Chris Lynch <--NEW FOR NOVEMBER
Terry Hooper <--NEW FOR NOVEMBER
Leonieblog
Ain't It Cool News
Steve Holland (Bear Alley)
Review by Chris Lynch, Planet of the Penguins (www.christopherwilliamlynch.com)
The good eggs over at Engine Comics <http://www.enginecomics.co.uk> have
finally released issue 1.6 of the inimitable "RedEye".
A veritable tome of lore when it comes to what is, has, and will be
going on within the UK independent comics scene, this book (and I do not
use the term lightly, this issue weighs in at an impressive 106 perfect
bound pages) is well worth the £4.00 price tag.
Featuring reviews, news, interviews, and other things that end with
"ews" (including a preview of MWM#1 on page 15), this is the
magazine/book thing that no one with an interest in independent comics
should let pass them by.
Review by Terry Hooper (www.comicsbitsonline.com)
Redeye 6
This was a magazine I had been looking forward to and even the idiotic
postal service damaging it was not going to spoil my read! Billed as
“The latest issue of the vital magazine for indie comics” I did snort
quietly to myself and utter the words “We’ll see”.
Redeye 6 features interviews with popular Wildermere and Mixy creator
Alex CF, and the creative team of John Wagner, Kev Walker, W.R. Logan
and Matt Smith –the people behind the latest Judge Dredd “megaepic”:
ORIGINS. The autobiographical cartoonist Lee Kennedy; legendary Zenith
artist Steve Yeowell; and critically acclaimed cartoonist for The
Guardian and one half of Cabanon Press, Tom Gauld, [who also provides
the cover] are also interviewed.
For me, and no doubt Paul Brown, the big draw in this issue was the
feature on the 2000AD Art of Mike McMahon –possibly one of the most
creative modern British comic talents who deserves far more recognition
than he’s received so far! There’s a detailed retrospective of “V For
Vendetta”- from sketchbook to DVD release in The Road to Larkhill. And
yes there /is/ more: an exclusive guest column from the legendary
creator Pat Mills on the nature of fandom.
There is the first of a ongoing feature: Redeye has an exclusive 10 pp
preview of REGARDS FROM SERBIA -Top Shelfs’ latest book, and it includes
a commentary from the creator, Aleksandar Zograf; plus preview art from
upcoming titles, news, and an massive expanded reviews section. The art
reproduction and printing is great [luckily I have glasses!] and it is a
superb package all-round.
The closest thing I can compare it to would be Paul Gravett’s old Escape
magazine. It might seem pricey but it really is worth it because it is
the only magazine of its kind in the UK.
Review by Leonie (http://www.lomooreblog.com/2007/03/redeye_rocks.html)
Redeye Rocks!
Redeye issue 6 is currently available to buy. If you like comics, small press/ self published/ independent comics, then you need to buy it.
It's £5.50, which sounds like a lot, but it's really big (108 pages) and there's plenty of stuff you'll want to come back to.
This issue includes interviews with Tom Gauld , Lee Kennedy , Steve Yeowell and Alex CF. These interviews are great because the people asking the questions really know comics. They ask the stuff you want to know. David Baillie (being a comic creator himself) quite happily asks Tom Gauld about how he got various jobs and even manages to find out about his earnings, which is all very exciting for other creators reading it.
The features section includes a personal look at V for Vendetta, written by Jay Eales. Rather than a fanboy trip down memory lane (as these type of things usually are), this is full of well researched facts, and is a well constructed article which offers insight in to the book and film in an engaging way.
For me, the highlight of Redeye has to be the reviews section. Firstly, because every review they've ever given my work has been really useful to me. Every comic is given plenty of space to be examined in a constructive way. Secondly, as a potential buyer of these titles, the reviews are quite consistent and genuine. Comics are all judged alongside each other, so you'll find things like Oni press right next to a self published small print run comic.
Thirdly, as a reviewer myself I appreciate how difficult it can be to come up with constructive views, especially for a very short piece of work. But somehow they manage it!
There are some other great things about Redeye too, such as their 'Eyecandy' section which allows you to see samples of forthcoming releases, including work from Scar Comics and Accent UK . They also allow pro's to come in and take over a feature section, writing (or ranting) about anything they want. The news section is HUGE! It's lovely to see how much is happening out there. This issue also has a preview of Aleksander Zografs new work.
So go and buy it!
Review by "Ain't It Cool News " (http://www.aintitcool.com/node/31870#11)
Red Eye 1.6
Engine Comics
The reason why we restarted Indie Jones after legendary @$$hole Lizzybeth decided to move on to other projects was to bring light to comics that usually are overshadowed by the constant over hype and oversaturation of the Big Two. It was a way for the Holes to spotlight the little guys: the creators who print their books out of their basements and through secret excursions to office copy machines. While we try to cover as much indie material as possible in this column, there are far too many books out there to mention all of them. Engine Comics publishes a magazine called REDEYE which sports the most comprehensive list of descriptions, reviews, interviews, and news articles that I have ever seen. As I flipped through the pages, I found books that I knew about and was happy that they were getting coverage, as well as books that I had never seen or heard of before. This magazine is a must have for those whose taste in comics lay outside of the mainstream. Issue 1.6 has a really great interview with cartoonist Tom Gauld and an introspective talk with Steve Yeowell, along with many others. It also has an extended preview of a new graphic novel called REGARDS FROM SERBIA by Aleksandar Zograf, that looks to be both beautifully rendered and poignantly written about a firsthand look at the war in Serbia and how 9-11 was perceived in that country. If you've got the Indie Jones, you've got to be picking up REDEYE. -
Review by Steve Holland (http://bearalley.blogspot.com/2007/02/in-post.html)
Red Eye 6
The latest issue of Redeye is out. Issue 6 (simply dated 2007) contains news, comment, interviews and reviews in a bumper 106-page, square bound package. The content is fairly biased towards 2000AD but that's not surprising as it's one of the few surviving British comics aimed at boys (the others are 2000AD companion mag the Megazine and Thomson's Commando ). Amazing to think that 2000AD has a history: a feature on the early work of Mike McMahon, for instance, is now a study of McMahon's work from 30 years ago (I was pleased to see that he was a fan of Look and Learn , incidentally). Things that, to me, feel like yesterday are receding into the distant past: Pat Mills talks about creating Battle Picture Weekly , Action and 2000AD and I was buying them when they first came out. The memories are still fresh -- especially the fuss made over Action .
I've not had much of a chance to dip into the content yet but certainly Pat's piece on fans made some interesting points about how professionals can be treated quite discourteously by some fan(atic)s and professionals alike which can be both hurtful and, in some cases, professionally damaging. Interviews in this issue include Guardian cartoonist Tom Gauld, small press artist Lee Kennedy, bigger press artist Steve Yeowell, horror comic artist Alex C.F. and a series of talks with John Wagner, Kev Walker, W. R. Logan and Matt Smith about the Judge Dredd 'Origins' storyline. Add to that retrospectives on V For Vendetta and Mike McMahon, a solid letters column and previews of lots of small press goodies and it all makes for a bumper issue...
