Filed under: Exquisite Reviews | Tags: Alan Cowsill, Alasdair Stuart, Andy Lanning, Clayton Cowles, Gary Erskine, Liger, Master Key, Mys-Tech, Virago Troop, Yel Zamor
Written by Andy Lanning & Alan Cowsill
Art by Gary Erskine
Colour Art by Yel Zamor
Lettering by VC’s Clayton Cowles
Published by Marvel
Just buy this issue. It doesn’t matter if you didn’t pick up any issues of Revolutionary War prior to this, and in fact, there’s a strong case for coming in here. But please, just buy this issue, if nothing else for the art.
Gary Erskine is one of the finest comic artists working today. His work defined a lot of the comics that influenced me and, over time, it’s become one of those styles that seems to become part of the background of the industry. His work is always impressive, always detailed and witty but at times overlooked. Here it positively shines as we get the story of the last battle with Mys-Tech and the price Colonel Liger paid for victory. Haunted by the loss of his troops, Liger goes to Master Key, the erratic magician who powered their trips across dimensions, for help. He gets it. He soon wishes he hadn’t.
This is the perfect jumping on point for the series for three reasons. Firstly, Liger’s experiences are central to the overall plot and secondly every major tentpole concept of the Marvel UK characters is both central, and explained, here. Most importantly, this is just beautiful work. The closing pages hit Mignola levels of scale but what stays with you are the characters and the cruelty of what happens to them. Every one of these people is battered or warped by their experiences, heroes fall, villains rise and there are no easy answers. It’s the best of Marvel UK crystallised in one place. Compassionate, brave heroes, terrifying villains and Faustian pacts, all beautifully captured by Erskine, Yel Zamor’s colour art and Cowles’ lettering. Like the best issues of this series, it honours and builds on everything that came before. Unlike the best issues of this series, it has an ace in the hole; Erskine’s artwork. Phenomenally impressive and a hell of a start to the series’ endgame.
Filed under: Exquisite Reviews | Tags: Alasdair Stuart, Charles Rowland, Crystal Palace, DC Vertigo, Edwin Paines, Gary Erskine, Lee Loughridge, Mark Buckingham, The Dead Boy Detectives, The Sandman, Toby Litt, Todd Klein
‘School Boy Terrors: The New Girl’
Written by Toby Litt
Pencils by Mark Buckingham
Inks by Gary Erskine
Colours be Lee Loughridge
Letters by Todd Klein
Published by DC Vertigo
£1.70 with that SuperCard Go! You were handed shortly before you refused to die.
Holy wow. This is one of those books that comes along every now and then and doesn’t so much hit the ground running as it does hit it flat out sprinting. From the opening, deliriously brilliant art heist to the closing reveal, this is a tight, incident heavy, character driven comic that blows any worries about it being an unneeded tie in out of the water.
Litt’s script takes Edwin Paines and Charles Rowland, two of the most endearing and affecting members of The Sandman supporting cast, on a journey through performance art, modern celebrity, action movies and their own self-images. It’s a dizzying run of a comic, Paines and Rowland’s very different perceptions and approaches united in the sheer glee they share in not quite being fully dead yet. These are characters who take absolute joy in what they do and when Litt shows them, and us, what they’re heading for it’s truly chilling. Yet even under that the two boys, and Crystal Palace, their new friend, run headlong into danger. It’s not that they aren’t scared, it’s that they’re detectives (And a ghost hunter) and this is what they do.
Buckingham’s pencils are, as usual, perfect and the little details, like the outfits of the ‘thieves’ or the headmaster’s pipe, really stand out. His work is precise but character driven and Loughridge’s colours and Erskine’s inks combine with it to create a really sharp, elegant comic. Klein’s letters are also exceptional, juggling very different styles and characters with ease.
This is huge fun from start to finish and requires precisely no knowledge of any prior Sandman-related stuff to enjoy. If you liked the Steed and Mrs Peel-type Avengers, Dark Season, The Demon Headmaster or any stripe of British horror, this is for you. If you didn’t, this may very well be for you anyway, it’s that good.
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