Geek of Oz

Winter City is great, really great. This is the kind of indie comic book that leaves you wondering "why the hell isn't this being published by the big guys?". Initially I wondered if the quality would slip after the first issue where first impressions can make or break a series, especially an indie one. Thankfully, it actually goes from strength to strength.

Today I have the pleasure of speaking to writer Tom Taylor and artist James Brouwer, creators of my favourite book of recent time , The Deep: Here be Dragons.  In case you haven't heard, The Deep: Here be Dragons is the Aurealis award winning graphic novel from Aussie duo, Tom Taylor and James Brouwer, and the patriotic streak doesn't end there. This book is beautifully presented by the good folks at the independent Aussie comics company, Gestalt. Follow on after the jump and not only will you get an interview with some of Australia's best and brightest but you will get a look at some interior art and an EXCLUSIVE look at an all new piece of art from the forthcoming VOLUME 2, The Vanishing Island. Intriguing?

It is unreasonable and entirely unfair to review an independent comic book under the same conditions as one that was published by the big guys. Sure, the indie book will be less polished and probably of a lower quality in terms of packaging, but what you do get is so much more valuable. In an independent, creator-owned comic book, you get the true story that the creator wishes to tell, the story that has been mulling around in their head for years before finally oozing out of the nearest orifice, transforming into a beginning, middle and an end. Eric Orchard is Marrowbones and Marrowbones he. He is the man who does the scratchy drawings that are cute and a tad spooky, until you look at them for too long and they become menacing, threatening. On the surface of it, Eric Orchard's Marrowbones is a simple story about a young girl who works in a strange inn. Of course, in having the story introduced by a mechanical skeleton we are given fair warning as to what lunacy lies ben...

Every now and then I receive an email out of the blue asking if I would like to review a comic, generally independent comics, and generally titles that are brimming with heart. Not heart in the sense that they are touchy feely but heart in the sense that you can almost feel the blood, sweat and sleepless nights that these creators have put on the page, so is the feeling that I get from Killeroo: Gangwar.

From the mind of Marc Jackson, an award winning* cartoonist, comes Man From Space . The "*" following the "award winning" statement is an absolute must as without it, people would be at risk of believing it. Alternatively you could read said statement, not believe it, yet still find yourself pondering if there was something that you missed... something that required a higher level of brain function to properly receive and digest this piece of high art. In short, you don't and you didn't.

American Dark Age by writer Jean Michel and artist Jacqueline Taylor is the first release from New York based independent publisher, Megabrain Comics. Great art? Check. Intriguing storyline? Check. Pretty rock chick with a bad attitude and a broad sword? Check, one, two!