Havoc 21 by Wolfman Productions

Fysh

Just picked up issue #2 today in Other Realms, although it's allegedly been out since August. only ?3.30 as well, which is a welcome drop from the ?6 that the first issue/promo sold for. Second issue is shorter, but the same size and quality of the promo, which I'm more than happy with. It's got two stories in it, both quite different. for my money the second story wins, on both storyline and art but mainly because the artwork is very good.

Definitely worth checking out if you're at all interested in homegrown comics. Particularly since MBleh! seems to have died on its arse (a crying shame, I might add).

On a related note, does anyone know if Freakshow is still going? Other Realms aren't carrying it and I haven't been to Dublin or Galway in ages...

Darrk

Hi!

I hope to have some stories published in Havoc 21 sometime soon.

I have to agree with you about the second story. The artwork was great.

--Darrk.

AngryBadger

Darrk wrote:

Hi!

I hope to have some stories published in Havoc 21 sometime soon.

I have to agree with you about the second story. The artwork was great.

--Darrk.

no.....sorry, the art is terrible, the guy keeps doing profile shots because he can't draw faces front on, and the bodies are way out of proportion, and what's up with none of the characters using their arms? were they sewn to their sides in a bid to stamp out violence?

Sorry, but if this is the best homegrown has to offer, i'll stick to the mainstream

Fysh

AngryBadger wrote:

no.....sorry, the art is terrible, the guy keeps doing profile shots because he can't draw faces front on, and the bodies are way out of proportion, and what's up with none of the characters using their arms? were they sewn to their sides in a bid to stamp out violence?

Sorry, but if this is the best homegrown has to offer, i'll stick to the mainstream

...

I'm tempted to think we're reading different comics at this point. The story I referred to had several frontal shots and the first page had several panels depicting military-issue robots at firearms training, holding guns as a human might.

I certainly wouldn't call the artwork on this story terrible by any stretch of the imagination. (It was inconsistent in the first story in issue 2, which I've already pointed out) Even comparing it to what's been printed in mainstream comics, I think it holds its own. I wouldn't consider it to be much less than the standard of what 2000AD published for years.

Besides which, probably the best homegrown comic I've seen is actually Freakshow. Which has been picked up for UK & US distribution (as I mentioned in another post). I'm not going to say that everyone has to buy home-grown comics, but I have enjoyed every Irish-made comic I've bought and I would like to see a home industry grow. Part of encouraging that has to be accepting the initial limitations that publishers, writers and artists will face. It doesn't mean accepting crappy art, but it does mean realising that comparisons to a monthly put out by Marvel or DC aren't really valid. You can't expect a home industry to just suddenly spring up and match the quality of major worldwide companies.

In the interests of actually discussing the relative merits of home-grown comics....what sort of mainstream work do you like, and what sort of artists would you rate?

AngryBadger

Fair point that comparing homegrown to the like of marvel/dc/image is totally redundant, also we are probably talking about different stories in Havok 21,but certainly the issue i read had some of the most appalling pencils i've ever seen, if it's a different story to the one you're reading i apologise.

However, initial limitations in my mind refers largely to financial consoderations, things like getting a book publishe din sufficient numbers,getting them into circulation, and so on. But it shouldn't refer to the quality of the story/art, and if you're starting with totally appalling art/story, then you're doomed before you even release an issue.

Personally I tend to value story more than art, but even so, if I pick up a comic with terrible pencils, i won't buy it, unless the story is absolutely the greatest things since sex.

I guess my main point is you need to have quality story/art before you can even begin to think about how to finance publishing/distribution of your comic. And what I saw of Havok 21 was actually the worst pencilling job i've ever had to impose on my eyes. We are probably talking about different stories, (perhaps even different issues), but the guy who pencilled the story story I'm talking about is apparently one of the editors, and an editor of another independent comic publishing company, which speaks volumes about the overall quality of the company.

Fysh

AngryBadger wrote:

Fair point that comparing homegrown to the like of marvel/dc/image is totally redundant, also we are probably talking about different stories in Havok 21,but certainly the issue i read had some of the most appalling pencils i've ever seen, if it's a different story to the one you're reading i apologise.

However, initial limitations in my mind refers largely to financial consoderations, things like getting a book publishe din sufficient numbers,getting them into circulation, and so on. But it shouldn't refer to the quality of the story/art, and if you're starting with totally appalling art/story, then you're doomed before you even release an issue.

Personally I tend to value story more than art, but even so, if I pick up a comic with terrible pencils, i won't buy it, unless the story is absolutely the greatest things since sex.

I guess my main point is you need to have quality story/art before you can even begin to think about how to finance publishing/distribution of your comic. And what I saw of Havok 21 was actually the worst pencilling job i've ever had to impose on my eyes. We are probably talking about different stories, (perhaps even different issues), but the guy who pencilled the story story I'm talking about is apparently one of the editors, and an editor of another independent comic publishing company, which speaks volumes about the overall quality of the company.

I agree with pretty much everything you've said - you need to have a strong comic before you start distributing it, and I think you might have the first issue (dark red/black cover with three figures on it, three stories in total). Second issue had two stories, one a strange Crow knock-off about an Irish WW2 concentration camp survivor, the other about a robot army and their creators. It's the second story and art I liked, even though the story was somewhat basic.

I'd still definitely recommend Freakshow, the artwork is the best I've seen in a non-professional comic and the storytelling is expertly done.

Darrk

Yeah I know what you mean about the quality of Irish comics...

In the stuff that I make, I try not to confine the stories to what would be acceptable to the Irish comics industry...

Most Irish comics try to be artsy or to copy what's worked for the Americans. This is something I'm trying to remidy.

The industry can't evolve until it's made its share of mistakes. It has made many but eventually, people will work to fix those mistakes...

--Darrk.