Filed under: Comic Reviews, Indie Comics | Tags: Adam Cadwell, Drew Davies, Gavin Mitchell, Joe Glass, Kirsty Swan, Kris Carter, Mike Stock, PJ Montgomery, Stiffs, Thought Bubble
Stiffs is another recent discovery from the tables at this year’s Thought Bubble and it’s a title with an impressive mix of ideas…..and creators involved.
Set in the Welsh Valleys it’s a merging of Zombies & Comedy in the same vein as Shaun of the Dead only far funnier and with a talking monkey…..which in itself is the thing I felt Shaun lacked……so maybe it’s more of a mash up between Y The Last Man (the only other comic I can think of with a monkey in it) and Shaun of the Dead. In fact, forget what it’s like…..I could be here all night with this…….I’ll just say that it’s got an opening shot in issue #1 like this……
…..and if that doesn’t grab your attention then you have no soul and may well be a zombie that this Man/Monkey team will be hunting down soon. That’s exactly what we cover in these first 3 issues (of 5) as Don and Kenny McMonkey are on their next zombie hunt……all kept secret from the world outside because no one wants to spread panic right? As Don & Kenny continue fighting the good fight their group of friends are hanging out in the pub….blissfully unaware of the trouble happening in their own town and that their friend is kicking all kinds of zombie ass.
That all changes though as Don struggles to mix his mundane life working in a call centre with his circle fo friends and the extra night activities on the hunt. These all eventually clash and merge into one all out friends vs zombies team-up and at the midway point of this title it’s proven to be yet another hidden gem among the small press releases on offer. The writing team behind this of Drew Davies, PJ Montgomery and Joe Glass combine well to give us a great tale of one man and his talking monkey while adding a realistic element with a true mix of friends as they slag each other off at the pub. Smart writing across all those elements and more make this instantly likeable.
The art team changes across those first three releases with Gavin Mitchell & Adam Cadwell on issue #1, Gavin Mitchell & Kris Carter on issue #2 and Art by Gavin Mitchell, Colours by Kirsty Swan & Letters by Mike Stock on issue #3. A fairly varied team across those issue but the consistency of style and great mix of panel layout and well-placed cliffhanger make this the complete package. Smart & funny with great artwork throughout gives this a fresh feel to what could have easily been another zombie story that blends in with all those other zombie stories – GREAT FUN!
Go grab all three over at their website & keep tabs over at their Facebook page for news on the next parts.
8/10
G-Man
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