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.

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.

What You Wanted For Christmas Vs What You Got

Christmas is one of my favourite times of year, with all the food, family and fun its hard not to enjoy the festive season. But despite what the Whos from Whoville tell you one of the best parts of Christmas is the presents and anybody who says otherwise is a liar. While of course its always the thought that counts when it comes to presents sometimes for nerds it can be a bit of a struggle to get what you ask for from family members that just don't get it.

What you asked for:

Punisher comics

You've been watching Dare Devil and its reminded you that The Punisher is pretty cool and it sounds like something you'd really like to get into and bring a little violent diversity into your reading library.

What you got:

Classic The Phantom

You're not really sure how Grandma messed this one up but rather than the violent and frightening Punisher you get a man running around in purple spandex through the jungle. Maybe Grandma read this when she was young but it's best to just say thank you and read it anyway.

What you asked for:

DC Animated movies

Despite DC's inability to make a decent live action movie they are absolutely killing it with their animated stuff with Batman Assault on Arkham (a.k.a. The good Suicide Squad movie) and Batman Under the Red Hood being some of their finest work.

What you got:

Suicide Squad the extended cut

You need to forgive this one because your aunty probably thought that the animated stuff was for kids so she got you that "fun colourful looking movie with the Joker in it". We all saw it and it was fine but even the extended cut with an extra 11 minutes of footage doesn't come anywhere close to how good the animated ones are.


What you asked for:

The Avengers

Everybody loves the Avengers, we all saw it at the cinema, we all loved it and it introduced so many people to the Marvel Cinematic universe and by extension the comics.

What you got:

The Avengers

Your younger brother is a jerk and you know he did this on purpose, his birthday is coming up so start plotting your revenge.

What you asked for:

A Squirrel Girl Doll/action figure

You started reading the new series this year and there is nothing like the cherry optimism of Squirrel Girl to brighten your Christmas day.

What you got:

A squirrel doll

..... Thanks Mum..... it's great....

What you asked for:

Comics, movies, toys and all things nerdy:

Everybody has their preferences whether its Marvel, DC, Dr. Who, animation or video games, you like what you like and that's okay.

What you got:

The love and support of your family and friends

Think less of what you wanted and more about the effort and thought that everybody put into getting you gifts, it is very hard to buy the correct thing when you don't really understand what you are looking for. My brother loves sport and I know if he asked for something for Christmas that I would either need him to show it to me or I would probably get the wrong thing. So Just remember they tried, they love you and are trying hard to support your hobby.

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas full of love and joy.

Afterlife With Archie Volume 1

Afterlife With Archie Volume 1

Afterlife With Archie is written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, art by Francesco Francavilla, letters by Jack Morelli and published by Archie Comics. When I think of Archie Comics the first thing that comes to mind isn't usually Zombies, black magic, death, incest, sex and violence but that is exactly what Afterlife with Archie delivers in a spectacularly gory fashion.

The comic begins with Jughead desperately racing his beloved dog, Hot Dog, to Sabrina after Hot Dog was hit by a car. Jughead hopes to use Sabrina's magic to heal Hot Dog but it is too late as he has already died from his injuries. Sabrina, moved by Jughead's grief, uses forbidden magic from the necronomicon to bring Hot Dog back to life. Hot Dog does come back to life but not as the same lovable dog he was before, biting Jughead when he tries to greet him. Like all good zombie stories this bite ends with much more than a simple tetanus injection. The consequences of the Jughead's zombie dog bite becomes shockingly apparent at the big school dance the next evening.

The art of Afterlife With Archie is incredibly different from anything you'd expect from an Archie comic, be it classic Archie or the recently rebooted Archie. Afterlife is reminiscent of a Noir Film with a lot of emphasis on shadows, angled panels toned with blue, red or yellows. Afterlife manages to be extremely violent without showing much violence leaving the most gruesome details to the readers imagination.

The thing that makes Afterlife so different from any other Archie comic (besides the zombies) are the characters. while the characters personalities are mostly intact, Archie being the brave hero, Veronica the spoilt rich girl, Betty the sweet girl next door and Jason and Cheryl still trying to make trouble for the gang, a lot about the characters have been made much darker. Some of these changes include Betty and Veronica, usually good friends in the Archie comics, are now bitter enemies, it heavily implies that twins Jason and Cheryl have an incestuous relationship, friends Ginger and Nancy are hiding a secret homosexual relationship with each other with a few love triangles thrown in for good measure.

What is it with weird twins?

Archie comics have done strange crossovers such as Archie vs Predator, Archie meets the Punisher Archie vs Sharknado but usually keeps its happy go lucky tone, Afterlife throws that sugary sweet tone completely out the window from the first page setting it completely aside from any other Archie comic. Afterlife with Archie will be a hit with anyone who is a fan of post apocalyptic stories or zombie stories but may lose more traditional Archie fans due to its dark tone and reworking of the characters.

I give Afterlife with Archie 4 out of 5 Zombie Jugheads

Find out more about Afterlife with Archie here.

In The Local Pocket #8 - Collateral - Dear John Issue #1

Collateral - Dear John #1 Vacant City

Collateral - Dear John is written by Matt Nicholls and illustrated by Lee Taylor and self published. Everybody loves superheroes and everybody wants to live in a world with superheroes flying through the skies and defeating the bad guys. It sounds great to live in a world with superpowers if you are one of the superheroes saving the day and involved in the action, It sounds a lot less fun if you were just a regular person who's life is constantly being interrupted and endangered by these Superheroes.

Collateral begins with an incredibly violent depiction of a child being gruesomely crushed as they watch a superhero fight a villain above the city. It turns out that this is a PSA commercial warning civilians that if there is a super powered battle around they should flee for their own safety. A young man named Scott shuts off the TV in disgust while his mother, Mary, warns him that paying attention to those PSAs could save his life one day. Mary's husband, John, soon arrives home and walks straight to the bedroom without uttering a single word. Mary goes to check and John admits that once again he is unemployed. John has not lost his job because he is a poor worker, had a disagreement with his boss or because the company is downsizing, John has lost his job because a Super Villain destroyed the building he worked in. This is not the first time John has been unemployed due to the damage and mayhem caused by those with super powers.

Aww is this going to be a superhero co-OH MY GOD!!

Collateral is done entirely in fine black lines and has a sketchy look which is an interesting style although it does make it a little difficult to tell certain characters apart at a glance. Collateral has no colour other than the extremely bright red of the blood in the opening pages but the most eye catching feature is by far the paper. Collateral is not on plain white background but rather the background has a yellow weathered appearance that makes me think of an old dilapidated building. The background is by far the most striking feature of this comic and coupled with the sketchy art gives Collateral an incredibly unique style and makes it a visual delight.

We don't learn much about John, Mary and their three children Scott, James and Timmy but we do learn a lot about their relationships with each other which is what grabs the reader in the first issue. Mary seems like the average wife and mother trying to make the best out of a bad situation doing her best to reassure her husband and sons that everything will be okay despite their hardships. Something that I love about the character of Mary is that she is oddly concerned about her family swearing and constantly tells them off for it. At first I thought this was an odd choice but as I reread the comic it is a great example of how Mary is trying to keep life normal for her family as they have so many worse problems than foul language yet its still a way for her to keep things together. John is a man clearly pushed to the brink and desperate to make ends meet for his family in the face of constant and uncontrollable set backs.

The concept of people dealing with the aftermath of superhero collateral damage is an idea that has been done before but usually from a comedic angle. Collateral - Dear John takes an emotional angle from the first issue and if the tone of the first issue is anything to go by it promises to be an emotional ride.

I give Collateral - Dear John 3 out of 5 crisis moments

Find out more about Collateral - Dear John here and read it online here.

All Star Western Volume 1 Guns And Gotham - Uglier than sin and just as fun

All Star Western Volume 1 contains issues 1-6 written by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, art by Moritat, colours by Gabriel Bautista, letters by Rob Leigh, published by DC Comics and is part of the New 52 collection. I don't read a lot of ongoing DC titles and I've never really fallen in love with any of the titles or characters with one exception. There is one DC character that I always love to read, buy any merchandise they are on and will always have a special place in my heart. I'm talking about Jonah Hex, I love reading about that rough, morally ambiguous, gun slinging bounty hunter and his antics, finding him one of the most interesting, enjoyable and appealing characters.

Look at this badass!

All Star Western mainly follows the story of Jonah Hex but also has shorter ongoing stories about characters such as El Diablo and The Barbary Ghost and while I do quite enjoy The Barbary Ghost comics I want to talk about the star of the show Jonah Hex's stories. The story begins in Gotham city in the 1880's with Gotham being a rapidly growing and developing city. Dr. Arkham (yes that Dr. Arkham) has been employed by the police to help solve the increasingly gruesome murders of several local prostitutes. Despite already being unwanted by the local police chief Dr. Arkham decides to bring in more help on the case and brings in the infamous bounty hunter Jonah Hex to help him traverse the increasingly treacherous underworld of Gotham City. Jonah Hex gathers his information in his own typical style and a few broken bones, bribed prostitutes and death threats later Jonah has his information. Of course because this is Gotham, Hex and Dr. Arkham realise that they are not just searching for a single killer but an evil organisation that follow the "crime bible".

I feel like this message may be for Hex

Jonah Hex is deeply damaged both physically and mentally as Dr. Arkham constantly observes and yet this is part of the character's appeal. Hex is not a hero but not a villain, he is firmly somewhere in the grey area between. And although he does the occasional good such as giving a prostitute money to not work while a killer is on the loose and giving a rich boy a harsh lesson about abusing the poor, a kindness he didn't need to give either, Jonah Hex is really only concerned about his next bounty and his next drink. Despite all his flaws Hex is such a well written character that you want him to succeed and follow him on his journey. Dr. Arkham is completely out of place in Hex's world, being a doctor he usually deals with the aftermath of violence rather than being involved himself. Dr. Arkham often seems more of a hindrance than help throughout the comic but he is written well enough that between his narrations and mannerisms as a bumbling fish out of water he isn't a complete annoyance.

The art of All Star Western uses really thick line work and uses a lot of red, orange and brown tones that fits well with the industrial look of developing Gotham and the overall grim tone of the comic. The scarred half of Hex's face is as gruesome and horrifying as always but overall his skin has a weathered look that you would expect to see from someone who has spent most of his life riding around in the harsh sun. Something I noticed is that the artist seems to really enjoy doing the faces and hair of young women as they are fresh faced and rosy cheeked compared to the harsh lined look of the faces of the men. The backgrounds are wonderfully done, usually with large amounts of detail or using some fantastic colours and textures.

Between the old house and the dead bodies this page just has so much detail

I'm not entirely sure why Jonah Hex appeals so much to me perhaps it is because he is not a black and white good or bad kind of character or maybe because its just enjoyable to read something dark and gritty sometimes. Whatever the reason I can't get enough of the scarred bounty hunter and find it is something I often go back and reread it every so often.

I give All Star Western Volume 1 4 out of 5 drinking Jonah Hexs

Find out more about All Star Western here.

Not from the comic but something I found hilarious

Giant Days #19 - We Are Gonna Talk About It

Giant Days #19 is written by John Allison, pencils by Max Sarin and published by Boom! I really enjoy Giant Days and have been reading it back since issue 1, which I have reviewed before, my first logo was even based off the original cover of issue #1 by Lissa Treiman. It's a great slice of life comic about 3 women, Daisy, Susan and Esther, enjoying their time at university (set in England) and despite the funny and slightly goofy art style of the comic it is not for children and has made it clear on numerous occasions dealing with some fairly adult stories involving drugs, sex, relationships, sexuality and heartbreak. However in Issue 19 they decided to use a storyline that I feel was handled so poorly that it is bordering on offensive, this particular issue involves drink spiking.

During a three day music festival Susan, while getting drinks for herself and Daisy, bumps into someone from her old hometown called Cowboy, he distracts Susan and drops a pill into her drink. At this point I stopped reading the comic for a moment having two concerns. One, that this lighthearted comic was about to get very dark, and two, that this comic was about to very poorly handle a serious issue. Fortunatly the fun lighthearted comic did not get extremely dark, unfortunately it very poorly handle the concept of drink spiking. Daisy and Esther begin looking for Susan and find her stuck in a porta-potty absolutly freaking out and high as a kite from the spiked drink. What follows is a comical series of events as they attempt to traverse the music festival and help their drugged and hallucinating friend. The problem is that it shouldn't be funny.

While the whole situation is played off for laughs and I do honestly see that it is supposed to be funny drink spiking is a very serious issue that many women (and men) fear. In reality Susan's friends should have taken her straight to the medical tent at the festival and contacted the police, they have no idea what she has been drugged with or how it will react with the alcohol she had been drinking. It goes without saying that it is very VERY illegal to give somebody drugs without their consent, and very VERY dangerous to leave a drugged and disoreinted person wandering around a music festival where they could easily be injured or attacked in their drugged state. Cowboy recieves no real repercussions for his actions with Susan later seeing him laying in a puddle of mud so drugged up that he doesn't remember his own name when really he should be arrested.

Not even close to what I'd call justice

Giant Days has actually had a main character take drugs before with the very sheltered Daisy taking drugs with a friend at a club. This story was done well, with Daisy volunterly taking them herself, clubbing with her friend and then later being taken home and put to bed by said friend. This story was funny, did not advocate yet did not condem the use of drugs with neither Daisy or her Friend, who offered the drugs, coming off in a negative or positive light. That story involving drugs was done tastefully the story in issue 19 is not. If the story was done with Susan taking the drugs in a different way such as asking someone for an asprin and accidently taking the wrong pills out of their bag or accidentally picking up the wrong drink that someone had intentionally mixed their pills with or hell even just deciding to take the drugs voluentarily the story would have been funny but when you add that horrifying and shocking layer of having her drink spiked just takes any humour out of the story.

Drink Spiking is not a rare crime, in Australia between 2002 and 2003 there were an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 incidents of drink spiking with only a portion of these being reported to the police. One of the most common types of drink spiking is called "prank spiking" where the victim is not attacked in any further way, which is what happens to Susan in the comic but simply because she is not attacked further doesn't make it a harmless prank. It sends a terrible message that simply because Susan was not hurt that the situation is funny or not harmful and that the perpetrator shouldn't be reported, it is a crime anyway you look at it.

Fortunately Susan had friends to take care of her

My way of thinking when it comes to comedy or any art form is (straight from South Park) It's either all okay or none of it is, however that doesn't mean I need to find it funny. If a writer or artists wants to make a comic that is entirely dead baby jokes it is their right to do so but hopefully they won't have to think to hard when they are wondering why their sales are so low. I will still read Giant Days as I really enjoy the relationship of the charaters and the adventures they get into and the kinds of issues they usually deal with and I don't think the story was intentionally inapproprite or offensive, It was simply a poorly conceived plot device used to tell a story.

Find out more about Giant Days here.