Splank! has been quiet of late, so much of my time has been set
aside for other activities, some of which will be revealed at the end of this
posting. I’ve been catching up on the
past fifteen years of 2000 AD through collections and back issues and also
having a trawl through the mini-glut of Science Fiction comics that appeared in
the mid to late seventies. That reading
will turn into a set of posts that will appear here sometime soon I hope.
For the time being, however, I’ve missed out on writing
about a lot of interesting new self-published comics so here we go with the
start of a catch up on that front.
Perrywinkle is a comic that’s about as personal as it’s possible
to get. It’s written and drawn by Susie
Gander and tells the story of her diagnosis and treatment for Hodgkin Lymphoma. It’s a redrawn version of a web-comic that
she released as a physical book at the recent Nottingham Comic festival.
The story goes from diagnosis, through treatment, to as
uplifting a final panel as you are likely to read anywhere.
The costumed hero, Perrywinkle, is Susie’s alter ego. The Superheroine within her, through whom she
visualises her battles with cancer.
Perrywinkle is sassy, sexy, strong and gives great makeup tips when
Susie starts to lose her hair. She
represents Susie’s own strength and acts as a powerful metaphor allowing Sisie
to visualise the chemotherapy as it attacks her tumor. But throughout the comic you get the feeling
that Perrywinkle is real to Susie, a person she could trust and lean on to help
her through her treatment.
There is no sign here of self-pity, or misery. Just a relentless “what’s next” attitude
towards treatments that were obviously painful and unpleasant.
Everything is faced head on with strength garnered from
wherever Susie could find it. There is a
quotation from Game of Thrones (I do hope you’ll send a copy to Peter Dinklage,
Susie) and I suspect that Peter Dinklage and George Martin would be incredibly proud
to see how those words have been used to gather strength.
Throughout there is an incredible sense of humour. This comic is funny. Really funny.
But mainly its life affirming, inspirational and hopeful. And, even ignoring the subject matter, it’s a
beautifully drawn and skilfully designed comic too, with Susie’s art having
something of the look of Phil Philgio.
There is a sequence of three pages, beginning with Susie arriving at the
hospital for the first Chemo, that’s about as evocative as anything I’ve read
for a very long time. I keep looking at
one panel and how Susie has captured a look of loving concern on the face of
one character. It’s just about perfect.
I can only begin to imagine how comforting and inspirational
this comic would be to someone at the beginning of the difficult process of
Cancer treatment. It would be so easy,
and totally understandable, for Perrywinkle to have turned into something clichéd
and mawkish, but it didn’t.
Perrywinkle the comic is strong and funny, personal and
inspirational and one of the best self-published titles I’ve seen in a while.
Perrywinkle is available in both print and digital editions
from the Perry Winkle web-site. One of my strongest recommendations to date.
The ninth volume of John Lawrence’s Space Ace has just
arrived. Reprinting stories by the great
Ron Turner from the monthly British comic Lone Star colourised by John
Ridgway. Editor John Lawrence has tried
something of an experiment this time round.
As he says in his editorial, Ron’s need to sometimes spend additional
time on more lucrative jobs mean that some of his Space Ace stories were
repetitive or not quite up to the mark.
As a result John had set aside a number of serials as not
being of a suitable standard for inclusion in Space Ace magazine. Some had weak openings, others poor or trite
endings and others may have been too similar to other strips he had already
used.
Running short on longer, serial stories, he had a look
through this discard pile and discovered that
because Ron often used similar themes,
he was able to edit together a totally acceptable and coherent story
from a number of different serials.
The result of the first of these experiments is “The Fire
Ship”. A combination of episodes from
“The Fire Ship”, “The Fish Men of Formonda” and “The Exiles” all bound up into
a 16 page story where, I have to say, it’s quite difficult to see the
joins.
John, who was friend and agent to Ron Turner, is already
experienced at taking episodic adventures and turning them into longer stories
and he does a great job here. Space Ace
was never the best written of Ron’s works and, for me at least, it is the
artwork in these books that are the real draw.
But the extra work John has put into making these stories coherent makes
the whole package hang together well.
As a extra this time John has included a full history of Space Ace, covering not just Ron Turner's contribution to the character but the work of other artists. Its a fascinating read and a valuable addition to the history of British comics.
This latest volume costs £8.95 (UK) or £12.50 (Europe) and
£14.50 (International) including p&p — with payments through Paypal via
spaceace.54 AT virginmedia.com or by cheque or postal order to John Lawrence,
39 Carterweys, Dunstable, Beds. LU5 4RB
Cat Byrne is an artist and illustrator based in Northern
England. She’s been working in graphic
and web design for some time but in 2016 decided to try to fulfil her ambition
of becoming a comic artist. Via her
web-site she sells a variety of prints, postcards and beautiful wooden blocks
printed with some of her best images, but it is her comics that I’m really
excited about.
In little over a year Cat has collected her web-comic,
Mizzle, about a would-be Superhero cat working and living with real superhero
cats, in three beautiful A5 sized books.
She has produced the first issue of “Mizzle, Flight of the Bumblecat” a
three issue graphic novel which takes the same characters and moves the story
along. Mizzle is now a cleaner at
Mog-heroes, the foremost Super-hero agency in the country, her very last chance
to make an impression. She has a friend,
a Badger who trades in all things geeky and may, or may not, be hiding
something mysterious.
Cat’s art is hugely attractive and matches the tone of the
comic, comedic and charming, perfectly.
Looking at the first Mizzle book and comparing it to the new comic you
can see the development of style and of the ideas behind the strip. Mizzle becomes more well-rounded and real as
the work goes on and the situation develops.
It’s fascinating to see the whole history of the concept grow and change
as Cat works things out. I’m loath to
use the word charming to describe her work. It’s a phrase that sometimes
implies something that is too ‘sweet’ or perhaps insubstantial. But ‘Flight of the Bumblecat’ is charming. It’s also funny, beautifully drawn and has a well-told
story. What more could you ask?
Just a word about Cat’s latest book, “Conversations with Myselves” launched at Thought Bubble earlier
this year. In what I think is Mr Men
format, or something very similar, this is a book about how a person is made up
of various aspects of themselves and how the integration and acceptance of
those aspects of personality are the way to overcoming feelings of guilt,
inadequacy and self-loathing. Like all
of her work, this is charming (that word again) and smart and beautifully drawn.
Well worth a look.
All of Cat’s books, together with prints, postcards and
those fantastic wood blocks (I want one) are available from her web-site
Also look out for her original art and commissions. Here is her take on me, as a Penguin!
We are really proud of this issue. It was, as we were warned, more difficult
that the first but its bigger and I think its better than issue one.
Behind a cover featuring ‘Judge McBride’ Laurence McKenna
has written a story allowing him, with the able and essential assistance of
Simon McKnight, to craft a tale featuring the Sector House 13 Cosplayers in a
photostory that looks like no photostory you’ve ever seen before. Laurence has written a fascinating blog entry on the origin of a single panel in the story over on the Sector House 13 Blog. It shows the dedication and thought that goes into the work he and Simon put into these strips.
As with the first issue there are two strips written by W D
McQuaid. An up and coming writer from
Belfast who I’m sure you’ll be hearing much more from in the very near
future. Patrick Brown supplies evocative
art for a thoughtful and challenging Future Shock story with Paul Malone doing a great job on a colour Strontium
Dog story that is atmospheric and claustrophobic.
We’re lucky to have W.D writing for us and fully intend to
make the most of it until he gets lifted by one of the big boys.
Simon McKnight’s two page Stone Man and Jawine Westland’s black and
white art on my own “Ragnarok” story are great examples of how stories can be
brought totally to life with the judicious use of shading and toning. Simon's story is simple yet effective and shows just how much can be achieved in two pages.
The issue also features a trio of superb pin-ups, including
Adam Brown’s interpretation of Nemesis the Warlock (Adam’s first sketch,
produced in little more than an hour was worthy of publication – the final
piece is superb.) and a superb image of a Judge in trouble that should have
TV21 fans all a tizzy.
We also have a great Strontium Dog poster from Richard
Harrison and short photo-strip from Logan Bruce while Andy Luke does his usual
great job on a Judge Death text story.
The interview,
by Chris McAuley, with 2000AD great Glenn Fabry and a one-page strip from Belfast’s own Davy Francis are the final touches to a great issue.
We really couldn’t have hoped for more. A lot of work went into this zine and all
for the love it, I’m obviously biased, but I’m very proud of how well the zine
looks, how well it reads and how well it has been received. 36 pages, A4, a mixture of colour and black
and white and great fun.
Sector 13 is a not-for-profit fanzine. Nobody involved gets paid, nobody involved
asks to be paid. It’s a labour of love
and I’m personally delighted to be involved and it would not have happebned with a great team.
Apart from the guys already mentioned I have to give huge thanks to Geoff McGrath who supplied the original photo for our cover and Eugene Doherty, our proof-reader.
Anyone interested in contributing to future issues should contact the editorial address at Sector13@boxofrainmag.co.uk.
Anyone interested in contributing to future issues should contact the editorial address at Sector13@boxofrainmag.co.uk.
Copies of the first two issues (we are very low on copies of
issue 1) are still available Send £6:50 inc p&p (UK only) for each issue to
the editorial address above by paypal.
If you want both issues the cost is £11.
Outside the UK, please enquire.
And just before I go, I’ve also been facilitating another Blog. Sector House 13, the Blog includes articles,
interviews and short stories by members of the Sector House 13 crew. Check it out here, I think you'll enjoy it.
https://sectorhouse13.blogspot.co.uk/
https://sectorhouse13.blogspot.co.uk/
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