Obscure Comic of the Month - Metropo

 Obscure Comic of the Month was a column I wrote from 2015 to 2017, where I would take a look at a comic or series that wasn't really talked about. This covered independent comics, zines, weird spins-offs, webcomics and more. It's been away, but now it's back.

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Metropo by Magnus Aspli with art by Vivian Truong, Rob Croonenborghs, Mary Safro, Niomi Franquiz, John Jamtili and Emerson Dimaya - 2018 - Present

Contains Spoilers

When glancing over at Magnus Aspli's stall during Thought Bubble 2018 he had a sign displayed sating that he accepted payment by cash, card or Wayland-Yutani stocks. This humorous gag alone made it likely that I was going to grab a copy of his book, but it's cover, being a beautifully illustrated homage to the opening scene of Alejandro Jodorowsky's Incal, practically guaranteed it. Though I dud have to let him know I left my Wayland-Yutani stocks in my other pants.

Metropo is a short story collection with a mix of both comics and prose. You may question whether that means it doesn't qualify for this column, but I don't care, I do what I like.

If the name of the book and the cover doesn't tip you off, Metropo is set in your typical cyberpunk city. You've seen this place before in dozens of sci-fi stories. There is no new conceit or unique spin that Metropo brings to the setting, but that's okay. Metropo's setting exists to serve as a baseline normal for it's individual stories to expand upon.

The the stories are all pretty much great, and the visuals the artists bring to the project sing with life, but some of the stories stories resonate more than others do. You can't score a hit 100% of the time when it comes to a well covered sub-genre like cyberpunk, and Metropo is no different. As well written as the stories are, many of them sit so comfortably within the mechanics of the genre to such a degree that they sink from your memory into the vast ephemera of half remembered cyberpunk tales at the back of your mind.

Fortunately, the ones that do resonate are so good that I'll still be sitting thinking about them for years to come.

Stand outs include the opening comic strip, Raindrop Hatch, that tells of one of the cities great forgotten workers forced to part with the only family he has. Temporal is an absolutely banging day-in-the-life story of cyborg cops constantly questioning their identity while serving an uncaring state. Automobile, with absolutely fantastic art by Rob Croonenborghs, serves as a dire warning about the dangers of automated vehicles, something that feels more resonant now than it even did four years ago.

Easily the standout of the collection is Sunrise, the story of a young girl who has spent most of her life living in a city where seeing the sky is a luxury only for the privileged few, and who's quest to make it to the top of a high-rise building becomes epic in it's own right. The prose is not only beautiful and intense, but the story also culminates with the final moments illustrated vibrantly by Emerson Dimaya. A wonderful way to conclude the story.

Standing out in the cyberpunk genre is no easy task, not least because a lot of the concepts you are predicting or satirising often come to pass and become common place as our society gets vastly more mechanised. What's important is the heart of the story and an understanding that while spans of time can be epic, our humanity does not fundamentally change. The decision to open the book stating it is 'Based on future events,' shows that Aspli understands this.

Metropo is intended to be part of a larger and more developed fictional setting, though Aspli seems of have been off the grid since 2019, such is the way of things in the world of obscure comics, but I hope a return to the endless city is forthcoming.

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Jack Harvey 2021. Metropo (c) Magnus Aspli. Images used under Fair Use.

Jack's End of Year Update

 Wow, 2021 sucked huh?

Here's a quick update on where things stand, regards to both my current projects and my health.

- Recovery is going well for the tendonitis in my wrists, but I'm not quite there yet, with some occasional deterioration happening with my left, which is my writing and drawing hand. I've been tentatively getting back into writing and drawing but I'm trying to be careful and not set anything off again, so it's slow going.

- I'm still waiting for the NHS referral for a physiotherapist to come through. In the meantime, I've been trying to secure an appointment at a private clinic, with no such luck as yet.

- While my hands have been getting better, I've since come down with a string of back pains that, while manageable, make it difficult to just lean back and get into the flow of things. I reckon this is due to the back going bust in my old office chair that I use in my day job.

- I'm waiting for a works assessment referral to be done to establish if the problem is indeed the chair, and if so sorting out a recommended replacement. Nobody has got back to me on this as yet, so if there isn't more news when I return to work in Jan then I'm going to ring the doctors and see what they say.

- All in all, I'm not doing too great, but I'm trying to be productive.

As for my projects:

- For those who didn't see, Obscure Comic of the Month is back. This was a series of columns I used to write, taking a look at lesser known comics. I figured this would a nice simple project to get back on my feet, and plan on keeping it going as long as I can.

- The Illustrated Guide to Drinking Beer, is, as mentioned previously, ready to go to print, but with the time I've had while my wrists recovered I've made plans to add a few more pages, so when I'm feeling better I want to put more work into it.

- I had the next instalment of Sea of Spheres partly done when the tendonitis first hit. I want to get back to it as soon as I can, so if things improve as they are, I hope It'll be done soon.

- I decided to turn the Star Wars pitch I wrote earlier this year into a full fledged screenplay. It's about three quarters done, and I want to commission an artist to do a mock poster for it. More news when it's nearly done.

- I've commissioned an artist to work on a short Warhammer 40k comic. I don't want to give too many details away yet to give the artist all the time they need.

All in all, 2021 was a high contender for worst year of my life. Here's hoping 2022 can salvage something.

Stay Safe.

Obscure Comic of the Month - O Sarilho Books 1 and 2

 Obscure Comic of the Month was a column I wrote from 2015 to 2017, where I would take a look at a comic or series that wasn't really talked about. This covered independent comics, zines, weird spins-offs, webcomics and more. It's been away, but now it's back.

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O Sarilho by Martin Shizasese - 2016 - Present

Contains Spoilers

When you're attending a convention, particularly one dedicated to creators, writers and artists, it often becomes difficult to decide on what to give your attention to. I often joke that I wish I was a millionaire purely so I could go to comic book conventions and just buy everybody's comics. However, as I am not made of money, I have to be discerning.

Shilling your own comics at conventions is difficult. I know, I do it all the time. On the one hand you kind of want to sit there quietly and let the work speak for itself, on the other you want to shout and scream and vie for people's attention.

This is how I ended up with both books of O Sarilho. It's creator leaning forward from their table to entice me with tales of future Romans and alien space gods. I've been in situations before where a creator has given me the big sell, and ultimately the comic they produce turns out to be measures less interesting than the pitch they frantically sold it on.

I'm happy to say, however, that O Sarilho was not one of those situations.

I want to begin by talking about how this comic deals with it's depiction of future Romans. The concept of saying 'what if the Roman empire never fell and they were around in the modern day and/or future' is not an uncommon one, and has been rendered many times in the world of comics over the years. One commonality amongst these stories, however, is the tendency to merely transplant the Roman empire wholesale into the world of the future. Same attitudes, same fashions, same language, same gods.

Anthropologically speaking, this of course makes no sense. If the Romans were still around after 2000 years they almost certainly would have gone through massive social and cultural change, but O Sarilho is probably the first time I've seen this acknowledged in a story of this type. The future Romans of this tale are far different from the ancient empire that was. Time has seen a shift in attitudes, religion has now evolved around emergent technology. The military has changed, as has it's political systems. The state language of Rome? Italian of course, Latin died long ago.

Of course, the comic itself plays coy around it's alt-history. It's open to interpretation as to whether the Mediterranean empire of the story even originates from Ancient Rome, or if it began as a later resurgence. Ultimately, it's origins don't matter, the world being elaborated upon slowly as we begin to see this world though it's character's eyes.

But what of the story itself? Well, the plot begins with a group of fresh faced recruits of various different backgrounds, eager but nervous about their final days of academia leading up to the careers of their adulthood. From the loose and somewhat exaggerated art style to the subject matter of secret crushes and youthful anxiety, this leads the reader to presume the story will be a light-hearted 'young people at fantasy academy' type story full of interpersonal conflict and low stakes drama.

Then the characters begin dying in droves, limbs are amputated, minds possessed by unknowable alien intelligences and those who walk out alive suffer from heaping piles of trauma.

If you want to get me on board with a story then I'll be honest, I'm a sucker for a bait and switch like this. Lull the reader into thinking this is going to be a relatively light hearted tale and then go right for the brutal violence, and O Sarilho executes this with aplomb. It also keeps the readers on their toes. You think you know which way this story is going, until you don't.

Once we are over the threshold, the plot unfolds into a network of much bigger ideas. For the surviving characters, a new and difficult network within the halls of power must be navigated, an uprising on the fringes of the empire begins to gain momentum and the mystery behind the corpse of what seems to be an alien space god has yet to be unravelled. The story can go anywhere at this point, and its an exiting feeling to know that anything could happen. It's unpredictability is it's greatest strength.

O Sarilho is ongoing and updated regularly at it's main site, though if you know me I like to read my comics in big chunks in print form. So I'll certainly be picking up further volumes as they become available. Either way, whatever means you prefer to consume your comics, I highly recommend you check it out. Everything you need to know you can find out here.

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Jack Harvey 2021. O Sarilho (c) Shizamura. Images used under Fair Use.

Confirmed BATchelor - Jack Minute's Late Returns

 

Being sort of out for the count with the wrist situation at present meant I completely forgot to post an update here about the recent Bat Minute Podcast I guested on.

Also a note on this. I talk a bit about Grant Morrison in this podcast and neglected to use the pronouns they/them that they go by. Entirely a mistake on my part and not intended as disrespect towards a comics writer that I obviously admire. Just be aware of that before going in.

So with that in mind take this as a double apology, for being both late in an announcement and accidental incorrect pronoun usage. It won't happen again.

Ultimately then, I present to you all, Minute 60 where I argue that a story about Superman dating Batman will happen within our lifetime.

Bat Minute & Robin - Minute 60: Waynespresso (with Jack Harvey)

See you next time.

What's going on with Jack's hands?

 

Hello all. If you follow me regularly on social media you've probably been wondering why I haven't posted any art or any updates on my writing in a while. So I'm giving a full update here to let you know exactly what's going on.

Early in August a pain started at the bottom of my wrist. After about a week this had developed into a much more severe pain in both wrists. I went to the doctors and it was diagnosed as tendonitis. I was told to wear wrist splints, take ibuprofen, eliminate as much keyboard work as possible and anything else strenuous on the wrists, this included drawing. I was told recovery could take two weeks.

After two weeks, however, there was no improvement, and so, as instructed, I've been referred on to a physiotherapist. However the NHS's current work load means that it's anyone's guess how soon I'll get to see anybody about this. I've been waiting for a reply since September 6th.

As you can expect, this has been disastrous for my mental health. Not being able to work on either writing or art professionally, or even just for fun, has taken its toll on my momentum. I've been trying to use my computer's speech-to-text system in order to try and get some writing done, but I've had technical problems with it, such as the dictation system bugging out after about 15 minutes. On top of that, I also feel that speaking the words out loud dose not bring across the same authorial voice that typing does, and the work suffers.

It's unclear exactly where things will go from here. I imagine I'll know more when I speak to a physiotherapist but, as mentioned earlier, it's unclear how soon that will be. I'm off on holiday for 3 1/2 weeks next Wednesday. Hopefully some time off will give my wrists the opportunity they need to recover and I'll be back in business as soon as I return, but I'm not an optimist, and fear this could be something that may run on into next year or even longer.

All I can really do is do the best I can. I'll push forward with the dictation to see if I can turn that into something I can use on a more long term basis. I've decided to commission some artists to work on scripts that I'd written previously, so hopefully you'll still be seeing some of my storytelling coming out in the near future.

Thanks for reading, and if anybody out there has been through similar problems, any advice and support you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Hidden Depths - A Necromunda Story

 I've said in the past that I was planning on revisiting the world of Warhammer 40'000 for more stories and comics, but in this instance I wanted to drill down more into the murky world of Necromunda specifically. 

However, this is not a story of one of the notorious house gangs, but instead of the enigmatic Water Guild and their heavily armoured Subnauticans. 

For Subnautican 117-R, working within the bowels of Hive Primus' deep reservoirs makes it easy to forget about the chaotic, ruthless world around her. However, when an anomalous life-form finds its way into the sector's pipe system, her search for aid clashes with ambitious Escher gangers, fanatical Redemptionists, and even the cut-throat politics of her own guild. However, none of this can contend with the threat that the mysterious creature itself heralds, hidden away within the dark depths below.  

You can read the whole thing here.

Cover art is by the outstanding Mustafa Bekir. A big thanks for this wonderful piece, and if you want to check out more of his work you can find more information here.

Since It's so good, I'm also going to post the unedited version below.

Jack's July Update

Updates are few and far between this year, for obvious reasons, but that doesn't mean I've got nothing to talk about. Work continues on multiple projects and I'm eager to get back to the convention circuit. However, even with the vaccine roll-out continuing (I've had my first) signs of a third wave suggest we might be under for even longer. Still, here's a rundown of what's been going on.

- My second short story in the Sea of Spheres series, A Question of Conscience, has been fully released and you can read it in full on AO3 now. Not only that, but it's also been updated by some fantastic new artwork courtesy of Windlass. Take a look at that below.

- I'm currently working on a brand new Warhammer 40'000 story, or, to be more specific, a Necromunda short story. It follows the Water Guild and their dealings with House Escher as an unknown threat manifests in the waterways of Hive Primus. No idea yet when it'll drop, but work is ongoing.

- I'll be attending the Harrogate Thought Bubble Convention in November. I won't be exhibiting or anything like that, but I will be there to mix and mingle with folks in the comic industry, and I believe some of my twitter mutuals will be there, so it'll be good to meet up, if things stay on the course that they are.

- Things remain unchanged regarding the release of The Illustrated Guide to Drinking Beer. While pubs and bars are opening up, it's still unclear if this road the UK is on is going to stay smooth, so for now, I'm holding it back until things are clearer and going to the pub becomes a more casual experience.

And that's about it for now. There's a bunch of other stuff I'm working on that's still in it's early stages, but the first you'll hear about it is here. In the meantime, feel free to follow me on Twitter, Tumblr or Deviantart.

Thanks for reading.