Just recently I have had a kind of 'comics mid life crisis'....I just got pissed off with the cycles of 'BIG EARTH SHATTERING EVENTS IN WHICH EVERYTHING CHANGES FOR (N)EVER!' relaunches, and new issue #1's. Obviously there are gems to be found amongst the manure (Scott Snyder's Batman, pretty much anything Matt Fraction writes, Remender's Uncanny X-Force) but alot of what I was seeing on the racks all looked the same.
As any comics fan with half a functioning brain will tell you 'Erm...there is more to comics than Marvel and DC, Fucko!' This is true, Image and Dark Horse are repping fully with the likes of Prophet and The Massive.....but if you dig a little deeper you can find some truly mind altering self-published shit that will blow your tiny mind!
Like COPRA.....
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| HNNNNNNNNNNNGN! |
COPRA is the the work of Sir Michel Fiffe (yeah thats right I just knighted this guy...thats how serious I am about this comic OK?)
Fiffe writes, draws and self publishes this monster. We are already four issues deep and each issue delivers HARD!
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| yeah, that looks ouchy... |
COPRA follows the eponymous band of mercenaries who now find themselves on the run following the very literal fall-out from a botched extraction job as they attempt to reassemble a fully functioning team to take on the enemies that are coming at them from all sides. Seriously these guys are NOT popular, I swear there is an entire issue of this comic where the gang have a full on John Woo shaming fire fight in an apartment with one of the team members room mates!
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| what's the collective noun for a group of badasses? a Van Damme of badasses? |
What I like about COPRA is the feeling that this is just the latest in a long line of missions for the team, that they are used to the feeling of cross-hairs trailing them and conflict being only a few steps behind them at all times. The cast of this comic grows with every issue, COPRA's ranks are gradually swelling as Sonia, (the teams handler/liaison) calls in former members for the coming storm. This is where Fiffe really excels himself, the character tropes are familiar but they are delivered with such visual flair and written with such a badass, devil-may-care style that you cannot help but want to learn more about them and see them kicking ass.
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| like Gary here.... |
From the COPRA team themselves, with Castillo the grizzled mercenary and Vincent, the urban mage to Gary (the handsome, glass-shard faced fella above) and Castillo's cyborg, bounty hunter flatmates, Fiffe gives each character a unique flavour...boiling down the chunky heft of Jack Kirby, the moody noir of Frank Miller and frazzled psychedelia of Jim Steranko.
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| that is some moody shit |
Special mention has to be given to the way in which Fiffe colours this comic, strong, Sharpie-esque pools of black jostle for position with what I can only describe as the most explosive pallette in comics...most figures and forms are awash with an almost crayon like colouring technique which lends a gentle depth. More assertive blocks of colour are deployed when necessary (laser-like weapons and big expressive sound effects) and you are never looking at boring white back grounds or wasted space....every inch of this comics is used perfectly.
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| mindbender |
As I mentioned earlier Fiffe self-publishes this comic and it looks beautiful, wonderful, poster worthy images emblazoned on bright, often primary coloured background adorn the covers, the inner title page and actual, honest to god letters pages are both present as well as 24 glorious, uninterrupted pages of genuinely genius comics madness!
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| so so so so so so beautiful |
In a world in which swapping creative teams around and slapping a new '#1' on the front of a comic is seen as newsworthy and exciting COPRA comes like a breath of fresh air, albeit a breath of fresh air that smells faintly of cordite...
It is truly refreshing, I have all 4 issues thus far and I cannot stop reading them!
You can find Michel Fiffe at michelfiffe.com where you can check out the skinny on COPRA and his other projects.
If you wanna skip straight to the part where you take my advice directly and give this guy some money you can find all four issue on Fiffe's Etsy page HERE...
Also if you are based in LONDON you can buy directly from Orbital and Nobrow.
I cannot stress how badass COPRA is....you won't regret picking it up.....
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| brother knows his way around SFX.. |
It is truly refreshing, I have all 4 issues thus far and I cannot stop reading them!
You can find Michel Fiffe at michelfiffe.com where you can check out the skinny on COPRA and his other projects.
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| livid pink... |
If you wanna skip straight to the part where you take my advice directly and give this guy some money you can find all four issue on Fiffe's Etsy page HERE...
Also if you are based in LONDON you can buy directly from Orbital and Nobrow.
I cannot stress how badass COPRA is....you won't regret picking it up.....
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| so don't be an asshole...GO AND BUY THIS COMIC |
