Tops and Bottoms – 25th March 2025.

It’s been a funny old week. 

I typed the above sentence then sat here drinking coffee and staring out the window for a good five minutes before continuing. In my defence it is before 6am and I’m sitting in a crappy, lunatic filled, City of London McDonalds. That’s enough to give anyone pause I suppose. I get to stare out the windows and drink a pint of coffee, so not all bad I suppose.

It’s always a funny week. Especially recently.

To paraphrase Mack Bolan, “The world is full of people yay, yap, yapping away but very few actually take any action”. Who knew that the scourge of seventies organised crime and later, international terrorism, would predict what comics social media has become. A lot of mouth and no trousers. 

Back to that week in question. 

Over at the ACP this week we had the creator of the lewd and hilarious, Boo Rudetoons, on the recent episode. We really were not sure what to expect with this comic dude. I joke early on that I half expected a Vegas Hipster. Instead, we got a bearded man from North Yorkshire. No real names, but he did talk about a long history working for the big comics companies. I have my suspicions but will keep them to myself. I’ve never visited Prude Town but am occasionally agog at his comics stylings. We talked a lot with him about craft, origins and later reconciling his work with the censorious and moralistic nature of modern times. In retrospect I’m not sure I agree with a couple of his points, but I appreciated his frankness. Have a listen and see what you think. 

Myself and Adam Falp were lucky to be invited on to the inaugural episode of ‘In Full Disclosure’ podcast. A new series hosted by comics creator Johnny Cannon that uses a roundtable questioning format. It was real fun. Johnny has been a buddy for years and I appreciate both his kind invitation and his support. Go have a listen here on Substack or find it on Spotify here. 

We are also in the last few days of the current Tribute Press Kickstarter campaign. Three Underground Comix and a book full of advice to help cope with that aforementioned week. Plans are coming together to massively insult your granny (pass her my number though if you don’t mind?). You can get on it by clicking on this link, right here. 

Small Press Comic of the Week.

Issue 3 in the ‘Cosmic Slop’ series is the best so far. All made from Jordan Barry-Brown’s own brain this takes the reader on two stories. The (almost) wordless ‘Picking Season’ follows the activities of the Hip Hop MOTU Orko-like floating troublemaking monks as they underestimate the dangers of an alien jungle. While story two takes us into Giant Kaiju territory. Probably up there competing for my favourite small press comic of 2025 so far. Highly recommended. 

Tops.

Yes, I’m a broken record. But if you’re good, you’re good. Geiger deserves its spot at the top of this weekly list over and over. I was slightly delayed in reading this one as Gosh hadn’t got it in and I had to mail order it. The wait was worth it. Even with that questionable double-page spread. Those who have read it will immediately know what I’m talking about.

Bottoms.

What is this utter bollocks. Massively unengaging art that is either poor at faces or filled with strange and unnecessary flared light effects. It is also terribly written/overwritten. This was so bad it made me paranoid that someone is trying to purposely kill off the comics side of the company with terrible content that will turn readers off. 

Remember – If you think your comic is beyond criticism you’re a narcissist.

Thanks for reading.