Doctor Who’s 15th season has reached its penultimate episode with “Wish World”, which sees the whole of Earth trapped in an alternative reality.
John Smith lives happily with his wife Belinda and daughter Poppy, and works for the Unified National Insurance Team. But this world isn’t quite what it seems: mugs slip off tables when people experience moments of doubt, disabled people are forced to live in hiding, and a young blonde woman tells John that he is really called The Doctor.
“The Interstellar Song Contest” ended with a massive cliffhanger, showing the TARDIS exploding with The Doctor and Belinda inside. It made for an intriguing situation, and the whole of Earth find itself in a similar scenario to Donna Noble in “Forest of the Dead” where she was trapped in a dream world. The Doctor got to live in suburban bliss, and there was a dark underbelly to this world.
“Wish World” tied back to “Lucky Day.” Mrs. Flood recruited Conrad Clark at the end of “Lucky Day” and the dystopia world was based on his fantasies. He was already shown to be a narcissist who wanted to manipulate reality through his conspiracy theory podcast. The new world was based on his fantasy, as he acted like a Big Brother-like figure who read Harry Potter inspired stories to the masses. He was someone who had traditional outlook on life.
The world that the Doctor and his allies ended up inhabiting was a retro one. Men wore pin-striped suits and went to work, and women wore dresses and stayed home. This illusion was under threat when someone said something that broke the norms of society, like when The Doctor made a comment that a man was good-looking. The episode felt like a mix of The Matrix and We Happy Few. Like The Matrix, characters began to question the world they were living in, and it felt a bit like the first Matrix, where people rejected it because it was too perfect. We Happy Few was set in a retro-futuristic version of Britain where people lived in a drug-induced trance, and the people who rejected the society were ostracized.
“The Interstellar Song Contest” also revealed Mrs. Flood’s true identity. She was actually The Rani and bi-generated, just like The Doctor in “The Giggle.” Archie Panjabi took on the role of The Rani, and she was having fun as the villain. Her first appearance in the episode involved her abducting a baby like she was in a Grimm’s Fairytale. She had presence and a dominating presence, as shown with her treatment of Mrs. Flood. The Rani monologued and explained a lot but Panjabi made the most of the material. The Rani was a theatrical, pantomime villain, something Doctor Who has had plenty of. She has dastardly grant ambitions which will be interesting to see where the second part takes it.
For people who enjoy viewing alternative world episodes, “Wish World” was intriguing and it was bolder than some of the other episodes in Series 15.
ALIENATED #3hits the internet June 10th, but thanks to Comixology Originals, Monkeys Fighting Robots has an exclusive five-page preview for you.
About issue #3:
Alien continues to examine our strange physics. Lily and Winter prepare for their graduation. Winter further expresses his crush on Kaiden. TJ and his lady love, Rose, crave to be together despite the hindrance that faces them. Frank plots to expose Alien, but how?
The series is by writer/colorist/letterer Taki Soma and artist John Broglia. The main cover is by Michael Avon Oeming.
Check out the ALIENATED #3 preview below:
Are you reading ALIENATED on Comixology? Sound off in the comments!
GODZILLA #1 from IDW hits your local comic book shop on July 23, but Monkeys Fighting Robots has the early review to help you decide if the King of Monsters is a must-buy or a hard-pass!
GODZILLA #1 is a team effort from the creative staff. Tim Seeley layers in a ton of story and characters to hook the reader. Nikola Čižmešija takes interesting angles and perspectives to convey emotion and action. The emotion in the eyes of the characters is next-level storytelling. Francesco Segala improves the story’s pace with his color choices, and one simple panel becomes a masterpiece because of Francesco’s work. Nathan Widick takes the cake with his letter work as he takes the FUN of reading a comic book and turns it up to eleven with his onomatopoeias.
Check out my full thoughts below.
About GODZILLA #1: THE KAI-SEI ERA, IDW’S NEW GODZILLA UNIVERSE, STARTS HERE!
In 1954, experimentation with a mysterious energy source known as Kai-Sei awakened Godzilla and a host of immortal kaiju. In the years that followed, humanity has been pummeled by near-constant monster attacks. While Japan has begun to treat the kaiju like natural disasters, understanding that their attempts to fight Godzilla only make the threat worse, the American G-Force is going to fight, fight, fight.
The Americans have just discovered the ultimate tool in the fight against kaiju: a young boy named Jacen with the power of Godzilla. Able to harness the mysterious Kai-Sei in the same vein as the King of the Monsters, this boy will either save the world… or bring about its doom.
Join Tim Seeley (GRAYSON, HACK/SLASH, LOCAL MAN) and Nikola Čižmešija (SWORD OF AZRAEL, BATMAN AND ROBIN) on the ride of a lifetime!
STAR WARS #2 hits your local comic book store on June 11th, but thanks to Marvel Comics, Monkeys Fighting Robots has an exclusive four-page preview for you!
About the issue: ACTION AND ADVENTURE CONTINUES IN THE POST-RETURN OF THE JEDI ERA!
What secret did the NAGAI PILOT tell LUKE SKYWALKER?
What is the CROWN OF VERITY?
What tragedy awaits Luke on the winter planet of GADRILIM?
The issue is by writer Alex Segura and artist Phil Noto, with letters by Clayton Cowles. The main cover is by Noto.
Check out our STAR WARS #2 preview below:
Are you reading the new volume of Marvel’s STAR WARS? Sound off in the comments!
DEATH OF THE SILVER SURFER #1 hits your local comic book store on June 11th, but thanks to Marvel Comics, Monkeys Fighting Robots has an exclusive five-page preview for you!
About the issue: SILVER SURFER’S FINAL VOYAGE?!
The SILVER SURFER returns to defend a war-ravaged Earth, but Norrin has a galaxy-sized target on his back. A new enemy will stop at nothing to steal away everything the Surfer is or ever will be. A single human life may be all that decides the Surfer’s salvation…or damnation. If the Surfer falls, who then wields the awesome Power Cosmic? And what of the Surfer’s old master, Galactus, Devourer of Worlds?!
Guest-starring: The Fantastic Four! GREG PAK (PLANET HULK, DARTH VADER) pens the Sentinel of the Spaceway’s next tragic epic with superstar illustrator SUMIT KUMAR (WEB OF SPIDER-VERSE, SPIDER-MAN: BLACK SUIT & BLOOD)!
The issue is by writer Greg Pak and artist Sumit Kumar, with colors by Frank D’Armata, and letters by Joe Sabino. The main cover is by Dike Ruan.
Check out our DEATH OF THE SILVER SURFER #1 preview below:
Are you excited for DEATH OF THE SILVER SURFER? Sound off in the comments!
Who Killed Nessie?
Book Cover Art work by Rachael Smith
Credit: Avery Hill
Starting out life as a project on Zoop, Who Killed Nessie?, a graphic novel written by Paul Cornell and illustrated by Rachael Smith, will be released through book stores by Avery Hill Publishing in September 2025. Following the story of Lyndsay Grockle on her first day managing a hotel, the graphic novel features a host of enchanting characters wrapped up in a mystical murder mystery. It is a comedic adventure of self-discovery, amateur crime investigation, and the most wonderful character design. Get used to the word “enchanting,” for I will be using it a lot.
Who Killed Nessie? “There’s Been A Murder!” Credit: Avery Hill
Paul Cornell describes Who Killed Nessie? as “a silly comedy with a heart,” which is underselling the book by a long way. The comic comes out of a long tradition of British and European single-volume humour books that are more cartoony in aesthetic, and are steeped in various forms of comedy; visual gags, punning speech, and eye-rolling one liners all have a home in this book. Taking notes from the British children’s comics such as the Beano and Dandy, and the French/Belgium Asterix style bande dessinée, WKN? rolls along at a fast pace, barely allowing the jokes to sink in before moving on to new scenes. The humour is important, but is a means to an end rather than the purpose of the prose. The ridiculousness of the situation that the main character finds herself in breeds the comedic atmosphere, however the narrative is quite serious underneath. There has been a murder, after all.
The script is peppered with witticisms and clever word play, something that you would expect from the talented pen of Paul Cornell. If you aren’t a fan of his work, you will be by the end of this 100-page book. Cornell’s strength is creating engaging characters quickly and effortlessly. By that, I mean that you get several pages into one of his comics and suddenly realise you care about what happens to his central characters. You can’t pinpoint the exact moment he got you hooked, you just realise that you are hooked. Then, putting down the comic becomes almost impossible. The characters in WKN? are adorable, even the ones filled with rage like the Skunk Ape, or the physically unpleasant ones like the poor Death Worm. Part of the attraction is Rachael Smith’s gorgeous artwork, but Cornell is able to give the endless list of mythical creatures individual voices and layers of character, which is impressive for a mere 100-page comic with such a large cast.
Who Killed Nessie? Interior Art Credit: Avery Hill
WKN? has a single human central character in the form of Lyndsay, and a magical guide through the story in the form of the Beast of Bodmin Moor (Bob for short), a cute cat who loves the sound of his own voice. By using this adorable guide, Cornell (and by extension Smith) is able to introduce the rest of the cast seamlessly into the narrative without having to break the pacing of the main plot to find ways to explain who, and what, everyone is. It’s a classic murder mystery technique that the creators employ. In fact, switch out the hall of creatures for people in 1920s high fashion, and you’ve got an Agatha Christie mystery in your hands.
I’ve somehow managed to get halfway through this review without really discussing Smith’s artwork, which is a crime on my part. The art defines this comic. The cartoon style not only draws links to the history of comics, but is also very inviting for non-traditional comics readers. This book isn’t aimed at the Wednesday Warriors who engorge themselves on superheroes week in and week out. It has a visual appeal to younger readers, as well as those people who grew up reading children’s comics but who stopped reading as they grew older, and those people looking for something new and different. Rachael Smith has a following who will know what to expect from her work, but a quick flick through this book will give you a good idea what you are getting into. And then you’ll be even more surprised when you discover the multiple layers in the narrative and the characters.
I don’t want to discuss the plot very much, it is always better to discover that for yourself, but WKN? goes much deeper than a standard British humour comic. The whimsical and enchanting character design is often misleading as the characters represented are as complex as any serious television drama or noir novel. Smith manipulates the reader’s interpretation of the characters by physicality alone, and this leans heavily into an underlying element of this book. WKN? is both an enchanting murder mystery, but also a journey of self acceptance. Lyndsay is forced to face her past relationship, which in turn allows her to discover who she really is. Meanwhile, the outlandish mythical beasts themselves are forced to address problems of identity and acceptance. This comic speaks to those who consider themselves outsiders in society; it shines a light on difference and says “you are not that different.” Smith is able to represent the expected aesthetic in a comical way, while slowly subverting this throughout the pages by contrasting character types and appearances. How cute is that unicorn on her first appearance? How cute is she later, after her judgemental rantings?
Who Killed Nessie? Interior Art Credit: Avery Hill
There is so much to love about Who Killed Nessie? The elements of whimsical artwork are subverted by the majesty of complex narratives but that doesn’t mean that readers turning up for the whimsy are abandoned half way through. The book is enchanting, and no matter what level you want to read at, it offers satisfaction to everyone, and is a true all-ages book because of this. The style and presentation takes its lead from classic humour comics, but the narrative is very modern, steeped in metaphor, and cleverly written so that each reader will get something different from it. The murder mystery is central to the book but at its heart, this book is really asking, who are you? And do people see you for who you really are?
Who Killed Nessie? Interior Art Credit: Avery Hill
Who Killed Nessie? is a magnificent read and deserves to be brought to a larger audience through Avery Hills book distribution. It contains some of Rachael Smith’s best work to date, and this enhances the wonderful story written by Paul Cornell. It belongs in a book shop and, more importantly, it belongs on your bookshelf.
And did I say it is enchanting? I think I may have mentioned it.
Welcome to Eye Sea Three, where we discuss art, comics, and the indie scene. This week, Matt Sardo and cartoonist Jamie Jones discuss the best pages from the acclaimed series, DEADLY GLASS.
About DEADLY GLASS: It’s 1987. Marcus Lopez hates school. His grades suck. He has no money. The jocks are hassling his friends. He can’t focus in class, thanks to his mind constantly drifting to the stunning girl in the front row and the Dag Nasty show he has tickets to. But the jocks are the children of Joseph Stalin’s top assassin, the teachers are members of an ancient league of assassins, the class he’s failing is ‘Dismemberment 101,’ and his crush, a member of the most notorious crime syndicate in Japan, has a double-digit body count. Welcome to the most brutal high school on Earth, where the world’s top crime families send the next generation of assassins to be trained. Murder is an art. Killing is a craft. At King’s Dominion High School for the Deadly Arts, the dagger in your back isn’t always metaphorical, nor is your fellow classmates’ poison. Join writer RICK REMENDER with rising star WESLEY CRAIG (Batman) and legendary colorist LEE LOUGHRIDGE (Fear Agent) to reminisce about the mid-1980s underground through the eyes of the most damaged and dangerous teenagers on Earth.
Rus Wooton provided letter work for the series that ran for 56 issues.
HOSTS:
Jamie Jones (@artofjamiejones)
Jamie Jones is a cartoonist and illustrator living in Savannah, GA. Previous works include QUARTER KILLER with writers Danny Lore and Vita Ayala (Comixology Originals), KICKING ICE written by Stephanie Phillips (Ominous Press), and TALES OF MFR with Matt Sardo. Alongside his freelance work, Jamie has been self-publishing his pulp action-adventure comic, THE BABOON, and his new anthology magazine, SPAKOW! under his Bow Tie Press imprint.
Matt Sardo (@matthewsardo)
Matthew Sardo is a professional journalist and lifelong comics advocate. As the founder of Monkeys Fighting Robots and Indie Comics Creator Con (IC3), he champions independent voices in comics and pop culture. Now, as the Director of Digital Communications for Comic Art Fans and the Showrunner of IC3 New Haven, he’s part of a team with a shared vision to assist and enable everyone from the first-time art collector and early career artist to the most seasoned art collector, art dealer, and professional published artist.
IMPERIAL #1 (OF 4) hits your local comic book shop today! The first issue is a blockbuster comic that deserves your attention. It has a fantastic setup and glorious artwork. The series is written by JONATHAN HICKMAN with art by FEDERICO VICENTINI & IBAN COELLO, FEDERICO BLEE color work, and letters by CORY PETIT. The creative team is near perfect with this first issue of a tight four-issue series. It is always nice to be excited about a comic.
Check out my thoughts below:
About the series: A sweeping Marvel cosmic event! Imperial is a story of intrigue, mysteries and war, which takes place against the backdrop of the formation of new galactic order in the Marvel Universe. Featuring HULKS, BLACK PANTHERS, NOVAS, GUARDIANS and COSMIC KINGS and QUEENS. It’s the must-read book of the summer!
From writer Jude Ellison S. Doyle and artist Lisandro Estherren comes a dark piece of religious horror in Be Not Afraid #1. Featuring colors by Francesco Segala and lettering by Simon Bowland, this opening issue brings readers along on the start of a journey of holy mystery and dread. Feeling like a mix of The Omen and Mike Carey’s run on Lucifer, this comic sets up a phenomenally tense piece of atmosphere while giving readers just enough information to keep the story compelling while still withholding larger details. Be Not Afraid is one of the most promising horror comic’s of the year so far.
“Cora Rehms lived the isolated life of a simple farm girl until one fateful summer day, prophetic visions brought her a visitor made of pure light… an angel. In the aftermath, Cora gave birth to a child, a Nephilim: the offspring of an angel and a human woman, seemingly imbued with evil itself. 17 years later, that child’s cherubic appearance can no longer hide his monstrous nature. Frogs boil in their skins as he passes. Crops rot. The townspeople live in fear, knowing that atrocities follow closely behind him. Now, on the eve of his 18th birthday, Cora receives a new vision… Heaven itself has called upon her to destroy the abomination born of her own flesh and blood.”
Writing & Plot
Jude Doyle drops us into a tale of tense dread and woe right at the start of Be Not Afraid #1. In a work of grim religious horror, he turns the notion of immaculate conception on its head by producing a child straight from hell. Every sequence with this child is deeply uncomfortable, increasingly so as we spend more time with him and discover his effect on the world around him. The small town this boy and his mother live in is cursed, and that terror seeps in to every page. Doyle’s careful choices with how he progresses the story increases the tension in the comic due to how little we know as we begin. There’s little by way of exposition, but we put together the larger truth of the story by the interactions between characters and specifically how the boy affects the world and people around him. The result of this storytelling approach makes every moment feel surprising and disturbing. Thematically, horror stories regarding religion and the subversion of childbirth have always been deeply unsettling depending on how they’re told – and this one is off to a fantastic start. I can’t wait to see Doyle’s overall plans with the rest of this series.
Art Direction
While Doyle’s script pulls us in to this fascinating story, it’s Lisandro Estherren’s haunting visual work that makes Be Not Afraid #1 such a haunting story. The Redneck artist’s unique approach to character design and direction makes every sequence in this issue feel memorable. His heavily shaded lines and sort of forced-perspective shots give certain characters a sort of uneasy sense whenever we see them on the page – and this goes especially for the cursed buy the story mostly follows. Few silhouettes bring the sense of unease that the wide-brim hat preacher outfit does in this comic, and Estherren really utilizes that design. The alien appearance of a presence that – at least in certain more traditional circles – is supposed to bring comfort just adds to the subversive feeling of horror this comic offers. Every panel in Be Not Afraid feels at best like a liminal space of unease, and at worst like a blood-filled nightmare. Estherren’s pencils are some of the most suited for the horror genre in contemporary comics. His work here is brought to life by Francesco Segala’s color art, which imbues every page with a gloomy and unsettling color palette that blends in perfectly with Estherren’s chaotic line work. Every page looks as though it has a haze of dust and corrosion over the scenery, adding to the foreboding sense we get from the characters. Simon Bowland’s lettering adds a clever sense of readability to the experience as well, using his distinct style and reflexive dialogue-work in the absence of any SFX letters. Overall, Be Not Afraid is off to a brilliantly unsettling start in the visual storytelling department.
Verdict
Be Not Afraid #1 is a gripping, unsettling opening chapter to this religious horror series. Jude Doyle’s script leads readers into a haunting world of the unholy, letting events and terrors wash over us as we figure out why these demented events are happening. The visuals from Lisandro Estherren and Francesco Segala are atmospherically rich and often disturbing, perfectly capturing the tone of this horror comic. Be sure to grab this new release when it hits shelves on June 4th!
Animated shorts have always been the closest bedfellow to the comics medium. From adaptations in the form of anime, to Western comic-book superhero cartoons, this fact has been apparent in the mainstream for many years. This fact shines brightest, however, when animators are given the freedom to use their visual storytelling craft to make something truly unique to the medium they work within. “400 Boys” from the fourth season of Netflix anthology series Love, Death & Robots, is a prime example of this fact. Crafted by Passion Animation and based on the Marc Laidlaw short story of the same name, “400 Boys” is a masterclass of both short-from visual storytelling and the art of animation. A post-apocalyptic blend of British hip-hop and insane myth-making, tied together by an astonishing visual style, makes “400 Boys” a feast of storytelling ability and one of the best pieces Love, Death & Robots has in its stable.
Tim Miller’s adapted script maintains the narrative spirit of Laidlaw’s original story while letting Passion Animation do the majority of the legwork. It’s not surprising that this story is written by the same person who wrote the stories of Half Life and its sequel. 400 Boys throws its audience into the middle of this shattered world, joining the cast of characters with little to no explanation as to what has happened. The characters themselves are straight out of The Warriors, with the main cast joined by a myriad of other gangs living in the ruins of a great city. Every character in the main crew feels memorable due to specific personality and ability details (Crybaby is in a constant state of panic, Jade can’t speak and uses sign language) as well as individually unique designs. One of the fastest ways to get the feel of a world in a story is through dialogue, and 400 Boys really delivers here. Unique slang in sci-fi stories can often come off as a bit corny, but it feels so authentically cool due to the overall tone of the episode. The delivery from the likes of John Boyega, Ed Skrein, and Rahul Kohli makes the dialogue flow with the vibe of the animation, while fitting in with all of the influences that make “400 Boys” work. Speaking of voice work, there’s an element that animation has on its side that comics don’t – audio. Aside from the great voice acting and action SFX, “400 Boys” also utilizes music in an amazing way. I won’t spoil much, but there’s this incredible boom-bap hip-hop beat drop right before a big battle that had me absolutely hyped. Just incredible direction overall in terms of using sound.
Passion Animation and storyboard artist Robert Valley have previously produced some of the best work featured in Love, Death & Robots, and they continue their streak with “400 Boys.” Coming off of “Zima Blue” and “Ice” in prior seasons, anyone who has seen Passion’s work knew they were in for a treat when their unmistakable style flashed upon the screen this time around. Valley & Co.’s hyper-vivid use of color and shadow makes every scene pop and an unexpected layer of dimension is certain moments. Their digital approach to 2D animation is proof that hand drawn isn’t necessarily always better provided the right artists are on hand. While every sequence is memorable, a couple favorites that stand out include the hypnotic, dreamlike scene where the Brothers speak with the boss of the Galrogs (an all-women group of hockey stick-wielding roller skaters) and of course the reveal of the hyper-destructive 400 Boys themselves. The smooth movement of the actual animation is also a marvel, feeling like the art of an incredibly well-crafted original graphic novel come to life.
To be perfectly honest, this season of Love, Death & Robots isn’t up to part with the prior seasons. None of the shorts are “bad” per se, most of them just don’t compare to the overall level of both animation and storytelling quality the best seasons have come up with. “400 Boys” just happens to be the season’s saving grace, making for not just easily the best episode in this collection, but one of the best animated shorts in the whole series. Roberst Valley and his team at Passion Animation take the story concept created by Marc Laidlaw & adapted by Tim Miller and create one of the most memorable, stylistically stunning pieces of visual storytelling of the last several years. “400 Boys” feels like an incredible comic story come to life, but with the power of animation and music on its side.
