"Glad I finally found engine comics website as I have been looking for a UK based independent collective and here it is. Please sign me up for any junk mail to do with your group."

"I've just had a very enjoyable visit to your website - you've got some worthwhile content up there which kept me reading for much longer than I should have been. Anyway, the main reason I'm writing is to say I hope you don't mind, but I thought you had such a good website I have linked to it from my own. This isn't just to get a link for myself, I don't mind if you do or don't!"

Obviously, for [author] Norris Burroughs, this is a very personal project. Telling a piece of history in comic strip form is not easy – especially when it concerns the genius Orson Welles! I think Norris has achieved his purpose and, after all, most of us would not know the details of most of the early black film actors and their careers were it not for family keeping notes and passing the stories along.

After all, to Hollywood, most of the black actors they ‘promoted’ were pushed into bulgy-eyes “Yas, Boss!” roles. Woody Strode and Paul Robeson we know about as respected actors but I have to admit I knew nothing of   Eric Burroughs.

Initially, I had my doubts about the art style but I do tend to get very critical at times! The art does its job; it sets the story atmosphere and shows us the characters. I think it looks and reads perfectly well. I’d go as far as to suggest that it could be used educationally as well as for entertainment.

As with Classical Comics and Shakespeare for youngsters who might find it boring reading about Welles or Burroughs from text books, the visual format helps and may even garner further interest from youngsters to either look at black theatrical/cinematic history and/or Welles. So, I’ll give this book high marks.

"While You Were Reading The Big Two: Voodoo Macbeth

Posted By Will Cooling on 07.23.2006

What do you get if you add Orson Welles, Macbeth and Voodoo?

Comic Reviewed by Will Cooling
Teaser: What do you get if you add Orson Welles, Macbeth and Voodoo?

Title: Voodoo Macbeth
Written and Drawn by Norris Burroughs
Editor: Barry Renshaw
Published by Engine Comics

The latest offering from Engine Comics is something of a prestige project, a 68 page graphic novel about Orson Welles' famous 1936 production of Macbeth. This was no ordinary production of the 'Scottish Play' due to the fact that it was performed entirely by black actors, at a time when black actors were limited to playing only 'black parts'. Not only did Welles have to deal with the controversy surrounding such casting but also a multitude of other problems, including the private life of his leading star Jack Carter, the 'method acting' of one of the witches and not least getting the play to work. All of which makes fertile ground for what may well be the best damn comic about Shakespeare in the world.

The story focuses on two main plots, one Welles' struggle to get the production on stage as he battles racism and creative difficulties to deliver his vision of Macbeth. Now to be honest, I'm sure some of you are thinking that that doesn't sound like such a sexy plot. And maybe in lesser hands you'd be right but Burroughs does an excellent job of bringing what could be a very dry topic to life. He highlights the problems of racism well, without overdoing the racial angst whilst he soundly details the creative evolution of the play with such key decisions as choosing Macbeth, setting it in Haiti and making Witch Queen Hecate a man all shown in a visually interesting manner. His Welles is particularly good, with the perfectionist drive and vivid imagination of the legendary director captured extremely well.

The second plot centres on Welles' Macbeth, Jack Carter's private life. Carter is a mixed-race French immigrant who despite his being the son of the French count has became a 'pimp and a gangster'. To make things interesting he is currently seeing Lana, the daughter of Don Cellini. We follow them as they struggle to get their love accepted, with a jealous henchman of Don Cellini doing all he can to thwart their love. Burroughs shows the problems their love affair causes very well, and he builds to the tragic climax brilliantly managing to give it real emotion and sadness. He also makes Carter an interesting character independent from the love-story, with his anger at American racism and his pride in his black heritage coming to the fore.

Throughout Voodoo Macbeth Burroughs' writing is of a high standard. Taken as a whole what is especially impressive, is how he takes great pains to deliver a realistic portrayal of 1930s America. In particular the dialogue shows a real attempt to mimic the vocal patterns of the 1930s without lapsing into parody. He also manages to skilfully interject scenes from the play so that they always add something to the broader of narrative. The high quality of the writing is mirrored in the art, with his detailed, naturalistic linework being perfectly suited to the story. If there's one flaw in both the writing and the artwork, is that at times it can come across ever so slightly stilted and forced. However, to me this actually adds something to do the comic, as it gives the story the feel of an old Hollywood movie such as Mr Smith Goes to Washington or To Kill A Mockingbird, a feel that is perfectly suited to the story being told.

Overall, this is a very good comic. Burroughs has wrote this book in memory of his father Eric Burroughs, who played King Hecate, and it shows in only positive ways as Burroughs' work on this book shows an extraordinary care and attention to detail without falling into the trap of concentrating on his father's role to the detriment of the story. This is an unusual comic, with a pacing and style that owes more to classic Hollywood than modern comic books. And its all the better for it!

The Last Word: The best damn comic about Shakespeare in the world.

Rating: B "

"SEER: A one-shot story from Engine Comics, ‘Seer’ is the tale of an urban witch doctor called in to solve murder cases in his own unique way. Jonathan Parkes, the witch doctor in question can ‘see’ the last thing a murder victim sees at the point of death. The only drawback is, he has to taste the victim’s eyeballs to share the vision. Nice. He’s an uncanny ‘Cracker’ if you will, and the TV show comparison bears up in other ways - the strength of the writing, the pacing of plot twists, the believable characters. One thing that is missing from the story however, is women. The absence is strongly felt as so much in the story relies on the protagonist’s relationship to his wife, it’s not enough that we are just told about her. We need to see her too, and this omission dents the credibility of the final line alluding to a sexual throb (though I’m trying not to include spoilers here)!

Gary Simpson’s writing is accompanied by deft artwork. From the opening foggy outline of Manchester, to the intricate lab scenes, to the brick fortresses of rows of terraced houses, Lee O’Connor’s artwork isn’t short on detail. Added to this, the more abstract art depicting the ‘vision’ scenes, fuses really well with the more gritty reality. What lets the artwork down is the inking. It’s too spidery-thin and mechanical looking for such a chunky story about humanity in all its gross, indigestible glory.

My favourite thing about ‘Seer’, is that it’s so ugly - and I mean that as a compliment! This is professional looking stuff, yet no attempt has been made to slicken or prettify. The characters are ordinary blokes with weight problems, and this is so refreshing to see in a medium where chiseled jaws and manly brows still rule the roost. All in all then, ‘Seer’ sets a high standard for small press crime fiction and is well worth the read."

When a sadistic murderer terrorizes Manchester, DI Sloane calls in Jonathon Parks, a man who possesses a special supernatural talent. The ending might not come as a shock to some - and indeed, be a little too forced - but with Lee O'Connor's solid art and Gary Simpson's sharp dialogue, this is a gory small press tale that should not be overlooked. (CEB) 6.

Picked this one up at Bristol from Barry Renshaw's Engine Comics stand, right next to us, and part of our Accent UK collective. I was hoping that I'd enjoy it and be able to review it on this site. Guess what.

A story from the pages of X-Files or Millennium, both favourites of mine at their peak, this is a gritty story, well told and illustrated. The only pity is that the story seems to wrap itself up, as I'd like to see further stories told about the central characters. Ah well, you never know.

Well worth picking up if you like X-Files etc.

It has been five months since the demons appeared in LA ... and opened the city's veins… Black Harvest Moon is the first of a series of one-shot comics that Barry Renshaw's Engine Comics are producing over the next few months. Baz is an enthusiastic comics champion, he's got a good eye and work he publishes is always worth a look. So let's take one ... ... Charting one man's flight from, subjugation by and ultimate transformation into something more terrible than vampires, this is a rivetting read. Terry Stock's script is strong and unsettling, if wordier than generally considered fashionable. The dialogue sparks along, and the narration moves well. This is a horror story, and a very well played one, focussing on one character and his experiences, rather than blood and viscera. The narrative voice adds and expands on what we see, really putting us inside the story.

It leads us carefully and subtly, so that we don't notice just how far we've gone and the very end. Amidst the confusion and despair, Stock even fits in a laugh-out loud joke that doesn't seem out of place. Good work, really good work. Colin Stanford's muscular art is equal to Stock's script. While obviously Kirby influenced with an undercurrent of Alex Toth, it no mere pastiche. It's plaing this is the way he draws, comfortably and with confidence. The storytelling is clear and effective, and generally looks a treat. Unfortunately, it's been rendered slightly fuzzy through being scanned, but this is a minor thing. This comic really couldn't be any better, and at only a pound plus stamps it couldn't be much more of a bargain either. A4, 32pp, £1 + A4 SAE (44p of stamps I reckon) plus age statement from Engine Comics, 8 Avril Close, Reddish, Stockport, SK5 6XH.

I have a thing for the end of the world. It's largely my Dad's fault. As the head of English at the school I went to, he had a certain amount of freedom in dictating the sort of books we studied. Amongst them were Z FOR ZACARIAH, the story of the last person on Earth and what happens when she finds out she's not alone and DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS. TRIFFIDS especially, with it's deserted streets and uniquely bleak worldview sticks in my mind to this day. The silence that greets the main character as he stumbles out into the world was essayed in 28 DAYS LATER but done so much better here. Whilst the carnivorous mobile plants are, to be fair, a bit of a stretch, there's a palpable sense of doom to TRIFFIDS that entranced and terrified me in equal proportion. BHM has the same feel but, if anything, is darker. Where Wyndham's material tends to be basically optimistic, BHM is the first piece of legitimately nihilistic horror I've read in a long time. Here, the world's ended and everything from personal dignity to identity has gone with it.

Five months ago, demons appeared in Los Angeles. They took the city in days and swarmed out from there, the world changing as they moved through it. A few weeks into the invasion, Bobby and Lisa decide to leave their Nevadan home and join the stream of refugees fleeing, amongst other things, a wave of vampirism. They get seperated in an attack and Lisa is taken, replaced by something with her memories, her skin and none of her morals. Trapped between what used to be the woman he loved and the need to escape the herd he's now part of, Bobby finds himself forced to act but with no idea of what to do. BHM is a stunningly bleak piece of fiction, focussing on the relationship between Bobby and Lisa and how her 'condition' affects it.

The exchanges between the two are wonderful, crackling with the sort of familiar banter of a long term couple but with an incredibly dark edge. There's an almost noirish quality at times, with the thing wearing Lisa manipulating Bobby into betraying his friends and even his humanity. In the hands of a lesser writer, this would be misogynistic tripe. However, Stock takes great pains to keep BHM about a great deal more than a vampiric Russ Meyer escapee. This is why the story keeps coming back to their relationship, and the eventual realisation that Lisa needs Bobby as much as he needs her. They are, as Bobby puts it, echoes of the old Lisa to this creature and it's those echoes that lead her to help him out. In it's own black hearted way, BHM is a love story and a remarkably good one at that. In this case, love really does conquer all, be it humanity, vampirism or the end of the world. Ultimately, it's this intelligence that makes BLACK HARVEST MOON. As well as a fantastic take on what happens AFTER the world ends, it's a complex, occasionally touching and often blackly humorous love story.

With expressive, hyper-realistic art from Colin Stanford, this is a quality package. Clever, smart and disturbing, BLACK HARVEST MOON is everything a good horror story should be."

[The 'Rough Guide' is Fanzine of the Month for August. Click SFX cover below to read the glowing review:- Editor]

Fusion Zero is a book I've had sitting around for absolutely fucking ages and I'm sorry to the chaps who have put it together. That's Scott Claringbold and Marc Olivent, Jamie Thompson, Barry Renshaw, Adam Bealby and Anthony Mercer. There's not much of a continuity of theme or style but enough guaranteed to be something to make someone happy. Superheroes, paper dolls with psychopathic tendencies), strange travelling tales involving forest spirits, and the obligatory anal self-referencing dialogue of two guys in a comic shop which has enough artistic detail, merit, charm and a keenness for the everyday of dialogue to make it redemptive. Everybody who has put something into this anthology has not failed to surprise me in a manner I'm all the better for. Claringbold & Olivent's work is an improvement on anything they've done before, though still a way to go.

For information, on where to send the 44 pence of stamps for this behemoth, email enginecomics@hotmail.com! It really is absolutely fucking massive! Available for order this diverting read with view - choice recliner accompaniment

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