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The Dead Queen Detectives Omnibus
Bevis Musson

This was sold to me as a bit like HorribleHistories?, which I loved. Basically, four dead queens solve small crimes. Mostly it's Queens Mary, Liz I, Anne and Victoria, but they also get help from Hatshepsut, Isabella of Castile, Catherine the Great and Marie-Antoinette (the International Queens), and the Legion of Substitute Dead Disputed Queen Detectives (Boudicca, Empress Matilda, Mary Stuart and Lady Jane Grey). The comics are funny and the queens are fantastically idiosyncratic. Highly recommended :)

Curia Regis 2
Robin Hoelzemann
http://www.whatido.co.uk

The start of an adventure set in the 18th century; Maren, a noble lady, is acting as an agent (not quite sure for whom yet) but she arranged the death of the king's spymaster in the prologue. The chapter mainly follows her visit to her father, who is suffering from dementia. It's a slow-moving story but well-told; I think it will work better read in a big chunk. The art is full colour and gorgeous.

Lucy the Octopus
Richy K Chandler
http://lucytheoctopus.net

An advert for the webcomic, this features the eponymous Lucy, who for some reason is disliked both at school and at home. The comics are four panels each, funny and just a bit sad. Cute colour art.

Fandango
Kate Holden
http://fandangocomic.com
http://www.indiemanga.com

I was really pleased to be able to pick up a copy of this at Thought Bubble, because I've been wanting it for ages. This is actually a reboot of the original, which I haven't read. Fandango is set in a world with both magic and technology ("retropunk fantasy", Kate describes it), and this book (the first 3 chapters) follows the conflict between Imperialist rebels and the Knights who defend the people and the Empire - the main character being Knight First Class Rekki Lune, who's wonderfully fiery. There are lots of characters accompanying and opposing Rekki, and they do all differ nicely from each other in looks, aims, and personality. Kate's art is bold and bright and fits the comic perfectly. I really like the story, which displays enough of the world to show there's a background and history but never gets stuck in exposition. I think it works well read in a chunk rather than as single pages, but you can read it all and more on the website. Very much recommended :)

Square-Eyed Stories #25
Arthur and David Goodman, Jim McGee?
http://www.favouritecrayon.co.uk
http://www.bahala-na.co.uk
http://www.youtube.com/comoyoko
http://www.squareeyedstories.co.uk

A collection of short, funny comics. I always like these - my favourite in this collection is the Bumblebee one ^^

Scandinavia and the World: France
Scandinavia and the World: The British Isles
http://satwcomic.com

Hilarious depiction of countries as squabbling people (except for New Zealand, who is a sheep) - no, it's not Hetalia. Simple but very effective, recommended for those who don't mind comics taking the mickey out of national stereotypes.

Madam Butterscotch
Lisa Cummins
http://madambutterscotch.smackjeeves.com/

This is a collection of chapters 1-4 of Madam Butterscotch. Here's the backstory (nicked from my last review): Madam Butterscotch was a hit (wo)man. Now, as Tilda Llewellyn, she runs a tea shop and cares for her daughter Grace, who's got no idea about her mother's murky past. Unfortunately, the past has caught up with her - after one fight in a teashop and another in the computer shop of Butterscotch's colleague Madam Crumble, who also left the business, Butterscotch is reluctantly back in again (and Crumble too), and by the end of the fourth chapter even her daughter Grace has been involved. I'm looking forward to reading more :)

Porcelain: A gothic fairy tale
Benjamin Read and Chris Wildgoose
http://www.improperbooks.com

I don't think this is small press - it was a free preview of what looks like an intriguing story, self-described as a gothic fairy tale. An orphan is shoved into a rich man's garden to steal stuff, and is rescued by him from his guard dogs. There's only a few pages but it's beautifully drawn and well-written and I'd very much like to get the whole thing.

Telikos Protocol 1
Peter Cooper and Dan Burn
http://www.vanquish-interactive.com

This is photorealistic in art style, and mostly dark, implying a sort of near-future dystopia. Two cops (who are very believable characters; I liked their interaction) are sent to escort a scientist to safety; the scientist is monitoring something and doesn't move until nearly too late - there's an approaching unspecified anomaly/disaster. It's not really clear what's going on, but the two cops are also confused, so it's not alienating. I need to read more to gauge the story, but the interpersonal dialogue is good.

Moo and Keo: Fun adventures
Matt Dyson
http://www.mookeo.com

More cute fun from Moo and Keo :) Izzy and Keo cross Europe to find a friend who's sent them a distress call, and Moo tells a story to her nephew and niece about Moo the knight and her squire Izzy who looks for their friend Prince Keo and end up facing down terrible dragons...

Klusek
Kiwi
http://5494.weebly.com

Small, utterly cute comic about Klusek the cat and Kiwi, his owner.

Bad Fairy Bakery
Sarah Fogg
http://sarahfogg.co.uk

A mischievous fairy takes up residence in a bakery run by two sisters, and causes trouble when one sister tries to work out what's happening. It's a small, sweet comic with effective, stylised art and heavy use of ink in cross-hatching for texture and mood.

Japanofail 6
Ushio
http://ushiocomics.co.uk

More Japanofail - more of the same, really. Still funny, still sketchy, still occasionally gross.

Beholder of the Eye 5
Ushio
http://ushiocomics.co.uk

The end of the story. Slaughter and dismemberment and Chloe finally comes to a conclusion of her own. Ushio pulls no punches here - it's not a happy ending exactly, but it's the right one for the story.

The little book of Baah!
Tim Harries
http://timharriescartoons.bigcartel.com

Sheep jokes, single panel. A bit Far Side-ish but gentler humour.

Verity Fair 1-4
Terry Wiley
http://www.idcm.net

Verity Bourneville, or Tracy Perkins, is a small-time actress whose life is looking up; her rubbish old agency closed but she's just been signed on at a new one and landed a couple of good jobs. Things are great - but nightmares from her past have intruded on what ought to be a good time. The memory of a friend's body found at school haunts her, and at a funeral for another school friend Verity nearly ends up meeting her old friend Jo, who stopped talking to her ages ago. Something happened there which I think will keep resurfacing. Verity's a fantastic character and her life is fun to read anyway and told with a sense of humour, but the undercurrent of drama makes this a very compelling comic.

Fresh Epics Anthology 1
Niels, Zee Captain, Stupidfox, Tom Preston, Antonia and Boggart
http://freshepics.com

In this anthology Death visits the characters of each creator, and amusing things happen. The art style varies but is always good.

Fantasy World: The adventures of Ken
Theo Ajibode and Inko
http://ajiey.net

Ken's dad wants him to go out into the world and become and adventurer, but Ken wants to be a musician. Booted out of the house to go on his adventure, equipped with his father's ring, Ken runs straight into a group of item hunters who want the ring - he'd be happy to hand it over but they insist on fighting. Not much more than that happens in this chapter, but it looks to be a fun story and I'd like to read more. The manga-style art is clean and good, but let down by bad printing quality and moired tone.

Best Day Ever and Jumping the Shark
'Sammy Borras
http://www.sammyborras.blogspot.com
http://jumpingtheshark.smackjeeves.com

A pair of slice-of-life stories about the events in the lives of a group of friends. There's a real sense that the characters know each other and have a shared history, and the comics are fun and easy to read. The artwork is stylised and very effective at conveying emotion.

Manchester University Comic Collective
Jevgeniya Maramzina, Manolakelli Archontia, Vincent Jung and Sophia Syddall
http://manchesterstudentsunion.com/groups/m-u-c-c-manchester-university-comic-collective

A fun collection of short comics and artwork, with a variety of styles and levels of skill. It was a good read, although the print quality doesn't always live up to the artwork.

Penny Blackfeather part 1: Talking to Strangers
Francesca Dare
http://urbangrey.deviantart.com
http://www.pennyblackfeather.co.uk/

Well drawn, funny, with good pacing, this "regencypunk" (gothic but with more parrots) adventure doesn't take itself too seriously and consequently is an excellent read. Penny is the granddaughter of the great pirate Nathaniel Blackfeather, and is haunted by his ghost, who sarcastically narrates and interacts with her - and also with the other main character, a mysterious adventurer with a parrot. The adventurer is a ghost-disprover, and has a great deal of difficulty coming to terms with being berated by a ghostly narrator. Throw in a slimy suitor, a haunted library and a woman obsessed with a spellbook and convinced the adventurer is the sorcerer to read it to her, and the whole thing is enormous fun to read. Very much recommended, go and read it online :)

Bubbles and Eliza
Rabbityak90
http://www.redgardenartistgroup.com/

This is a sweet story about a young girl who's been abandoned (at the circus) by her parents because she is Talented, and about the apprentice circus magician, Bubbles, who ends up teaching her. Eliza, Bubbles and Bubbles' mentor are all Talented, which means their emotions affect people and things around and there seems to be a feedback effect. It also allows them to talk to Gavin, Bubbles' rabbit (no particular explanation, but he works in the story). Bubbles clearly has something to deal with in his past, but it's not much dwelt on. It's very much based on emotion, unsurprisingly. The pacing and page layouts are good and the art tells the story just fine, but the anatomy could be better.

Debt Collect
Josie Kung
http://innocent-typhoon.deviantart.com

I love the concept behind this - that magic inexpertly used ends up building up a debt, which the main character Ridus travels around dealing with - it's rather more dangerous than the average debt. The backgrounds are mostly nonexistent, which is a shame, but I didn't find it hard to follow the story.

Crankrats
Katherine Ellis
http://www.crankrats.com

This is a steampunk-ish story set in the city of Banemburg, which is at an uneasy peace with its neighbour the Altavian Empire. The main character, Madelene, left Banemburg when young and is now returning to work there. What's waiting for her is a city full of smog filled with monsters, and an interesting character named Jack, who is Altavian (Jack has a mecha cat, which is awesome), plus his associates Harley and "Hurricane" Lettie. There's a tangled history of conflict between Banemburg and Altavia which mirrors the tangle of relationships between the characters, and there's obviously a lot going on and a lot that can happen. The characters interact well and there's a thread of humour running through it all making it a fun read. The art is vibrant and expressive in colour. I really enjoyed it ^^

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