AntiChris 2. Writer: Jojo King, Artist: Manuel Mezquita, Letters: Ken Reynolds.Insane Comics (2015)

A sharp and engaging second issue that neatly solves a number of difficult problems. When the warden at St Jude's Home for the Wayward decides to demonstrate her satanic capabilities by summoning a demon she finds out that summoning a demon is by no means the same as commanding a demon. The resulting mayhem involves zombies, a very big demon, a vampire werewolf and a group of teenagers. The results are surprising, cleverly set up and supported throughout with pitch black humour.
Any second issue faces a serious obstacle, the set up has been done and the underlying idea has been established, the second issue has to effectively deliver on the promise of the set up and, ideally, opening up story possibilities for the reader and the creative team. Jojo King has solved this problem with considerable flair and has taken a number of story risks which have paid off very well. The action in the second issue is very nicely framed and managed with a very dark humour this allows JoJo King to pile up the gore, which he does to entirely satisfactory levels, and at the same time not drown the story in blood. The humour gives the cast the room to stand out in the action and balance the horror and the cast requirements.
This is particularly important because of the nature of the cast, they are mostly well established horror staples and teenagers, managing to have this cast work effectively with stumbling into cliche is a significant task. The black humour gives all the cast a chance to be themselves as well as either a monster or a teenager, they become identifiable cast members and the whole outbreak gains weight and substance. This is a significant achievement and Jojo King deserves considerable credit for threading the needle with such smart writing. The multiple story possibilities that have been set up mean that the story can pretty much go anywhere it wants without breaking its own rules or promises to the reader.
Manuel Mezquita's art captures the balance of the story with tremendous energy and force, it does not lean too heavily on either the laughs or the violence, it switches exactly as required and can deliver both together when required. One of the outstanding pleasures of the art is the way the younger characters are drawn, they look and move like teenagers, rather worn down and battered by life teenagers at that. Given the temptation presented by a teenage female werewolf vampire delivering credible confusion and angry vulnerability along side real force in action, the scratchy lines Manuel Mezquita uses so well are a great choice to have made.
Ken Reynolds letters are subtle and telling, they delivery without ever being obvious, the sound effects are a treat.
A second issue that more than fulfills the promise of the set up, a greatly enjoyable comic.

Chief Wizard Note: This is a review copy very kindly sent by Jojo King. You can purchase AntiChris 2, and you should treat yourself to this smart comic,  at  http://www.insanecomics.com/the-insane-comics--store.html,

Bottom Liner Blues. K.C.Constantine. The Mysterious Press (1993)

A glorious book that uses the bare ghost of a crime story to explore the lives of astonishing cast in a decaying, post-industrial town in Pennsylvania. Mario Balzic is the Chief of Police in Rocksburg, Pennsylvania, a town whose decaying industrial past hang heavy over its uncertain future. On patrol due to staff shortages Mario answers a call about a woman who wants to talk to a police officer. The woman is concerned that her partner intends to violently attack another man and she wants to head off the trouble before it begins. This plot thread and the unexpected outcome are the explicit crime elements to the story and are one of the smallest elements in the book. They are not neglected by K.C. Constantine, they are savagely played out in an unexpected and deeply engaging way. It is that they are not the heart of the story in the way that might be expected.
K.C. Constantine has made a absurdly difficult story problem appear easy, with deceptive skill he has developed a cast that speak with truly individual voices and clearly articulated accents  who are never just a range on mouths on legs. They have a physical presence, subtly drawn in to anchor their talking in a real world context. Rocksburg is given the room to emerge as the broken context for the lives of the cast and the decline of the town is a force that binds them together. Nothing is said in a vacuum, the setting is as vital as the words that swirl around it.
The heart of the book is Mario Balzac and the astonishing cast that surrounds him and more importantly, the way that they talk. At one point a cast member asks the question "How do you know you are alive?" The abundant answer provided in a glorious, astonishing, and utterly compelling way is by talking, the cast talk. The cast pour out words by the yard, they reveal, hide, reveal, confuse and discover themselves and each other in an astounding torrent of talk without ever uttering a single superfluous word. Mario Balzic has a life changing conversation with his wife which never falls into mere dialogue, it is a heartfelt attempt to communicate across the wide spaces that separate us. This need to communicate, to be understood is the force behind the taking in the book. No one wants to simply be heard, they want to to be understood and recognized for who they are. Each member of the cast gets an opportunity to reveal themselves and they take it with both hands and give it the best they can. They are not babbling, they are carefully and eloquently taking the reader into their confidence and speaking up for themselves.
Everyone in the book is under increasing pressure and trying to manage it, they all choose different ways and as they collide with each other, as they attempt to explain why they are the generous and steely sympathy that K.C. Constantine has for his cast shines through all the time. No one is let off easy, actions have sharp consequences, everyone gets their chance to explain themselves.
Holding his cast  and the reader with graceful care, K.C. Constantine has written a compelling book that rings true on every page and delivers a consistently unexpected delight and pleasure.