-
"I liked the part where we set the bodies on fire."
Bucky Jones in 'Bad Moon on the Rise', New Ground #11, March 2009.
Okay, let me get this blog rolling...
First, a personal note. I am intending to write a contribution to the above mentioned New Zealand comic anthology,
New Ground, which I had hoped to get in for the September deadline for issue #12. However, that has had to be delayed, and I'm sorry to pass on some unfortunate news in regards to my friend and artist collaborator.
He got a job.
It was the perfect set up: I had a pal who could draw and liked comics, and, importantly, was an unemployed bum. He had plenty of time on his hands and nothing to give his life meaning
but draw my stories. Now he's gone and made things difficult by getting himself full time employment. The Man wins again.
Anyway, I hope to get the work done and in for the next NG in March 2010.
As I mentioned, the New Ground #12 deadline passed in September. I haven't yet caught up with the latest issue (not even sure it's out yet), but have just purchased and read through #11 from earlier this year. It features a nifty cover by Roger Langridge and the usual melange of four to 14 page comic stories. The wonderfully titled
Follow the Grief Lines by Steve Saville continues its progress in NG. This is also
the first solo release from the New Ground umbrella.
Donald Snelling's art in
The Payoff, well, pays off, with appropriate cinematic nuance in its noir vision. The story by Justin Lane is sharp enough, but the dialogue, initially appearing to be deliberate hardboiled cliché, falls down in the second half.
There's more interesting artwork outshining the writing in Thomas Arthur Bailey's superhero thriller
Trace. It has good use of panelling and probably the best scene-setting background pencils of the issue. On the writing side, the script seems a tad pretentious, but to be fair the story here is only just developing so it's hard to judge style and intent.
However, by far the most balanced contribution was the last story from writer S J McCleary and artist Kelly-Marie. Attributed as a "Done to Death" presentation,
Bad Moon On The Rise is the story of narrator Bucky Todd Jones and his sarcastic, werewolf slaying friend Gwen. It features the best dialogue of the anthology, a solid (albeit derivative) story, and stylish artwork that knows how to make good use of facial expressions and the moodiness of the gray palette that the format demands.
Sure: she's a cross between Buffy,
Mandy, and a samurai. And he's a little reminiscent of Xander. As I say, it's derivative, especially of Buffy the Vampire Slayer - but then what isn't these days in the realm of fantasy comics? (I know I would be.)
The point is, good derivative is still good. I hope to see more of Gwen and Bucky, and don't, yet, consider it done to death.
