As The Sunset's Over Bristol... (And That's A Deliberate Punctuation Error, By The Way)

By Regie Rigby

So, it’s reviews time, amongst other things. Oh, and make sure you stay tuned right to the end of the column for exciting news about a great new character coming your way soon!

There were some real gems of comics to be had at Bristol this year, and now I’ve managed to work my way through the pile I’m just bustin’ to tell you about ‘em. We’re going to start though, with a comic I’ve actually reviewed before, Andrew Winter’s excellent Hero Killers. Back in August last year I said it was “one hell of a ride. Something of a departure from Winters’ more usual tongue in cheek horror fayre, and proof if proof were needed of his range and story telling skill.” I went on to say, As you might expect from Moonface, this is no run of the mill cape and cowl show. There’s a darkly comic edge and a healthy dash of cynicism here in Winter’s script, beautifully complemented by some brutally dynamic penmanship from Shalvey, who turns in a bravura performance.

And you know what? I was so right.

I was very pleased indeed when Hero Killers was nominated for an Eagle Award. I was bloody ecstatic when it won. Hero Killers is now officially the Eagle Award Winning “best UK black and white comic book” – an accolade which is richly deserved.

Long standing readers of Fool will already know that I really rate Andy Winter as a writer, and his Moonface Press imprint as a publisher. They were up against some pretty tough competition, including other FoolBritannia favourites like Malcolm Magic. So, huge huge congratulations to Andy Winter and Declan Shalvey. If you didn’t buy this comic when I recommended it the first time, it is most definitely time to correct that error. Hero Killers is a fantastic twist on the superhero. If I were to criticize it at all, it would be simply to note that it’s a one shot when it plainly should be an ongoing series. I know I’d buy it every month if I could.

Less successful at the Eagles was Tony Lee’s exquisite Midnight Kiss. This five issue series was up for “Best UK Colour Comic”, or “The 2000AD Award” as it is sometimes known, since Tharg’s boys always win. This year was no exception, which is a shame.

Not that ‘Tooth was an undeserving winner – it’s been a good year for the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic with some great stories and fantastic art. There have been one or two duds though, and that’s not something you can say about Midnight Kiss, which was just magnificent all the way through. Besides, I have to question how sensible it is to try and compare a five issue mini-series with a weekly anthology – it’s an apples and oranges thing. That’s not ‘Tooth’s fault, and it’s something that the Eagle Awards team might want to address in future years.

Because I think that Midnight Kiss was unquestionably the best UK colour comic not just in the last year, but of recent times. And that’s not hyperbole, it’s just true.

Midnight Kiss is a faerie story crossing through some very familiar worlds. And it’s a proper faerie story – none of this “happy ever after” bollocks, but a real blood ‘n’ guts tale in the real tradition of stories about the Fey Folk.

Imagine you’re a kid. You’re minding your own business when suddenly you’re attacked for no apparent reason by a bunch of guys who look like vampires. Just when things look terminal, a swashbuckling stranger and a beautiful woman appear from nowhere, kick some arse and help you escape. Through a puddle. Into the lair of an Alligator King.

Turns out you have something of a destiny, and the whole of the magical universe wants a piece of you. Your rescuers, one Matt Sable and Nightmare De’Lacey then drag you on a tour through a whole bunch of realms – including a place with a Tin Man, a yellow brick road, and a girl called Dorothy who wears sparkly red shoes. Support is provided by a certain Jerry Cornelius and a host of magical characters.

It is one hell of a ride.

It’s an even better ride in the collected edition because the story belts along at such a pace (the events take place over a matter of a few hours) that it really works if you can read it all in one go. Densely plotted, intelligently written and exceptionally good fun, I really can’t recommend this book highly enough.

And I’m really nervous about saying much more because the collected edition carries a foreword by Michael Moorcock, and each time I’ve drafted this damn review I’ve found myself just repeating what the great man had to say. Since you’re all obviously going to rush out and buy the collected edition you’ll be reading Moorcock’s introduction, which would make repeating it here utterly pointless.

You are going to buy it, aren’t you? I once suggested that Tony Lee’s earlier work, The Gloom was worth selling a kidney for. This is better than that. For Midnight Kiss I’d throw in a couple of slices of my liver too. I’m just hoping for a sequel – this story might well be firmly concluded, but there’s always another story to be told and I’d love to revisit these characters. Lee has made me care about them, and there’s some interesting back story which could be developed further, so I live in hope.

There are several other books I want to review – including several issues of The Girly Comic, The Queen of Diamonds and an astonishingly cool new edition of Monkeys with Machineguns. And I will review them, next week. But I’m getting a bit excited about the Sunset project and I just have to spend the rest of the column telling you what’s happening.

So, if you’ve been reading the column over the last few weeks, you know how the project came about. Since I spoke about it last, it’s just sort of expanded into something far far bigger than I’d ever envisioned.

“So, why haven’t we seen the pictures yet?” I hear you ask.

Good question.

Well, you’re going to. We’ve got a short “Ashcan” comic in production as I type, and that’s where the whole thing was supposed to end.

But so much interest has been expressed, and so much encouragement has been given, I’ve been thinking more and more about it. So much accidental development has happened as I’ve been scripting those eight pages I just can’t stop. There’s a huge story in my head now, and the first part of it is forming into a rather good five issue series.

Which is now half scripted.

What the hell I do with it now is open to question – but if it’s good enough (and I know the art will be) there’s always room for a British hero on the shelves, isn’t there? I’ve been thrusting the idea in front of publishers for the last couple of weeks, and the responses haven’t been negative. I guess we’ll see.

You, my foolish friends, will see the eight page (at the moment – it does keep getting longer) first story as soon as it’s ready. When that’ll be is in the hands of the artist, who has some other commitments that might have to come first. But it won’t be long. After that I hope you’ll have a lot of questions. For now though, I have two for you:

1. Apart from being tickled, what innocent non-threatening reason might a girl have for screaming?

2. If you can’t think of one, is there a word for it I could use instead of tickle?

There is a reason I’m asking this – but I can’t tell you what it is yet. Answers to the message board please! (Or via e-mail…)

See you next week!