Petunia is a heroine in the style of Dennis the Menace. She and her two henchminions go to an amusement park - and don't actually do anything terrible before she is stopped by the authorities. There's a to-be-continued here and I'm quite intrigued. The dialogue in this is much better than the previous Petunia Rascal comics I have, it was a fun but way-too-short read.
Cherry: Stepping Back. Chapter 1: A strange enchanted boy. Alice Nuttall (writing) and Emily Brady (art) http://www.footloosecomic.com
This is the tale of Steve, a normal boy who happens to prefer wearing girls' clothes, who is by chance wandering around dressed as a girl when a magical sceptre hits the ground near him and he is transformed into Cherry, one of the five Flower Girls. A pink cat, Kirsch, informs him of all this in a truly wonderful bit of dialogue before he is convinced to go to Flower Island where the other four girls are. Except things don't quite go as planned. I don't really want to say any more because it would be a spoiler, but he ends up in a school learning to be a Magical Girl, which was a bit of a right turn in the story. Cherry is well written and funny, and the art is good (full colour, by the way). I'm really looking forward to seeing more :)
Fruit Machine tells the story of Jason Fellows, a confident, egotistical art student who falls for a new classmate, Sheridan, and who plans to enjoy the feeling of being in love and playing Sheridan 'like a fruit machine', to quote from the back blurb. It could have been just a standard romance, but the way Jason is written (he is both shockingly arrogant and entirely understandable) and Mimi's confident, flowing, expressive brushwork make it stand out. You don't get enough story in these two chapters (this is going to be a recurring whinge, I think), but it's really fun to read.
Chidori: A thousand cranes Ali Bahsoun (writing) and Karen Lusted (art)
Chidori is a short, cute story about a girl who learns origami. Her name (the title) means 'a thousand cranes'. If you make a thousand origani cranes, then according to Japanese folklore you get to make a wish. The other character, Takumi, teaches Chidori how to do it. And much of the comic is in fact the instructions, because Chidori is a teaching comic - it's meant to entertain and to teach. It's a lovely idea, especially because you actually get a couple of origami sheets with the comic, but it does mean the story itself is only 6 pages long! However, it's cute and well drawn and there's a fun ending which is hopefully a prelude to more.
This is a collection of conversations between different dinosaurs pondering the end of the world, which they can see coming. How should they spend their last moments? Why is this happening to them? It's cleverly written and simply but effectively illustrated, although occasionally the thick-outlined, white dinosaurs don't quite fit in front of an indistinct dark grey background. It's a thought-provoking comic, and the worldview behind it comes through very clearly. I liked the different personalities of the dinosaurs, the ways they approached their oncoming doom, and I particularly liked the ending, which I'm not going to tell you.
Short and funny, loosely but effectively illustrated in colour, this is the story of an unnamed heroine who, in a quest to get the money to pay her rent (never mind all the other bills), steals her landlord's cat to enter at a pet show. Unfortunately, she ends up having to do more than she bargained for.
Eric has just lost his older sister. This is the story of how he deals with his grief, and how his friends try to help him. Because it's one of four, it ends with a bit of a cliffhanger, and I'm curious about where it's going. I found the emotion well portrayed, although the way everyone kept telling Eric to get over it got on my nerves a bit (it seemed very close to her death to be saying that sort of thing). The art is clean but there are some perspective and proportion issues here and there. I enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to more.
The girl who is always crying and the penguin who dreams of Africa Yuri Kore http://www.yurikore.com
In the same vein as 'the boy who runs from the sun', this is the story of the penguin who dreams of Africa, who is helped by the girl who is always crying (I really like her :). It's beautifully illustrated in colour, and the pages are a cross between an illustrated book and a comic, with most of the action both sparsely narrated and sparsely illustrated. The language is a bit stilted, but in a way it made up part of the charm of the whole thing.
This was an Eagle Initiative comic which Jade decided to print when that all fell through. I'm glad she did, because I really enjoyed it although it's a sad ending. It tells the story of two girls, Aanslu and Iting, who have been selected as representatives of their separate nations to talk to each other and help establish a bond between the cultures. Saying any more would spoil it, but it's well worth getting. Jade's art is expressive and effective in black and white over a tinted background.
This is a fourth part, so you're not really going to get this unless you already have parts 1-3. It's a dark fantasy story which I rather like, although I think at the end I will have to read them all together again. I just lose too much when there's 6 months to a year between readings! Things are getting more serious in this issue, and the next issue is the last, so I'm looking forward to it. Ushio's art is basic but it does the job. I was particularly impressed with the fight, which I followed without a problem - I usually get lost in fight scenes ;)
Also by Ushio, but these are gags so it doesn't matter if you haven't read 1-4. Loose, sketchy, silly jokes about anime/manga/games fans. It usually provokes at least one laugh while reading, and this time was the same, although I'm afraid I'm not so keen on the ruder jokes in this issue.
Madam Butterscotch was a hit (wo)man. Now, as Tilda Llewellyn, she runs a tea shop and cares for her daughter, who's got no idea about her mother's murky past. But in chapter 2, the past has come calling in the form of Madam Renoir, an old colleague. Most of it is a fight in the teashop, accompanied by amusing - and enlightening - conversation between the two. I'm looking forward to seeing where it's all going ^^
Marci is a street child living in a world where there's practically nothing left but humans (how they live is as yet unexplained). The story is nearly wordless, but is easy to follow. She finds, fixes and sells scrap for a living, and during one of her forays she sees something of how the other half live. Depressed, she wanders back to the box she lives in and tries to recreate what she saw using her bits of scrap and her particular talent. That will lead to consequences she did not anticipate - but that's for the next chapter, unfortunately. I'd like to read more. Marci is well written and realistically illustrated. It's printed in colour and looks like it's painted in watercolour. On the whole it is very pretty, although here and there the art occasionally misses a beat.
Hollow Dreams Jodie Azhar
This is a collection of 4 short and decidedly odd stories. I enjoyed them all, although I didn't quite get the twists of some of them - they did indeed feel quite dreamlike. My favourite was the last, 150 nights of dream. The comic is a decent length and is absolutely gorgeous to look at. The back cover is actually my favourite, but the stories are also punctuated with intricate, beautifully inked splash pages.
This is again a second issue. The story is based on Mars, where a mysterious phenomenon is spreading across the planet, leaving a blighted red soil where little life can survive. Ken, the main character, is a bubbly cheerful girl who works for the Kankyu Sentai, or Environment Squadron. In this issue she and her team mate Siam try to help an injured sky whale. It's a full colour comic with a distinctive, lively art style and an interesting premise, but the pacing occasionally feels off-beat, sometimes a little rushed, sometimes a bit stilted. A proof reader would help too.
This is issue 3, and if you haven't read 1 and 2, go and [read them now]. I love Josceline's work, and Hemlock is a fascinating story which describes itself as a fairy story set in the forests of 19th century Scandinavia. A local boy (wannabe student) named Tristan falls off his horse while on a journey for his mother and breaks his neck - at precisely the wrong time for him, or possibly the right time, because he ends up as a witch's familiar. In the form of a three-eyed frog. The witch, Lumi, who lives in an enormous sentient snail, is not without her own secrets and problems. She and Tristan-the-frog-familiar establish an uneasy life together, and Tristan begins to find out her backstory. This issue concerns the arrival of a suspicious relative. Josceline uses mainly ink with what I think is a brushpen or a brush plus a little tone, and her artwork is expressive, distinctive and appealing. The textures she adds to the surroundings, grass bark, etc, add to the atmosphere.
This is a rather unsettling comic. It's one of those where it works so well that I didn't notice it working until I got to the end, and then I was left with as many questions as the poor main character and, I think, about the same level of idea what was going on. I think that is deliberate; if what happened had been explained, if it could have been explained, it would lose that sense of other-ness. I won't go into it for the sake of spoilers and in case I'm wrong, but I did enjoy it (despite still being curious!). The art has a sketchy style which adds to the atmosphere.
This is an anthology, and so much harder to review in one line (not that I've managed that in any of the above, but never mind). Byrde by Ushio is funny and about a bird (surprise!), Your Heart's Greatest Wish by Daniel Bowes is sweet and traditional, Purrfect Paradise by Sephryn was a bit hard to follow at first, but amusing, and Early Bird by Andrew Attwell was unexpected and short but good. There's also an article on Bonsai, a review of Hi Sushi Salsa and a bit about the Japanese language. A mixed bag but a good one.
Obviously this is more of the same but bigger, because this is the final issue, apparently. But I'm not sad, because new and better things are promised ;) The stories: Ushio finishes Byrde in appropriate style, Oni Trigger by Daniel Bowes starts off like many an anime and finishes a bit abruptly, N Gingerboom's Those of No Class has turned up as a six-page toned preview, and Ruth Redmond did a fantastic job with Ponder, my favourite of this bunch. It's well drawn and well told, stands alone and finishes amusingly. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next from the Non-repro gang ^^
This is cheating slightly, but there are 7 pages of issue 2 in here so I think it counts as a comic ;) It has character details for Fay, Khern and Yadelia (who we have yet to meet in person), pages of more sentient species, a couple of pages of dinosaur-type beasties all in gorgeous detail, and some lovely additional artwork. If you haven't read Those of No Class 1 you can do so [here], and 2 is going up at the moment. If you haven't read it you won't want this concept book, but if you have, you will. It's limited edition (and I have #3, nya nya ;) so hurry.
The Boy Who Befriended Death Shirin El Ghomari (Red Garden Artists' Group)
I think this is a stand alone - either that, or a nicely done first chapter. Anyway, it's got an intriguing premise and it's well told, in layout, pacing and revelation. I particularly liked the way the world is explained through what happens rather than in an info dump (which is why I'm not going into it!). The art is young, the text is too fuzzy (don't anti-alias!) and the spelling needs a thorough proof-reading, but I really enjoyed reading it and would like to see more from Shirin ^^
Mara Memories Brian Prybil (writing) and Stephanie O'Brien (art) (Red Garden Artists' Group)
This is the start of what is probably an epic, and so far it has not ventured outside the bounds of a standard high-school-loser-turned-demon-slayer story (weirdly, the blurb tells more of the story than the comic itself, but anyway). Amida Saito is the loser, longing for the attention of a girl named Ai Umari, who fancies Haruki, the most popular guy in the school. Amida's life changes when a demon turns up and attacks him - and the fight takes up the rest of the comic. Like The Boy Who Befriended Death, the text needs proof-reading. The art is ambitious and some of the fight panels are really good, but it's inconsistent overall. I don't know where it's going yet, it's hard to say from just one chapter, but it looks like it's in for a long haul and I wish Brian and Stephanie luck with it.
This comic is right to left, which is one of my mild peeves. English reads left to right; forcing a reader to read a comic against the direction of the language hinders the narrative flow, in my opinion. Manga is only right to left because that's the way Japanese is written. Anyway, this is a prologue, and it features a guy named Enzeru who, with his friend Satan the white crow, is taking out dealers of a dangerous drug. I don't think that's the main story, however - that turns up at the end of the prologue. It's got the potential to be a fun story, but I can't tell yet. The characters are a bit stiff and there are proportion issues, but when it gets it right it's an appealing art style. The end implies a touch of humour, which will be a nice addition to an otherwise dark story.
Mathew's got a lovely style and tackles interesting subjects, but I always find his SFP magazines a bit hard to read because he's taken the brave step of making anthologies of continuing stories. That is, this issue features 3 stories; the start of a continuing story, a stand-alone, and a continuation of another story. This makes it a bit hard to keep track, especially when it comes out approximately twice a year. Anyway, I did enjoy the beginning of The 36th Chamber, and I'm Heading Out, which was a Manga Jiman entry, was a good read, although I found the pacing a bit off - there wasn't quite enough build-up to make the ending really impact for me. The third extract, the Kawakiri, is full of intrigue and as a result I'm getting a bit lost. But I have all the previous issues and I'll keep getting them, so that I can sit down and read it all as one story in the end :)
This comic is best summed up by the description of how it came to be. Tom McNally? wanted to write a science fiction story "about a planned society that meticulously organises the fates of all its citizens to optimal effect... and TpCat? declared that she'd like to draw a story like that so long as a) there weren't many buildings and b) everyone was an animal". It stars a little bear named November (Novy), and her friend Throwp, a bird. Today is the day they go to get their Tasks, which, no matter how bizarre, they will fulfil for the rest of their lives. As the story unwinds it does reveal several tasks given to other animals which seem entirely sensible and some which are bizarre - and one which is heartbreakingly tragic. As with all good stories, the background to the world is explained through the story itself but is done so clearly and well that you don't ever feel confused about it. The task Novy is given - well, it's not what she was expecting, and I'm not going to say anything else. I want more.
The Summer of Blake Sinclair: Chapter One, the First Day of Summer Sarah Burgess (IndieManga?) http://knightylighty.co.uk
Nearly wordless, this details a summer morning in the life of the titular Blake Sinclair. It's full of life and movement, and has a rough, sketchy style which works for the story it is. It's one of those comics where not much happens and everything happens - I could tell you what happened in one line (no really) but that would fail to capture the atmosphere Sarah's filled every page with which itself is part of the story. The whole comic exudes summer freshness. Also, Blake is a git. You can read this one [online], so what are you waiting for?
Heavier Than Aer Christopher Pullen (art) and Rebecca McCarthy? (writing) (Indiemanga) http://www.indiemanga.com
Aer is a superhero - the superhero, there is no other in this world. Doug Warwick is a journalist desperate to find out about her, and willing to go to any lengths to do so. In the process, both he and Aer end up with more than they bargained for. I really enjoyed this, partly because I like the subversion of the superhero genre but mainly because it's a good story with a good ending. Christopher's work is consistently stylish, although from time to time the layout made the story a little hard to follow.
I first picked Tozo 1 up at an Expo a year or two ago, read it that night in the hotel and went back to buy chapter 2 the next day. It's a really good read, with action and intrigue surrounding the death of Lello, an employee at the Financial Exchange in the city of Nova Venezia. Tozo is the policeman assigned to investigate the death, but little does he realise the mess he's about to get thrown into on all sides. This chapter runs Tozo's investigation (now well into the thick of it and heading deeper) alongside the finale of the hookball season, which adds a nice commentary on both the game and the goings on and ends up wound into the plot as well, of course. The art is consistently well-drawn and David makes backgrounds look easy, which is some skill.
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