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PAPERCUTS AND INKSTAINS VOL. 2 #01 – OH NO…NOT AGAIN…I’VE GOT THE HIPSTER HIPSTER SHAKE…

By Robin Jones

Papercuts and Inkstains Vol. 2 #01 Header
It finally happened. The chained up writer in me finally reared it’s creative, hydra like head, roared the roar of it’s people and forced my chubby hand to the keyboard, I attempted to resist and started fighting it valiantly using the nearby kebab stick as a rudimentary phalanx, but alas my pitiful poking device merely angered the beast. Woe initially started to set it, this beast of earth and fire and mind and tramadol essence screamed at me, it’s voice a mixture of velvety space themed chocolate, honey and Morgan Freeman “You will write a comic!” and I screamed back at it, in my best Ian McKellen-esque thespian voice “No… no…lalalalalalalalala I’m not listening!” whilst sticking my fingers in my ears and finally blowing a raspberry. Once the final bit of spittle had dribbled from my lip, I had an epiphany! I shall write a comic, “I’ve read loads of them now, how hard can it be?” I said to myself as I sat down to let the amazing cauldron of bullshit that is my mind, bubble over with ideas… Half an hour passed and nothing…an hour…two…I checked my mind for leaks and started again, eventually in drips and drabs ideas started to trickle along my forehead and down into my fingertips, and lo I started referring to myself as “Your Generalissimo”, shouted “EXCELSIOR!!” and grew a mustache. Then I tried to draw and threw up on the page whilst looking at my efforts. I reigned myself in and said “Let’s leave this to the experts” and thus the second Papercuts and Inkstains “Hipster Hipster Shake” was born.

So, what fun filled comics do I have for you this time? Well there’s a Saturday morning cartoon masquerading as a comic featuring; a dungeon crawler mixed with the Powerpuff girls, a post-apocalyptic thriller involving huge Arks; aliens and punk music and a comic about a killer cloud of gas with a serious vendetta on his hands…gas hands…gshands…gas. Either way, here we go!

Reynard City

REYNARD CITY VOL. 1: INVASION & VOL. 2 STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

Writer: Rob Turner
Artistic Director/Penciller: Dan Butcher
Head Artist: Susie Gander
Artist Team: Nicholas Webb, Bijoy, Jed Soriano, Danielle Soloud, Ielle Palmer, Marcela Hauptvogelova

First up, it’s Reynard City Vol 1 and 2 and much like Vanguard, a comic I’ve previously reviewed, it’s a web based comics, offering you free downloads of it’s volumes as PDF files! Reynard City describes itself as a ”Saturday morning cartoon in webcomic form! Reynard City is an online comic about three superhero foxes that come to Earth to stop an evil robot fox.” Instantly, in my mind I picture Samurai Pizza Cats, Biker Mice from Mars and TMNT, I also picture being sat on my bum, in front of the telly watching Captain Planet  and laughing at the kid with the power of heart, but that’s a story for another time.

Now, Reynard City isn’t just trying to be a comic, from the looks of things, it’s trying to take over the whole media world, there’s the comics, a cartoon in production and a game! But that’s not why we’re here. Oh no. I’m looking at Vol 1: Invasion! It’s exactly like a Saturday morning cartoon. The Animal Kingdom, a place where humans don’t exist, is under threat of destruction by an evil menace known as Mega Fox. It is up to a small group of animal heroes, led by AK Girl, Wondervixen and Hyper Rob; a band of cunning fox superheroes, to stop Mega Fox and his robot fox army! It’s slightly cheesy, a little bit corny here and there, but you enjoy it all the more for it! It’s self aware (“Maybe I’ll show you through flashbacks sometime”), there’s monologuing and a bumbling evil lieutenant. This isn’t high brow, intelligentsia based comics, this is old school fun and frivolity comics. It’s also however, a little disjointed and can feel a bit clunky at times, but as you move into Vol 2 however it becomes a much more fluid entity, the story and dialogue become much slicker. The pacing of the whole comic seems to shift upwards a gear and Turner and his gang of artists seem to have channeled the volumes title and addressed their strengths and weaknesses. The artwork is much more stylized and less 2D and boxy. It becomes more like a cartoon, which is what the project is aiming at! After looking ahead, it goes on from strength to strength and continues on in it’s gonzo fashion! I heartily recommend it for anyone who wants to take a nostalgic look at what made Saturday mornings the best morning of the week, every week for their whole childhood!

To download it as a PDF file, click this link and follow the handy instructions!

Now, I managed to ask writer/producer Rob Turner a few questions about Reynard City and it’s inception from mad capped idea lodged in his brain lobes, to its bonkers delivery as a web comic!

Me: Firstly, which were your favorite Saturday morning cartoons and which most heavily influenced Reynard City?

Rob: I would say I was lucky in the 90′s because you had Spider-Man, the X-Men, the critically acclaimed ’92 Batman series providing the more serious cartoon style. On the other hand you had Earthworm Jim and Samurai Pizza Cats for deranged nuttiness and Ninja Turtles somewhere in the middle. I would say Reynard City is like a mash-up between those styles.

Me: So as well as the comic series, you also have a cartoon series and video game in production, is there any other media you want to try and conquer with your furocious foxes?

Rob: The very talented Juston De Cristofaro is also working on a graphic novel called A Tale of Two Worlds.

Me: If you had to choose, what’s the most fun aspect of writing Reynard City?

Rob: I like it when people think a story is going way and you throw them a twist they don’t see coming!

Me: Finally, What does the Fox say?

Rob: I’ll let AK Girl answer this one- “If I ever meet Ylvis he will say ‘Owie owie owie’ repeatedly after I say ‘STRENGTH MODE!”

Toxic Storm by Adam Cheal

TOXIC STORM #001 – 003

Writer: Adam Cheal
Artist: Renzo Rodriguez
Colorist: Mike Summers
Letterer: Mindy Lopkin
Cover Artist: Jimbo Salgado
Cover Colorist: Jimmy Kerast

After a shout-out by Inter Comics Podcaster extraordinaire Jack Chambers, we now look at Toxic Storm, a horror shocker from writer Adam Cheal and artist Renzo Rodriguez. This is a tale of revenge, murder, intrigue and killer gas that the Nazi’s would have loved to get their hands on! Like a classic B-Movie horror nasty, Cheal and Rodriguez deliver a no holds barred, blood tinged romp that Bruce Campbell would be proud to have his name attached to!

So, the premise of the whole thing is as follows, Simon Fisher is unjustly convicted and sent to the gas chamber at San Quentin prison. Using occult power, he transforms into deadly toxic gas to escape his fate. Simon embarks on a quest of revenge on those responsible for his condition. Special FBI Agent “Jack Storm” enlists the help of Simon’s former cell mate and mentor “Caleb Fontana” to track him down. Caleb has a hidden agenda and betrays Jack Storm resulting in his death. Through the power of a gemstone obtained from an ancient demon, Jack Storms body is reanimated into a terrifying and deadly alter ego. Roles are reversed as he’s the one seeking vengeance and will stop at nothing to get it!

I will say, if you’re looking for gore, brutality, naked women being cooked on sticks and the LORD OF FLESH AND PAIN, read issue 3! It is by far the goriest, most twisted episode where Cheal and Rodriguez’s story really takes off! Issue 1 & 2 build up to this point as Fontana and Storm have a show down, Fisher stares down the Lord of Flesh and Pain, a teddy bear becomes a deranged psychopath and the boundaries of taste and decency are pushed to the limits! This book has no limits and it also has a pretty good story among the blood and the gore and the tits and the blood! If you like your horror old school with a good plot and plenty of claret, then this is the horror book for you!

If you head over to Toxic Storm’s webpage you can check out all the latest news and info, and there’s also a link here so you can download issue 1 from none other than Comixology! Adam Cheal, who’s mind spewed forth Toxic Storm, was happy to answer a few questions about his twisted tale!

Me: What was the main source of inspiration for Toxic Storm?

Adam: I have always been a fan of old school 80’s horror flicks and video nasties. I grew up on these films and lived in what you may call a “house of horror”. A sanctuary where myself and other neighbourhood kids could hang out and watch the latest horror films. When I sat down and decided I wanted to write comics, I thought about what I would want to read. I wanted to push things and offer a true bare bones good old fashioned, tongue in check horror yarn.

Me: When did you start writing comics and what were your favorite types of comics when you were growing up?

Adam: I didn’t really read too many comics growing up and still don’t. I like to read mostly indie comics now as you always get something unexpected and it’s great to see the stories as intended as they are not bound by the same rules as mainstream publishers. My Comics of choice would be 2000AD, Sandman and anything by Alan Moore, the man is a goddamn genius! I was more of a “movie” kid. I guess thats why my comic book stories are a little different in composition to many other comics. I want to try and give the reader a cinematic experience and treat every book as a movie with a start, middle and end. I am not a big fan of long story arcs.

Me: Was it difficult writing a vengeful killer as your main protagonist as there’s some quite dark scenes throughout?

Adam: Not really. I really embrace my dark side and in fact, I find it much more challenging to write character that people will find likeable. I think there is a much more blurred line between good and evil and I want to explore that and get people thinking about what REALLY motivates us as human beings. We are all capable of great kindness and intolerable cruelty too. I think if more people thought about things in those terms, life is easier to accept.

Me: Once issue 4 is done, do you have any plans to take Toxic Storm any further?

Adam: I have already scripted issue five and it would ultimately depend on the success of the first story arc if it went into production. As in independent creator, you have to foot the bills and people need paying. If a book is not supported by the fans and makes no money to keep running, then its hard to justify. However, I think this book offers something a little different and I hope it gets enough of a cult following to keep making more.
There is going to be an exclusive London Super Comic Con hardcover of the book released at the LSCC in March 2014. The cover art is by Jimbo Salgado (DC, Zenescope, IDW) and will be available from the Markosia booth all weekend *although numbers are limited. I will also be there all weekend as I have another hardcover graphic novel launching with Markosia called “Terminus at Fenton’s Green”. It’s a Victorian horror book with Demons, stream trains and top hats!

Dungeon Fun

DUNGEON FUN

Writer, Letterer, Gentleman of comics: Colin Bell
Illustrator: Neil Slorance

Next up is a first issue! Premiering at Thought Bubble in Leeds this year, it’s Colin Bell and Neil Slorance’s Dungeon Fun!

First impressions can be very very wrong. My first impression of Dungeon Fun was very very wrong. I thought it would be very similar to Adventure Time and The Regular Show and thus felt I had perhaps already read or seen what would be contained within it’s pages…I was wrong. I love admitting I was wrong. This book is AWESOME and by far my favorite title of the week!

Do you like Monty Python, the writings of Terry Pratchett, The Legend of Zelda games, dungeons, generally being amused, word play, visual gags, laughing and having a good time? Then buy this comic. I was laughing within ten seconds of reading. After a minute, I was shouting my fiancee over to come read it too. We read it together, giggling, laughing and generally having a good time. So thankfully I fell into their demographic.

Writer Colin Bell delivers joke after joke, either visual or through language. It is well paced, genuinely funny and worthy of greatness. Neil Slorance’s artwork is beautiful, especially charming and light in these heady days of gritty, dark toned comic art. In fact the whole tone of the comic is fun. On their publisher’s, Dogooder Comics website, they describe the story as “A subversive, comedic blend of fairy-tales and dungeon-crawling video games, DUNGEON FUN is the story of a girl raised by trolls in a moat, the sword she finds and the responsibility (and cantankerous fairy) that comes with it” and let me tell you, that description is bang on. It is all of the above and there is also much below the surface of their work which will delight many a reader. Fun is a girl raised by trolls in a moat, one day she finds a sword which is dropped into the moat she lives in. A prophecy written long ago by the man reading it to her, who subsequently finds a prophecy detailing delivery of a tasty sandwich to himself,then sends her on a quest involving fairy knights, witches curses, the Three Headed Dreadfulness “The Wurstest”, ninjas, the deadliest game of “The floor is Lava”and all the responsibility that comes with said sword. I cannot stress just how good this book is!

To top things off, Colin was gracious enough to answer some questions for me regarding Dungeon Fun.

Me: What were your major influences for Dungeon Fun? Should we expect “Your princess to be in another castle” or is it more a dungeon crawler ala World of Warcraft?

Colin: Originally when Neil and I put together our plans for Dungeon Fun, we wanted to find a middleground between Luke Pearson’s Hilda series and The Legend of Zelda videogames. So “HildaZelda” would be the high-concept pitch.
In terms of writing it, it’d be amiss of me to not mention the influences of Jeff Smith’s Bone, Ryan North, The Princess Bride, the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon… a whole bunch of stuff from all kinds of mediums. I’ve also recently realised that everything I write is informed by Viz’s Billy The Fish strip.
Really if someone in the book doesn’t say “your princess is in another castle” at some point I’m missing an open goal. There will be some dungeon crawling to be sure, but there’s a big, expansive and ill-defined world for Fun to explore, and we’ll certainly be doing that in future issues.

Me: Since you’re unleashing Dungeon Fun at Thought Bubble in Leeds, what can the comic buying public expect if they’re at the event?

Colin: A FULL ON TWO-PRONGED SALES ATTACK!

I’ll be Dungeon Funning it up on Table 2 of the Royal Armouries Hall along with my good pals Sam Read, Harry French and John Lees as they sell their respective books Exit Generation, Master Tape and And Then Emily Was Gone.
MEANWHILE Neil will be sketching and selling Dungeon Fun along with his other highly-acclaimed comics The Amateur Astronomer’s Journal, Seven Days in Berlin and Nine Lines of Metro in the New Dock Hall on table 69. (69, DUDES!) I hear Neil’s dressing up as a big ol’ dragon! But I might’ve made this up to embarrass him.

Me: Neil Slorance’s artwork gives off a very Adventure Time feel, should we expect something as mindbending as the Cartoon Network show, or is this a veil for a deep, meaningful tale of feudal life?

Colin: While it’s TOTALLY FLATTERING to be compared to Adventure Time, Neil’s style has been Neil’s style long before Finn and Jake ever hit Cartoon Network, and I’d encourage people to dig in to his earlier stuff via neilslorance.com and our previous webcomic Jonbot Vs Martha!
Will it be mindbending? Possibly. Will it be entertaining? Bet your life on it. The only deep and meaningful subtext I want people to take away from my work is “guys, comics are the f*cking best.”

Me: On dogoodercomics.co.uk you say that Dungeon Fun will appeal to fans of swordplay, humour, monsters, fun, dungeons, cuteness, epic adventure, wizards, comics, Batman. That last one comes as a bit of a curveball, does the Dark Knight play a big part in your story?

Colin: Some might suggest it’s a cynical marketing ploy. To them I say “hey guy, why not buy the book and find out? Quit being so cynical! Come on, life is for living! Carpe diem! Look behind you, a three-headed monkey!” Legally I’m probably required to say no…

I can honestly say that Dungeon Fun is the funniest comic I have ever read. It appeals perfectly to my sense of humour and I implore you all to get yourselves over to both Colin and Neil’s tables at Thoughtbubble and buy their wares! I know I will be! You will not fail to enjoy Dungeon Fun, I personally guarantee it! I also hope that Neil is dressed a dragon!

Exit Generation

EXIT GENERATION

Writer: Sam Read
Art: Caio Oliveira
Colours/Cover Colours: Ruth Redmond
Letters/Production: Colin Bell
Cover Art: Ramon Villalobos
Editor: Adam P. Knave

Finally this week, I have another alumni of the Glasgow League of Writers (Colin Bell is a member), a secret society who’s sole mission is to seek control of the world…and it’s production of Crunchie bars… I’m kidding, they’re a collective who work together to produce excellent comics! Also like the afore mentioned Bell’s work, this book will be launched at Thought Bubble in Leeds! However, this is Sam Read’s dystopian future piece, Exit Generation! Head over to Sam’s site for any more info you’d like to gather up!

In a similar vein to storys such as Y the Last Man, The Walking Dead etc, humanity is on the brink of extinction. The worlds food supply dwindled to nought. Riots, civil unrest and a wedding took place over the months after. Humanity looked for an answer and their gaze turned to the stars! Within five years the worlds collective space agencies build huge arks capable of supporting 95% of the worlds population and they left, not without having a minor hiccup in their oxygen recyclers which proved catastrophic for all onboard the arks.The remaining 5% left on Earth were left to attempt to survive. We pick up the story 20 years later, with the child of one of the crew members of an Ark who’s mother stayed on Earth, Jack. It’s his birthday and his adoptive parents are throwing him a birthday bash with scavenged presents. After the celebration, Jack’s birthday hits a bum note, however, i don’t want to give that game away, you’ll have to see for yourself!

The one problem I have with Read’s book is the lack of explanation. Why did the world’s food supplies dwindle? How in five years were humans able to create inter-stellar ships capable of carrying 95% of the worlds populous? The population is nearly 8 billion now, so in another 15 years it could possibly be 10 billion. That’s a lot of toilets needed. However, once you look past that, as we know that comics can be flimsy in the whole “science” and “believability” aspect, what we have is a book with heart. A young man is out to save his adoptive family and ultimately what’s left of the Human Race. There’s some nice touching scenes involving Jack and his adoptive father and brother, there’s a nice depth to Read’s writing and Oliveira’s art work is reminiscent of Charlie Adlard’s work on the Walking Dead and Pia Guerra’s work on Y the Last Man, and this is a good thing as it breeds a familiarity with that type of comic. The plot, whilst not under pinned by strong science, has a lot of room for growth and Read’s writing will surely be taking it to new levels! There is a lot of story to tell still within Exit Generation’s pages so I will be keeping a very close eye as Exit, as it has a lot promise! Sam was also very kind enough to answer some questions from myself about how Exit Generation came about.

Me: What was your inspiration behind the whole idea for Exit Generation?

Sam: It’s really about finding a place in the world, finding something that you feel you have to do with your life. Stories set in a ‘post-crisis’ Earth or after an apocalyptic event are pretty common in comics, so I thought it might be interesting to see what would happen if after the strife had passed, and things actually got much better, but also how this might might become somewhat staid and dull. That’s really the heart thinking at the heart of ‘Exit Generation’; about discovering a purpose and meaning in life.

Well… that and punk music.

Me: What were your favorite comics growing up and what pushed you to write your own?

Sam: The first books I read were the likes of TinTin and old Commando comics. But it was when I started picking up Chuck Dixon’s ‘Detective Comics’ in the early 90s that I got properly hooked. I also remember reading Jim Blakie’s ‘Skizz’ sequel around that time too, and that still resonates with me today. It made me aware that comics weren’t just from the states, that Brits had a voice in the medium too.

What led me to take the plunge into trying (and I’m still only trying!) to write my own comics was meeting the Glasgow League of Writers (GLoW), a bunch of aspirant scribes up in Scotland. Everyone involved was really knowledgeable and encouraging and I lay the blame firmly at their door as to why I finally put pen to paper!

GLoW has an impressive alumni too, with the likes of Garry Mac (‘Black Leaf’, ‘Gonzo Cosmic’), Colin Bell (‘Detective Space Cat’, ‘Dungeon Fun’), John Lees (‘The Standard’, ‘And Then Emily Was Gone’), Stephen Sutherland (‘Taking Flight’, ‘Never Ending’) and many more. I just hope to justify my place alongside the rest of the group.

Me: Can you give our readers a little idea of whats next for Jack in his struggle to survive earth post mass evacuation?

Sam: Well, I obviously don’t want to give away too much before people can get the book in their hands, but I can say that Jack and Mo meet a few more interesting people on their journey, and their is a little hint to that at the very end of the first issue! But I can promise that all of us involved in ‘Exit Generation’ will be pulling out the stops to make sure the whole series is as exciting as possible, and we hope that the enthusiasm we all have for the story gets transmitted to the audience.

Me: Since you’re unleashing Exit Generation at Thoughtbubble, what can the comic community there expect to see at your table? I believe you’ll be with Colin Bell (Writer of Dungeon Fun, another book I’m reviewing) so will you be dressed as a Dragon like he’s suggest Neil Slorance will be?

Sam: Well, if Neil and Colin wish to meet the inordinately large fee I’ve quoted them to order to have me dress as a goblin bureaucrat, they have my number!

But in all seriousness, our stall at Thought Bubble (Table 2, Royal Armouries Hall; come say “Hi”!) is overloaded with excellent books. As you point out, Neil and Colin’s phenomenal ‘Dungeon Fun’ will be there, as will John Lees (http://johnleescomics.wordpress.com/) with the latest issue of his sensational ‘And Then Emily Was Gone’ and his other brilliant books, such as ‘Black Leaf’.

I’m also delighted to say that Harry French (readfrenchcomics.bigcartel), another GLoW writer, will be launching his first book ‘Master Tape’ at Thought Bubble, and having been lucky enough to have seen the completed title, I think Harry is going to turn more than a few heads with that title. It really is something quite special, so I urge everyone there to pop over and grab a copy.

So kiddos, there we go! One web comic which has plans to dominate the world, one horror comic which plans to unleash the Lord of Flesh and Pain upon us and two independent comics which will be launching at Thought Bubble, Leeds next weekend! All of the above are worth checking out as it’s very important to support indie developers and writers, as these guys could be the Alan Moore’s, the Scott Snyder’s, the J. Michael Straczynski’s of the future! Show them all some love! However, that’s now it for my Hipster Hipster Shake once again! Join me next week, I will be checking out the often over looked Spider-Man Noir  series and I’ll be joined by two very special guests, Fabrice Sapolsky and David Hine, co-writers of the series themselves, answering my questions and generally being the awesome guys they are!

Until next time…

For more comic views and reviews follow Robin on Twitter at @Hulksmash1985

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Posted on November 14th, 2013
Category: PAPERCUTS AND INKSTAINS VOL. 2, REVIEWS
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