Sightings of Wallace Sendek

By Sean Azzopardi and Douglas Noble
www.strip-for-me.com
sean-azzopardi.com

When I started reading this comic I thought the pages that the pages were in the wrong order. Each page is dated, and the dates jump around backwards and forward through time. But each page can be taken as an independent whole and this seemingly haphazard order is the one in which Noble wanted this comic to appear (I guess some of the pages could be in the wrong order too, there's no real way for me to tell!). Taken together the pages begin to tell the story of '70s rock musician Wallace Sendek, his disappearance, and his later possible appearances.

Reading it in chronological order (yes, I did bother to do that) leaves me even more confused as all the dates don't seem to match up properly. But this could even be done on purpose, as the entire point of this thing is to make everything mysterious and ambiguous. Was Sendek killed? Was there some supernatural element in his disappearance? Is he still alive? None of these questions is answered, but that's not the point of this comic.

Instead this comic is all about creating an atmosphere and mood of mystery, and it succeeds admirably. (I'm a little jumpy and creeped out right now due to it being 2:30 am, reading this comic multiple times, and reading about Lord Lucan and other people who have disappeared.)

Artwise Azzopardi does a good job, using different styles and techniques on various pages. Some pages are quite sketchy, while others are considerably more detailed, and one even features edited photographs (is there a better term for this than "photoshopped"?). Azzopardi also switches between using solid bordered panels (often using a tight nine-panel grid to fit in the necessary dialogue and narration), and pages where various images meld into each other with no border in the way. Combined these two techniques help to add to the atmosphere of the stories and the events surrounding them, confusing the information and making the reader question what truth there might be in each story.

Overall this is worth checking out, if you're into ambiguous, frustrating works that have no real ending. I want to know who this person was, and what was going on with their disappearance, and hopefully one day, if Azzopardi and Noble decide to release another comic, I'll find out. If I don't though, that's okay too, as this comic has succeeded both in its narrative goals and in being entertaining.

Necessary Monsters #5

By Daniel Merlin Goodbrey and Sean Azzopardi
www.necessarymonsters.com

The (extra long) final issue! And it delivers. Secrets revealed! Giant monster attacks! A massive body count! People getting stabbed all over the place. I’ve generally enjoyed this series, though this is definitely the best issue so far. No more sitting around in rooms discussing things! The art’s still a bit weak when it comes to people, and I’m pretty sure that the geography in one bit is a bit off, but I did enjoy Azzopardi’s monsters. Raaaarrrraaahhhh.

Overall it’s a pretty good conclusion and some of the reveals definitely made me more interested in reading more about these characters.

Apparently the collection will have a lot of redrawn art, and I’ll take a look at that when it comes out. (It was supposed to be out a while ago, but I was talking to Goodbrey recently and he just said he hoped the collection would be out “soon”.)

Necessary Monsters #4

By Daniel Merlin Goodbrey and Sean Azzopardi
www.necessarymonsters.com

It’s kind of difficult to review part four of an ongoing narrative. Especially without spoiling anything. I’m glad I review zines instead of super hero comics!

We’re coming up to the final confrontation between the “good guys” and the “bad guys” (yeah, one group seems considerably eviler, but you never can tell). People are getting killed, arms are getting cut off (and sewn back on), major dramatic changes are happening to various characters. Lots of stuff is going on!

It’s good, there’re some nice lines of dialogue, and I’m genuinely curious as to where the story is going next. The art’s weak in places, and some of the characters seem really stiff in places, but it didn’t stop me enjoying the story.

Necessary Monsters #3

Necessary Monsters #3
By Daniel Merlin Goodbrey and Sean Azzopardi
www.necessarymonsters.com

The story really seems to be kicking into high gear this issue as The Chain tracks down their renegades and some of the main characters actually meet for the first time. Sure we’re also introduced to new characters (voodoo office workers), but it doesn’t stop the plot from moving forward.

There’s still a bit too much of characters sitting around being debriefed in a room, but it leads to a couple of good lines, and there’s plenty of time for the characters to be exposed to some weird stuff, and actually do things and use their powers.

Azzopardi still seems to be far more at home drawing all the non-human objects that show up, and the perspective is off a few times (look at the size of those chairs!), but he still manages to draw some pretty decent action scenes in here.

Necessary Monsters #2

Necessary Monsters #2
By Daniel Merlin Goodbrey and Sean Azzopardi
www.necessarymonsters.com

Straight up, I must say you will be let down if you read this comic expecting the giant dinosaur from the cover to stomp around eating people. What may be a dinosaur shows up in an old photograph in a presentation for a couple of panels, but it looks like we’ll have to wait until the next issue to see the dinosaur in action.

What we do get is a seemingly immortal bad guy, who can turn into a monster, teaming up with a woman, who can grow rapidly aging offspring from egg sacs on her back, to rebel against the Chain, a secret organization made up of paranormals who are dedicated to stopping those beings that what to erase existence.


Super powered secret agents trying to stop Lovecraftian horrors isn’t exactly new ground (what issue is BPRD up to?), but there are enough original elements here to make it worth checking out, and enough questions are raised to make me want to read more.


What’s the deal with Chicken Neck? Will that early twentieth century guy with tentacles for a head show up again? Why is that goth girl so perky? Hopefully the next issue will answer at least one of those questions.

Necessary Monsters #1

Necessary Monsters #1
By Daniel Merlin Goodbrey and Sean Azzopardi
www.necessarymonsters.com
£2 - Half sized.

I’m not a big horror movie fan, so it wasn’t until my second time through this comic that I realized that the characters being introduced were all horror film archetypes. Okay, not all of them, but you’ve got your spooky, long hair in the face Asian girl, a person that kills people in their dreams, and a huge guy that kills teenagers having sex in a barn. Even I get what films they are from.

These killers have to team up to kill another killer, who is shown using a giant guy with a chicken head wielding a chainsaw to kill a bunch of Japanese gangsters.

There’s a reference to a necronomicon style book, black suited people riding black helicopters, and fish turning into people that disappeared fifty years ago. Goodbrey and Azzopardi have really thrown every genre trope together to make up this story.

It’s a bit too early to tell how it’s going to turn out, as this issue is really just introducing the characters, but the ideas are there, and it’s being published professionally (with updated art) later this year, which has to count for something.

I’m going to keep reading at any rate.