From: Pete Ashton <[PCA 522] at [novell3.bham.ac.uk]>
Date: Fri, 29 Mar 1996 18:32:28 GMT
Subject: UK Indie Revival!

Hiya y'all. 

Here's an article I've submitted to the UK reviews fanzine Tripwire. 
I thought it might be of interest. Comments are more than welcome 
(like 'stop posting your bloody articles on here - some of us have to 
pay to download!' and such...)

best,

Petey

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You'd be hard pressed not to notice the recent rash of self published
comics coming from the States. Spearheaded by the maverick Dave Sim,
the possibility of publishing your own work on a regular basis AND
make a living has become feasible with BONE (as was), STRANGERS IN
PARADISE, THB, RARE BIT FIENDS and the rest all maintaining a high
quality and diversity while keeping their own identity and direction
intact. Right, end of lecture.

The thing is, the same phenomenon seems to be occurring on this side
of the pond with several professionally produced, yet distinctively
independent titles coming out in early 1996 and following the success
stories of KANE and STRANGEHAVEN, already mentioned in this
publication.

SLEAZE CASTLE is an old-ish comic (est. 1989) which has only really
found mainstream popularity in the last year or so with the
publication of cheap collections. This is the story of Jocasta
Dribble, a ordinary, muddle-headed postgrad student, whose
unintentional travels through time and space have caused various
problems of a quantum nature for her friend Panda Quartile, ruler of
Sleaze Castle. Were this a normal, derivative comic, this battle to
restore reality would take over, but it's really just a backdrop to Jo
and Panda's story. In fact, what struck me about issue 7 was how well
Terry Wiley and Dave McKinnon have grasped their friendship,
complementing the intricate continuity and very large supporting cast
very well. In reality there are two levels to this story: a wide,
expansive plot and a small, involving relationship which go together
like Christmas dinner and good wine.

Some of you may remember the ill fated Force Five superhero series
from Crow Comics last year. Perhaps deciding not to compete with the
Americans, Jan and Dave Morris have launched A LEGACY OF SHADOWS, a
fantasy/horror story which was previewed at UKCAC. Issue 1 is shipping
late 1996, so I've only got the prologue to go on, but it reads rather
well. Strange goings on in Somerset abound as an ancient man is found
during an earthquake, trapped there by an evil Herle King (origin of
'harlequin' apparently) way back in ancient history. If the balance of
British mythology and modern day drama is kept up, this could well be
an interesting comic. The art by Dave Morris and John Kirvan is well
executed with a very British feel to it, but I'm afraid I cannot find
any good comparisons, which in retrospect is probably a good thing.

Chris Butler is a rising star in the UK small press scene and recently
reached international attention (and some acclaim) with his Killer Fly
series for Slave Labour with long time artistic collaborator Chris
Hogg. MONKEY PUNK is a perfect bound, 60 page collection of short
stories written by Butler and illustrated by a myriad of small press
artists. In a similar style to 1993's Comico (indeed, some of the
strips feature characters from that collection), this shows Butler's
ability to write in a variety of styles with confidence and flair. We
open with the naive alienation of "Wanda's Night Out", where Wanda is
taken to a party by her straight-laced husband, only to embarrass him
with her complete inability to relate to 'ordinary' conversations.
Told from Wanda's perspective every negative event has a positive
shine to it, her constant, unverbalised degradation by the masses
completely obscured by her constant positive interpretation of events.
"Gone Cat Gone" follows on from a Comico strip. Two friends come back
to their home town and meet their old chum Watson, the saddo character
we all know. They constantly label him with the inadequacies of his
youth and take the piss, until he unintentionally proves how much of a
more rounded individual he is to them. His ability to be himself
without worrying about others opinions makes his powerful, much to the
annoyance of his 'friend'. Those were my favourite two strips, but t
has to be noted the variety in here, from tragedy to slapstick, sci-fi
to theatre, and the way Butler tailors his scripts to each individual
(and very different) artist. Chris Butler is definitely a name to
watch.

I've never read anything like MEMORY MAN, a 13 year old vigilante in a
dull British town who acts and speaks like the teenager he is. At
first glance this is a superhero parody, a cheap laugh at the expense
of overly serious, under age crime-fighters, but with this on going
series Paul Rainey has realised the limitations of such a formula and
so illustrates the general bizarreness and comical tragedy of living
in a shitty town in modern England. Teenagers are not the most
well-balanced of people, and Memory Man is no exception. Issue two
melodramatically launches "The Origin Of Memory Man" but is in fact
tells the story of Stephen Gore, oldest son in a family of 5 all of
whom have different fathers. The drama centers around his mother's
determination to make good of her life by moving to Victoria ("Isn't
that the place where all the houses were designed by junkies?" asks a
mate). Lost, alone and alienated, you really feel for Stephen's
predicament, but it's not a diatribe on teenage angst or a
self-indulgent cry for pity. Rainey executes it with a slightly
sarcastic but constantly light hearted sense of humour and you come
away from this comic feeling very good indeed. Where Rainey's art lets
his down (and it does come across as rather amateurish) his writing
more than makes up for it. Very near a work of art. And Memory Man has
a wok on his head.

If there's a theme to this piece it's that all the titles exhibit
something about them which is, by definition, British. SIX DEGREES, by
unknown quantities Martin Shipp and Marc Laming, is no exception. A
comic related to the James Bulger case could very easily be
exploitative or downright misguided, but this one ain't. The first
issue (of 6), where we're introduced to some of the characters, is
framed by an 1861 court case where two 8 year olds are on trial for
the murder of a toddler, amongst other crimes. Being the 19th century
there is no compassion, no 'evils of society'. The boys are branded as
evil. In the modern day two young lads, bored with their dysfunctional
homes, go to the shopping centre for entertainment. Even a small
knowledge of the Bulger case makes this very tense and worrying
reading, as you think you know the outcome (although we'll have to
wait and see if fiction mirrors truth). The other characters
introduced (a troubled vicar and a man with an assumed name) are not
immediately liked to the scenario, but no doubt they will play a part
in the future. As this is an introductory issue I really need to read
more before I can judge Shipp's writing, but let's say it doesn't
resort to flashy or clever stylistics, preferring to let the story
unfold. The same goes for Laming's art which is of the loose and free
school, while retaining the accuracy and realism needed to drive the
story home. Possibly a major achievement. I'll be watching the closely.

So, is the British comics industry going to be saved by these efforts?
It's tricky to say and fans of Redfox and Harrier in the 80's will
remember what happened to them. What has struck me, though, is the
high quality of the Brit indies. Of course, if you're going to pump
your own money into an expensive project you have to be good, but
there have been some very dodgy self published titles in the last few
years. Why are they suddenly all so good? Are we entering a
renaissance period?

All these titles should be available in your local comic shop and most
are distributed by Diamond, but due to the philistine nature of some
retailers you may not have any luck, so here's some addresses:

Sleaze Castle #7: stlg1.50, Gratuitous Bunny Comix, 33 Windsor Drive,
Cleadon, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear, SR6 7SY.

Legacy of Shadows preview: stlg1.00, Crow Comics, 21 Church St,
Bishops Lydeard, Somerset, TA4 3AT.

Monkey Punk: stlg4.00, Slab-O-Concrete, P.O. Box 148, Hove, BN3 3DQ.

Memory Man #1&2: stlg1.50 each, Paul Rainey, 10 Stafford Grove,
Shenley Church End, Milton Keynes, MK5 6AY.

Six Degrees #1: stlg1.80, High Heels Productions, 96 Fisherton St,
Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP2 7QR.

All in prices in UKpounds

ends...

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PETER ASHTON                        VICIOUS COMICS FANZINE
        c/o 29 Wheatsheaf Rd, Birmingham, B16, UK
            Issue 4 (A4, 36pg) UKP2.00 / $5.00
       (Apologies for advertising! Non Profit mag!)
Check out http://uptown.turnpike.net/C/caption/index.html
for articles, SP/Underground reviews, etc

"Cool Beans..." (SB)
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