Obscure Comic of the Month - The Miracles

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 spin-offs, webcomics and more. It's been away, but now it's back.

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The Miracles by Joe Glass with art by Vince Underwood and Harry Saxon - 2022 Queer Comix

Contains Spoilers

The idea of comic book characters manifesting in the real world is a well trodden premise at this point. In fact The Miracles itself has been released on the tale of Donnie Cates' Crossover, inviting immediate comparison. However, while Crossover envisions our world's encounter with incarnated fictional beings as being nothing short of an apocalyptic threat, The Miracles takes a more optimistic approach, while keeping a hard bitten edge to it. Last Action Hero this is not.

The story follows the young Elliot Morgan, whose rapidly manifesting superpowers lead to the shocking discovery that his parents are actually characters from a comic book that he himself is familiar with. This soon leads to the entire family deciding to go public as superheroes outright, and finally confront the baggage that had followed them from the comic book world.

The decision to have the character's comic book flashbacks be drawn as a homage to Jack Kirby would normally be a nice little touch, but Underwood nails the style so well that the book is worth recommending by the art alone. You almost can't believe that it's the same artist pulling double duty on both art styles, and that makes it feel like something special.

Joe Glass has been in the game for a while now, but The Miracles itself feels like a real jump up to the next level. The writing and artistry on display is equal to what the mainstream is putting out, and it almost feels an injustice that the book started as a small crowdfunded project, when it could easily stand side by side on the comic book shelf with stuff put out by the major publishers.

While the story's premise is relatively straightforward, all the fascinating stuff is taking place under the hood. Glass is probably mostly well known for The Pride, a comic unapologetically focussing on queer superheroes and putting their queerness front and centre. The Miracles also features a gay protagonist in Elliot himself, but Glass is taking a different tact here.

At first blush it'd be easy to say that the comic could have worked just as well with a straight protagonist, down to the fact that Elliot's sexuality is dealt with so matter-of-factly. However, in putting together The Miracles Glass has clearly decided to draw upon the sub-textual queerness intrinsic in the superhero genre.

If The Miracles has one big theme, it's that of 'coming out.' As our story begins Elliot is still in the closet, wracked by inaction and unsure who to trust. Mirroring this are his parents, whose own history and reality as superheroes is similarly closeted. Elliot's brother, cousin and boyfriend each have their own secrets to varying degrees. As the story progresses we find that in the case of many of these secrets, their concealment for so long has only lead to further hurt down the line.

And that, fundamentally, is where The Miracles optimism comes from. It is a story about honesty, openness and acceptance. It's about how being true to oneself can be the greatest of strengths. Elliot might not be Superman, but in The Miracles he serves a similar purpose. To think about not who we are, but who we have the potential to be.

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Jack Harvey 2022. The Miracles (c) Joe Glass. Images used under Fair Use.

Obscure Comic of the Month - Habitat

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 spin-offs, webcomics and more. It's been away, but now it's back.

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Habitat by Simon Roy - 2017 Image Comics

Contains Heavy Spoilers

There are certain comics that you are almost guaranteed to be immediately on board with simply down to the strength of the artwork. For me, Simon Roy's Habitat was certainly one of these instances. Just seeing the intriguing and beautiful artwork concerning very vivid but understandably functional mech suits exploring a strange and overwhelming superstructure was all I needed to know I was going to have to read this comic.

Indeed, such is the strength of the art that it almost seems unnecessary to talk about the story, which takes place within a deep space artificial environment where tribal societies live within the detritus of a far more ancient, technologically advanced civilisation. Roy takes to rendering this world like a duck to water, taking great care to meld both the alien with the familiar, the primitive with the advanced.

With a deft use of subtle design choices Roy distinguishes the various tribes in order for us to all the better understand their relationship with the long forgotten technology, some of whom the interaction is with more religious reverence than others. The mech suits themselves are immediately iconic. While drawing inspiration from the many works of science fiction that have featured power armour and robotic suits, Roy gives them a bulbous, cumbersome look, their functionality and mechanical capabilities obvious. Part Bioshock diving suit, part Aliens power lifter.

All this is to say that Habitat is a beautiful world in which to get lost, and in many respects the art feels like it has more in common with concept art than that of more traditional comic illustration. Regardless, there are several pages you'll want to hold on to just take in what it is that you're looking at, and almost see a far away world coming to life in front of your eyes.

With all that in mind, what of the story proper? Habitat tells the tale of a young cadet going rogue from his tribe with valuable data that can be used to 'print' advanced technology. As his journey unfolds, he comes into contact with the various other factions and characters of the superstructure, few of which have any priorities other than immediate self interest, and we get the impression that this is a world where uncompromised heroes are hard to come by.

You see, it is quickly revealed that the tribes are the descendants of some long ago exiled community, cut off from what seems like a long forgotten space utopia. The protagonist's journey is hardly ground-breaking and instead servers as a conduit for the readers to experience this cut-throat world though somewhat sympathetic eyes. Eventually, enough characters with altruistic motivation unite to regain contact with the wider universe and activate the superstructure's more advanced technology, something that the ending implies may come with a far reaching and unintended consequences.

If I have any real criticism of Habitat it's about the length. There is so much about this world that the story leaves you wanting to find out about, and while the tribal societies are explored succinctly, the wider galaxy beyond is left enigmatically unexplored. The significance of the awakening star-god like creature at the stories climax being mostly left up to the reader's interpretation.

Indeed, the climax itself is maddeningly brief, to the point where I wonder if Roy had to cut it short for space, or some other undisclosed, practical reasons. Either way, it really left me wanted more, and to see what the wider consequences of the characters decisions would ultimately come out as.

As I always say, though, if it leaves you wanting more, that's a recommendation, and I really hope we see more of the world of Habitat some time in the future. A world this rich both visually and textually deserves to be explored beyond a single book.

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Jack Harvey 2021. Habitat (c) Simon Roy. Images used under Fair Use.

Warhammer 40'000 - A Beautiful Dream

 

Hey folks. I recently entered a short story into Cold Open Stories fast fiction contest for January and came in as a runner up. If you're not familiar with Cold Open Stories, they're a collective of Warhammer fan authors who get together to assemble monthly releases of top quality fiction.

If you want to check out a story of resistance against an oppressive galactic empire you can read the story here. Of course, you can also check out all the other fantastic stories by other writers too.

Thanks for reading.

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.