ADULT FANTASY FABLES: ANIMAL I FARM l Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, Steve Leialoha
(Vertigo) ooo
The warring Snow White and Rose Red are thrown together to save their storybook friends — who live incognito alongside normal humans better known as ‘mundanes'. Those too noticeable are held on a ‘farm' and are planning a violent breakout. Written as an action- packed crime caper. this second Fab/es outing is a witty mixture of grisly violence. tough talkin‘. curvaceous dames and literary references; all inked in glorious Technicolor by a team of three artists. Buy it, if only for the 15 pages of early cover sketches at the end. (Charly Murray)
SURREAL JUVENALIA VOICE OF THE WILBERFORCE Ed Pinsent
(Kineg Books) 000
Ed Pinsent's worried hero, Windy, blusters through bizarre stories. talking to cosmologists. alchemists. frogs and fishmongers trying to get a handle on life. He's the frock-coated voice of sense in a world in which anarchy
; “ml Wilberforce ('3 ' ‘1 ’7 r”... / ,
- .VOICE
at m: WlLBERFORCE I.
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' BOOK 0 SulGNS
seems to rule. Subtitled A Book of Signs this is visually reminiscent of Dr Seuss in its accumulation of heavy. restless ink. Pinsent takes the reader on a journey through acres of disjointed. dreamlike imagery. The stories deal with philosophical thought. alchemical Symbols and mystical imagery. Almost like a puzzle. each frame is memorable and independent to interpretation. (Charly Murray)
SUPERHERO PARODY
5 YOUNG cons a.
FRIENDS
Barry Windsor-Smith (Fantagraphics)
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Depending on whether you believe Barry Windsor-Smith or the original publisher of the short-lived BSW: Storyteller. the deluxe format comic was cancelled after just nine issues because Dark Horse failed to market
Young Gods & Friends - a gentle pa
macaw.
“941%”
the prestige publication properly, or because
records@list.co.uk
there is no spark of originality as with current
Records
1 Wealth
WWHW
rody of Jack Kirb
the book didn't appeal to enough readers. Whatever, Fantagraphics is republishing Storyteller in three coffee table format hardbacks. the first of which, Young Gods & Friends. is Windsor-Smith‘s homage by way of gentle parody to the late. great Jack Kirby's
divine 1960s superhero
title. The Mighty Thor. The illustrations. a mix of bold pop art. pre— Raffellite and Art Nouveau styles. are glorious. The storytelling, however. amounts to little more than a one joke skit. Just look at the pictures. (Miles Fielder)
NEW COLLECTION VARIO
Strip Search (Dark Horse) 0000
Nothing whatsoever to do with perfect strangers rummaging around in your body cavities but more a
startlingly fine collection
of new comic talent as found via Dark Horse's online competition. Everything possible is covered here: from post-modern mediaeval knights to angsty primary school tyrants via alcoholic space heroes and hobo bears. Mad? Often. Bad? Rarely. Dangerous? Well. perhaps if some here are given the space to breathe and develop on the page they could well be the star names of tomorrow. (Mark Robertson)
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y’s The Mighty Thor
JAZZ
CHICK LYALL Broken Poems (Caber) mo
Pianist Chick Lyall and Swedish saxophonist Joakim Milder have been working together
periodically over the past
year or two, and they find plenty of common ground on the pianist‘s new album. The
‘European' side of Lyall's
musical sensibility is often on show in the course of his seven compositions and the five group improvisations. Bassist Mike Dunning and drummer Tom Bancroft complete the quartet. and everyone chips in
with strong contributions
in a project which again underlines the way in which Henry's Jazz
Cellar has become a fertile and interactive catalyst for collaborations between British and European (not to forget American) musicians. (Kenny Mathieson)
ELECTRONICA CHILL OUT
ZERO 7
When it Falls (Ultimate Dilemma) 0”
Zero 7 are back with more chilled beats. jazzy noodles and sumptuous. dreamy vocals. All well and good but the marketplace is flooded with these chill-out type albums from Moby to Groove Armada way back to Portishead. Yeah, it does its job and does it well but nothing sets it from the pack:
elbow
not 0 job
the new single ‘ out 23/2/04
scene leaders Royksbpp. It's an album that never goes anywhere. never offends but is always pleasant. And that really is as excited as you can get — a pleasant album. And if that 's as far as your horizons reach. enjoy. (Henry Nonhmore)
INDIE RITTERSKAMP Ritterskamp
(Wise Witch) mo
The second release from a band formed from the
remnants of nearly-weres
Peeps into Fairyland has
little of the guttural blusey
sound of their previous incarnation. Instead. this is a subdued. almost sleepy wander through a dreamlike place. where warm tones envelop the listener in a bed of sounds. This is no
2 track CD (featuring "Teardrop? enhanced Mini CD {features a video and new tracks} DVD singie (2‘ videos, new b side and photo goiteryj
UMlTED OFFER
90 to ww.dbm.co.ek to Order the dvd singie for 99p oniy' and you could be sent a signed copy
'cx'ét-r (new. 1/..."2/ M was: vac." ET. ’3
www.elbow.co.uk
19 Feb-4 Mar 2004 THE LIST 105
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