Filed under: Exquisite Reviews | Tags: Clockwork Watch, Corey Brotherson, Fabio Duarte Martins, Jennie Gyllblad, Mike Stock, Steampunk, TickTock IPA, Yomi Ayeni
The UK indie comics circuit is brilliant, in every way you can define that word. It’s a shining beacon of intelligence, energy and enthusiasm in an industry that’s regularly predicted the world ending since at least 1999. It’s crammed full of incredible talents and the work they produce and, bluntly, it’s a beacon that puts the lie to every piece of negative crap that this industry regularly spews out. As a journalist in the field, I get all too used to endless snark and hipster disinterest, or the disillusionment of seeing a character or title taken the ‘wrong’ way or mishandled. It’s depressing, endlessly negative and crucially, insular. Comics aren’t a medium that will flourish through in-fighting and smirky jokes that fifteen people, all in the industry, ten of them guesting in your comic, will get.
Comics will flourish through smart, hard working, inclusive, good comics.
Comics like Clockwork Watch.
A multicultural, multi-part steampunk comic, Clockwork Watch is a collaborative project with Corey Brotherson (Editor), Fabio Duarte Martins (Front Page Design), Mike Stock (Letterer), Jennie Gyllblad (Illustrator), and Yomi Ayeni (Author). You may recognize several of those names. Click here and find out just how ridiculously talented this team are.
Right now they’re funding the final volume of TickTock IPA. Here’s what it’s about:
Tick Tock IPA is the story of Ervin, a Clockwork Servant who falls into a brewery’s fermentation tank, and gains his sentience. Exactly the opposite of what would happen to a human being. He finds himself in a world sick to the core, searching for a miracle.
The series is a continuation of a story from the Steampunk world of Clockwork Watch. It’s a tale of perseverance and determination against the odds, the fight for freedom, and an alternative / fictionalised history of the Victorian era’s first internationally renowned Indian Pale Ale – Hodgson’s IPA.
Robots, beer, excellent hats. What’s not to love? Here’s what the art, done by the phenomenally talent Jennie Gyllblad, looks like:
As I write this they’re on £4536 of their £5000 goal and have 14 hours left. £10 gets you the following:
An exclusive digital copy of all three Tick Tock IPA books, packaged in a unique form, with editors notes on the original script.
Along with updates about production. The rewards only get better the higher you get too. Plus, whatever you pledge you’re also getting the knowledge that you’ve not only helped this exceptional team of creators out, but have continued to make the comic industry a better, delightfully weirder, happier place.
Filed under: Exquisite Reviews | Tags: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Alasdair Stuart, Corey Brotherson, Doodle Doodle, Eve, Greenie, Magic of Myth, Oberon, Robin, Sergio Calvet, Titania
Written by Corey Brotherson
Art by Sergio Calvet
Published by Doodle Doodle
£5 pre-order before the end of 18 April (launch day) with a free digital copy, £6 regular price
Robin has a problem; William Shakespeare. A Midsummer’s Night has just been published and is sweeping England. It’s a brilliant play, a bang on satire of Fae politics and one of Shakespeare’s all time greats.
But Robin is a girl.
And Puck, her character in the play…is…not.
As she sets off to make this right, Corey uses the young Fae to shine a light on the elements of his Magic of Myth universe. This is one of the most realistic and vibrant takes on the Fae you’ll read, and Corey walks us through their society with remarkable grace and a stunningly good eye for character. Oberon is a great example of this; a character who’s outlook and demeanour is established entirely through how he speaks. Oberon has, maybe, 15 words in the entire issue but he’s so grounded, so authoritative that you can’t help but remember them. Titania is just as memorable, far more articulate and far crueller. There are no wasted words with her and no words without a sharp edge to them. Likewise, Robin’s friends, especially the Green Man, feel like people we’ve known for years. Part of the reason for that is the archetypes Corey’s drawing from, the rest is that he’s a remarkably good writer.
But it’s Robin who you remember. Brilliant, brave, crushed and determined she’s caught between two warring parties who don’t want her and makes an impossible choice as a result. She carries the emotional weight of the story and never once buckles beneath it.
The second story here is a total gear shift and is actually the opening chapter of the series Fae ties into. Magic of Myth is excellent and focuses on Eve, an English teacher as well as a warrior. On the bad days, she’s honestly not sure which is scarier. Eve is the polar opposite of Robin; older, wiser, fewer damns to give and seeing her snark her way through the first in a series of tests is huge fun. It’s also where Calvet’s art really comes into its own. His style is rounded and expressive and fun everywhere but this story is where he really gets to show off. Corey’s script is light on its feet but has real weight to it and that’s cleverly communicated through Calvet’s deceptively light artwork. The end result is a beautiful book, one that honours its subject matter and provides a perfect on ramp to the larger story being told. Corey and Sergio are two of the best creators in the industry and this is some of their best work. Pick it up, and the rest of Magic of Myth, and find out just how good they are.
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