Granted

So here we have Grant Morrison, a contemporary of Alan Moore, being interviewed in the latest Comic Heroes magazine. Someone who has been through the same kind of crap in the comics industry and had similar fall outs with the Big Two as Alan Moore has. This is his response to Moores' statement that the constant rebooting of characters has has left the comics industry creatively bankrupt;

"....the reason they're recycled is simple: these are primal stories that appeal to human beings in every culture, at any time. They're designed to be told over and over again. If you were an Aboriginal kid or a tribal shaman, that's what you'd do; participate in the recycling of stories..."

Makes sense to me. Why doesn't it make sense to Alan Moore?

CLiNT - A REVIEW

Well, it's got a great cover hasn't it? A heavily bearded Frankie Boyle (so that's what he's been up to since he left Mock The Week) throwing down some kung fu moves, backed up by Kick-Ass and Hit Girl. There's something about the design of this cover that reminds me of the late, great Death Ray magazine. As for the interiors? Well......

The problem I have with this magazine is that I have read most of it already. I've already bought (and enjoyed) Turf#1 and Nemesis #1. Most of the non-comics material has already been done (or something very similar) in Zoo/Bizarre/FHM/Total Film. Frankie Boyle's strip feels like bog standard 2000AD. The only thing I enjoyed was the 8-page intro to Kick Ass 2. Not a good return on £3.99. Now I know that this magazine isn't meant for people who actually read comics (huh?) but I think it would benefit from having more comics related material. Maybe some variation on CBR's Comic Book Legends, Johnathon Ross writing about Manga, Frankie Boyle writing about the comics he loves, features on the British small press scenes, anything really cool or strange about comics that the mainstream may not be aware of. And more comics. I think this mag could make a nice new home for Graham Pearce's Sgt Mike Battle or Martin Eden's O Men.

Now the dilemma. Do I continue to buy something that is not value for money in the hope that it gets better or do I just spend that £3.99 trying out a different comic every month? I do like the idea of Clint, and I would like to see it succeed but I would also like it to be good. There's a lot of talented people in the small press scene that Millar could draw upon to improve the mag.

ABNORMALS

Just checked my Hotmail account for the first time in ages and found this rather cool pic by Grant Springford. It's of his new small press comic "The Abnormals". It's actually an old series of his but he's in the process of creating an updated version. The rather dapper fellow in the background is a character from his last SP series "Pest Control". I'm kinda curious as to why he's there and how he ended up there as things were not looking too good for our heroes in the last issue of PC. It's clear to see how much Grants' art has improved since PC #7 (a few years go). And just look at that perspective work! I don't think I'll ever get my head around perspective, but I'm always glad to see someone else master it. For more info checkout the Abnormals Facebook page.