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tessmontyart · 3 years

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2020 year in review

It’s funny, last year I never actually got around to doing one of these. I didn’t think it was overly interesting. Oh 2019, how I miss you so 😭Such an innocent time ....

I’ll do a quick recap, cause hey no-one but me reads these anyway. 2019 was a glorious time. I went to Italy for the first time, went on an awesome Hunter Valley trip with my friends, had a 100th birthday celebration for my pop, I got to see the show I worked on air on TV, we saw the Lano and Woodley apartment in Melbourne .... Good times!

I didn’t give a rats about being unemployed and took matters into my own hands by making loads of new merch and selling at the most conventions I’ve ever been to. I tabled at Sydney Supanova, Adelaide Avcon, Sydney SMASH, Coffs Nexus Con, Sydney Oz Comic Con and Brisbane Supanova! I did so much travelling and events, it became my full time job. It was exhausting, but it was loads of fun, it paid the bills nicely, and it was wonderful to meet followers and mutuals in person.

My partner was very invested in counting up the numbers of what was selling and what wasn’t, and taking note of what was inconvenient with my setup and how to make it better. He even made a powerpoint presentation on what I could focus on for 2020, what kind of merch I could focus on and adding more conventions to my list. We were both excited about the idea of trying out Armageddon in New Zealand, which would have been my first overseas convention!

Cue 2020.

It started off uneasy. There were still bushfires everywhere and smoke hanging around, but I was optimistic they would die soon and the rest of the year would be fine. I booked a bunch of conventions early as usual. Got a whole bunch of new things made and ordered for the first convention of the year, Melbourne Supanova in early April. Some Acrylic charms didn’t make it in time because of COVID, but I thought that’s ok I still have a whole years worth of conventions to sell them at!

COVID-19 was just a spooky mysterious thing that was happening overseas at that point. I think there might have been 1 case in Australia, so all the toilet paper and hand sanitizer was sold out, but we were still able to do our usual travelling for the event. Little did I know, Melbourne Supanova was the first and last event I could do in 2020.

COVID hit Australia hard, Melbourne especially. There were lockdowns, quarantines, planes were grounded, airmail was halted, the cases kept multiplying, rules kept changing and changing and it was all so new and such a headache. Seeing every single convention I had booked cancel one after the other was hard to process. This was my main source of income in 2019 and now it’s up and vanished. Everyone were losing their jobs too, so the idea of getting a new job was completely out the window.

I tried to cheer myself up by drawing ‘Toilet Paper Chan’, my new magical girl character who has the ability to summon toilet paper in a time of need 😅

I made it into a Draw This In Your Style challenge, seeing as everyone was bored out of their minds in quarantine I hoped it was something people could pass the time and have fun making.

(here’s a handful of my favourites) I had a few entries which were all very adorable, but I admit not as many people joined as I expected. I don’t blame them though, this whole pandemic was very soul sucking and demotivating, especially hearing the constant stream of bad news when it all started.

I also made some lineart of a cute Easter girl, encouraging people to colour her in if they are bored in quarantine.

That was really fun, and I planned to do more, perhaps whole colouring books for a small price to download.

Then, out of nowhere, my friend from the last animation studio I worked at in 2018 contacted me. “Hey Tess, are you looking for work?”

“Um .... yes?”

Work? In 2020? What?

It turns out the animation industry is one of the only industries that are doing fine in the pandemic. Literally the only change is that animators have to work from home instead of at a studio. If you have the animation software and an internet connection you have everything you need.

So my good friend had recently scored this job for a studio which outsources all their animation for their animated TV series. The role is just fixing up any animation errors inhouse to minimize the amount of back-and-fourth between studios. It doesn’t sound like much but it became too big a job for just one dude to handle, so he contacted me and 2 of my other animation friends to help out. We had a ball!

It was loads of fun, and the contract lasted the whole year!

It wasn’t just fixing up errors either, I got to animate walking/ running / jumping / flying cycles for the overseas animators to use, which was great practice for me, and we even had a whole episode to ourselves to animate from scratch which I really enjoyed.

And then ... the year just flew by, because I was busy working the whole time. It was really quite surreal!

There were a few highlights, such as being a bridesmaid for my best friend’s wedding and organising her hens party, which is one of those once-in-a-lifetime things.

(Hens Party - it was yellow themed (her favourite colour) and High Tea.. it was adorable!)

(The bridesmaids and the bride on the Wedding Day)

Unfortunately there were some lowlights too ... This was the last year I got to see my aunt.

She was the craziest, funniest aunt, and still far too young to go. I honestly don’t think I’ll ever be the same without her.

As always, drawing is the only way I cope with anything. My family chose a plain wooden casket, encouraging everybody to write a message or draw something on it, before it would be sent to the crematorium. I drew Spotty, her awesome horse I remember from my childhood, surrounded by her favourite flowers. Monty draw Mingus, her awesome ferret we also remember from our childhood.

That wasn’t the only bad news either. Pat’s Grandpa passed away later in the year, and a handful of my friends had relatives who either passed away or were diagnosed with cancer or some other horrible life threatening disease. A musician who collaborated with favourite artist collaborated passed as well, and even though I didn’t know him personally, it was still horribly devastating. Not to mention all my friends/relatives pets who didn’t make it through 2020. There was just so much loss this year, and I’m still grieving my cousin and my friend’s mum who both passed last year, it’s getting harder and harder to cope. It’s gotten to the point where I’m paranoid about who the next person will be because I haven’t finished grieving the last ...

All I can say is I hope 2021 is a little kinder when it comes to my loved ones. The small light at the end of the tunnel is; any suicidal thoughts I used to have frequently have all completely vanished, because I’ve been faced with the reality of it all. You really don’t realise how many people love you, people you don’t even know.

...

That was very dark, but it’s definitely something I needed to get off my chest.

Lets go back to a much lighter note.

More highlights:

🌻Animal Crossing New Horizons came out this year! I used to play Wild World back in the day so it was wonderfully nostalgic, and me and Pat have made the cutest little town with all our favourite villagers. It’s a nice way to escape from it all ^_^

(Monty’s island when we started)

🌻Speaking of games, the brand new Crash Bandicoot came out this year too! It was actually jaw droppingly amazing seeing all the awesome new ideas and mechanics they came up with while still keeping it classicly Crash. I loved it and I’m so excited to see if they give Spyro the same treatment!

🌻2020 brought about new and interesting ways to still enjoy Live entertainment. Lano and Woodley did a Zoom show which was absolutely hilarious, and Lights did an amazing online Dead End show which had me so pumped!

🌻Pat and I continued our anniversary High Tea tradition, this time trying it out at the Hydro Majestic hotel in the Blue Mountains!

🌻Speaking of Pat, his sister got married this year too, despite the pandemic. Congratulations!

🌻Pat randomly bought a Miku figure for himself, out of the blue, completely unravelling years of unnecessary ‘shame’ I’ve inherited caused by a pushy mother and a crappy ex. I used to love figure collecting but was convinced by certain judgy people that it was stupid and I needed to sell them all. I kept my very favourites in a cupboard ‘just incase they increase in value’. But now I can finally display them all again knowing Pat loves them just as much as I do!

We also added a ton more to the collection to make up for lost time (and because there’s SO MANY CUTE MIKUS NOWADAYS)

It’s a bit messy because we recently got new ones and need to make more space for them. The shelf with the Vocaloid nendoroids were my original ones hidden away in the cupboard, the rest we got this year ^_^ They make me so happy!

🌻Speaking of Pat unlocking things I’ve always wanted to do in the past: I am now planning to revive my old OCs Yui and Lotto! They were just characters of mine back in the day, but since I’m not good writing I never really came up with a story for them. But with Pat’s writer wisdom and my kawaii art style, I’m now planning a webcomic featuring the two cuties ^_^ It’s still in the very early planning stages but I’m super excited, and forever grateful for Pat, for believing in me ;w;

🌻This year I drew 31 more Owl City songs in copic markers, to go towards my ongoing project to draw every song! I’m actually getting quite close to my goal now which is exciting!

🌻This year I went to a Drive-In movie theatre for the first time to see the new Bill and Tedd movie, it was glorious and now I wanted to try more drive-ins. Going out to see a movie on a big screen *without* being able to hear smart-asses or screaming babies? Yes please!!

🌻How could I forget, this was the year my idol noticed me!! Lights shared and retweeted my Deadend fanart! Life = made.

What to to look forward to in 2021:

This is the first New Year where I actually have an idea of how 2021 will go! I managed to secure another animation job at a new studio starting January, ending January 2022 😊So thats the financial security for this year sorted! :P

As for general goals for 2021;

I’m hoping to have a decent plan, concept art, chapter ideas and hopefully even a script done for my new webcomic! I also wanted to make some cute simple animations of the characters just because c:

I’d also like to just do more of my own animation in general ... I animate every day for work but I never get to do my own animated projects. It will be hard with a full time job, so maybe this can be a 2022 goal ... but hopefully I can do at least one little animation of my own!

I suppose another goal is to make a social media accounts for my animation, too. Even if I don’t fulfil my goal, I still would like a page to showcase everything I’ve done so far.

And if all else fails .... Another goal is to draw more Miku. It’s crazy that I love her this much and haven’t drawn any fanart!

I think I’ll leave it there because I’m babbling now. 😅

I’ve done so many of these now o_o

[2018] [2017] [2016] [2015] [2014] [2013] [2012]

#2020 #year review #cw: death #cw: pet death #cw: suicide

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postpunkpontypandyphantomthief · 6 years

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The Stage Manager: Chapter 1

Y/N watched the comic strip since the early days so they decided to be a stage manager being a stage manager already involved hard work like fixing cables and props but can they fix the problems of a cast member as well?

1989:

The First gig, the comic strip and the lord of misrule you met because of it

It was night time on the cold, colourful London streets

The bright buildings made the sights look like something from a 1960s painting

You had been wandering for a while and felt bored

Yes you did buy that one shirt just because it had ziggy stardust on the front

Television was dull anything that wasn’t a music-related or to do to with game shows you’d skip over

looking around the city of Soho when you came across the Raymond Revue bar

It looked dull at first when to the corner of your eye you could see people chuckling as they walked downstairs.

Overhearing the sound of an audience and strange sound effects you went upstairs and realised what the commotion was.

There were some comedians performing, Young comedians with new innovative material drawing inspiration from slapstick legends like laurel and hardy to “alternative comedy” jabs of political satire they were called The Comic Strip Presents.

You could hear two blokes who had a blues brothers type performance called the outer limits, a duo called French and Saunders and many others including Pamela Stevenson, Keith Allen and a communist satirist influenced by the Monty Python days called Alexei Sayle.

The night sounded enjoyable the last time you had ever heard good comedy was through the old porridge and Fawlty towers tapes.

Then another performer walked onstage he had pigtails, a red communist berret and a black jacket decorated with political badges.

“I don’t know if any of you are into poetry at all” he addressed the audience, scrunching up his nose smirking.

He then performed a monologue about theatre “Theatre! What are you? Theatre”

When I’m nearta the theatre “I ask myself this question I don’t know perhaps I should ask Vanessa Redgrave”

He shouted “But I don’t know Vanessa Redgrave” before he smirked again at the audience “And neither do you theatre”

When his monologue finished you were jaw dropped this bloke had so much charisma and energy in his performance his snarky attitude was funny and it looked like he was self-aware just having good fun with his audience.

Arriving home you couldn’t get his words and face out of your head even when looking at your old records of The Damned and Madness you’d just see his face in your mind.

With your knowledge of Performing Arts after a few years you decided to volunteer you asked Alexei Sayle if you could do some “behind the scenes work” he agreed.

The first day was something you rattled your teeth about on the way there but once you arrived the atmosphere was easy to adjust to, being an assistant stage manager was like being a bartender sometimes you’d just be fixing cables and preparing props other times you’d overhear the daily gossip but usually you’d only keep it to yourself or you’d joke with Keith Allen about it over a few drinks.

You once observed Pamela Stevenson being mocked about by the catty duo from before

Saying nothing because you left the drama in your secondary school years and you wanted to keep it that way.

However, when you’d see her in the staff room you’d try to chat.

She’d enjoy the conversations but you learned that she felt more left out when they did tours

She felt like the boys could impress the audience in ways she couldn’t and even on the female performer's side she felt like they were just competitive sometimes you’d also run into the duo that made fun of her but you’d just laugh along about it.

Sometimes while fixing cables or props you’d talk to a bloke called Ade he was another performer you’d talk about life with, you’d talk about punk music, your school years and he’d mention the one time there was a technical fault on a Dangerous Brothers skit where he was on fire and the producers didn’t notice.

Peter was one of those outer limits sometimes it would just be him other times Nigel would join usually you’d discuss a film with them or you’d help out with the technical side of their performances.

These were all interesting people who you would talk about many topics with….then there was him.

You’d see him on stage, you’d arrange technical effects for him and other times when everybody else was busy you’d talk to him

It was that day after a performance the others were having drinks and while he would sometimes be the person to be the social butterfly this time he was just there drinking while he frowned

You looked at him, he stared back soon a conversation was started once you agreed you’d talk with him in his dressing room.

He sat there frowning looking in the mirror and then glancing at photos he had of his heroes Little Richard, Ronnie Barker and Tommy Cooper.

“Hey!, (Y/N) as a performer you’ve probably seen me when I played that poet character or Kevin Turvey those years ago Alexi had said you had seen us before.”

You nodded

“Well I’m happy that we were able to amaze you so much that it made you want to be a part of *The Experience* he said, excitedly making mime-like gestures with his hands”

You noticed he had that same aura about him that David Bowie had when he’d talk in interviews about Ziggy Stardust and how there was a big difference between chill laid back bowie and the loud flamboyant Ziggy you could see in his tired eyes that he was stressed

You asked “I might be happy but I’m not sure you are, is there anything going on that is stressing you? being a star carries a lot of hard to fulfil expectations if you don’t want to say that’s ok but I can see you're still trying to project your stage self instead of your real self.”

He blinked a bit surprised of how perspective you were “What nonsense, I’m happy I’m Rik Mayall I make people happy and when I perform I am happy” his smile became a frown, “Well I try to be”

You stared folding your hands as he then started to explain,

“I admit times have been crap recently, the new show I did for Ben Elton wasn’t successful enough so we’ll have to cancel it, while I love my new wife years ago I did make the mistake of being with her at the same time of being with my girlfriend Lise who co-wrote The Young Ones with me and it just feels empty on stage I have something I have my characters I have my jokes but to be honest I feel boring there are some good days and other times where I rip myself apart if I mess up my lines.”

You nodded as you processed his rant

“I feel like all the people and critics will think of me now because of that show is “oh look there’s that bloke who isn’t funny anymore” I’ll be nothing, I don’t work with Ben much anymore..I-I’ve been thinking of being a drama teacher”

You blinked you couldn’t believe that he would think of such a suggestion

putting your hand on his shoulder.

“Look you had an unsuccessful show, there are many bad shows out there but filthy,rich and catflap isn’t the worst, and that won’t be the main thing you’ll be associated with your an actor,you're a singer in that BAD NEWS band and your the most talented comedian I’ve ever seen, critics will be critics unfortunately, but your Rik Mayall you’ll find your spark again you’ll find another show or film you be in that will have the same memorable characters,settings and stories that your other successful works have”

he nodded still frowning looking away

“Yeah your right sometimes the spark goes out and other times the energy arrives back, thank you for the advice..still what show can I do that isn’t a flop I have the qualification I’d be a great drama teacher”

You smirked at him “a drama teacher who makes telling knob jokes and ranting about politics part of the lesson”

He cringed a little before he chuckled “I wouldn’t do that in front of children (Y/N)! politics though is in everything theatre, history, television you can’t escape it, I’d let them make their own decisions knowledge and freedom is what they need but half the time it’s swayed by the opinions of their parents, the fascist pigs or of their teachers”

You were puzzled “Who are they?”

He then got up from his seat and smiled making more hand gestures before he rambled cheerfully

“Children, they are influenced by what they see and what they hear with all the political rubbish there needs to be some sunshine in the storm, children are smart but too many people including people in the television business take advantage of them, bastards! Children have thoughts and wide imaginations, they should be respected they should be able to see the good in the world and the media should be providing that.”

You clicked your fingers as you got an idea “Hey Children's Programming you should do that! You were excellent at jackanory when you appeared on there you should do that again your great at narrating stories maybe you could create your own storytelling kids to show what stories would you read?”

He liked the idea “Fairy tales it’s the tales they are most familiar with because of Disney, funny because the original Grimm tales were very dark”

You said “Well how about you make this series about the Brothers Grimm fairy tales but it doesn’t have to be the glamorised Disney versions or the gritty originals it could be a sort of modern but original take on the stories and maybe you could add animation in there so each story would be different and it would give a chance for different animation companies to show their skills to a wider audience so not only would you be entertaining them but also teaching them about these timeless tales”

He agreed “The show will be called Grimm tales, I’m working with ITV at the moment so I could ask them about the idea thank you (Y/N) this is brilliant when I was little I loved seeing my heroes like Ronnie Barker read out stories and now I’m doing just that”

You smiled but still felt unsure about his other problem….the relationship problem

“Uh, Rik what about your relationship?”

He had a thought for a while and then said “I’ll try to repair relations between me and Lise if I want to move on from my mistakes I should take responsibility for them”

He grinned as he packed his belongings and headed home

#rik mayall #x reader #british comedy #1989 #1980s #grimm tales #the comedy store #comic strip presents

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papaculture · 7 years

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Superheroes

I loved Wonder Woman. Sitting through Man of Steel and Batman V Superman was kind of like being made to endure a dark episode of Scooby Doo, where Shaggy’s implied drugs habit gets out of control and he reverses over Scooby in the Mystery Van. Or to put it another way, it was like going back to your favourite childhood comics and colouring them in with a black crayon.

I loved comics as a kid. I wish I still had my collection. Superman and Batman were early favourites, before I grew into the more complex dynamic of X-Men and ultimately moved on to 2000AD (I recently reread Nemesis the Warlock from the latter and heartily recommend it to anyone who likes Monty Python, Michael Moorcock, Douglas Adams and anti-hero demons with heads the same shape as their spacecraft).

I get the adolescent imperative to transform childhood pleasures into adult pursuits, which seems to inform much of the current vogue for superhero blockbusters. But there’s no question that the DC films (pretty much post-Batman Returns) have been missing the sense of wonder and imagination that made those three-colour strips so appealing to me as a kid. The basic premise that you could have a secret life — that you could be ordinary, even unpopular, but don a disguise and go off to have fantastical adventures of world-shaking importance was a source of great comfort to this kid.

Wonder

As you’d hope, Wonder Woman goes some way to restoring that sense of wonder. She is a hero whose greatest weapon (apart from her shield and lasso) is compassion. She understands that being a hero isn’t a chore, an affliction or a way to get revenge on the world, but a duty you perform because you care about your world, your society or humanity at large.

As a father of two young girls, I wish I could take them to see the new film. They’ve certainly enjoyed the Pop! figurines I brought back from the premiere. But, for all its heart, the film retains the grubby sheen of recent DC films and a focus on extended punch-ups that mean the intended market remains pubescents and above. There are also scenes of mass murder and warfare that might be confronting for younger children. Our four-year-old still hasn’t had to face up to the idea that humans kill other humans. (She’s very interested in death, particularly the deaths of rock stars such as Bowie, Eddie Cochran and half the Beatles, but I’ve so far had to put down Lennon’s death to an “accident”.) In our household, monsters either eat you or “zap” you.

So where does a superhero-loving dad go if he wants to share these stories with his offspring? There’s the recent The Lego Batman Movie, but I found that a bit too frenetic. I wanted simplicity. I thought back to my own childhood and the Christopher Reeve Superman films of the 70s and 80s. There’s an appealing innocence and brightness to them, but Christ they’re long. I’ll admit I struggled to get through the first and am yet to plough on.

Batman ‘66

For me, the Batman TV series (1966-68) was far more influential. Movies were a special treat, but television was daily fare. You could spend twenty-five minutes a day with Batman and Robin. Of course, I didn’t realise these stories weren’t straight-faced drama. Their outrageous antics felt very real to me. Returning to them now, it’s the humour that appeals.

I’m not sure what kids raised on the Nolan films will make of it, but to this adult the show’s self-aware comedy is a refreshing reminder of how much fun superheroes used to be. Batman 1966 knows exactly how silly it is and there lies its appeal. To a child, it looks like drama, because kids’ rules are different to those of us oldies. The nonsensical stories, the high stakes cliffhangers and balletic fight scenes are perfect springboards for children to dress up in a sheet and improvise their own escapades. For me, only the Burton Batmans have come close to embracing this show’s great sense of imagination and wonder.

We first watched Batman with Child One in an attempt to find some more proactive female role-models. I’d remembered Batgirl being in the show for the entire run, but she actually doesn’t appear until the third and final series. While there are undoubtedly outdated attitudes displayed by the characters around her (and the omnipresent narrator), Batgirl herself is pretty great. By day, she’s a brainy librarian (she’s shown to be at least as clever as Batman, if not more so) who seems to turn to crime-fighting for larks. She plays a pretty active role, usually investigating in parallel to Batman and Robin, and often riding to the rescue on her rather girly motorbike.

Unlike the dynamic duo, she doesn’t actually punch anyone, but isn’t above a few balletic kicks or thumping a henchman with a handy prop. The violence here is largely playful. Nobody ever gets hurt and the infamous pop-up slugs (KAPOW! etc) give the sense of the fight scenes being a game, rather than acts of anger. That said, we did have some discussion about why it was never okay to thump anyone.

Child One loves this show, although the occasional moments of peril for Batgirl have proved a little unsettling (she’s growing to enjoy feeling safely scared). A great place to start is with a 7 minute film included on the DVD and Blu-Ray set that works as an introduction to Batgirl. It was never broadcast, but is basically a pilot for a show based around her. Series Three follows on from there.

Batman: The TV Series is available on Blu-Ray, DVD, Netflix and is soon to be broadcast on SBS.

Age and stage: 3+

Gender stuff: The female characters are few and far between, but pretty appealing when they arrive. Three Catwomen, less glamorous women villains and, of course, Batgirl offer a few different roleplay options.

Drama: largely comic, with moments of tension outrageously signposted (and usually quickly resolved).

Outdated bits: The sexual politics is seriously off, whether it’s the narrator talking about “all manner of girls in Gotham City” being nurses, secretaries or librarians… or Barbara Gordon (AKA Batgirl) flirting uncomfortably with her own father.

Themes: adventure, heroism, responsibility, bravery and the importance of good grammar.

Danger Mouse and Bananaman

For younger children, there are two other superhero series we’ve enjoyed. The first is Danger Mouse. David Jason (also the voice of Toad of Toad Hall) voices the rodent superspy, who zaps around in a flying car with cowardly sidekick Penfold, foiling the plans of villainous Baron Greenback. The show has recently been remade with a new cast, at a more frenetic pace, but I was surprised how fast the early shows were. As with Batman, there are plenty of jokes (good, flat and deliberately awful) to entertain parents. In fact, it’s hard to think of a contemporaneous kiddie cartoon where the focus is so much on comedy. Compared to the staid Hanna-Barbera shows, Danger Mouse feels positively anarchic. Unlike Scooby Doo, which would generally end on an embarrassingly lame one-liner resulting in baffling laughter from its characters, this is a show genuinely packed with jokes. Every kind of joke. Danger Mouse owes as much to the knockabout humour of the Carry On films as it does to the surreal intelligence of Monty Python, with a good dose of Looney Tunes and The Goodies thrown in. There’s slapstick, wordplay, satire, pastiche, surrealism, wit and Edward Lear–esque nonsense.

Even more beloved for Child One is Bananaman. I had only vague memories of this show and watched it primarily out of loyalty to The Goodies (who voice all the characters). But it’s fantastically silly, has a suburban cosiness and is likely to encourage kids to eat more fruit. The villains are never particularly threatening, while the real hero is Bananaman’s less credulous raven sidekick. The joke ratio isn’t quite as high as with Danger Mouse, but it can work as a double gateway — opening the door not only to the world of superheroes, but that of The Goodies (which we are yet to share with the kids).

Danger Mouse and Bananaman are available on DVD. Bananaman is also available (officially) on YouTube.

Age and stage: 2+

Gender stuff: Non-existent. There is not a single recurring female character in Danger Mouse, while female roles in Bananaman are minimal (to put it politely). The recent DM reboot has gone some very slight way to addressing this.

Drama: slapstick, fantastical adventure. Some cliffhangers, but no real sense of peril.

Outdated bits: A distinct lack of diversity, with some racial stereotyping.

Themes: humour, adventure, decency, honour and the importance of fresh fruit.

#superheroes #wonder woman #batman #batgirl #danger mouse #bananaman #parenting

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oosteven-universe · 6 years

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Rising Rebels #1

Rising Rebels #1 Jay Fotos Studios 2018 Written by Mark Kidwell & Jay Fotos Illustrated by Jay Fotos & Jeff Zornow Lettered by Tom B. Long The series starts with a framing story of a kid who finds a mysterious VHS tape in his dad’s old boxes of college junk. His dad can’t remember ever owning the tape and there’s very little information on the sleeve. The film is entitled, Rising Rebels and it’s a classic ‘80’s period gore flick. He and his dad pop it into a dusty VCR and off our story goes… If you have read the ‘68 series then you are familiar with these gentlemen if not and you like horror and specifically zombies then you out it to yourself to go out and find them! This time around they are going a different route with their storytelling and have created this flashback love letter to those absolutely amazing 80’s direct to video horror stories that are a not so guilty pleasure. So join me as we talk about some of the best horror storytellers out there today. The opens beautifully as dad is hollering at his son who is in the attic rooting around in dad’s old stuff from college. So basically we’re starting in the present because dad was a “kid” in the 80’s and when he gets to Evan the kid is beyond excited by what he’s found. The dialogue here is sensational to see and it’s no small stretch to see a kid of today saying old action figures suck and pointing the articulation is why. The enthusiasm is infectious and to see it all in one page sets the stage for to expect as the issue moves forward. Ya know what I love about this the most? It is the kind of bonding moment between father and son that happens so infrequently any more. There is a real genuine connection between them over the horror tapes, it’s VHS tapes so yeah, and regardless of how this is supposed to make you feel there is no way you won’t smile at it. My own father and I bonded over Star Trek, I am old so the original, and Monty Python films so I found so easy to relate to this. I love the interiors here. The horror has one quality while the rest have another so it’s like the real world and a film within a film. The way that the attention to detail is able to bring this to life is sublime to see. Whether it’s Boss Hogg as the Sheriff or the preppy with his sweater around his neck everything is done so nicely. However it’s really where the horror parts come into focus where the manipulation of the varying weights of the linework really shine. Add to that the way colours are utilised to create atmosphere and suddenly you can hear your own horror soundtrack running through your mind. The utilisation of page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off this amazing eye for storytelling. Mark is one of the most underrated storytellers writing comics and I wish he’d do so much more work. His has this way of crafting the story so that the pacing, the way we see the ebb & flow run through it better than a half-naked girl running in any horror flick. The characterisation and just the overall vibe he’s able to create with the characters keeps me begging for more. Also that there are more twists and turns in the story than the long and winding road is just an added bonus. There is a reason some of the best stories being told today are done by the creators themselves without a traditional company involved. With some of today’s best storytelling on the market in the states you really need to treat yourself and head to https://www.jayfotos.com/ and order the first three issues for yourself. Trust me you will not be disappointed.

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