Bear Pit Zine #1

bearpitzines.tumblr.com

This is an anthology of Bristol, UK based comics artists and features work by several comic artists who's stuff I've read, reviewed, and enjoyed before (namely Lando, Simon M., and Nick Souček).

The lead comic by Simon M is a simple idea, but executed well. It features a single scene of a bridge and a town, but presents it at various intervals throughout time. What happens to the bridge and the town in these pictures may not tell a full story, but it does gives hints of bigger events in the surrounding events.

Souček's comic focuses on the absurdity of trying to live each day as if it were your last. Would you go to work? Of course not! Would you plan for tomorrow or have long term goals? By definition you couldn't. Souček decides that while he may not have been making the most of his life before, he can focus on working on smaller things, as long as they succeed in making him and his friends lives slightly happier lives. (Of course as he's currently cycling across Australia by himself, I guess he decided to work on larger projects too.)

Lando's comic is similar to many of his others, in that it is set in a seemingly post-apocalyptic/alien setting filled with tiny details, snake people, skeletons, and giant floating credit cards. It doesn't really make a lot of sense, but it makes me incredibly curious about the world, and just what the hell is going on in it.

Of the remaining pieces Dani A. does a pretty neat piece on graffiti artists and their interactions with the police in late 1980s Bristol, while Deemo's features giant mutated sea monkeys (see below).

There are some things in here that I didn't really enjoy, but that is to be expected with anthologies, and for the most part I liked everything in here. If only more anthologies focused on urban decay and existentialism.

Decadence #7

By Leon Sadler, Lando, Daniel Swan, Tsemberlidis, Jon Chandler, Dan Hallett, and Alex Payne
www.decadencecomics.com

While there are a number of different comics artists in this anthology, my two favourite are the ones whose releases from Decadence Comics I've read before.

Tsemberlidis (who drew the cover) creates another of his bizarre, beautiful, silent comics. The story (as much as there is one) is about an astronaut who lands on a seemingly abandoned barren planet. He wanders alone amongst rocks and mountains until he encounters a geometric object and the story starts getting weird (as many of Tsemberlidis' stories do). People start shape changing and bizarre shapes start emerging from foreheads, eyes, and penises. The ending is reminiscent to 2001: A Space Odyssey, both in what actually happens and that I have no idea what it means.

But none of that matters because I love Tsemberlidis' art. His pages are filled with tiny lines and details that somehow manage to add so much to the characters and their backgrounds. Mostly I'm just glad I don't have to touch anything that appears in the comic, because it all looks incredibly disgusting. Technology seems to be encrusted with the remnants of something, while his nature scenes can mange to exude a feeling of humidity and dampness.

At times this reminded me a little of Tsutomu Nihei' Blame, but mostly in that they're both about a silent adventurer wandering through bizarre, incredibly detailed backgrounds.

Lando's comic (see below) is part two of an ongoing story about a guy living on an abandoned island with a bunch of robots. This story seems seems to be more about showing what parts of the island are like, and how they robots act and react to certain things the main character does.

The main character is riding his bicycle, while accompanied by a robot. He goes on a different route than the robot tells him to go on, and almost dies. The robots of the island end up saving him and helping him afterwards. The story raises a lot of questions and makes me curious about what's going on. Who is this guy? Why is he on the island? What's with all the cyborg implants? Is he even human?

The art and themes remind me of Japanese science fiction like Akira or Ghost in the Shell, not so much in how the characters look, but rather the designs of the setting and pages. I think Lando does a good job of pacing the cycling, changing angles to create some cool visuals, and managing to convey the speed of the character. I also love seeing the strange architecture in the background, which makes me even more curious about this island and what was happening on it.

While I didn't like the other stories in this comic as much as these two they do feature some cool visuals. But, for me at least, the selling point of this anthology are the two comics I wrote about, and they both deliver exactly what I wanted.

Upheaval

By Stathis Tsemberlidis
www.decadencecomics.com

Reviewing this silent, dream-like comic is pretty hard. There are no words or dialogue anywhere inside, and the plot is one where events flow into each other with no explanation of what's going on or why anything's happening. My friend thought they might be stuck in Hell. I wondered if the comic was all about how circular life is and how nothing truly changes. One side wins and they become who they were fighting against. Maybe that is Hell.

The comic opens up with a groups of protesters facing off against police officers in riot gear. Part of me really thinks that this is inspired by the riots that happen in Greece fairly frequently. Tsemberlidis is (I'm pretty sure) from Greece, and he is presumably more aware of the events going on there than most people.

After that the comic becomes more metaphysical and mystical, and there are panels that wouldn't feel that out of place in some of Alan Moore's weirder comics. (Actually there are a couple of panels that wouldn't look out of place in a more popular Alan Moore comic either.)

However the story (however strange it may be, and ignoring the three paragraphs I've written about it) is not the reason to check out this story. The real reason is Tsemberlidis' amazing, though hard to describe, artwork. Each image is filled with incredibly amounts of detail and texture, and while there aren't that many backgrounds I feel that this is done on purpose, and adds to the mystery of the story. What backgrounds are there also look amazing, so it's not like he's avoiding drawing something he's not good at.

Mostly though, we're left with unanswered questions: Where did that crocodile come from? Is it actually an alligator? (I can't tell the difference.) Is that a vagina? Is Tsemberlidis ever going to draw a zombie comic? Cause I bet he would draw amazing zombies (I don't even really care about zombies!).

Untranslated #3

By Lando
www.decadencecomics.com

Usually one of the neat things about Untranslated is how alien the world and characters created by Lando are. You get the feeling that the there are entire cultures and societies in the worlds represented, and that we get only the slimmest possible view of them.

However I found this issue to go too far in this direction, as I had almost no idea what was going on. As an art show case it is fine, as I enjoy Lando's art and the weird creatures he creates. It's just that their actions make no sense to me. Why are those creatures attacking that other creature? Are they burying it? Planting it? I don't get it.

I suppose I could just treat it as a nature documentary about some animal I know little about (so most of them really). Why is that animal attacking that other animal? What is it doing to it? I don't understand!

Taken as a look at a wierd world, with strange creatures (and cultures), it's neat. But if you're looking for a narrative this might not be the best place to look. (Try the other issues instead! They are great.)