Comics

Hannah Berry - Adamtine

A disconcerting horror comic from the creator of Britten and Brülightly

22 May 2012

British graphic novelist Hannah Berry’s near-perfect debut, Britten and Brülightly, was a detective yarn inspired by Graham Greene and Carol Reed. But the familiar post-war milieu was given a surreal comic twist with the inclusion of a character that…

Nicolas de Crécy - The Celestial Bibendum

Gorgeous reprint and translation of artist/writer de Crécy’s often bizarre comic

27 Apr 2012

Knockabout, the UK publisher/distributor that’s been making Transatlantic underground and alternative comics available to the turned on and tuned in since the 1980s, has more recently been in the business of translating and repackaging into oversize…

Dan Slott & Humberto Ramos - Spider-Man: Spider Island

New Spidey adventure too frivolous to be genuinely engaging

24 Apr 2012

(Marvel) Spider-Man has always been one of the comics world’s more light-hearted superheroes. While there have been moments of introspection and heartache, he’s always more than ready with a corny quip as he swings into battle. Spider Island continues…

Artist Martin Eden on LGBT comic Spandex

The plot focuses on a team of gay superheroes who fight crime in Brighton

18 Apr 2012

(Titan Books) Many a quip has been made about Batman and Robin bunking up, but how often are there actually LGBT themes in comics? With the latest incarnation of Batwoman being an out lesbian, there is certainly more scope for a homosexual hulk, and…

Mark Millar & Leinil Francis Yu - Superior

The Kick-Ass creator's latest ponders what superpowers would mean to those who needed them most

16 Mar 2012

(Titan) Glasgow writer Mark Millar has really picked up the pace on his creator-owned series over the last few years, but what’s more remarkable is how high the quality has remained. Wanted, Kick-Ass and Nemesis were action blockbusters but Superior…

Team Girl Comic #4

Ragtag Glasgow-based publication providing feminist balance in the world of comics

28 Feb 2012

Team Girl Comic is a Glasgow collective of artists and illustrators breathing fresh feminist air into the underground comic scene. A lo-fi zine featuring a pic’n’mix of cartoons and drawings by women of all backgrounds and ages, TGC was set up as a…

GFF 2012 - Mark Millar interview

The comic book creator of Kick-Ass and Wanted tells us about his role at the Glasgow Film Festival

13 Feb 2012

Mark Millar has written some of the biggest comics of the last 20 years. He’s tackled the X-Men, Spider-Man, Superman and Fantastic Four alongside...

Electric Man

A patchy, if well intentioned, Edinburgh-set comic comedy

8 Feb 2012

(12A tbc) 98min Shot in Edinburgh on a micro-budget, comic shop comedy Electric Man declares its intentions from the off: this is to be no social realist kitchen sink drama, typical of the UK film industry, but rather a light-hearted love-letter to…

Joost Swarte: Is That All There Is?

Compendium of the Dutch cartoonist’s satirical alternative comics

3 Feb 2012

Apparently so. Or almost so. Is That All There Is? collects virtually all of the Dutch cartoonist’s alternative comics from way back in 1972 to the present day, translates them into English and assembles them, under Swarte’s own supervision, in this…

Courtney Taylor-Taylor & Jim Rugg - One Model Nation

Unsuccessful comic book crossover attempt from the Dandy Warhols frontman

27 Jan 2012

(Titan Books) It’s always interesting when someone turns their hand from one artform to another. However, One Model Nation is proof that the results aren’t always as interesting as the concept. The idea of a comic from Dandy Warhols’ frontman…

Preview of 2012 - Millennium Trilogy comics

Scottish crime author Denise Mina adapts Stieg Larsson’s bestselling classics

6 Jan 2012

There’s not a lot left to say about Stieg Larsson. The three homegrown film adaptations of the late Swedish author’s novels – The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest – along with David…

Alan Moore & Jacen Burrows - Neonomicon

Moore takes some liberties with Lovecraft's stories, but as ever, does a grand job of it

5 Jan 2012

(Avatar) While we wait impatiently for the final instalment of the latest The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century (see our review of part two), we have this new graphic novella from the grand magi of comics to be going on with. Neonomicon is…

Hot 100 2011 - No. 49 to 1

The definitive list of Scottish creative talent

16 Dec 2011

The Hot 100 is the definitive list of Scottish creative talent. From fashion designers to performance artists, everyone who has made a sizeable splash in 2011 has a place in this countdown. It’s for people who’ve created a buzz, but it’s also about…

Metaphrog - Louis: Red Letter Day

Reissue of the Glasgow-based graphic novel duo's 2000 Louis debut

12 Dec 2011

(Metaphrog) A year after the publication of the fifth Louis book, Night Salad, the Glasgow-based writer-illustrator partnership Metaphrog celebrates a decade of their series of graphic novels for kids and adults. To mark the event, Scot John Chalmers…

The Art of Joe Kubert

Wonderful collection of comics art from one of the legends of the medium

21 Nov 2011

Edited by Bill Schelly (Fantagraphics) Alongside the ongoing and consistently groundbreaking efforts of Fantagraphics Books Inc to publish the work of new and cutting edge cartoonists (beginning with Los Bros Hernandez's Love & Rockets in the late…

Rick Remender & Tony Moore - Venom / Zeb Wells & Clayton Crain - Carnage

Spiderman villains comics deliver great action

15 Nov 2011

(Marvel UK) A double dose of villains this month, reintroducing two of Spider-Man’s arch enemies to the Marvel Universe. Venom and Carnage are both symbiotes, a parasitic species that bonds with a human host bestowing them with immense power at a…

Daniel Clowes - The Death-Ray

Amusing and poignant deconstruction of the super-hero genre

18 Oct 2011

(Jonathan Cape) More gorgeousness from writer/artist Daniel Clowes with this oversized hardback reprinting of 2004’s The Death-Ray. A slacker superhero story about 17-year-old orphan Andy discovering that smoking cigarettes charges him with…

Glasgay!: Re-Invention

Exhibition and workshop aimed at gay and trans comic fans

19 Sep 2011

The idea of gay culture in comics is nothing new, with handfuls of uptight academics frantically pointing out the homoerotic sub-tones of Batman and Robin’s cartoon exploits since the 1950s. The foundations of X-Men arguably lie in the civil rights…

Jonathan Ross and Tommy Lee Edwards - Turf

Slightly clunky comic debut from the TV personality

16 Sep 2011

(Titan) Yes that Jonathon Ross. The chat show host has long been an acknowledged geek with a superhero fixation, so perhaps it’s high time he stepped up to take the reigns on his own comic title. And he certainly goes for it, all guns blazing, with a…

Craig Collins & Iain Laurie - Roachwell

A dark, funny and disturbing achievement in self-published comics

24 Aug 2011

(roachwell.blogspot.com) Published online between 2009 and 2010, Roachwell is a fevered and messy collection of obtuse, amusing strips by Scottish writer/artists Craig Collins and Iain Laurie. Cremation and regeneration, house-hunting in the freak…

Jay Cantoe & James Romberger - Aaron and Ahmed: A Love Story

17 Aug 2011

(Vertigo/Titan) Novelist, scriptwriter and essayist Jay Cantor’s foray into comics starts as a simple examination of the relationship between an army doctor/torturer and a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, then heads off on a wild tangent concerning the…

Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neill - The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century – 1969

Groovy, psychedelic second entry into the League's Century series

3 Aug 2011

(Top Shelf/Knockabout) Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill take their science fiction and fantasy literature homage/parody into previously uncharted realms with their most contemporaneous jaunt yet. Part two of the Century trilogy takes the heroes into…

Joe Simon: My Life in Comics

Interesting autobiography from one of the pioneers of superhero comics

21 Jul 2011

(Titan) This autobiography written by one of the founding fathers of the American comic books hits the bookshelves a fortnight ahead of the release of the latest Hollywood blockbuster adaptation of a superhero strip, Captain America, which…

Mark Waid & Jorge Molina - Captain America: Man Out of Time

Marvel's classic character needs to concentrate on plot over patriotism

21 Jul 2011

(Marvel UK) Another month and yet another big-screen movie adaptation. Captain America is a peculiarly old-fashioned character, the US embodied in a patriotic soldier who risked his life taking the ‘Super Soldier Serum’ to become the ultimate…

Jason and Fabien Vehlmann - Isle of 100,000 Graves

Daft and deadpan humour make for hilarious read

20 Jul 2011

(Fantagraphics) Norway-born, South of France-based cartoonist Jason’s absurdist mix of daft and deadpan humour (a Nordic speciality perhaps) once again makes for hilarious reading in this tale of skulduggery in the South Seas. The discovery of a…

Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden & Ben Stenbeck - Baltimore: The Plague Ships

Disappointing supernatural horror from Hellboy creator Mike Mignola

20 Jul 2011

(Dark Horse) Hellboy creator Mike Mignola continues to expand his universe of supernatural horror inspired by 19th and 20th century pulp fictions with this his latest creation, Lord Henry Baltimore, vampire hunter. This first story arc, the first…

Supergods - Grant Morrison interview

Grant Morrison on his journey to becoming one of the world’s leading comics writers

21 Jun 2011

When I was eight my mum, who was a big fan of science fiction in all its forms, took me to see 2001: A Space Odyssey three times in one month. It was a profound thing to see. The second time I was so freaked out by the Stargate sequence that I couldn’t…

Joe Simon & Jack Kirby - Fighting American

Classic 50s action with satirical edge from famed writer and artist team

31 May 2011

(Titan) Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the greatest writer-artist team of the Golden Age of comics, created, among other colourful costumed crime-fighters, the star-spangled superhero Captain America. Conceived as the ultimate patriot in response to…

Mario & Gilbert Hernandez - Citizen Rex

Science fiction satire from the creators of Love & Rockets

31 May 2011

(Dark Horse) Co-creator Mario opens this hardcover collection of the six-issue comic originally published in 2009 with an amusing anecdote about meeting a geek at a science fiction convention who had the cheek to write off Los Bros Hernandez…

Geoff Johns - Green Lantern: Secret Origin (review)

Modern twist on an old-school sci-fi hero

17 May 2011

(Titan) The Green Lantern might not seem the most likely candidate for a big-budget blockbuster. He’s certainly not your typical superhero, being based more in the world of retro sci-fi, his powers derived from a ‘power ring’ bestowed by the…

Eric Skillman and Jhomar Soriano - Liar's Kiss

Unpredictable crime noir graphic novel from new writer and artist team

12 May 2011

Top Shelf Comix. Featuring a real loser of a protagonist and devolving around a series of misunderstandings and bad coincidences, this stylish, noirish hard-boiled crime graphic novel recalls, among other things, certain films of the Coen brothers. In…

Winshluss - Pinocchio

3 May 2011

Winshluss, the multitalented French cartoonist, filmmaker and musician whose real name is Vincent Parronnaud, is best known for the Oscar-nominated animated feature film he made with Iranian author and illustrator Marjane Satrapi based on her memoir…

Scenes from an Impending Marriage (A Prenuptial Memoir), by Adrian Tomine

A witty graphic novel with indie sensibilities

13 Apr 2011

(Faber) In February, Adrian Tomine launched the US publication of Scenes from an Impending Marriage (A Prenuptial Memoir) via an onstage conversation with Leanne Shapton. Her last book, Important Artifacts, was the mainly photo-led story of a…

Arthur Flowers & Manu Chitrakar: I See the Promised Land

Mystical graphic novelisation inspired by the life Martin Luther King

24 Mar 2011

(Tara Books) The life and times of saints and heroes have long been the base for storytelling traditions. With I See the Promised Land, African-American writer and blues singer Arthur Flowers repositions civil rights leader Martin Luther King’s story…

Nemesis

Mark Millar and Steve McNiven collaborate on supervillain story

9 Mar 2011

Mark Millar took the top spot in The List’s Hot 100 at the end of 2010 and with the release of Nemesis in hardback you can see why. It’s a full-throttle thrill ride boasting some of Millar’s most audacious action set pieces to date and with a title…

Area guide to the Glasgow Film Festival

Kirstin Innes helps you bring the movies to life with our GFF-themed area guide

17 Feb 2011

If you're interested in the Beyond Bollywood, Superheroes in Glasgow, Ceol's Craic or Fashion in Film strands, this is the Glasgow guide for you.

The Essential Superman Encyclopaedia - Robert Greenberger & Martin Pasko

Meticulously researched guide is nicely balanced

16 Feb 2011

(Titan Books) Perhaps the perfect last minute gift for the geek in your life, The Essential Superman Encyclopaedia is a massive cornucopia of Caped Crusader facts. If you desperately want to know more about Mr Mxyzptlk or The Purple Pile-Driver you…

Sophie Crumb - Evolution of a Crazy Artist

11 Feb 2011

(WW Norton) From an early age, Robert Crumb’s maladjusted scion was the beneficiary of her parent’s archivist tendencies. His daughter’s ‘most interesting and expressive work’ was saved and now, 26 years later, the artist child revisits it and lays…

Nick Spencer & Christian Ward - The Infinite Vacation No 1

Character of parallel universes tale ends up ‘bored, alone and miserable’

9 Feb 2011

(Image) ‘Hello My Name Is Mark,’ says the badge worn by the red-haired guy with the shirt, tie and patch of ill-advised chin fluff who looks as though he’s attending a conference. And in a way he is, with this gathering of his alternate selves over…

Jamie McMorrow & Garry McLaughlin - Year of Fear: Yellow

19 Jan 2011

(Laser Age Comics) The second instalment of Year of Fear is another gruesome black and white affair as a faceless killer stalks the streets. Taking obvious inspiration from the Italian giallo film movement, we get the black gloves, savage violence and…

John Hicklenton - 100 Months

Uncensored and unrelenting tribute to Judge Dredd artist and MS-sufferer who lived on the edge

12 Jan 2011

(Cutting Edge) To truly appreciate 100 Months, you need to understand the circumstances under which it was written. John Hicklenton was a controversial but much-loved British artist whose exaggerated and brutal art brought to vivid life the likes of…

Denise Mina & Antonio Fuso - A Sickness in the Family

Scottish crime novelist creates concise and claustrophobic take on the graphic novel genre

30 Nov 2010

(Vertigo Crime) After a successful run on Hellblazer in 2006, Scottish crime novelist Denise Mina returns to the ninth art, with this her first graphic novel. While there are hints of the supernatural here, A Sickness in the Family is essentially a…

The Atomic Society of Justice

John Miller's episodic one-off tribute to the 1940s ‘Golden Age’ of comics

19 Nov 2010

(Small Press) In comic geek speak, the ‘Golden Age’ means the 1940s, and the advent of the superhero era from DC and Marvel. Set in 1942, this episodic one-off tribute comes from prolific Scots small press creator John Miller. As is typical of his…

Dan Abnett, John Tomlinson & Gary Erskine - The Knights of Pendragon

3 Nov 2010

(Marvel UK) The success of Captain Britain meant Marvel UK wanted more characters it could call its own and so in 1990, the Knights of Pendragon were born. Steeped in the legends of King Arthur and ancient pagan folklore, it centres around cynical…

Joshua Dysart & Cliff Chiang - Neil Young’s Greendale

25 Aug 2010

(Vertigo) Originally a concept album in 2003, then a film, a live DVD and an off-Broadway musical, this anti-war, pro-ecology tale by Neil Young & Crazy Horse continues its march across media formats with an attractive hard-bound graphic novel…

Real Lives by Peter Bagge

12 Aug 2010

Since rising to fame with Hate, his comic book chronicling the slacker generation, Peter Bagge has specialised in capturing realistic characters trapped by the frustrations of real life. Here, he casts his eye on the false personalities people project…

Jeff Lemire - Sweet Tooth

29 Jul 2010

(Titan/Vertigo) It’s hardly surprising that Jeff Lemire’s current ongoing series (the first five issues of which are collected here) should be a bleak, post-apocalyptic yarn that recalls, among other precedents, Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Lemire…

Gilbert Shelton - Not Quite Dead: Last Gig in Shnagrlig

23 Jul 2010

(Knockabout) Gilbert Shelton will always be most famous for his irreverent take on hippie culture as beloved by stoners across the world in his Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers strips and its off-shoot, Fat Freddy’s Cat. And among his other achievements…

Mike Mignola gets back to the drawing board with Abe Sapien, Hellboy and BPRD

24 Jun 2010

Miles Fielder chats to writer and artist Mike Mignola about the expanding world of his demonic offspring and literally getting back to the drawing board

Marc Guggenheim & Brandon Braga - Iron Man vs Whiplash

14 May 2010

(Marvel UK) While Iron Man 2 continues to rake in the cash at your local cinema, it seems the perfect time to dip into this new collection from Marvel and to launch a new Whiplash much more in line with the movie villain (not the old classic…

Peter Milligan - Human Target

28 Apr 2010

(Vertigo/Titan) With the Human Target TV series getting its first UK airing on the Syfy channel this month, Peter Milligan’s four-part miniseries and graphic novel Final Cut have been collected together for the first time. If you think your life is…

Mark Millar & Steve McNiven - Nemesis No.1

15 Apr 2010

(Icon) With Mark Millar’s last creation currently tearing up cinema screens, what better way to drum up interest in his new project than with a cover strapline bearing the claim ‘Makes Kick-Ass Look Like S#it’? Another collaboration with Steve…

Hellblazer returns with two new publications - Jamie Delano interview

30 Mar 2010

Originally created by Alan Moore on the pages of his groundbreaking Saga of the Swamp Thing, John Constantine has gone on to become one of the comics world’s most fully realised characters. As writer Jamie Delano explains: ‘Constantine is often…

Mark Millar's Kick-Ass get the big screen superhero treatment

22 Mar 2010

How come no one has ever ‘done a Batman’? In a world full of disenfranchised youth, disillusioned loners and delusional outsiders, where superhero movies top the box office, comics sell by the bucket-load and Spider-Man is one of the biggest pop culture…

Various - Batman: Battle for the Cowl Companion

4 Mar 2010

(DC/Titan) The companion to Battle for the Cowl fleshes out the story ever further as various writers and artists (including David Hine, Chris Yost, Fabian Nicieza and Mark McKenna) show the events from other angles focusing on the likes of…

Tony S Daniel & Various - Batman: Battle for the Cowl

25 Feb 2010

(DC/Titan) VARIOUS After the cataclysmic events in Grant Morrison’s Batman RIP, there’s a void in Gotham City, and while Nightwing, Robin, Huntress, Batgirl, Catwoman and their allies are trying to fend off the crimewave, it appears someone needs to…

New British Comics No 2

17 Feb 2010

www.polygobooks.com

Paul Cornell & Leonard Kirk - Captain Britain and MI13: Vampire State

1 Feb 2010

(Marvel UK) It’s a shame to see Paul Cornell’s rebirth of Captain Britain come to a close so quickly (the final six issues and the 2009 annual are collected here), but such is the fickle world of mainstream comics. At least it goes out with an…

Chris Kent - Medusa

21 Jan 2010

(Graphite Fiction) Borders-based artist and writer Chris Kent has produced a strong piece of complex work for his debut comics project. Using collage, photo and painted art Medusa has a unique look for a haunting tale of lose and longing. Following…

Edward Ross - Filmish

20 Jan 2010

(Chiaroscuro) Edinburgh-based cartoonist, comic writer and filmmaker Edward Ross releases this sharp and wryly amusing ‘wee collection of comic book essays on film theory’. This isn’t hard academia (and doesn’t pretend to be) but an engaging look at…

Burke & Hare - Martin Conaghan and Will Pickering

9 Dec 2009

(Vigil/Insomnia) A delve into Edinburgh’s sinister past seems to fit the tradition of period ghost stories for Christmas, though of course the tale of Burke and Hare is all too real. Perhaps the most important aspect of their history which writer…

Alan Grant & Simon Bisley - The Dead: Kingdom of Flies

4 Dec 2009

(Berserker) Belfast comics label Berserker has managed to secure three of Britain’s major talents – writer Alan Grant, artist Simon Bisley and Glenn Fabry for covers – for their first title with the first four issues of The Dead collected in this new…

Gilbert Shelton - The Fat Freddy’s Cat Omnibus

19 Nov 2009

(Knockabout) While he might come across as a hippy Garfield, Fat Freddy’s Cat actually predates the lasagne-obsessed ginger tom by nine years. Springing from the pages of the ultimate stoner’s comic – The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers – which was…

Requiem Vampire Knight: Resurrection & Danse Macabre/Dracula & The Vampires Ball by Pat Mills and Oliver Ledroit

16 Oct 2009

Veteran British comics writer Pat Mills takes us into hell as Requiem Vampire Knight finally gets printed in English. Originally released in France where, much like the rest of Europe, there’s a burgeoning comics scene that isn’t obsessed with…

The Book of Genesis

A comic book bible

15 Oct 2009

Biblical scenes have inspired some of the greatest works of art ever created, but it’s been decades since a major artist tackled theology in a big way. Until now that is, as the legendary illustrator Robert Crumb retells the first book of the Bible…

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and Tim Hamilton

1 Oct 2009

Inspired by the Nazi book burnings of the 1930s (451 degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature at which paper ignites), Ray Bradbury created a dark future where books are illegal for promoting critical thought and intellectualism, a world where firemen have…

Dark Entries by Ian Rankin and Werther Dell'edera

The crimewriter turns to comics

17 Sep 2009

Ian Rankin isn’t the first author to turn his hand to comics, with names as diverse as Jodi Picoult and Michael Chabon all having had a go. In fact he isn’t even the first Scottish crime writer to script a John Constantine story, with Denise Mina having…

Eddie Campbell

The comic artist/writer brings his life's work together

17 Sep 2009

Glasgow-born, Brisbane-based Eddie Campbell is best known for illustrating From Hell, his and writer Alan Moore’s exhaustive graphic novel investigation of the Jack the Ripper murders. It’s the Oz-based ex-pat’s autobiographical comics, however, that…

Heavy Metal Dredd by John Wagner, Alan Grant and various

A collection of Judge Dredd's most exteme adventures

3 Sep 2009

More from your favourite ultra hard-line future lawman in this collection of some of Judge Dredd’s most extreme stories. First printed in Rock Power and the Judge Dredd Megazine, these are stories with no limits, going for bloody slapstick comedy with a…

Nexion

24 Aug 2009

Another dispatch from the world of Scottish underground comics, this time all under the watchful eye of Curt Sibling as he gathers a selection of depraved and funny shorts for the first issue of his Nexion anthology. It has much in common with several…

Mark Millar

Helping comics go widescreen

20 Aug 2009

Mark Millar is surely the Steven Spielberg of the comics world. It’s a tricky task to be hugely popular while retaining massive critical acclaim, but he’s managed to successfully straddle the world of art and commerce with his love of mainstream heroes…

Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?

18 Aug 2009

ALAN MOORE & VARIOUS (DC/Titan) In 1985 the Superman titles were reset at issue one, meaning there would a final issue of Superman and Action Comics in the old numbering system (this kind of intricate continuity is a recurring facet of the…

Khaki Shorts

18 Aug 2009

We return to the grimy world of Khaki Shorts as their rebirth continues for another dose of Scottish underground comics action. This second issue of their ‘reboot’ is as scatological in its humour, style and subject matter as last issue in its…

Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?

18 Aug 2009

NEIL GAIMAN & VARIOUS (DC/Titan) In 2009 and after Grant Morrison’s apocalyptic run on Batman, two monthly titles, Detective Comics and Batman, have been put on hiatus. So who better than Neil Gaiman to write the final two-part story? Again looking…

The Amazing Spider-Man 600

Dan Slott, John Romita Jr & Various

12 Aug 2009

The 600th issue of any title is cause for celebration, particularly as iconic a character as Marvel’s mascot Spider-Man. The lead story from Dan Slott, with art by John Romita Jr, re-introduces arch villain Doctor Octopus (plus another big return, but…

Paul Cornell & Leonard Kirk - Captain Britain and MI13: Secret Invasion & Hell Comes to Birmingham

23 Jul 2009

The first two compilations of TV-writer Paul Cornell’s new run on Captain Britain kicks off during the huge Secret Invasion. Neatly setting itself in the Marvel universe, Cornell (whose credits include Doctor Who, Robin Hood and Coronation Street) has…

Various: Wasted No. 2

9 Jul 2009

More Scottish comic action this fortnight with the second issue of Wasted. Much like its predecessor Northern Lightz, it’s a cheeky selection of comedy shorts from names such as Alan Grant, John Wagner, Jamie Grant, Alan Kerr, Curt Sibling, Dave…

Comics in Scotland: Oxfam Bookfest

9 Jul 2009

Whack! Bang! Wallop! There’s ample reason to don the lycra this fortnight as Oxfam’s Bookfest celebrates comic writing in Scotland. Ferg Hadley (Spiderman, Marvel UK) and Dave Bishop (ex-2000AD and Dr Who) talk comic book writing and graphic novels…

Forest Publications seek submissions for new graphic anthology

30 Jun 2009

The Edinburgh-based Forest Publications are putting together a new graphic anthology named This Will Explain Everything, which is now open to submissions from comic artists and illustrators. Writer and publisher Ryan Van Winkle explains: 'This…

Curt Sibling - Total Fear: Collection 3

11 Jun 2009

HORROR COMIC There’s been a resurgence in the world of underground comics in Scotland of late, as we’ve tried to reflect on these very pages over the last few months. Now Curt Sibling is back with more of his effervescent adult’s only humour. Total…

Howard Chaykin - American Flagg!

28 May 2009

With a penchant for eroticism and violence, US comics visionary Howard Chaykin is releasing another groundbreaking work. Miles Fielder chats to him.

Various: Khaki Shorts

28 May 2009

More underground comics action pierces your mind as Khaki Shorts returns after a two-year hiatus. It’s a distinctly Glaswegian title (with just a dash of Edinburgh wit) packed with acidic humour ranging from sci-fi pastiche to police action with…

New British Comics No 1

14 May 2009

New British Comics does exactly what you’d expect by gathering together a selection of up-and-coming comics talent, with a particularly strong Scottish showing. Don’t let the admittedly striking Tim Rees cover fool you: this isn’t superhero or even…

Guy Delisle - Burma Chronicles

30 Apr 2009

TRAVELOGUE COMIC French-Canadian animator and cartoonist Guy Delisle previously documented his experiences in far-flung inaccessible countries with Shenzhen: A Travelogue from China and Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea. His third graphic travel…

Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette & John Totleben - Saga of the Swamp Thing

16 Apr 2009

COMICS/SUPERHERO There’s no point going over old ground: if you have even the vaguest interest in comics you’ll know of the genius of Alan Moore. Watchmen, V For Vendetta and From Hell are established classics of the medium, as of course is Saga of…

Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neil - The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century 1910

16 Apr 2009

From one of Moore’s oldest stories to his latest opus, the first part of the third volume of his League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. It’s an unlikely ‘superhero’ team of literary characters; in this case, the likes of Raffles, Orlando and Carnaki the…

Pat Mills and Various - ABC Warriors: The Meknificent Seven / The Shadow Warriors

2 Apr 2009

(Rebellion) SCI-FI COMIC More British sci-fi action from 2000AD with the ‘Atomic’, ‘Bacterial’, ‘Chemical’ robot warriors, built to withstand any crisis. Going right back to their debut in 1979, The Meknificent Seven shows the formation of the…

Mark Millar & Various - 1985

19 Mar 2009

SUPERHERO COMICS Coatbridge’s Mark Millar has been in the upper echelons of comic book superstars since he started writing The Authority in 2000. This was swiftly followed by Ultimate X-Men while memorable subsequent projects have included Civil War…

Mark Millar & Various - Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest

19 Mar 2009

SUPERHERO COMICS Coatbridge’s Mark Millar has been in the upper echelons of comic book superstars since he started writing The Authority in 2000. This was swiftly followed by Ultimate X-Men while memorable subsequent projects have included Civil War…

John Wagner, Alan Grant & Various - Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 12

5 Mar 2009

SCI-FI COMIC Yet another huge Judge Dredd compendium from the pages of 2000AD. As per usual John Wagner and Alan Grant take up the writing reins of the ultimate lawman as he brings tough justice to the streets of sci-fi metropolis Mega City One.

Robbie Morrison & Henry Flint - Shakara: The Avenger

19 Feb 2009

(2000AD/Rebellion) SCI-FI COMIC You certainly could never accuse writer Robbie Morrison of not starting Shakara on a grand scale, what with the obliteration of Earth in the very first panel and the last ever human being dead by the end of page…

Alan Moore - Lost Girls

5 Feb 2009

‘What we wanted to do with Lost Girls was to come up with a different form of pornography. We realised we had the ideas for something enormous and wonderful.’ Alan Moore, who’s widely considered to be the finest writer working in comics today and is…

Mark Waid, Zeb Wells & Various - The Amazing Spider-Man 583

22 Jan 2009

COMICS/SUPERHERO It’s been in all the papers, President Barack Obama makes a guest appearance in Spider-Man. It’s yet more proof of how succinctly Obama has tapped into the zeitgeist and is as much of a cultural icon as he is a political…

Brian K Vaughan & Pia Guerra - Y: The Last Man

8 Jan 2009

SCI-FI Brian K Vaughn is one of the most interesting writers in comics Runaways, Ex Machina and Pride of Baghdad offering a new perspective when it comes to graphic storytelling. Y: The Last Man has been similarly praised and deservedly so. In…

Sakuran

8 Jan 2009

MANGA ADAPTATION A bit like Edinburgh’s number 30 bus, Mika Ninagawa’s adaptation of this noted Manga comic series by Moyoco Anno travels an epic, seemingly endless journey, but goes nowhere interesting on the way. The scenery is better though, with…

Gilbert Hernandez - Speak of the Devil

8 Jan 2009

CRIME One half of Los Bros Hernandez takes time off from the long-running magic realist Mexican soap opera of Love & Rockets for this nasty little tale that mixes teen melodrama with stalk’n’slash chills. It’s a crazed cautionary tale in which a…

Will Eisner - The Best of The Spirit

8 Jan 2009

SUPERHERO With his domino mask, blue suit, red tie, blue fedora hat and gloves, Denny Colt aka The Spirit was what one newspaper in the 1940s referred to ‘the only real middle-class crimefighter’. Created in 1940 for a strip in a Sunday newspaper…

Gerry Findley-Day & Various - The VCs: You’re Hit, You’re Dead

8 Jan 2009

SCI-FI Rebellion here reprints 2000AD’s sci-fi tale of space warfare, The VCs, for the first time, in which the Vacuum Cleaners take on the power of the alien Geek empire. Created by Gerry Findley-Day (who also created Rogue Trooper) in many ways The…

Jim Lawrence, John McLusky & Yaroslav Horak - James Bond 007: Polestar

11 Dec 2008

SPY THRILLER Amidst the furious modernism of Daniel Craig’s James Bond incarnation, it’s becoming easier to forget just what a retro thrill the character was for so many years. This collection celebrates a vision of the character from the most sadly…

Various - The Bumper Book of Roy of the Rovers

11 Dec 2008

FOOTIE Splitting your defences with a timely ‘gosh’, ‘heck’ and ‘thunderation’, this collection of Roy Race’s adventures from the years 1958-71 should send a tingle down the spine of anyone who ever picked up the comic. Melchester Rovers’ most famous…