Tops and Bottoms 12th February 2025.

Morning folks.

It’s been a particularly busy comics week in the creating side of things. Had a meeting with Falpy to decide on Kickstarter tiers, covers and more on Saturday. A Zoom meeting with Ken Reynolds and Uncle Cliff this week and a finish to put on a short story script for the anthology. We’ll be launching in March and I’ll be bothering you every five minutes after that. I also sent Cliff a few questions in a Substack interview that you can find right here. He is a wise old owl. Lots to suck on in that one. And you won’t believe what he has done with Tony Osmond issue 2. Next level stuff.

Over at the ACP we had Wes Griffith on to talk about his runs of indie/small press comics. He has a really interesting and gritty cartooning style. I’d recommend The Jump as the series that will really grab you from the off (see what I avoided there?) We also talk about Darth Vader in stockings, some great reviews and a comics festivals aimed at kids and young people. Have a listen and tell us what you think. 

I’ve also booked the flights to Baltimore Comic Con for October. My second visit and the guest list is already to die for and better than anything we’ve seen in the UK since the heady days of UKCAC. You’ve gotta spend your pension on something right. 

Let’s get on with this. A slight change around this week.

Worst Small Press Comic of the Week.

This really is incredibly bad. I got to read it as part of my Global Comix subscription so even in a small way I am making them money. Something I very much regret. It is also without shame calling itself The Beginning of Terror…kinda right I guess? Avoid.

Tops.

Frankenstein New World issue 1. I’ve been taking a big bite out of the Mignolaverse recently and had previously missed this series. It has a brilliantly otherworldly feel to each scene. Like a fantasy with a style of Frankenstein but maybe based in Pellucidar. I’ve already ordered the previous volume in hardback. Shelf Porn, get on it. 

Bottoms.

Oh come on Rob. You’ve caused another dramarama online this week. 

So I thought I’d support the veteran creator but this feels like a massive grift. The visuals in this are just not very good. The layouts are lazy and the anatomy remains like it’s from the back of a High Schoolers exercise book. I ended up pleased that he won’t be drawing anything else at Marvel (see aforementioned dramarama). 

See you next week and thanks for reading.