and it's clear he has a strong sense of place and a good connection to this fictional world. Even though I had initial reservations over the changing direction of the story, the writing drew me in straight away and even though the plot of Book One was on standby I was still eager to see the development of this new prequel-esque story.

Like the previous book Sutu's art is a wonderful fit for the plot and world, giving us another look at this vibrant and colourful cyberpunk city which for the most part takes place across the daytime this time around . Mortensen's writing and Sutu's art work fit together hand in glove, which much like the previous book delivers a setting with a sense of real place and identity.

It's now been a few years since The Gatecrashers has been around but, its story of walled-off residential districts and an almost vigilante scale attitude towards healthcare leaves the story feeling more relevant than ever in 2022 . I only hope that Mortensen continues the series. As the current day begins to more and more resemble the cyberpunk dystopias of the past, it falls to a new generation of writers and artists to depict our era through the lens of satire and allegory.

After two strong volumes I feel Mortensen and Sutu are well prepared for the challenge.

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Jack Harvey 2022. The Gatecrashers (c) 2016 Zachary Mortensen and Sutu. Images used under Fair Use.

Jack's August Update

As ever, projects have been ticking along smoothly, but I thought it was time for an update to clarify the state of things.

However, before we get into what I'm working on, I just want to explain why things might be slowing down for a bit. The tendonitis in my left hand has flared up again, to the point where I might have to take it out of action again.

What this means is that I'm finding it difficult to do artwork or any writing for long periods of time. I want to try and keep up with things, but if it gets any worse over the next few weeks, I'll have to put most of my projects on hold until it improves again.

The upside is that my right hand is still fine. I won't be able to bang out any long form writing, but comic scripts should be manageable. Obscure Comic of the Month should continue as normal.

On that note, on with the updates.

- The West Coast Minicon was a resounding success, and I never expected so many people would show up for a con in such a small town. It sounds as though another convention might be in the works for later this year, so I'll post an update as soon as I know more.

- A fresh Sea of Spheres story is already 'in the can' and I'm currently discussing the artwork with Windlass, so expect that to go up some time later this year.

- I'm also working on a short comic with art by SLAM! which you can see a sneak look at above. I'm really excited for this one and looking forward to getting it out of the gate.

- Like last year, I'm planning on going to Harrogate Thought Bubble in November. I won't have a table or anything, just going for a wander around, but I am eager to talk shop with other creators there.

That's about all for now. More info as and when it comes through, and you can keep up with more of my stuff by following me on Twitter.

Thanks for reading.

Obscure Comic of the Month - Dragon

 Obscure Comic of the Month is a column where I take a look at a comic or series that hasn't really been talked about. This covers independent comics, zines, weird spin-offs, webcomics and more.

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Dragon by Saladin Ahmed with art by Dave Acosta and Chris O'Halloran - 2022

The story of Dracula is one so well trodden that it would be a fair question ask if there is even anything left for a writer to do with the character. Initially inspired by stories of Vlad the Impaler, over the years we have seen the tale told and re-told, from being made into a supervillain in Marvel's Blade to spinning out into a completely self-contained mythology in Konami's Castlevania. When one undertakes a new retelling, it really is going to require an interesting conceit to stand out from the crowd.

Saladin Ahmed decided that his conceit would be to go back to the inspiration. Back to the historical Vlad the Impaler himself. This on it's own isn't particularity original. 'Let's do the historical Vlad' has served as the jumping on point for many a retelling, but what Ahmed decides to bring to the table isn't the story of Vlad himself, but rather the eyes that we see his story through.

See, the story of Dracula is most commonly told through Christian eyes. The entire mythology of the character from Stoker onwards had always been very steeped in Christian iconography. Crucifixes and exorcists. Dark graveyards and deals with the devil.

This, however, is kind of unusual when you consider Vlad's origins as the ruler of Wallachia, a nation that had much of it's history tied up in the affairs of the Ottoman empire. Far from a Christian story, the historical Vlad lived in a place and time that was on the intersection of two religions, and yet for the most part vampire mythology has rarely found itself entwined with Islamic iconography.

It's this fertile ground that Ahmed chooses to grow his story out from. Splitting the point of view between that of a disgraced Ottoman janissary and a Hungarian nun, Ahmed uses the story of Vlad's vampiric reign of terror to explore the conflicts and contradictions of living on the fault line between two religious worlds.

Ahemd is no stranger to telling these kinds of stories, having already explored similar themes in Throne of the Crescent Moon and his run on Ms Marvel, and he's really putting all his expertise on show here. The worlds of Hungry, Wallachia and Istanbul all feel unique and distinct, and weaving in the historical authenticity seems effortless. While the plot is rather direct and straightforward, I came away feeling I knew more about this time and place in history than I had beforehand.

This is all delivered flawlessly, of course, by Dave Acosta and Chris O'Halloran's beautiful artwork. The towns and landscapes have a grit and reality to them, and yet when the supernatural bleeds into the page the movement and volume feel otherworldly and nightmarish. The characters have a clarity of personality that really lets you know who they are before they even speak a line, and the story flows so smoothly you'll be surprised you got the the end so quick.

On that note, if I have one criticism of Dragon, it's that it finished sooner than I'd expected. This actually isn't any of the creative team's fault, but due to the wealth of bonus materials at the back of the print edition, I thought I was only half way through the story while I was actually nearing the end. Dragon weaves together so many interesting threads and characters that by the closing pages I'm left grasping for more. Should a sequel be announced, I'd be first in line for a copy.

In a world so oversaturated with versions of Dracula's story, it really is a testament to the writing and art that Dragon stands out. So unique, so special, I'll be reading it again and again and again.

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Jack Harvey 2022. Dragon (c) Saladin Ahmed. Images used under Fair Use.

Announcing An Illustrated Guide to Drinking Beer

 

After two years of living with the pandemic, folks are finally starting to (hopefully safely) venture back out into the world of British pubs. What better time then, for me to launch my recently finished comic book, An Illustrated Guide to Drinking Beer.

Beer, ale, stout, porter, bitter, pilsner, mild. To an outsider, the world of ales must appear more complex than a chemistry formula.

In this handy guide, the world of beer will be explained simply and easily, and provide a starting point for people of all tastes, as well as a deeper exploration for those already in the know.

Written after several years of frustration when it comes to the real ale community trying to promote itself, I've put together what I feel is a definitive take on how to get into ales when you're completely clueless, plus a little extra fun stuff for seasoned drinkers.

The comic is available for purchase digitally on my Gumroad page here.

Physical copies will always be sold at conventions, the most recent of which will be the West Coast Minicon on July 23rd. I'll also be getting in touch with distributors in the coming months, hoping to get the book into pubs, brewery stores and comic shops.

In about a month's time I'll be releasing an abridged version of the comic as a taster and mini-introduction for the whole experience.

Thanks for reading!

Obscure Comic of the Month - Crowsong

Obscure Comic of the Month is a column where I take a look at a comic or series that hasn't really been talked about. This covers independent comics, zines, weird spin-offs, webcomics and more.

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Crowsong by Tony Vanraes with art by Theo Brenni, Bentti Bisson, Justin Mason, and Chris Anderson - 2019

Contains Mild Spoilers

In the world of self-publishing it's hard to stand out. The temptation to just go four sheets to the wind and produce a magnum opus with the hopes that if-you-build-it-they-will-come is almost always at the back of your mind.

The wiser creator knows, however, that showcasing your talents on smaller projects is the smarter move. Crowsong, by Tony Vanraes, is one such example of this approach. Serving as an anthology comic, with Vanraes writing and different artists covering each strip, it aims to cover a broad variety of genres, showing not only Vanraes's versatility as a writer, but also casting a wide net towards a readership of varying interests.

The first story, The Immolated Lady, is a 'dig two graves story' of a fantasy warrior seeking vengeance for the death of her family. The story is sharp, with vivid, lively artwork depicting the conflict between two unnamed fantasy races with animal-like features. Its ending, where the protagonist chooses to perpetuate the cycle of vengeance rather than seek reconciliation, is also as cutting as it is tragic.

The Contract, a story of a hopeless future war, where mankind makes an unholy alliance with a Borg-like machine cult, is certainly more visually creative, but is one of those short comics that really feels it doesn't have the room to cover it's own backstory, and strains against it's page count. While it's ending is shocking and surprising, it does feel like a compromised version of a greater saga.

Hatchling is a very short comic about a barbarian warrior's quest for a magical crown that will bestow him great power, but at the cost of his humanity. Unlike The Contract, Hatchling benefits from it's shortened page-count, keeping the plot lean and to the point, revelling in its quick, brutal violence and jumping head-first into its grotesque final twist.

Squires tells the story of two unassuming young men who get pulled into the parody of a space adventure led by a stereotypically overenthusiastic hero in power armour, only to realise they are completely out of their depth with the death and destruction all around them. While well written and drawn, I find that genre parodies like this are a dime a dozen these days, often retreading the same kind of jokes gaming webcomics were doing back in the late 00's. Its not bad by any means, but just really not my tempo. That being said, it is written as a prologue of sorts, and if continued, Id certainly give it the chance to win me over.

All things considered, Crowsong hits more than it misses, and leaves the reader wanting to see how Vanraes work comes together on a longer project, especially with regards to the artists, who are all perfectly suited for the style of each story. Vanraes has been keeping the work up since 2019, and if Crowsong is anything to go by, he's probably got more interesting stories to bring us in the future.

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Jack Harvey 2022. Crowsong (c) Tony Vanraes. Images used under Fair Use.

Star Wars - The Kyber Conflict

 

Last year I did a little thought experiment, imagining how I would pitch a brand new Star Wars film as a fresh start to the series. New characters, a new conflict and completely unconnected to plot-lines of the past.

Today, I bring you the logical conclusion of that thought experiment, a full spec script for a totally brand new Star Wars story. With artwork by the wonderful Barry McGowan.

With the discovery of valuable Kyber crystals, the small system of Windar becomes a battleground of great significance. While the New Republic sends the wise Jedi Karis to negotiate with the Aristocracy, the Incom corporation recruits the ambitious noble Lucian to betray his brother Louis and size control of operations. Now Louis must learn the ways of The Force with Shani of the striking Mineworkers Union, and overcome their differences to decide the fate of the planet.

Read the whole thing here.

Exploring the Banality of the Bizarre in Strangehaven. An Obscure Comic of the Month Special Edition.

This column normally takes a look at obscure comics. For every every sixth month, instead of taking a look at a comic that nobody talks about, this special edition will take a look at a comic I feel not enough people talk about.

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Strangehaven Books 1 - 3 by Gary Spencer Millidge 1995 - 2005

Note. This article covers volumes 1 - 3 of Strangehaven, but will not cover the more recent, in-progress volume 4 being serialised in Meanwhile...

Contains Spoilers

I first heard about Strangehaven during my early days of exploring beyond the world of superhero comics. Strangehaven was one of many well regarded but little known titles I decided to seek out, but not being particularly internet savvy back then I never managed to find a copy and my thoughts on it drifted away.

Fast forwards to 2018 and I notice a few volumes on sale at a table at the Leeds Thought Bubble convention. The guy behind the table gives me the pitch of 'Twin Peaks but in Somerset,' (Strangehaven actually takes place in Devon) but the comic already needed no introduction and I bought the books on the spot.

Comparisons to Twin Peaks are rife when it comes to Strangehaven, and while it does work as a decent elevator pitch, I always thought it was reductive to compare the two. Strangehaven is very much it's own thing, but what I will say is that if Strangehaven does share one aspect with Twin Peaks it's the understanding of a culture's attitude towards it's sense of place.

David Lynch understands that small town America has an uncanny sense to it. America is still a young country in a lot of ways. It's populace at times still feel as though they are intruding somewhere they don't belong. No matter how old an American town is, they can sometimes look as though they simply popped into existence overnight.

Gary Spencer Millidge understands that the oppose applies to British towns. They feel old, like they belong exactly where they are. Even the newest of British towns can feel as though they were never really built, but grew out of the rock and soil in the earth itself. There's an uncanniness to both Twin Peaks and Strangehaven, but they are very different types of uncanny.

Strangehaven begins with the entrance of Alex Hunter, a traveller who after a ghost-sighting related car accident finds himself in the care of the small town. Soon enough Alex gets embroiled in the town's affairs, and it quickly becomes apparent that he is unable to leave Strangehaven. However, it remains ambiguous as to what degree he is supernaturally trapped or keeping himself in Strangehaven willingly out of a fondness for the place.

Millidge uses an, at times, almost photorealistic art style that lends itself well to this type of story, adding an extra layer of unsettling unreality that is, at it's core, just normal reality. The coastal vistas look grand and remote, the corner cottages look faded and aged beyond their years. Every British person unconsciously knows these sights. Places where you never know if you will be scowled at or welcomed a little too eagerly.

The way Alex is designed is just one of many examples of Millidge's skill at tapping in to this uncanny mood. Alex is a bit of an everyman, sure, but there's something kind of off about the guy. I sort of feel like everyone knows a person like Alex. Face a little too long, smile a little too wide. Normal at first blush, but nobody seems to really know much about them. You see them at the pub or maybe pass them at work, but there's something about them you can't quite put your finger on.

Through Alex's eyes we explore Strangehaven and it's weird idiosyncrasies. At points we are led to assume that strange, otherworldly powers might be present in Strangehaven, only to find out that there are actually banal, normal explanations instead. At one point, Alex wakes in the morning to find the inhabitants of the town celebrating Christmas. Does time work differently in Strangehaven? Has he been in a mysterious coma? No, it's simply an old town tradition. Weird, but hardly supernatural.

Alex, of course, is only one of an ensemble cast, and the inner lives and secrets of the village's inhabitants are equally enthralling. As the story continues, we soon begin to discover more about the machinations of a cultish, Mason-esque secret society that seems to be manipulating affairs from behind the scenes.

As mentioned, Strangehaven is a masterwork at pulling the rug out from under you, and it saves one of it's greatest twists towards the end of volume three. Alex, having now gotten himself embroiled into many of the town's affairs, is approached by a coven of witches, characters we had previously met, but did not know shared a connection until now. The coven explains to Alex that Strangehaven is indeed a supernatural place, sitting upon an intersection of mystical power that runs across the planet.

They explain to Alex that the secret society seeks to exploit this power for their own ends. Both Alex and the reader then expects the story to escalate towards some apocalyptic threat that needs to be stopped, but the coven reveals this is far from the case. For years they have carefully manipulated the most self-centred and short-sighted individuals into reaching the highest echelons of the cult. Their rationale being that the power will not be used for anything other than petty personal gain. Safer that way, than in the hands of a charismatic politician or corporate billionaire.

After so many stories of mysterious goings on and enigmatic ritual, Strangehaven reveals that it's greatest villains are little more than pathetic middle-aged men. No ancient evil or grand conspiracy. Just a bunch of folks who want the nicest seat in the pub or the flashiest car in town.

In the end, this is what Strangehaven is really all about. That sometimes the most mystical or surreal parts of our lives happen for the blandest of reasons. A liminal space is, at the end of the day, just a perfectly normal place. Strangehaven, in a lot of ways, feels like the Wizard of Oz having his curtain thrown back, except the wizard is the whole town.

That being said, at the end of volume three the town's conflicts and betrayals are only just beginning to reach their boiling point, and greater mysteries have yet to be revealed. The story continues into colour strips serialised in Meanwhile... magazine, and I suspect Millidge will play coy right down to the wire on what exactly is mystical and what is mere artifice. The uncanny has yet to be fully reckoned with.

Strangehaven is easily one of the greatest comics I have ever read and heartily recommend it to anyone who loves comics. The story behind it's creation and publication history is also equally fascinating, as explored in a recent video by You-tuber In Praise of Shadows that you can watch here. Millidge has said that he plans to conclude the story at the end of volume four, but also that his original plan for the comic was for it to run for years and years.

Whichever becomes the case, it's always safe to say that when it comes to Strangehaven, it's best to expect the unexpected.

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Jack Harvey 2022. Strangehaven (c) Gary Spencer Millidge. Images used under Fair Use.