May 1990 - Sep 1990 (2 issues)
Trident Comics
01 (May 1990; cover price £1)
02 (Sep 1990)
03 [unpublished]
04 [unpublished]
05 [unpublished]
06 [unpublished]
Mini-series curtailed by the collapse of Trident.
Showing posts with label mini-series. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mini-series. Show all posts
Saturday, November 24, 2018
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Lucifer #2
Aug 1990. Cover price £1.10.
28 pages. B&W contents.
Trident Comics.
Edited by Martin Skidmore.
Cover by Paul Grist.
Contents:
If there's one thing you don't do, it is call the ruler of Hell a no-good bum.
Lucifer isn't a man to be trifled with. With his mother dealt with, Lucifer finds complete control over Hell to be boring, pointing out the world of men, and stating that it is the goal... Hell's prize. Charon, once introduced to the "new boss" of course, rows Lucifer across the River Styx, where the he learns that entrance to Hell over the river used to cost one obol. Which gives him an idea how to raise funds...
There's a nice fourth-wall shaking moment when the wall between Hell and Earth is torn asunder, and it momentarily appears that Lucifer is looking at the reader. He isn't, of course, arriving on a street where scientists and the military have arrived to investigate strange readings from their equipment. Television news cameras capture their arrival, describing the denizens of Hell as aliens, and warning the populace to remain in their homes.
Finding a room to rent, Lucifer starts to plan his conquest of the world. As you do.
There are moments when I am taken aback at the foresight of writers working in comics. You wouldn't imagine that a great many predictions would prove correct, but there is a television program included here which is named Pop-o-Tunities (basically Opportunity Knocks with a musical angle), over a decade before Pop Idol and Popstars. Eddie Campbell has seen the future, and he is ready to skewer it.
Madam, a pop singer who appears on the show gives Lucifer an idea. Obtaining her address from Channel 10's reception, he approaches the young woman with promises of success, riches, adulation, and celebrity, though her reaction is less than enthusiastic. Seeing the error of his approach, Lucifer changes the deal, requesting that she spend a week with her aunt in Michigan when she is at the height of her popularity, so that he can inform the press she has been kidnapped. Did Fairlie Arrow read this?
With the plan in motion, Lucifer sets about rigging the charts - if it is good enough for Stock Aitken Waterman...
When Madam is sufficiently famous, and the plan is about to be put into action, everything seems to go wrong - Steve, her husband, arrives and assaults the press. The resultant storm of newspaper headlines plays into Lucifer's plans, so he rolls with the punches. First claiming that she has been kidnapped, then that he is responsible, on behalf of the moral majority of America.
As the city goes straight to... Well, you-know-where, Lucifer sends his troops out.
Some nice cameos (including Swamp Thing and Rorschach) enliven the artwork, though neither creator need tricks to make the comic entertaining - there's a heart to this title. Although the title character is, by any definition, not a particularly nice individual, he's amusing, rather petty, and ultimately very real. It is difficult enough making regular characters believable, but making a conqueror of the underworld believable is an extraordinary achievement.
There's a brutally (apparently) simplistic image of Lucifer carried aloft over the city, rendered as white squares against a black background, which is oddly beautiful. Indeed, there's a great deal of wondrous imagery throughout, playing with layout, space, and time in an confident chiaroscuro style. While there are hints of influences here and there (a touch of Hugo Pratt, a dash of Mike McMahon), Grist owns the pages of Lucifer with a remarkable assuredness.
28 pages. B&W contents.
Trident Comics.
Edited by Martin Skidmore.
Cover by Paul Grist.
Contents:
2 Credits; illustration by Paul Grist. / Indicia
3 Lucifer, part two, Book Two w: Eddie Campbell; a: Paul Grist.
27 A Different Kind of Antichrist... in-house advertisement for The Saviour; illustration by Nigel Kitching.
See with what heat these dogs of Hell advance to waste and havoc yonder world.Lucifer, now firmly ensconced as the new King of Hell, takes stock of his minions. Refusing sausage and mash from the chef, he requests caviar and French fries, champagne in his coffee, and custard in his flambe banana. A parade before the assembled crowds of Hell seems to go well enough, but then his mother calls him out - first asking him why he wasn't present when she and Lucifer's brothers were shot by police, then calling him a no-good bum.
John Milton, PARADISE LOST, 1667.
If there's one thing you don't do, it is call the ruler of Hell a no-good bum.
Lucifer isn't a man to be trifled with. With his mother dealt with, Lucifer finds complete control over Hell to be boring, pointing out the world of men, and stating that it is the goal... Hell's prize. Charon, once introduced to the "new boss" of course, rows Lucifer across the River Styx, where the he learns that entrance to Hell over the river used to cost one obol. Which gives him an idea how to raise funds...
There's a nice fourth-wall shaking moment when the wall between Hell and Earth is torn asunder, and it momentarily appears that Lucifer is looking at the reader. He isn't, of course, arriving on a street where scientists and the military have arrived to investigate strange readings from their equipment. Television news cameras capture their arrival, describing the denizens of Hell as aliens, and warning the populace to remain in their homes.
Finding a room to rent, Lucifer starts to plan his conquest of the world. As you do.
There are moments when I am taken aback at the foresight of writers working in comics. You wouldn't imagine that a great many predictions would prove correct, but there is a television program included here which is named Pop-o-Tunities (basically Opportunity Knocks with a musical angle), over a decade before Pop Idol and Popstars. Eddie Campbell has seen the future, and he is ready to skewer it.
Madam, a pop singer who appears on the show gives Lucifer an idea. Obtaining her address from Channel 10's reception, he approaches the young woman with promises of success, riches, adulation, and celebrity, though her reaction is less than enthusiastic. Seeing the error of his approach, Lucifer changes the deal, requesting that she spend a week with her aunt in Michigan when she is at the height of her popularity, so that he can inform the press she has been kidnapped. Did Fairlie Arrow read this?
With the plan in motion, Lucifer sets about rigging the charts - if it is good enough for Stock Aitken Waterman...
When Madam is sufficiently famous, and the plan is about to be put into action, everything seems to go wrong - Steve, her husband, arrives and assaults the press. The resultant storm of newspaper headlines plays into Lucifer's plans, so he rolls with the punches. First claiming that she has been kidnapped, then that he is responsible, on behalf of the moral majority of America.
As the city goes straight to... Well, you-know-where, Lucifer sends his troops out.
This is me. Lucifer. In my triumph.
Before me the way is cleared by the beast with three heads.
- and before the beast, the four bicyclists of the Apocalypse.
Some nice cameos (including Swamp Thing and Rorschach) enliven the artwork, though neither creator need tricks to make the comic entertaining - there's a heart to this title. Although the title character is, by any definition, not a particularly nice individual, he's amusing, rather petty, and ultimately very real. It is difficult enough making regular characters believable, but making a conqueror of the underworld believable is an extraordinary achievement.
There's a brutally (apparently) simplistic image of Lucifer carried aloft over the city, rendered as white squares against a black background, which is oddly beautiful. Indeed, there's a great deal of wondrous imagery throughout, playing with layout, space, and time in an confident chiaroscuro style. While there are hints of influences here and there (a touch of Hugo Pratt, a dash of Mike McMahon), Grist owns the pages of Lucifer with a remarkable assuredness.
#01
Lucifer
#03
The Shadowmen #2
Sep 1990. Cover price £1.00.
28 pages. B&W contents.
Trident Comics
Cover by Daniel Vallely.
Contents:
Once again the cover references well-known visuals, though this time the subjects are taken from music rather than television - footprints dance across the cover from ska records, the main image recalls photographs in Smash Hits, and the slanted blocks of colours recalls late-80s pop (though I'm almost certain that there's an explicitly referenced album, the title isn't coming to me at the moment). It raises the intriguing prospect that further issues would pay homage to further genres and media, though with only the two published issues to work from such observations are mere speculation.
Once more we are presented with a disconnected scene from the life of a character unconnected to what has come before, with two men discussing politics, before a Man in Black approaches one of them. Bannen is informed that, due to his attempt to write an expose about the vice-president's 'unusual' sex-life, his wife and children have suffered horrible deaths.
The homeless woman is confronted by police, who intend to arrest her, though she refuses to raise her hands. She talks to the officers, convincing them to inflict injuries on themselves and each other...
Karen checks the locks on her doors and windows, terrified that the men will return, hoping that the two days until her husband's return pass quickly and without incident. Fed up with the real world, she begins constructing a fantasy in which she in the envy of every woman in the world - a reality in which an old-fashioned brass band plays 'Here Comes the Bride,' and a chorus of applause fills the streets. A reality in which she is to be wed to Rudolph Valentine. A reality which the mysterious men cannot permit to continue.
While, on the surface, proceedings continue to tumble along, plot threads which might have enlivened the series are abruptly and carelessly brought to a close. By the end of the issue Agnes Metcalf (the homeless woman) is dead, while Karen is facing imminent death. Try as I might, the first two issues don't conform to any storytelling structure which allows insight into the surrounding world, the characters' lives, nor any organisation which the Men in Black might be aligned with. The abysmal storytelling heightens awareness of the shortcomings in Dilworth's art, making everything more confusing than necessary.
Without a solid thread to follow through so many unrelated sequences, nor a solid and unfolding sense of inevitability to draw us further into the lives of the characters, there is little to appreciate. Shortcuts in Millar's storytelling badly affect whatever empathy we have with Karen's plight, and we aren't provided enough reason for the continued violence and (seemingly) petty behaviour.
This is one of the most frustrating comics to attempt to summarise. It's impossible to discern a manner in which so much incident can be resolved withing this alleged six-part mini-series, and with only these two issues seeing print, no means of properly foreshadowing the resolution in a way which could feel natural.
Men in Black, using the same shadowy figures of modern folklore, did this better. Even riffing on It's a Good Life from The Twilight Zone, with a crazy homeless lady in the role Anthony Fremont played in the episode, and using striped backgrounds to the art which recalls early-eighties magazine layouts, feels forced and tired. The rise in random supernatural events is unexplored here, with every strange event being the result of willful acts rather than surprising characters.
At no point, for example, do we witness anything close to the visual splendour of the masked dancers.
Added to problems carrying over from the first issue, this is a rather undignified manner with which to abandon the narrative, though it is impossible to imagine this being collected and completed without significant overhaul of plot, art, and lettering.
28 pages. B&W contents.
Trident Comics
Cover by Daniel Vallely.
Contents:
2 Credits / Indicia
3 The Shadowmen, part two, Killing Time w: Mark Millar; p: Andrew Hope (pages 1,4,5) & Ben Dilworth (pages 2,3, 6-24), i: Ben Dilworth.
27 The Ultimate Confrontation - Saviour in-house advertisement for trade paperback collection.
Once again the cover references well-known visuals, though this time the subjects are taken from music rather than television - footprints dance across the cover from ska records, the main image recalls photographs in Smash Hits, and the slanted blocks of colours recalls late-80s pop (though I'm almost certain that there's an explicitly referenced album, the title isn't coming to me at the moment). It raises the intriguing prospect that further issues would pay homage to further genres and media, though with only the two published issues to work from such observations are mere speculation.
Once more we are presented with a disconnected scene from the life of a character unconnected to what has come before, with two men discussing politics, before a Man in Black approaches one of them. Bannen is informed that, due to his attempt to write an expose about the vice-president's 'unusual' sex-life, his wife and children have suffered horrible deaths.
The homeless woman is confronted by police, who intend to arrest her, though she refuses to raise her hands. She talks to the officers, convincing them to inflict injuries on themselves and each other...
Karen checks the locks on her doors and windows, terrified that the men will return, hoping that the two days until her husband's return pass quickly and without incident. Fed up with the real world, she begins constructing a fantasy in which she in the envy of every woman in the world - a reality in which an old-fashioned brass band plays 'Here Comes the Bride,' and a chorus of applause fills the streets. A reality in which she is to be wed to Rudolph Valentine. A reality which the mysterious men cannot permit to continue.
While, on the surface, proceedings continue to tumble along, plot threads which might have enlivened the series are abruptly and carelessly brought to a close. By the end of the issue Agnes Metcalf (the homeless woman) is dead, while Karen is facing imminent death. Try as I might, the first two issues don't conform to any storytelling structure which allows insight into the surrounding world, the characters' lives, nor any organisation which the Men in Black might be aligned with. The abysmal storytelling heightens awareness of the shortcomings in Dilworth's art, making everything more confusing than necessary.
Without a solid thread to follow through so many unrelated sequences, nor a solid and unfolding sense of inevitability to draw us further into the lives of the characters, there is little to appreciate. Shortcuts in Millar's storytelling badly affect whatever empathy we have with Karen's plight, and we aren't provided enough reason for the continued violence and (seemingly) petty behaviour.
This is one of the most frustrating comics to attempt to summarise. It's impossible to discern a manner in which so much incident can be resolved withing this alleged six-part mini-series, and with only these two issues seeing print, no means of properly foreshadowing the resolution in a way which could feel natural.
Men in Black, using the same shadowy figures of modern folklore, did this better. Even riffing on It's a Good Life from The Twilight Zone, with a crazy homeless lady in the role Anthony Fremont played in the episode, and using striped backgrounds to the art which recalls early-eighties magazine layouts, feels forced and tired. The rise in random supernatural events is unexplored here, with every strange event being the result of willful acts rather than surprising characters.
At no point, for example, do we witness anything close to the visual splendour of the masked dancers.
Added to problems carrying over from the first issue, this is a rather undignified manner with which to abandon the narrative, though it is impossible to imagine this being collected and completed without significant overhaul of plot, art, and lettering.
#01
#03
Sunday, November 11, 2018
The Shadowmen #1
May 1990. Cover price £1.00.
28 pages. B&W contents.
Trident Comics
Cover by Daniel Vallely.
Contents:
The cover is a throwback to sixties television, which might entice people into purchasing the comic for nostalgic reasons. Which is a very risky proposition, given that the issue's contents are not entirely in line with storytelling techniques which are so beloved from such entertainment. It is possible to pick out The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits in its overall design, and the figure recalls Lost in Space's opening credits, with the spiral hinting at The Time Tunnel. Don't be fooled, as this is something entirely different.
Your hint is at the bottom of the cover, in stark white, reading "Suggested for Mature Readers."
Ignore this warning at your peril. The Shadowmen isn't a title which sits easily alongside... anything, really. Willfully obtuse, the story takes much more work to decipher than it really deserves, and should an unwary reader approach it with hopes of encountering a layered, intelligent, and compelling narrative, full of revealing insights, they will be extremely disappointed.
Opening with a man shaving his head in what appears to be a public convenience, replete with graffitti, there's no sense of where this story takes place. The next page shifts location, where Karen (whose home it is) and Joannie are watching an adult video. Karen excuses herself to use the toilet, and on walking through the door finds herself confronted with a group of people who look as if they belong in the seventeenth century, who are dancing while blindfolded. Once more the action shifts, and we get to see a television evangelist deliver a speech on casting out demons.
In the space of seven pages we are introduced to three distinct settings, each raising their own questions as well as encouraging debate on how they are interconnected. There's no indication that answers are going to be forthcoming in the immediate future, so we are free to ponder the meaning of these disparate elements - the most resonant influence seems to be what has come to be known as the Moberly-Jourdain incident, or the Versailles time-skip. It isn't a one-to-one recreation, imbued with a dream-like sensibility thanks to the blindfolds which the dancers wear, but it speaks to the overall story.
We are deep in territory which Fortean Times, Alien Encounters, and other titles (many from the nineties) would cover, mostly in the wake of The X-Files. As such, this is slightly ahead of a pop-cultural phenomena movement. Only not as well written as most exponents of Forteana.
Black-suited gentlemen, wearing hats and dark sunglasses, arrive at Karen's home to warn her about telling the story of her supernatural encounter again, as it is causing a scare. To mae sure that she follows their instructions, she is left with broken bones and teeth. When Joannie arrives unexpectedly, hearing the commotion inside the house, a suited man is forced to shoot her.
An early work, with a number of storytelling problems and artistic missteps, this nevertheless contains a couple of interesting ideas, though so swamped under hesitant scripting and uncertain artwork as to diminish the power of its concepts. The lettering here is poor, making dialogue and text boxes throughout a chore to read, though this is hardly the most pressing concern. Unsubtle is hardly an adequate description, with homophobic and misogynistic elements clear from the start, making the text more problematic than entertaining - entirely unnecessary for dramatic purposes, as is the level of violence.
Suggesting something awful is more powerful than explicitly delineating events.
At the conclusion of the first part we are no closer to identifying the protagonist of the story, nor identifying the primary antagonist. There are three main threats shown, though the underlying danger - an increase in supernatural activity - is given as a root cause of events in the title.
It is difficult to care about these events when they are so casually revealed, one by one, without establishing any real humanity. We don't spend enough time with the people in the story to see them as anything more than chess pieces being moved across the board, playing out their roles in a game which we aren't given the rules to understand. Worse, we are actively discouraged to draw conclusions from prior depictions of similar-looking individuals - the suited men aren't the Men in Black of popular lore, as their violent natures sit at odds with accounts in both fiction and documented events.
28 pages. B&W contents.
Trident Comics
Cover by Daniel Vallely.
Contents:
2 Credits / Indicia
3 The Shadowmen, part one, w: Mark Millar; p: Andrew Hope, i: Ben Dilworth.
27 Saviour in-house advertisement.
The cover is a throwback to sixties television, which might entice people into purchasing the comic for nostalgic reasons. Which is a very risky proposition, given that the issue's contents are not entirely in line with storytelling techniques which are so beloved from such entertainment. It is possible to pick out The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits in its overall design, and the figure recalls Lost in Space's opening credits, with the spiral hinting at The Time Tunnel. Don't be fooled, as this is something entirely different.
Your hint is at the bottom of the cover, in stark white, reading "Suggested for Mature Readers."
Ignore this warning at your peril. The Shadowmen isn't a title which sits easily alongside... anything, really. Willfully obtuse, the story takes much more work to decipher than it really deserves, and should an unwary reader approach it with hopes of encountering a layered, intelligent, and compelling narrative, full of revealing insights, they will be extremely disappointed.
Opening with a man shaving his head in what appears to be a public convenience, replete with graffitti, there's no sense of where this story takes place. The next page shifts location, where Karen (whose home it is) and Joannie are watching an adult video. Karen excuses herself to use the toilet, and on walking through the door finds herself confronted with a group of people who look as if they belong in the seventeenth century, who are dancing while blindfolded. Once more the action shifts, and we get to see a television evangelist deliver a speech on casting out demons.
In the space of seven pages we are introduced to three distinct settings, each raising their own questions as well as encouraging debate on how they are interconnected. There's no indication that answers are going to be forthcoming in the immediate future, so we are free to ponder the meaning of these disparate elements - the most resonant influence seems to be what has come to be known as the Moberly-Jourdain incident, or the Versailles time-skip. It isn't a one-to-one recreation, imbued with a dream-like sensibility thanks to the blindfolds which the dancers wear, but it speaks to the overall story.
We are deep in territory which Fortean Times, Alien Encounters, and other titles (many from the nineties) would cover, mostly in the wake of The X-Files. As such, this is slightly ahead of a pop-cultural phenomena movement. Only not as well written as most exponents of Forteana.
Black-suited gentlemen, wearing hats and dark sunglasses, arrive at Karen's home to warn her about telling the story of her supernatural encounter again, as it is causing a scare. To mae sure that she follows their instructions, she is left with broken bones and teeth. When Joannie arrives unexpectedly, hearing the commotion inside the house, a suited man is forced to shoot her.
It never snowed when I was a girl.A homeless woman, pushing her shopping cart along the street, is accosted by a youth - whom she uses undefined powers upon in order to make his eyeball explode. She then goes to purchase gin, and decides that it is time people listened to her...
It never rained either.
Wasn't even cloudy. The sun used to shine every day, and you could get into movies for a cent.
Standards have dropped.
An early work, with a number of storytelling problems and artistic missteps, this nevertheless contains a couple of interesting ideas, though so swamped under hesitant scripting and uncertain artwork as to diminish the power of its concepts. The lettering here is poor, making dialogue and text boxes throughout a chore to read, though this is hardly the most pressing concern. Unsubtle is hardly an adequate description, with homophobic and misogynistic elements clear from the start, making the text more problematic than entertaining - entirely unnecessary for dramatic purposes, as is the level of violence.
Suggesting something awful is more powerful than explicitly delineating events.
At the conclusion of the first part we are no closer to identifying the protagonist of the story, nor identifying the primary antagonist. There are three main threats shown, though the underlying danger - an increase in supernatural activity - is given as a root cause of events in the title.
It is difficult to care about these events when they are so casually revealed, one by one, without establishing any real humanity. We don't spend enough time with the people in the story to see them as anything more than chess pieces being moved across the board, playing out their roles in a game which we aren't given the rules to understand. Worse, we are actively discouraged to draw conclusions from prior depictions of similar-looking individuals - the suited men aren't the Men in Black of popular lore, as their violent natures sit at odds with accounts in both fiction and documented events.
The Shadowmen
#02
Sunday, October 28, 2018
Lucifer #1
Jul 1990. Cover price £1.10.
28 pages. B&W contents.
Trident Comics.
Edited by Martin Skidmore.
Cover by Paul Grist.
Contents:
Lucifer, the fallen angel of Biblical fame, wearing his suit of feathers symbolic of former glories... telling his life story from a padded cell. There are few comics which open with such an audacious premise, but Lucifer is special. Under an attractive Grist cover, which establishes Lucifer as being a bit off, allowed to transverse the space normally held between character and reader, It may be due to him being completely round the bend, but maybe (just maybe) he's telling the truth.
The story begins with Lucifer being hit by a car while crossing the road, and in hospital encounters a man who states that his nose contains the other place... The inferno... Hell. How, one wonders, do all the damned get into it? They will be reduced microscopic on Judgement Day, else there wouldn't be any room on the planet if every man, woman, and child who ever lived came back at their original size. Seeing the chance of a lifetime, Lucifer sneaks into the operating theatre and steals the growth. For two weeks he attempts conjurations to enter the dimension.
As the carbuncle grows, Lucifer finds himself at the gates of Hell where he is refused entry. Entering with the assistance of four demons (returning from a meeting of the Maidstone coven) by using the name Mucusface, he discovers that the bridge to Hell is constructed of every politician who achieved their selfish ends on the backs of the people. The road to hell is, literally, paved with politicians.
Lucifer's journey through the layers of Hell is illuminating to the young man, though after encountering soccer hooligans finds himself rather thirsty - which is solved by a trip to Hell's bar, where those who never purchase a round are forced to watch on, sucking on corks for all eternity, as demons quench their thirst. Eventually meeting Satan, Lucifer stabs him in the chest and takes his place as master of Hell.
While not deliberately setting out to note prior publications, there are many small touches which make the title an appealing prospect for those willing to look beyond what is presented. Bellygrunt is reminiscent of Oojah or Shake, and Puepizza's heads are strangely familiar. Clever (and not so clever) wordplay peppers the script, although this is less to show off than it is to highlight character quirks, perfectly capturing a childish, impulsive personality who may or may not be the actual Lucfer.
Gloriously silly, endlessly amusing, and with a great central character.
Trident's lack of proofreading their own adverts is painfully noticeable here. A blemish, however slight, on the overall package.
28 pages. B&W contents.
Trident Comics.
Edited by Martin Skidmore.
Cover by Paul Grist.
Contents:
2 Credits; illustrated by Paul Grist (reproduction in B&W of cover). / Indicia
3 Hi, I'm Lucifer w: Eddie Campbell; a: Phil Elliott.
27 Phil Elliott and Eddie Cambell are also featured in Trident 7 in-house advertisement.
Lucifer, the fallen angel of Biblical fame, wearing his suit of feathers symbolic of former glories... telling his life story from a padded cell. There are few comics which open with such an audacious premise, but Lucifer is special. Under an attractive Grist cover, which establishes Lucifer as being a bit off, allowed to transverse the space normally held between character and reader, It may be due to him being completely round the bend, but maybe (just maybe) he's telling the truth.
The story begins with Lucifer being hit by a car while crossing the road, and in hospital encounters a man who states that his nose contains the other place... The inferno... Hell. How, one wonders, do all the damned get into it? They will be reduced microscopic on Judgement Day, else there wouldn't be any room on the planet if every man, woman, and child who ever lived came back at their original size. Seeing the chance of a lifetime, Lucifer sneaks into the operating theatre and steals the growth. For two weeks he attempts conjurations to enter the dimension.
As the carbuncle grows, Lucifer finds himself at the gates of Hell where he is refused entry. Entering with the assistance of four demons (returning from a meeting of the Maidstone coven) by using the name Mucusface, he discovers that the bridge to Hell is constructed of every politician who achieved their selfish ends on the backs of the people. The road to hell is, literally, paved with politicians.
Lucifer's journey through the layers of Hell is illuminating to the young man, though after encountering soccer hooligans finds himself rather thirsty - which is solved by a trip to Hell's bar, where those who never purchase a round are forced to watch on, sucking on corks for all eternity, as demons quench their thirst. Eventually meeting Satan, Lucifer stabs him in the chest and takes his place as master of Hell.
While not deliberately setting out to note prior publications, there are many small touches which make the title an appealing prospect for those willing to look beyond what is presented. Bellygrunt is reminiscent of Oojah or Shake, and Puepizza's heads are strangely familiar. Clever (and not so clever) wordplay peppers the script, although this is less to show off than it is to highlight character quirks, perfectly capturing a childish, impulsive personality who may or may not be the actual Lucfer.
Gloriously silly, endlessly amusing, and with a great central character.
Trident's lack of proofreading their own adverts is painfully noticeable here. A blemish, however slight, on the overall package.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)