Beware Spoilers Ahead!

My reviews do contain spoilers about the main stories but I do attempt to keep them at a minimum. I will not reveal any major plot points or twists unless stated at the beginning of a review.

Thursday 26 January 2017

The Pro - R18+


The Pro is a one shot comic written by Garth Ennis art by Amanda Conner and published by Image Comics. I've written reviews on comics that I've deemed R18+ before but I mean it with The Pro, like really really mean it, if you are under 18 why not check out my review on Bizarro #1? A review about a prostitute gaining super powers and using them to give super powered hand jobs isn't exactly what I'd call a wholesome read.



The Pro begins with our hero giving a blow job, I'm not skipping anything it begins with exactly that on the first page, and then being chased from the car while her client shoots at her after refusing to pay the agreed amount. The Pro (who is never named) then collects her son from the babysitter and returns home lamenting over being "fucked again" by life. The Voyeur Viewer, an omnipotent alien being, grants The Pro super powers (without her knowledge) and alerts The League that a new hero will be joining them. When The Pro wakes up she is shocked with her new abilities but not as shocked as she is to see a team of superheroes floating outside her window who welcome her into The League Of Honour.



The Pro, despite being a foul mouthed, crude, and poorly mannered prostitute, is a pretty likeable character. While she isn't exactly winning mother of the year she takes care of her son and despite her lack of doting attitude clearly loves him, this is clearly a woman who has been dealt a bad hand in life she works as waitress during the day and a prostitute at night just to make ends meet. After gaining her super powers The Pro attempts to fight with The League Of Honour but has trouble adjusting to the rules she must now adhere too. The Pro, depending on how deep you want to read into it, is actually a pretty thought provoking comic being a critique on the super hero genre as a whole, on race representation and female representation in the super hero genre. If you aren't up for analysing The Pro is still really enjoyable as a comedy and you can completely ignore any deeper meaning.

Yes, yes it is
The Pro is both beautifully drawn and incredibly gross with an interesting contrast between The League of Honour and The Pro. The panels that involve the heroes are bright, colourful and sharp like any classic super hero comic while The Pro looks worn and shabby in not only herself but her surroundings. Having everything in The Pro's world looking old and overused is an incredibly effective way of emphasising that her life is difficult and a struggle without the character needing to say a single word about it.



I'm not normally one for toilet humour but even I found The Pro funny and, for a comic about a super powered prostitute, filled with symbolism. If you aren't easily offended or mind some excessive sexual content then I'd strongly recommend The Pro, even if the premise puts you off a bit its still an amazing read.

If public breast feeding bothers you The Pro is going to freak you out


I give The Pro 4 out of 5 Pros


Find out more about The Pro here.


Sunday 8 January 2017

In The Local Pocket #9 - Any Port In Storm


Any Port In Storm #1

Any Port In Storm is written and illustrated by Ben Quinlan and published by Inkling Comics. Making comics is extremely hard work, especially when a creator takes on the task of writing and illustrating the entire thing themselves. Sadly hard work doesn't always translate to an enjoyable read and, although showing effort, Any Port In Storm is an example of this.


Storm City is a dying city, The local businesses are failing and it's people are moving away, Storm City will soon become a ghost town. Tag is desperate to save her family's store and attempts to run tours of the city to try and bring in some business. The trouble began for Storm City when teleporting became illegal, due to the chance that it can horribly disfigure those unfortunate enough to have their molecules pass through those of another teleporter, making it difficult to get supplies and people in or out of the city.

Like a near constant disco
The art of Any Port In Storm has some admirable concepts that if carried out well would make for some interesting visuals, unfortunately I feel that Quinlan has overstretched as an artist, leaving the art falling flat. The art suffers from three main issues, first being texture. There is either too much of it or none leaving some panels looking strangely stained or completely flat. Secondly the camera angles, while using different camera angles can sometimes add to a panel having too many panels with strange camera angles can just make the whole thing look confusing. Lastly the teleporting, comics are a visual medium so when a power or ability such as teleporting is used there needs to be some kind of energy effect to show that something has happened, such as a burst of light or a warped background before the character appears. Any Port In Storm doesn't have any visual indication that characters have teleported, they are just not in one panel and then in the next. For all the reader knows they walked from around the corner, which makes the transitions in what is happening from panel to panel a little unclear. When teleporting is such an important part of a story it really needs to be emphasised more in the art.


One thing I really like about Any Port In Storm is the main character Tag, she is running walking tours of the city to try and bring any sort of income into her family's shop in an attempt to keep them from bankruptcy which would force them to leave Storm City. Why is Tag so desperate to keep her family from leaving Storm City? Simple, because it is her home and she loves it. So often a ridiculous reason that a character wants to avoid moving is shoehorned in like "grandma told me I needed to look after the house before she died" or "I can't move my asthmatic, dying cat because if I unplug their life-support system the shock could kill him". Any Port In Storm gives a very real and relatable motivation for Tag to wanting to stay in Storm City.



Any Port In Storm has the potential to be an interesting comic of corporate espionage and conspiracies but falls down in  a few areas with the art and transitions being it's biggest issues. The frame work is there unfortunately it just doesn't quite hit its mark.


I give Any Port In Storm 2 out of 5 Tag's Tours.

Find out more about Any Port In Storm here.

Monday 2 January 2017

In The Local Pocket #5 - Black Fish

In The Local Pocket #4 - Black Fish

Black Fish is written and illustrated by Tatiana Davidson and self published. I picked up Black Fish at Supanova where I often purchase many comics by local creators as it is a great way to find comics that are artistic, mini comics, poetry comics and all sorts of comics that are a little less traditional. This was no less the case for Black Fish, with its creepy cover seeming to stare into my soul making it almost impossible to not pick up a copy (and of course get the author to sign it for me).



Black fish begins with a young girl using the pond in her back yard as a quiet escape from chaos and noise of her large family. As the girl enjoys the silence of her own little world by the fish pond she notices something new in the pond, a small, black, slimy, hungry fish. The next time the girl visits the pond she notices that the small black fish has grown immensely but she can't seem to find any of the koi fish. Some time later the girl looks over her dark yard and sees something large, black and slimy creeping towards the house.

Hey little guy, I'm sure you'll stay little and cute and not get large and terrifying
Every panel in Black Fish is, at the very least, unnerving with some being downright terrifying. Its amazing how even something as simple as a fern frond is made to look sinister with simply the use of  light and dark. The design of the Black Fish in all of its stages looks like it is stitched together from creatures that actually exists adding yet another layer of sinister dread to the book.

Black fish is is a refreshingly different kind of horror comic containing absolutely no gore, relying not only on atmosphere but the readers own imagination to make it scarier than most modern horror movies. Black Fish is magnificently illustrated, , superbly written and mercifully brief, proving that sometimes less is more. I briefly met the creator, Tatiana, at Supanova this year and chatted with her for a minute, got her to sign my copy of Black Fish and walked away satisfied as Tatiana seemed like a nice normal person. After reading Black Fish I think if I meet her again I will back away slowly while maintaining eye contact until I feel I am an appropriate distance that I can turn and run because I refuse to believe that someone as nice as Tatiana seemed can come up with something as unnerving as Black Fish.
NOPE

I give Black Fish 4.5 out of 5 little black fish


Find out more about Black Fish here. Black Fish will be included in an upcoming horror anthology so keep an eye on their Facebook page Mr. Splitfoot for more information.