Aaaaaand we're back! Round-up post by Andrew

So I'm back! Props to Mark for some sexy, sexy articles in the last week.

What I have been up to (comics wise, obviously) in the last month I hear you shriek!

Well, I'll tell you...

mother fucker can Paul Pope draw...

I was lucky enough to get my hands on all four issues of THB6 by Paul Pope. These four comics are just so totally perfect in every possible way. They are all currently out of print and cost, like, £20 each on Amazon (luckily, a friend of mine was kind enough to lend them to me) So kinda pointless that I'm talking about them really but we'll press on.

THB6 is a sci-fi tale set on Mars. We follow HR Watson, teenaged girl and THB her fucking awesome, big, red robot (or Mek as THB would have it) 

see, told you....fucking awesome!

THB6 is the second arc of Pope's THB saga. Having never seen any of the other arcs I don't know if this is a continuation of the story or if it branched away from the initial arcs. Ijust jumped into the story and got lost in the dirty streets of the cities Pope populates Mars with.

Pope is from New York....go figure..

HR's father is a powerful industrialist and the evil, bug faced bad guys are hunting her down to try and fuck with her daddy's head. HR has her trusty Mek, THB, by her side and a gang of young, street urchins and bohemians. It feels like New York on Mars...There is a weird Downtown 81 via Kurt Vonnegut sci-fi vibe doing on through out all four issues. You are thrown right into the action, the bug-eye guys show up and HR, THB and their buddies are scattered, The fight scenes are beautifully illustrated.

so fucking kinetic!

Pope's art is just gorgeous through out, deep inky blacks and stark, eye popping whites jostle for position on the page, like each line and brush stroke is vying for your attention.

Pope balances the hard sci-fi elements and the emotional weight of HR basically being a teenage fugitive perfectly. THB6 is pure visual poetry, even the word balloons are beautiful.  

Next up, The Victories by Michael Avon Oeming.

I picked up the first 2 issues of this mini-series a couple of weeks back. Oeming's work in Powers is amazing, it has a real Bruce Tim vibe and his use of negative space and inky, deep black tones is almost Mignola-esque. 

The Victories focusses on the titular superhero team, Faustus is a wise cracking, slightly Batman-esque protangonist. We meet him in the first issue fucking up a werewolf guy who has just decapitated the mayor!

little tinker...

Faustus and the other Victories later go and bust up a drugs den were they are manufacturing a drug that makes you fly, Oeming illustrates these scene really nicely, the bodies have this weightless, eerie look.

nice

Two issues in The Victories is a fun gritty romp, the plot doesn't really get moving until the end of the second issue but it is really pretty to look and and nice and violent and sweary!