Red Winter 1. Michael Gordon (Writer), Francisco Munoz (Pencils/Inks), Rolands Kalnins (Colours), Nikki Sherman (Letters) (2018)

An enjoyable and engaging crime story that is a bleak and biting as the Moscow winter. Eli Winter is an American ex-policeman living in Moscow working for Nikolai Dubrovsky. After five years of minor jobs Eli is told to investigate the robbery of a major drugs manufacturing and distribution centre. A robbery that included the murder of the staff working there. Eli investigates as required and has a very brutal encounter before he makes it back to his apartment where a very bad day becomes a catastrophic one.
Any first issue has to establish the cast, context and plot launch very quickly without being to crowed or dense. Michael Gordon makes it look easy. The story unfolds quickly, still taking the time to give details about the context that make it clear just how much Eli Winter still has to loose, before he even realizes the actual depth of his problems. Confident, sharp writing move the cast beyond being the stock figures of the genre. Indebted outsider, a powerful gangster with an temperamental offspring who wants to respond. Each are compelling in their own right as they confront the problem that the robbery and murders have created.
Francisco Munoz's art places the cast in a solid context, this is a brutal city where the price of surviving a freezing night is the toll taken on your health. Everyone is  struggling and those with power are constantly fighting to retain it. Disrespect is the most dangerous act, Eli Winter is cheerfully disrespectful where he can be, his grin is a sign of his victory. The rest of the cast are all full of life and energy, they push their way forward to demand attention from the reader, they exude menace without shouting, the art shows the dangerous anger boiling just below the surface with subtle skill.
Rolands Kalnins's colours are suitably muted in keeping with the emotional tone of the story, they bring out the details of the context and cast, giving it weight and depth that is required to give the story the edge it should have. Nikki Sherman's lettering is natural and easy to read, drawing no attention to itself they allow the cast speak directly to the reader.
Red Winter is a gripping crime story that has set up a powerful set of possibilities all of them likely to be increasingly bad news for the cast. How they respond will be fascinating to see.
Chris Shehan's stunning cover is a true indication of the quality within.

Enter the Asylum. Accent Uk (2018)

A very enjoyable and engaging anthology takes a clever idea, attendees at The Asylum Steampunk Festival feature in a collection of stories. 
Lady Clarajane and Captain Charles Rivington in The Rescue That Can Never Be Mentioned.  Dave West (Story), Russell Mark Olsen (Art). Lady Clarajane leaves the airship to chase a lead about the professor and finds herself in trouble. A neat story with excellent plot mechanics packed into five pages that never feels crowded or rushed.  Russell Mark Olsen's art shines, a single page panel with four smaller panels inserted is full of detail, movement and clarity. The cast are just on the right side of cartoon and the facial expressions and body language are both elequont.
Rufus Trimble in Dressing for a Live Concert. Dave West (Writer & Art) , a nicely paced and delivered joke, the art and words balanced to get the maximum impact.
Those Courageous Climberts in The Ascent. Gary Crutchley (Writer , Art), Matt Soffe (Colours). My favourite story in the anthology. The sort of absurdity that friends who are at an outing will find themselves involved it. The conversation is a joy and the conclusion is pitch perfect.
Matt Soffe' colours give depth and weight to the gossamer story.
Winnie Burton in Steeping. Dave West (Writer), Mikos Al Teri (Art). Dave West has created a frame for the glorious art by Mikos Al Teri. It is barely a fragment, it serves its purpose perfectly, creating the space for the art to draw out every thing that might be there. The sharp spiky art is distinctive and deeply engaging, the colours and lines draw in the reader and and build a palpable atsmophere. 
Dame Dunkit, Lady Petticoat Tails & Edward Teddy in A Teddy's Tale. Coplin Mathieson (Writer), Amma Francesca Schiaaloi (Art), Matt Soffe (Colours). Going to a major steampunk event is a big deal, there is a lot of preperation involved and getting it right takes work. No one likes being upstaged, least of all by someone you brought to the show. Action is taken. Amma Francesca Schiaaloi's art is expressive and engaging, all the cast are full of life. Matt Soffee colours are vital to enhance the details and tones of the story and do so beautifully.
Enter the Asylum is a fan letter to steam punk fans and a very enjoyable comic in its own right. A delicate balance has been achieved due to the confident talent of the creators. Great fun.
 

Kia Wordsmith. Dave West (Writer), Ian Ashcroft (Art). Accent UK (2018)

The first issue of a fantasy story that set up the story possibilities with skill and care and  leaves the reader with a pleasurable anticipation of where the story will go next.
Kia is a young woman living in the city of Arrak-Al-Tar, The City of Wonders. The city is engaged in a war, part of an alliance with others against a common enemy. The war is taking a toll on the city that the city is trying to ignore. Kia is bored and feeling stifled, running the rooftops at night offers freedom and the possibility of adventure. A meeting with a legendary thief sparks her curiosity and leads her to an unexpected place and a consequential action. The story is slim, it has to introduce the cast and context which does not leave a lot of room for plot, that is presented at the end as the story engine gets properly started.
Kia is a very engaging lead character, craving adventure and stimulation outside of the limits of her life, she has the energy and curiosity that engage the reader. She is never entitled or annoying, she is impulsive and willing to take a risk.
Ian Ashcroft's art has to carry a substantial burden in this issue, to establish the context and create the visual form for the story. His luxurious art is a pleasure to read, using panels to frame and extend the story, the details are beautiful and telling. There is a lush romance to the art that is exactly what the story needs to fly.
Kia Wordsmith has the feel of a contemporary version of the great romantic science fiction comic strips of the early days of newspaper comic strips. Space was filled with vividly realised alternative civilisations that were the playgrounds for adventurers and magicians. Kia Wordsmith has the same confident approach to the possibilities of what might lie behind a door in a magicians floating castle.
Dave West and Ian Ashcroft have opened a door to a deeply inviting universe where a  spirited adventurers who will make her mark to the deep joy of the readers.

Cognition 0-4. Ken Reynolds (Writer & Letters), Sam Bentley (Art). www.facebook.com/CognitionComic (2018)

A very smart idea executed with tremendous confidence and skill. The British Occult Secret Service (B.O.S.S.) operating in investigate supernatural threatsVictorian England, false and real mediums, disappearances in marshlands, a demon dog. The threads of the story neatly twist together as myth proves to have a hidden history that threatens the present.
 B.O.S.S.has an unusual staff, Silas Pope is the Director, a man steeped in occult secrets. Hattie Griggs a mechanical engineer with a soaring talent. Calibre 507-'Cal' a robot built by Hattie Griggs inhabited by a displaced human soul and Sigma, a displaced demon in the body of a mouse tethered to Cal by the process that displaced them both.  In this case the Devil has the best tunes, Sigma is the most compelling character, demanding, sarcastic, hungry he pushes himself forward in the story and at the reader. Cal is pulled along by Sigma, a lost soul, his memories gone with his human form, he is aware and trying still to adjust to the circumstances. Silas Pope is given a wonderfully revealing moment in a single panel that highlights both creators depth of skill, Hattie Griggs is gets more space at the conclusion, she remains slightly underwritten.
The plot mechanics are great, the self contained chapters at the start give way to an longer narrative that uses continuity with skill and control. The plot mechanics are thoughtful and sharp, the story creates a sufficient problem for B.O.S.S. to be sorely tried and to be sufficiently successful to credit their brains and experience.
The supporting cast are engaging, the walk ons in the village pub and the cult members are always more than just set decorations, they move and breathe with energy that makes the reader notice them. They give depth to the context and the leading cast.
Sam Bentley's art is a joy to read and linger over, the details draw in the readers eye and the astonishing range that his black and white art delivers is wonderful. The stark contrast in the art captures the emotional tones of the story perfectly, this is a brutal unforgiving struggle that will allow no quarter. There are no shades of gray, just winning or losing. The cast are given lived in faces, Silas Pope wears his experience lightly but clearly on his face and in his body. Confident and capable, the weight of the game still rests on him. Hattie Griggs is not an awkward steam punk engineer, she is a gifted mechanical engineer who is a Victorian female and dresses like one. Placing a bowler hat and a cloak on a steam punk robot inhabited by a displaced soul is a master stroke, it gives an edge of familiarity to the robot that allows the personality shine without being distracted by the mechanics. Sigma is a mouse. A very clever mouse that hides the true shape and intent of the creature, the tension between both is vital to driving the story.
There are a number of back up stories that are used to cast a sidelight on the cast and context and they do so with tremendous skill. The allow for an alternative perspective that adds to the context and a different view of the cast that gives them greater depth without interruption to the flow of the main story.
Cognition is a great comic, story and execution show off the talent of the creators for the benefit of the readers. Read and relish.