50-Word (comic) Review: Art Ops #1- Dead art illustrates book where art comes alive

Writer: Shaun Simon
Artist: Mike Allred
Publisher: Vertigo/DC
Released: 28th October 2015



Art portraits are real, the subject lives within the frame, can be stolen, protected by ‘Art-Ops.’ The Mona Lisa is a physical lady, not oil on canvas. Creative idea from Shaun Simon, but I dislike the art. Comic book about art being alive has unimpressive art, ends up defeating itself?


Rating: 5/10

I really enjoyed ‘Neverboy’ from Shaun Simon. It had a great central idea, and the art (By Tyler Jenkins) was perfect for what the book was trying to convey. It was a book about creativity, and the art was very creative, so it was the perfect marriage between narrative and art. ‘Art-Ops’ features another creative concept from writer Shaun Simon, with the idea being that art is alive within the frame, and that what is drawn can come out of the frame and interact with the physical world. The ‘Art-Ops’ (who they work for, or how they are funded, is not specified) work to protect the people living in the portraits (how does it work with things like mountains and landscape portraits?) from art thieves. Are the art thieves purely interested in money, or is something more interesting going on? I’m not sure, but I’m sure we’ll find out later as I am unsure about any of the motivations here. The main protagonists are a punk haired boy (makes a change from a punk haired girl I guess, but what is it with the punk haircuts in comic books?) and his Mum. His Mum worked for the art-ops, but goes missing, and it’s up to him to take her place, but he’s reluctant, as is to be expected. He has no Dad by the way, which is a theme that I’m really starting to notice now in all forms of mainstream cultural programming. If you’ve read anything on my blog you’ll know what I think about that, and how the state wants fathers out of the lives of children, leaving children easy pray for the father substitute that is the state. I hope that the father turns up in this book, and I hope that he’s a good guy, as that will make a nice change from the norm and will be sending out a strong message about the importance of fathers, but we’ll see. The main problem I had with this book however was that I disliked Mike Allred’s art. I found it to be borderline bad, lacking in detail, lacking in intensity, lacking in emotion, blocky, static, amateurish, basic, and just not very good at all. What more can I say? I didn't like it, at all. That’s a huge disappointment to me because I really enjoyed the art in Neverboy, and the art here (for me) is nowhere near as good. I wanted to be impressed by this book, but the art just isn’t doing it for me, and I don’t know if there’s enough here plot/character/idea wise for me to hang around for too long. Because of the good-will I still retain from my enjoyment of Neverboy I’ll give it one more issue before making up my mind about it, but sad as it is for me to type out these words, I’m feeling very much underwhelmed by this book at the moment.

The Comfortable Cage of Sweet Routine: A Day Interrupted in Swindon Town Centre

Poem by: Mark.A Pritchard (aka Rorshach1004/Swindon Poet)
Date: 3rd September 2015


Sweet routine, you comfortable little cage, on tracks I roll, going where I always go, but suddenly, leaves, a red stop sign, the comic book shop has a little notice on it’s closed door.

‘Gone for an emergency, back before 12:30pm at the latest.’

So I’m waiting in a coffee shop, not the vulgar ‘Friends’ type, the old fashioned type, the type where you sit at a little wobbly table, brush the sugar away, and watch for wasps.

I sit eating a brown bread cheese and onion toasty, with coffee.

The coffee is black, and much nicer than I thought that it would be. It shocks me into wakefulness, banishing the routine, the dream, this is reality now, and I’m forced to stop, stare and think about it.

The shoppers fly past, ignoring me, as they ignore each other, this is society, no communication, just little tracks of routine still running.

I watch the routines fly by as my own tracks are delayed, thinking back to mornings five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty years ago.

I have changed, but am still the same, sitting alone as I always did, not because of any reason, it's just the way that things are, and I do not question it now.

I finish up my coffee and there is a little smiley face at the bottom of my cup. He’s smiling at me, wishing me a pleasant day. I smile back, is this communication?

I sit up, the Polish waiters talk amongst themselves, and it’s almost 1pm. The comic book shop should be open by now.

I walk for two minutes, it’s open, the stop sign turns to green, and I’m back to my old routine again.




The beautiful image at the top of this poem is ‘Alone In the Crowd,’ by US artist David Derr. You can find his work here: 
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/alone-in-the-crowd-david-derr.html

Comic review: Godzilla in Hell #2- Fascinating concept, beautiful artwork

Art & Story: Bob Eggleton
Edits by: Bobby Curnow
Letters/Creative Consultant: Chris Mowry
Publisher: IDW Comics
Released: 26th August 2015



‘Godzilla in Hell’ sounds very silly, trite and D level, but this comic book is a lovely thing to look at, and it really brightened up my day.

The concept behind the artwork is explained by artist (and writer) Bob Eggleton at the conclusion of the issue, and not only do you get to look at some beautiful painted panels of artwork, but you get a bit of an art history lesson as well.

The first issue of Godzilla in Hell was having a laugh at the way too serious and up it’s own jacksie ‘Age of Reptiles.’ It had no dialogue, no narration, and the story simply (and silently) followed our big ferocious lizard hero as he beat up random monsters in Hell. It was funny, silly and a riot to read.

Godzilla in Hell #2 is similar, but very different. First off, there are words in this one. An omniscient narrator guides you through the panels, explaining who is who, and what is going on. This narrative voice uses bombastic, flowery, hyperbolic prose and creates an epic, almost biblical feel to the narrative.

It could be a bit over the top to some, but I enjoyed it, a lot. The art has grandeur, so why not reflect that in the text as well? To me it worked, and it really added to the feel of the book, plus it gave some clarity to the narrative events as well.

Don’t be put off by the silly title on this comic book. Godzilla in Hell #2 is a lovingly crafted treat for the eyes, and you’ll be missing out on some beautifully painted artwork if you decide not to check it out. Get down to your comic book shop, find a copy, flip through the pages, and you’ll see what I’m trying to say here.

The book might not be saying a lot, so for a comic book reviewer obsessed with reality like myself, this is never going to get a 10/10. The best rating that I can give it is a seven. A seven in my scoring system indicates a top quality book that is not addressing real world issues.

Yeah, I know, my rating system is ridiculous, but I’m the self proclaimed ‘Anti- New World Order Comic Book Reviewer,’ so that’s what I’m looking for in my books, and there’s none of that going on here.

Forget my rating on this one, this is a book that you’ll want to check out. Buy it for a beautiful, lovely five-minute diversion from essential reality. Buy it for the art. It’s lovely, it really is, and even a reality junkie like myself couldn’t help but be mightily impressed by it all.


Rating: 7/10 (Beautiful painted art, and a fascinating concept based on art history.)

Comic review: Neverboy #3- Transcendent

Story: Shaun Simon
Art: Tyler Jenkins
Colours: Kelly Fitzpatrick
Cover art: Conor Nolan
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Released: 6th May 2015


There are two full-page panels* of beautiful artwork in Neverboy #3, and after you experience them it’s quite easy to forget that you’ve just been reading a beautifully complex, subtle, intelligent and emotionally engaging comic book narrative as well.

Neverboy #3 has a feel of philosophy about it, that feeling of concepts that you can almost touch, but try as you might they always seem tantalising near, yet just out of reach. I really do enjoy the book. It’s one of those books that I read over and over again.

I take my time with it because I know it’s good, and I want to understand why it’s good. I want to deconstruct it, like you are supposed to do if you are a proper comic book reviewer, or even if you are just a bloke reviewing a comic book for his Internet blog.

I like how the story lets you make your own mind up about it, that’s probably the key. I like how it lays itself open. It’s not telling you what to think. It just wants you to engage, in your own way, to make of it what you like. That’s rare in comic books, a book that invites contemplation, doesn’t preach and doesn’t tell you what is right, what is wrong, what is real, what is fantasy.

It’s a floaty book with floaty art, and I love it. It’s arty, but good arty, if you know what I mean. There’s no snobbishness to it. It’s just plain and simple good.

There are two moments that stand-out to me about issue #3, the first is the moment when the artist character reveals his painting, the masterpiece that shows he is back on form, full of new inspiration and ready to go. That’s a difficult thing to do as the painting is shown in a full-page panel, and it has to be good, really good, to work within the narrative.

You can’t talk about a writer regaining his creative muse and then show a blah example of his work that is supposed to be great, can you? What you need is something that is actually really very good, and guess what? That’s what they have here in this book, a full page painting of a diner with two space alien type creatures emerging from it’s Dr Who Tardis like front door, and it looks absolutely superb. I want it framed. I want it on my wall. I want to spend money on it and enjoy it every single time I walk into my living room.

The second moment is when a group of women talk about their life motivations. They openly admit that they live for material concerns, for shopping, for a house, a car, the status, the shoes, the plastic surgery. It’s all empty physicality, appearance, that idea that we are animals, that you get what you can because death lasts forever, and there is no heaven.

That Satanic (and that’s what real Satanism actually is, the belief in nothing but the animal self) is the dominant mind-set of our age. To see it expressed here by a group of pretty young rich ladies seems awfully real, and it’s the contrast with the mind-set of the artist, of the fantasy dreamer that puts a sharp edge to that awful contrast that is a real as real gets. 

Neverboy is fantasy, but fantasy on the edge of brutal reality, and to see the juxtaposition between the fakery of flesh, ego, materialism and status, and that which comes from the pure joy of the creative process is quite a jolt. It forces you into the realisation that there is a truth transcendent from the material status of the self, and that happiness does not come from a thing, it comes from within.

Neverboy #3 then continues the excellence exhibited in the first two issues of the title. I’ve attempted to get to the core of why it works here, but I really cannot do it justice with words alone. Buy the book, read it slowly, enjoy it, then do it all over again.


Rating: 10/10 (Transcendent)

* The first panel is in the main narrative of the text and is by main artist Tyler Jenkins. The second full-page panel of beautiful artwork comes after the conclusion of the story and is by Taylan Kurtulus.