Another busy week full of comics greatness and greats and some grating. (Not sure if that works but it’s 5.30am and I don’t really care.)
It was my absolute honour to host Cliff Cumber and Ian Ashcroft over at the NIA podcast this week. Every so often we get together online for them to educate me in the ways of comic art. This week our project was to look at the new Charles Burns release Final Cut.
Our reactions were mixed and nuanced. Does this stand up as the classic some people have been shouting about? Did it land as the disappointment from a master that others are whispering? Have a listen and find out. There’s a lot to love, a lot to disagree with and a lot for us to scratch our old heads about.
You can listen to this through the site on this page here, go to Spotify and listen here or try it on Apple. The choice is yours. But a big thanks to Ian and Cliff for such an insightful conversation.
Over at the ACP podcast ‘Shocktober’ continues with the return of one of our favourite guests Cullen Bunn. A super busy comics writer who has written superheroes at Marvel and DC, but is perhaps best known now for his comics work.
It’s hard to choose a favourite from his work but Harrow County and Dark Ark are certainly up there for me.
We had a big talk about how to approach horror in the comics medium. Cullen was full of anecdotes and advice. He also may have caused me to threaten to pull the United Kingdom out of NATO if he turned John Constantine into a ‘redneck’! Have a listen. One of my favourite episodes for a while.
Now insert this next brag into your ‘Things I never Thought Would Happen’ crack.
Dave Sim and Cerebus were and continue to be giants in my comics reading life. I hopped on the train in the eighties and stayed until the end. Also snapping up the phone books and anything new Dave put out. The more recent Alex Raymond book was a masterclass that was much ignored by most awards cliches!
You may not agree with his opinions, but there is no doubting that he is a master of the medium.
So, I was sent a link to a video by my buddies Greg & Fake over at the Santos Sisters that Sim had reviewed their new comics magazine American Nature and mentioned a column I write for them and the Awesome Comics Podcast. He even stared straight into the camera and mentioned the ‘Fake Taxi’ gag I’d written. I was ecstatic! (I apologise to those I messaged in my excitement.)
You can go watch the video here and also grab a copy of American Nature (or read it for free here) or The Santos Sisters here.
This is really going long! Loads to talk about this week.
Small Press Comic of the Week.
Burger: Tissue Damage – This comic is now live on Kickstarter and you can find it right here. It was kindly sent through to me by the writer as I’d enjoyed the first issue.
A transgressive dissection of personality and individuality. This goes places that other comics won’t in 2024. Dirty and bleak Black and Whites cast their disease on the page and I couldn’t be happier to read it! I can carelessly recommended it without reservation even for those babies who may not like it. As we near Halloween this is true horror.
Cover of the Week.
A little bit of a cheat as this didn’t quite make the ‘Tops’ section but I felt it needed to stake a position this week.
Tops.
This book keeps me guessing! It also keeps being fresh and pulpy in all the right ways. It was a big week. This new issue dropped as well as new Waid/Samnee Batman & Robin: Year One and a new Matt Wagner Grendel: Devil’s Crucible issue. All could have claimed the crown. Duggan and Brown edged to the front in the last minute of NCBD coffee/post run reading.
We get a little back story for one of the characters and then a further development rises from this strange world somewhere between Life and Afterlife. Every issue grips you my the balls!
Bottoms.
An hilarious and versatile deconstruction of modern life?
Nope.
Just shite.
Tip of the week – Banging hookers in a mask won’t help you!
Catch you in a week. Many thanks for reading.
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