Arthur Blackfrost. Justin V. Gray (Writer), Laura Rimaszombati (Art). 2019

A wonderfully engaging and enjoyable fairy story. Arthur Blackfrost lived with his mother in the village of Gull Harbour on the island of Yorn. It was a hard place to live, the people of Gull Harbour could harvest enough fish to liver not enough to thrive. The Blackfrost family suffered under a curse that made them isolated within the families of Gull Harbour. Arthur's father had left them and Arthur was desperate to break the curse. He does get a unexpected gift and success for him the Gull Harbour follows until disaster strikes. Arthur set out to solve the problem and he finds that there is much more going on than he had ever imagined.
Justin V. Gray writes with confidence and care, he takes the whole structure of a fairy tale deeply seriously and uses it with great effect to deliver the story. There is no ironic winking at the audience, the reader is allowed to sink into the story and enjoy if to the full.  The reveals are very well staged, the plot moves smartly and the whole story is very satisfying. The cast are very engaging, Arthur is determined, overconfident and openhearted when he should be. He is never a puppet, he is a young man trying to take control of his life and willing to do the work needed to achieve it. Arthur's mother is the classic fairy tale mother, loving and hardworking, accepting of her fate and trying to protect her family. She is never a cliche, there is a happy life to her that draws the reader to her. The citizens of Gull Harbour are a happy or miserable mob as required. The other major cast members are all given the opportunity to shine and they do, they bring the extra elements that a fairy story needs to be successful.
Laura Rimaszombati's art is jaw dropping beautiful and captures the story and the nuances with elegance and precision. The whole cast, including the walk on players, are all individual and wonderfully expressive. They interact with each other and their context naturally and ground the story in a tremendous physical sense of place. The action scenes are full of energy and force, the domestic scenes are quiet and effective. There is no sense of naturalism in the art, it is utterly fantastic, it delivers a fairy story with a flourish. The colouring is a joy, it captures and emphasises the emotional tones of the story with subtle care that bring out the concerns of the cast without shouting at the reader. The panel layouts are great, they control the pace and focus of the story in a understated way that never draws attention to the considerable craft that underlies it. The lettering is a pleasure, the differences between the narration boxes and dialogue supports the framework of a fairy story.
Arthur Blackfrost is an unmitigated pleasure to read, highly talented creators making a wonderful comic, a wish come true.

The Egg-Xas Chainsaw Massacre. Chris Allen (Writer, Colours & Letters), Juan Fleites (Art). Swampline Comics 2018

Highly enjoyable anthropomorphic parody of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. A set of young chickens travelling in a minibus pick up a hitchhiker who turns out to be unsettling weird and is pushed from the van. He leaves a threatening message on the van. When the group arrive at their destination, one of them decides to explore an old house. This proves to be a fatally bad decision, followed by more fatally bad decisions from the rest of the group.
Chris Allen has managed to solve a difficult problem with considerable with and flair. The beating heart of the film is the violence committed by a deranged family, turning everyone into chickens goes a low way to removing the impact of the story by making it ridiculous. This would be funny, it would also lack the edge that the parody needs to be successful. The writing reduces the impact of the chicken cast by being deliberately aware of being a horror film parody, the well placed use of chicken jokes and a whole hearted commitment to gore. The creepiest scene in the film is barely less creepy in the comic, the writing is strong enough to support a jokes and chills.
Juan Fleites is friendly and inviting and brings the story to gory, funny life with a wonderful cast that are exactly the chicken characters that they should be. The cast are wonderfully expressive, the deranged family have the advantage as they are deranged. They get to be flamboyant and driving the action in the story. The group of victims are limited as their purpose is largely to be slaughtered. They do go to their fate with good jokes and a post Scream awareness of horror film rules. Leatherface is as iconic as he should be. The real star is the youngest member of the family, he is drawn to be very strange, just at the acceptable limits of strange, not quite frightening. His range of expressions and actions are big enough for him to emerge as much more of a character.
Chris Allen's colouring is a joy, it is bright and cheerful, it never gives a horror film sense. This gives the story a great contrast for the reader, it supports the parody and gives the gore an added boost. The lettering is quiet and never draws attention to itself. The sound effects are nicely muted, they support the action without distracting from it.
Unexpected, clever and very enjoyable The Egg-Xas Chainsaw Massacre is great fun. It is a pleasure to see talented creators making smart comics.
Chief Wizard Note: I was very kindly sent The Egg-Xas Chainsaw Massacre by Kim Roberts at Swampline Comics. It can be purchased from https://www.swamplinecomics.com/shop, you really should give yourself the pleasure of a smart comic, a sure path to sparking joy.