Who's Who in the CBU 2009

Name: Regie Rigby

Regie is a strange, almost ethereal creature. Who can plumb the hidden mysteries of his dark and murky past - a past which contains a terrible secret. A secret that taught him that with great power comes great responsibility, that criminals are a cowardly superstitious lot and just who exactly knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men.

By day, he assumes the appearance of a mild mannered teacher, bringing the joy of literature and the English Language to classes of enthralled and enthusiastic students. But by night?

By night he goes home and writes lesson plans. Sorry. That's as interesting as he gets. Really.

The rumours about rooftop struggles with underworld uberfiends, the gossip about the hidden cave filled with hi-tec equipment and the suggestion that his car might be fitted with turbo lasers are all nonsense.

When he's not teaching he reads comics. Sometimes he combines the two activities. When he's not doing that he's either playing computer games or asleep.

Barbarians With Girlies On Cliffs

By Regie Rigby

So, here we are again, my foolish friends! The anticipation is over. As promised last week I have finally allowed myself to read The Ghost of Silver Cliff, and the review follows shortly.

But first, the sharp eyed amongst you will have spotted that at the end of last week’s exciting episode I mentioned I had just received news of a great British Barbarian Hero, but didn’t tell you anymore.

I think I might have touched a nerve – my inbox (although not the message board, which has been quiet for a while now – are you guys not talking to each other anymore?) has been alive with speculation. Do I mean Slaine, that stalwart of 2000AD? ‘Course not. Frankly Pat Mills’ Celtic Warrior has been pretty much unreadable since the end of The Horned God saga (which would in fact have provided a definitive and logical end to the story and should have been allowed to do so), and is unlikely to get any positive mentions here unless Pat Mills stops using it to slag off the English. I mean, I’m no nationalist, but give it a rest will ya Pat? Slaine has been banging on about this for the last ten years! Eventually even I get fed up of my country being used as a metaphor for all evil.

Basically Slaine stopped being good when it started taking itself too seriously. This is probably the worst thing any kind of Barbarian type fiction can do. When you’re dealing with a genre based around big muscled blokes who quaff ale and hit things you just can’t afford to take it seriously because if you do you end up looking like a prat.

Fortunately this is not a problem ever likely to be encountered by Carl Critchlow, or his creation the pin headed colossus known as Thrud. Thrud is not a man given to taking much seriously really. Beer perhaps. Maybe hitting things. The world passes Thrud by really, so long as it doesn’t spill his pint Thrud doesn’t really care.

Of course, if the world does inadvertently spill his pint Thrud tends to deal with the matter by the application of casual (not to say lethal) violence. Thrud adventures tend to follow this pattern - Thrud has his drinking interrupted, Thrud thumps the bloke who did the interrupting and gets involved in an adventure of some kind, possibly with the added lubrication of a big sack of cash (which of course he needs to buy more beer).

Like Sergio Argones’ hero Groo, (with whom <Thrud will inevitably be compared, although the two characters could hardly be more different) Thrud's adventures tend to happen around him, generally without him noticing. He is a catalyst of chaos – and a true hero for inebriates everywhere.

Why am I telling you this?

Because, as I mentioned last week one of the great perks of being an internet columnist is that occasionally free stuff drops through your letterbox, and Thrud #2 did just that in Monday morning.

I won’t spoil things by giving away the plot, which concerns an ancient civilisation and a quest to find the elixir of eternal life, because as with most things Thrud related, the plot is only vaguely relevant. The real amusement is to be had watching our hero cause accidental devastation while trying to safeguard his beer.

Thrud is available now, and you should buy it because it’s wonderful. The artwork is as crisp as ever, the scripting is still tight and deliciously dry, and although it’s true that Thrud is a bit of a one joke show, it’s a good joke and remains funny. Critchlow is little short of being a genius in this regard – if you want a lesson in script economy this is the book to read. Not one word, not one image is wasted and the end result is a relentless bombardment of hilarity.

Oh, and after my joy last week at being quoted on the back cover of The Ghost of Silver Cliff I should point out that there’s a quote from me on the back cover.

Which brings me to The Girly Comic. The Girly Comic #1 Was one of the finds of Comics 2002 as far as I was concerned, and The Girly Comic #2 is equally impressive.

We have the same eclectic collection of strips, adventure, fantasy, surrealism, whimsy and kick ass hard drinking fairies, and the same high quality of art and storytelling. Small press it might be, but the line up of pro and semi pro creators turn out a product every bit as good as the best that Vertigo, Rebellion or Fantagraphics have to offer. The Girly Comic is an example of what can be done by people who care about quality and remains at the top of my “you have to read this!” list.

You want the really good news? Well, The Girly Comic #1 is still available from the website and The Girly Comic #3 is promised soon.

Comics just don’t get better than this.

Oh, and guess what - they quoted me on their back cover too! If this keeps up people are going to be calling me a pundit!

And so we come back to The Ghost of Silver Cliff from the lovely people at Shoto Press. Having looked at the artwork again, I confess that I didn’t read it on Sunday morning, with my Bacon, Eggs and Coffee – this is art of such quality that you don’t want to get greasy finger on it! So it was later on Sunday that I finally settled down in a comfy chair with a glass of the rather good red wine the cast of Les Miserables were kind enough to present me with the night before.

Now, if you’re a regular reader you know that I read comics primarily for the story, and not the art. So when I tell you that I went through this book twice before I read a single word you’ll understand just quite how breathtaking the artwork is here. Were this your run of the mill comic I’d prove my point by running some sample pics here, but on this occasion I won’t. Quite honestly neither my scanner or your screen could begin to do justice to Rizky Wasisto Edi’s delicacy of line, and even if they could they would be utterly incapable of reproducing the metallic silver inks which are such a feature of the finished product.

But take my word for it. Garlands of Moonlight, the predecessor of The Ghost of Silver Cliff was without question the most beautiful comic I had ever seen. If anything The Ghost of Silver Cliff is even more stunning. As I suggested last week, this is a book which would be worth buying on the strength of the art alone.

But then again, it would be worth buying for the story alone too. The Ghost of Silver Cliff picks up at exactly the point Garlands of Moonlight ended, tying up all of the loose ends from the original in a short but eventful Prologue.

The Ghost of Silver Cliff features the intellectual school teacher Hidayat and the wise Jamu woman Marsiti as they leave their village and embark on a new adventure, not perhaps as dark as its predecessor, although it retains the supernatural theme. Sensing that they are needed, Marsiti and Hidayat join a trading ship on a voyage to collect a cargo of palm oil from a village apparently cursed by an ancient tragedy. Can they solve the mystery and lift the curse?

The paring of the spell wielding potion brewing Marsiti with the young and sceptical Hidayat could have turned this story into a sort of late nineteenth centuary X-Files, but this is in fact light-years away from Mulder and Scully. The tragic ghost of a doomed beauty who was ultimately destroyed by her own loveliness may well be real, but is she really connected to the deaths of those who visit the village?

The truth turns out to be more tragic still, and if the odd couple of Marsiti and Hidayat is to continue to take on paranormal threats I can’t wait for the third installment. Their relationship is clearly developing as the scientifically inclined Hidayat is forced to accept the evidence of his own eyes. There is some skill in the portrayal of this relationship, and a genuine affection seems to be developing between the young man and the old woman as he slowly learns to accept that the old ways are not completely obsolete. I’m beginning to care about these characters, and I want to know where they might go next.

Please don’t make the mistake of thinking this is optional. You have to buy this book. Go to The Shoto Press Website and order a copy now. If you missed Garlands of Moonlight (in which case, what’ve you been doing this past year?!) might I suggest you get that too?

Even better news, part three of the series, Island of Glass and Ashes is slated for May (in time for Bristol, perhaps?) and promises a return to the “Essential creepiness” that gave Garlands of Moonlight such an edge, and writer Jai Sen’s next project – a life of Alexander the Great entitles The Golden Vine is also in production.

It’s a good time to be reading comics, don’tcha think?