COMICS AND GRAPHIC NOVELS
Project: Cryptid #1
Mark Russell, Paul Cornell, Jordi Pérez, PJ Holden comicsahoy.com/comics/project-cryptid-1
31pp, £2.55
This is definitely a fortean comic. Containing two comic stories, as well as a prose tale by Grant Morrison, Project Cryptid is funny, cutting and doesn’t take itself too seriously. Let’s be honest, who could resist a buddy cop story about a Mongolian Death Worm?
Blobby Horror
Various, ed. Erika Priceć Frission Comics
Pb,70pp, £10, www.etsy.com/listing/1608117715/ blobby-horror-anthology-zine
Back in the Nineties, few of us realised as we watched Saturday early evening TV that we were witnessing the arrival of an eldritch entity – a true god of chaos erupting across the light entertainment universe in vivid pink and yellow. Through this series of short comics a collection of writers and artists commit to paper the true horror of Mr Blobby. I only hope the price for revealing the terrifying truth was one worth paying! A fantastic theme, explored with enthusiasm and a real sense of satire and the grotesque.
Henge #1-3
Tom Eglington, Phil Buckenham, Boo Cook https://hengemusic.com/products/henge-comic-1
£5 per issue
I’ve got to confess that the band Henge had passed me by until I picked up these comics from Tom Eglington’s table at Thought
Bubble, which is a particular surprise considering my love for psychedelic space rock and megaliths. The comic follows the adventures of Henge as they respond to cries for help from Earth, picked up on their interstellar audio receptors, with issues 2 and 3 continuing their efforts to defeat evil Urshto’s attempts to inflict misery on humanity. The final issue continues to follow Henge’s struggle, featuring mind mazes, mushroom-shaped spaceships and sacred plasma. The colourwork is bright and, well, psychedelic, as befits the subject matter, and contains plenty of humour as well as weirdness. As you can see from my example, no prior knowledge of Henge is necessary to enjoy the comics, but the stories might act as a gateway to broadening your musical horizons.
Skeeters #1
Kelly Williams, Bob Frantz, Kevin Cuffeć Mad Cave Comics
£4.99, https://madcavestudios.com/product/skeeters-1/
Smalltown America, weird research facilities and mutant alien mosquitoes. With references to cryptozoology and conspiracies (energy vampires and shadow people), Skeeters is full of forteana and boasts some beautifully visceral artwork. The use of crimson for the mosquitoes leaves no doubt about what they are interested in. The only question, after the first issue, is how bad things are going to get...
Cuckoo
Joe Sparrow Shortbox Comics
£17
Cuckoo is a story about not fitting in, finding people who understand you, geometric meteors, aliens and strange powers. While struggling with her art course, anxiety, and being 19, Dorothy Weaver finds herself developing unusual abilities, leading to her making her first real friend and her life changing in unforseen ways. The story is very well told, and the artwork is gorgeous, with a precise use of colour and design. One of the most beautiful books of 2023.
Dead Seas
Cavan Scott, Nick Brokenshireć IDW Comics
£16.99
Ghosts are real, and the ectoplasm they produce is incredibly valuable, but dangerous to harvest. Convicts are given the chance to reduce their sentences by working on prison ships to collect this volatile material. A horror comic, a disaster story, a takedown of the prison-industrial complex and a family drama, this is an excellent visceral read. A lot of credit must be given to Nick Brokenshire for the artwork, with the use of colour and texture throughout enhancing the storytelling – and the design of the ghosts is incredibly unsettling. A perfect addition to your horror comic collection.
Boris Karloff: Gold Key Mysteries #1
Michael W Conrad, Steve Orlando, Johnny Dombrowski, Kelly Williams and othersć Gold Key Comics
£4.99, www.goldkeycomics.com/collections/boris-karloffgold-key-mysteries
Gold Key Comics has relaunched, continuing its 1960s relationship with Boris Karloff to bring an updated version of the anthology horror and mystery comic of yesteryear. Inside this first issue there are disappearing houses, ambitious chefs and doppelgängers. Well worth a look if you enjoy stories with a twist.
Harvest Book 1 and 2
Julian Payne, Zoë Elkinsć Pyjama Cardinal Comics
£10.00/£12.00, www.pyjamacardinalcomics.com/ comicbooksandprints
Harvest is a story about Greta, jobless after university and living with her stepmother in a small village. I don’t want to give too much away, but there is a sense of threat right from the start in this comic that riffs on folk horror and fairy tales. Sometimes the panels of Julian Payne’s stunning artwork contain nothing but rural landscapes – but you can’t shake the feeling that something bad is lurking there. Genuinely disturbing and a gorgeous comic.
Merrick The Sensational Elephantman Vol. 1 and Vol. 2
Tom Ward, Luke Parkerć Ward and Parker Comic
£9.99/£14.99, www.merrickcomic.co.uk/
Wearing its artistic influences on its sleeve, Merrick The Sensational Elephantman takes the historical story of John Merrick’s life and mixes it with a fictional world of secret societies, deals with the Devil and fortean favourites like Spring-heeled Jack. With tight storytelling, and art perfectly suited to the London setting, this is a beautiful read.
Mr Jones’s Smoking Bones, #1-5
Iqbal Ali, Priscilla Grippać Iqbal A. Comics
£5 each, www.iqbala.com/smoking-bones
It’s the mid-19th century and Mr Barzakh is in London, a city haunted by smoking skeletons, burning cemeteries and obsessions with the spirit world. Set against a background of the East India Company’s declining power, secret cults and mysterious murders, this is a fascinating tale, exploring the space where science and the occult met in the shadow of the British Empire. With flashbacks to India that don’t shy away from the brutality of the Raj, the story is perfectly told in black and white artwork. An excellent comic told from a different perspective to others set in this era.
Outside
Julie Campbellć
£5.95 www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ArtbyJulieCampbell
Comics like this are one of the joys of Thought Bubble. Outside is a small self-produced book, containing two beautifully illustrated comics about reconnecting with nature during the Covid pandemic. Simple, with lovely artwork and a feeling of joy for the natural world.