The Mini Comic Library

Perishin’ Kids: The lost jewel in the crown of British comics? Part I While many American newspaper strips have enjoyed a renaissance in recent years, elevated in status and in the estimations of the industry by high-profile reprint collections placing on the bookshop shelves for a new generation and helping to secure their rightful place in comic's history, strips of similar substance and quality from this side of the pond have been left languishing in relative obscurity, some in danger of being forgotten, lost to the annals of publishing's past. It was with that potentially heart-breaking and unjust possibility in mind that I embarked on a re-read of one of the strips that most influenced me as a youngster, when dreams of putting pen to paper to create my own panels at some point were just starting to form. The Perishers, by Dennis Collins and Maurice Dodd, might well be the jewel in the crown of British newspaper comics, lying in a criminally forgotten corner of the UK’s com...

Yesterday I started a post writing up some quick reviews of a stack of comics I had enjoyed reading on a recent short break. Sadly, that break is now over and I find myself back at the daily grind, but I wanted to keep up the impetus I had set going and at least finish making my way through the stack of books that had inspired me to write again.  So, picking up where I left off yesterday, with a real gem ... Camera Obscura: A 24 Hour Comic by Jens K Styve I first came across Jens a while back on Twitter and have been looking forward to the opportunity to pick up one of his books. For me, the experience of reading online, as much fun as it can be, is never quite the same as holding a comic in your hands. I warmed to his style very quickly, a lovely scratchy, fluid penmanship, with beautifully rendered cartoony characters brimming over with personality. Camera Obscura is the first of two books I picked from his site (more on the second shortly) and as a 24 hour comic, a really good e...

FOR one reason and another, I haven't had the enthusiasm to write about comics that I previously did in recent months. But today I feel an urge. Perhaps that's because I've been away for a few days and had a real chance to unwind. Perhaps it's because during that time I have had a chance to really enjoy reading some really good comics. Things that are worth writing about.  I don't want to spoil that impetus, so I'm just going to let thoughts pour out, with no real structure and no real need to elaborate where I don't feel an impulse to. Annihilator Issue Six - Grant Morrison and Frazer Irving - Legendary  Confession time. I don't understand this book. It's too smart for me and somewhere along the way it completely lost me. I realise I don't particularly look forward to reading an issue and I haven't been very emotionally involved in the story. I get the impression it's good ... but it never really gripped me. That's not to say I don...