Paper Tiger Comix #1

Posted: Tuesday, November 23, 2004
By: Darren Schroeder

Creator(s): Sean Duffield
Publishers: Paper Tiger Comix (Self Published)
From: UK
Price: £1.90 ($3.90 US)(UK)

The great thing with anthology comics is when the mix of material eases the reader into area's they might not have looked at if they had been buying a stand alone comic. The random mix of material can challenge, sometimes offend. This collection from the wilds of Brighton (UK) does all that you could demand of an anthology, with a mix of just about everything. Some of the stories will stalk your attention and stick in your mind, others will wander pass. Those that caught my attention were:

Fried Egg and Cherrycake by S.A. Hickman
The two characters named in the title are in a relationship. Cherrycake is starting to feel that it is time to reassess where things are going. Filled with wonderfully silly puns and garnished with a small dash of pathos.

Creative Differences by David Goodman
Two comics creators keep meeting in the local comic shop. Though the words they exchange with the shopkeeper and each other we can see two very different approaches to comic creation: one aims at selling the big story to a major publisher, the other revels in the joys of self-publishing. Guess who seems to be enjoying them-self more.

Terrible Things Have Been Happening by Yurt
A guy wants to be used as a sex object 'cause he doesn't like himself, perhaps due to some abuse received as a child. There are lots of penises and close up drawings of bottoms in this very sad short story.

Pograyze by Fin Man 7
An engagingly sketched piece that has a very 'Continental European' feel to it, with a strange man walking underwater in a large industrial complex to look at a sad group of people who are locked in a room at the bottom of a pool.

Mani and Fred by Jim Burke
Two guys sitting in a pub talking about the strangest things: boy bands, why it's okay to wave at people on boats... The dialogue is snappy and funny is a very measured way. I want to be sitting at the table with these guys.

The production of this anthology is a bit rough around the edges, literally, with some loss of artwork and over hanging pages. The cover is a collage of representative artwork from the stories inside. That's very democratic, but a stronger single image might have helped attract the readers.

In a Word: Roar.



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