Rough Cut Comics brings Freedom Collective to book

Rough Cut Comics will release its long-awaited new volume of Freedom Collective stories through the June edition of Diamond Previews.

The original one-shot title – which re-imagined the type of comic-books that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, could have created IF they had been born and worked in the 1960s Soviet Union – became a “sleeper hit” in the independent comic-book scene and has attracted fans such as Grant Morrison and Alex Ross.

It also received the backing of The Jack Kirby Collector and was one of new distributor UKonDisplay’s biggest selling titles at their launch earlier this year.

The new 76-page Compulsory Freedom Collective re-prints the original 20-page one-shot story and adds three brand new adventures featuring the titular Red Avengers, adding more ’Silver Age’ parodies in the shape of The Siberian Six and Ivan Karnage, Agent of KRUSH.

The original teaming of Dom Regan (A1) and Colin Barr are joined in this volume with the art of renowned Kirby enthusiast Dave Golding, award-winning Dave Alexander, Total Fear creator Curt Sibling, and Zenescope Entertainment colourist Derek Dow.

Creators Igor Sloano and Barr are again providing the scripts which truly capture the jingoistic style of the House of Ideas back in the sixties.

Publisher Ed Murphy said: “This is a tribute to a long-lost style of comic-book story-telling. It’s one which conveyed the action dynamics in five-to-nine frame panel pages; with cut-to-the-chase dialogue sometimes conveyed in the now-defunct style of ‘thought bubbles’.

“I’m so glad the original one-shot found its audience and continues to grow in popularity. I think this is a book for genuine comic-book fans and particularly of the Lee/Kirby style which should never be forgotten.”

Rough Cut Comics will attend the Glasgow Comic Con on 13-14th July at the city’s CCA, where they will preview the new Freedom Collective book. Artists Dave Alexander and Dom Regan are also expected to be in the attendance.

• You can find out more about Rough Cut Comics at www.roughcut-comics.com on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/roughcutcomicsuk or their twitter feed @roughcutcomics.

• THE COMPULSORY FREEDOM COLLECTIVE is solicited in the June edition of Previews for shipping August 2013. The product code is JUN131260 and is featured in Page 333 of the edition.

 

Craig Collins' Forever Foes assembles wicked Scottish talent

Everyone seems to be getting in on the children's book market these
days... Madonna, Katie Price, Idi Amin and many more. And, just as they
stretched their respective talents beyond pop music, brutal repression
and other accomplishments Glasgow-based comic creator Craig Collins has done the same and launched his own line of children's novels.
Proudly brought to you by Harry Potter publishers Bloomsbury, Forever Foes is available in all good bookshops and follows the adventures of a series of different villainous adventurers
"...as they run the gamut of negative human experience, smashing and
fucking everything in their path!".
Each character has been brought to life by a different
talented artist from the Scottish comics underground as follows:
Lust Ghost - by Spanky; Spewnicorn - by Robert Thomson;
Gaseous Bastard - by Rob Miller;
Meat Nun - by Paul McCann; Plague Chef - by James Corcoran ; The Wicker Gran - by Alex Ronald; Prison Troll - by Curt Sibling;  Gory Tory - by Dave Alexander and the perhaps dubiously named
Space Racist - by Iain Laurie.
Craig is also one of the contributors to the latest issue of SCREAM Magazine,  which features one of his comic strips, drawn by Curt Sibling.
• More about Forever Foes on Craig's blog here 

In Review: Wasted #3

All right, confession time: Wasted Issue 3 has been on sale for postively ages and a review of this adult comic, available from specialist comic shops and online, is long overdue. The delay is not the fault of the Wasted team, who were not too zonked to kindly send me a copy for review simply ages ago, but my zonking out at the end of most days recently as I juggle several projects at once.

The issue is a the usual eclectic mix of humour strips, featuring a cover by Simon Bisley and work by the likes of Alan Grant, Jon Haward, Gibson Quarter, Alan Kerr, Curt Sibling, John A. Short, Jamie Grant, John Wagner and many others.

Highlights of the issue? For me, certainly the four-page 'Lusi Sulfura' by Alan Kerr, and the ever bonkers 'Tales of the Buddha' by Grant and Haward.

'The Steel Teacher' by Colin Barr, with art by Sibling and Jamie Grant, is another twisted gem, featuring a psychotic robot teacher looking not dissimilar to a once popular robot character from another comic, as its military programming reasserts itsef mid lesson. 'The Dopranos', with art by Jim Devlin is also great.

Since the issue was sitting on the top of my reviews pile, threatening to savage me if I ignored it any longer, as you can imagine, more than one person flicked through it. I have to note that many of the strips raised a laugh, but for those who had seen Wasted #1 and 2, the feeling was that some of the drug and alcohol jokes were a little repetitive and, perhaps, a wider range of topics need poking fun at in future issues.

Nevertheless, the good outweighs the humdrum and if you can still find a copy, do so, and consider giving it a try. The creative line up on this adult humour title is really impressive.

• More about Wasted at: www.wastedcomic.com. the comic also has a Myspace page: www.myspace.com/wastedcomic

Nexion Knuckles In

Nexion is a new anthology showcasing some of the fine underground comics talent of Glasgow and Edinburgh, full to the brim with Sci-Fi treats, Horror meats and myraid acts of unseemly behaviour!

Featuring 68 pages of black and white madness, all pulled together by the mighty yet modest Curt Sibling, other contributors include Iain Laurie, Craig Collins, Rob Miller, Jim Stewart, Dave Gordon and Secret Agent Comics publisher John Miller.

Nexion is available to buy for a measly £2.75 from Lulu.com and should surface at various UK comic marts over the next few months.

• For more info and sample pages visit: nexiongate.blogspot.com