Flesh-Freezing Frolics

The next article/write-up sort of thing's taking a LOT longer to put together than I thought it would, so, before October disappears like so many Benjamin Bathursts, here's something "spooky". And sort of appropriate too, in that it's a horror comic from 1992, published by Kev Sutherland's UT Productions, the company that put out such comics as Ut, Kack and Gag (articles on which are definitely on the way!). It's got, possibly, the best title a horror comic has ever had:

See?

Experience terror the likes of which you've never imagined by carrying on with the reading...

Balls (ha ha etc)

Just a quick note/link thing here...

In seeking out and being equally entertained and depressed by all these not-quite-Viz comics, there's always going to be some that are inaccessible to my own self. Some, like Klam, because of their absurdly low print runs, and others - well, others because I just can't be bothered with them, because I know I won't enjoy them so hardly seem worth the effort. The Winebibber was partially an exception to this, because it was so odd that it'd be a shame not to make others suffer through it, and others...

Yeah, football ones. Three such "big ones" exist, namely The Onion Bag, Sweet FA and C'mon Ref. In the comments section of the Spit! write-up, Rob Filth and Lew Stringer spoke of their experiences working on C'mon Ref which put me off the idea of seeking out issues even MORE than the fact that my interest in football is residual at best. But still, curiosity and all that...

No need now anyway, wait long enough and the Internet's bound to throw up something. Ben Baker has recently done an article about all three of these pitiful-sounding rags, saving me some money and satiating my curiosity at the same time. Go and read it by clicking on the big red words: HERE

New scary comic thing

Just a short "plug"/review thing here - there's a new comic out! It's aimed at the shorter, less aged members of society, BUT, it's a one-man job done by Joe Matthews - whose work has previously appeared in Gas, Elephant Parts, Brain Damage, Ut, Sweet FA and Pulp - so that means it has relevance and is interesting. And it's always nice to see a new comic that isn't based on a TV series or toy, so here it is - it's called Funny Monsters:

All highly appropriate stuff - it's out at the start of October, which is the "spooky" month according to the shops, and it's got loads of the slimy, gooey stuff that kiddies always love - chiefly from "main character" Zackster - Kid Zombie:

If I was two decades younger and all that, I'd be all over this - look at one of the most popular toylines around at the moment, the Trash Pack. A big load of slime and eyeballs will always get the youngsters excited. "Good luck" is what I'm saying here.

There's other things in there too - Werewolf Growl (who's a werewolf character), a group of bed bugs with varying personality traits - my favourite of which is the paranoid Colin:

Several puzzles and colouring pages and the like, and even a text story, starring likeable heroine Milly Monster Hunter - here's Milly appearing in a Spot-The-Difference setup:

Neil Gaiman's Coraline is who she reminds me of, mostly.

For me personally, the highlight is the back cover, the Scary Spooky Selfie - a modern take on Basil Wolverton's fearsome fizogs or Ken Reid's back covers for the likes of Shiver & Shake and Whoopee!:

There's even some "free gifts" with it that AREN'T throwaway bits of plastic - instead, it's stickers and Top Trumps-ish cards:

Funny Monsters is available from an armful of newsagents throughout the North West (of England), priced £2 - OR, in an easier way, directly from the Facebook page. Still priced £2, including postage but lacking the packet of sweets that newsagent buyers get with it (click here for it). Joe will also be appearing at the following places, sketching and selling his wares:

Saturday 11th October - The Living Deadcon, Liverpool

Saturday 25th October - Preston Comic Con

Sunday 26th October - Wheatsheaf Comic Con, Rochdale 

Monday 27/28th - Millgate Shopping Centre, Bury

Wednesday 29th October - Bay View Shopping Centre, Colwyn Bay

Thursday 20th October - St Johns Shopping Centre, Leeds

Friday 31st October - Kelsalls Bookshop, Littleborough

Friday 31st Oct - Evening at the Baum for Rochdale Ghost Walks

Sunday 16th November - Bolton Comic Con

One last note - Funny Monsters is printed on a weird kind of paper that smells strangely familiar and isn't liked much by my scanner, hence the strange washed-out look of the images above. They don't REALLY look like that, I can assure you!

The next issue will be a festive one, so that's something else to look forward to.