So, Cardiff International Comic Expo was awesome, were you there? It was where I found a smörgåsbord of great independant comics, many of which will be featured on this here website, but the first to get the Good Comic Book stamp is Cross, and that’s because it kicks ASS.
When you think about it, mainstream comics are heavily restrained. Not only is there a myriad of editors telling creators what they can or cannot do with characters, but the sensitivities of the masses mean that a lot of ideas may well be canned because they’re too much. Luckily for us, independant comics have no such restraint… in fact to make up for it all, these comics seem to end up absolutely insane. Cross is brilliantly insane.
Reverand Abigail Cross is the vicar of the sleepy Dorset village of Sunnybrook, and under the direct orders of The Church of England, fights a secret war against the forces of darkness. Imagine James Bond meets The Vicar of Dibley meets Shaun of the Dead…
This comic is an absolute JOY to read, from start to finish. You know the word romp? This is an awesome one of those. My favourite moment would be when the reverand throws a bible at a zombie, who says:
“What did you think that was going to do? Did you think we’d just burst into flames?
BOOM! There’s then a massive explosion, and the reverand says:
“Something like that, oh, be a pet and order me some more of those bible grenades Jasper love…”
I loved it so much.
The art is very simple, but incredibly effective. Even though it’s in black and white, I never for a minute thought any less of it. They cut a few corners, but so did Evil Dead and that film is still awesome. In fact, the art style really backs up the writing to give it that sort of b-movie feel, you know it’s silly and they know it’s silly, so everyone just has fun with it. I love it when you know the creators had fun. The gore is great to, I’m a sucker for heads being kicked off bodies.
If there’s one thing that this comic can’t boast, it’s story. If you’re looking for something deep, twisting and involving I probably wouldn’t suggest this… If you want to see a reverand dispatch a room of the undead with nothing but her pants as a slingshot and a pen set as ammo, look no further! Cross is a short, awesome, stupid thrill, and a perfect example of why independant comics shouldn’t be so frivolously ignored. There’s a plethora of incredible stuff out there, and you just have to brush the surface a little to find it.
Cross is by John A. Short and Jason Dennis. To read the issue, and find out whether Abigail Cross gets back to Dorset in time for the village fete, go get the issue from Kult Creations HERE.
Joe Innes.
*In this review I’ve used the words smörgåsbord, myriad and plethora. All AWESOME words.
