Red Christmas. Kim Roberts (Writer & Colours), Frederico Guillen (Art), Chris Allen (Letters & Colours). Swampline Comics (December 2017)

A bloody and satisfying Christmas story that uses a classic horror story idea with care and strong impact. When a department store Santa is fired and has a car crash his troubles increase greatly when he encounters a group of students on a booze run for their party. Events turn bloody.
Red Christmas does not rely on novelty, it has abundance of smart storytelling instead, the idea is not new the execution shows why it is still so strong. If you are going to do something very dangerous then it pays to make sure that you have done it properly.
Frederico Guillen's art is a pleasure to read, it creates a strong context for the action with the set up from both elements of the story. The action when it comes is never overwhelming which adds to the force, the calm context is never disturbed it is all concentrated on the cast in word and deed. There is nothing generic about the cast, they are all individual and very expressive, the body language is powerful and conveys the character of the cast as much as their words.
Chris Allen's colours are are muted and give weight and detail to the art, the calm intensity of the action is captured perfectly by the colouring, dreadful action can be low key as much as shouted.
Red Christmas does what it sets out really, really well. Classic horror thrills and delights delivered by  talented creators is the perfect way to launch Christmas with a pleasurable shiver.

The Man in The Queue. Josephine Tey. Arrow Books (2011, first published 1929)

A very enjoyable and engaging murder mystery. A man is found dead in he queue for a hugely popular musical show in London. The queue was tightly packed and the murder was not discovered until the press of the queue eased enough. Detective Inspector Allen has a considerable problem in his investigation, there are a multitude of potential witnesses and suspects in the queue, however the dead man has no identifying information on his person other than a revolver in his pocket and the unusual knife used to kill him. A suspect is identified and painstaking tracked down and the happily unexpected and wholly satisfactory conclusion reached.
The plot mechanics are superb, the murder is utterly public and credibly invisible, the size and nature of the queue manages to hide the victim and the murder effectively and create a engaging problem for the investigation from the outset. The difficulty in identifying the victim is also a handicap, the dogged and thoughtful investigation slowly pulls together the information. One difficulty is seamlessly replaced with another as the investigation progresses, none are overdone they flow naturally from one to the next and arise from the actions of the vividly realised cast.
Detective Inspector Allen is calm, professional, competent and thankfully works well with an equally competent superior. They tackle the problems of the investigation with energy and professional experience. The leads that are followed are plausible and the process of eliminating them is thoughtful and considered. The rest of the cast are given the opportunity to make an impression on the reader and thankfully the cast from the location in Scotland are allowed to be themselves rather than Highland caricatures.
There are two cameo roles that are star turns in their own right, both are females who happen to also be related to each other. Both have a support role for the suspect which should have boxed them into a particular space, they both effortless transcend the positions and emerge as powerful and striking characters in their own right. It is intriguing that both of these women fill very traditional female roles in the plot and the story, both are given a depth of character and a strength of mind that means they are also distinct persons in their own right. Detective Inspector Allen is interesting, the two women are intriguing.
Josephine Tey has sidestepped a lot of the social attitudes that can interfere with reading popular stories from that time period, there is one glaring exception to this, it is understandable in the context of the time it still is very jarring to a current reader. None of the cast are treated with the outright or amused contempt that could infuse the writing at the time and this adds greatly to the pleasure of the story, it reads a enjoyable historical fiction rather than a historical artifact.
This a a smart sharply told crime story.

Evil Witch Allie and the Black Whole. Kristin Tipping (Writer & Art). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (March 2017)

A hugely engaging and enjoyable comic that slowly and very effectively darkens and draws the reader into an perfectly judged story. Jake is a young man who lives near a bog and has a crush on his neighbor. The bog is full of ghosts and when Jake finds a little girl, who claims to be a witch wandering into the bog he rescues her. Jake and Allie are invited into house where Cal, (Jake's crush) lives and they both find that the house may be much more treacherous than the bog. The story unfurls carefully, the reveals are cleverly staged and the conclusion is dark and bitter.
The colouring is wonderfully dominant and extraordinarily versatile and expressive. The colouring is used as part of the lettering and sometimes used for the art without any line work. The colouring is used in a traditional way to emphasise and capture the details of the line work and create emotional key for the action. The generous use of the colours is very disciplined, it is always very carefully used in service of the story and the cast, it never overwhelms the comic. It loudly draws attention to itself and in doing so draws the reader deeper into the story and the slowing rising unease that becomes sharper  as the story unfolds.
The cast are engaging, Jake is uncertain and deeply doubtful of himself, he is also quick to help others who are in trouble and brave when it really matters and is very difficult to be so. Allie is a cute witch who reveals herself to be considerably more serious than anticipated.
The clever and utterly confident storytelling from Kristin Tipping is superbly paced, it plays with reader expectations and delivers in unexpected and utterly satisfying ways. The reveals lead the reader steadily down to a bleak secret and a great conclusion.
Kristin Tipping has exploited the possibilities of comics in a strongly creative and engaging way, her use of panels to control the flow and pace of the story are a joy to read. The cast are expressive and credible within the story framework. Kristin Tipping has a powerful creative vision and the skill and talent to deliver it. This comic is an undiluted pleasure.

Dracustein. Kim Roberts (Writer), Denis Pacher (Art), Chris Allen (Colours & Letters). Swampline Comics (November 2017)

A great fun mash up that packs a considerable ammount of story into the first issue. Dracustein is lonely and has a plan to build himself a life partner. Withe the assistance of the Wolf Man, the Mummy and a winged demon he has assembled most of the body parts he wants, the final mission is to find the head. A trip to the local village and the victim is found and the mission accomplished. Things rapidly go down hill from there, starting from the expected point of the reanimated female being horrified and repulsed and fleeing to the nicely unexpected events that follow. There are a number of interested and not so interested parties in the village and they make the situation for Dracustein much more complicated.
Kim Roberts has managed to lovingly parody some classic film monsters and and create new story at the same time that allows her cast become independent characters in their own right. The light touch and wonderful confidence this is accomplished with is clear at every stage. The cast are introduced quickly and effectively and the initial set up is completed nicely. It is what follows that give the story and cast the lift they need to be more than a straightforward parody, the reveals are smartly staged and the plot lines are neatly twisted. The monsters are given a comic element that works well, the intended partner for Dracustein is given a human heartbeat, horrified and scared at her transformation. This gives the story a darker edge and it sharpens the whole episode.
Denis Pacher's friendly art is a pleasure to read, the cast are given a life and energy, they are clearly monsters and equally comic monsters. Dracustein is expressive as he needs to be, this is a heartfelt project for him and when it goes wrong he is clearly devastated. The rest of the cast are given the delicate balance between their origins and the needs of the story. The horror elements are never toned down, they are presented with just the right degree of exaggeration to make them work.
Chris Allen's colours bring out the details of the art with great force and subtly, Dracustein's suit is two colours side to side not top and bottom, a classic split. The colours are bright and expressive capturing the emotional tones of the story, the leters are quiet and natural to read, the sound effects give a boost to the action when required.
This is a very enjoyable issue that gets the story off to a flying start and leaves the reader happily anticipating more.