Saturday, June 21, 2008

Previews.


To your left, there, is the ad for Septic Isle that will be in August's edition of Previews. (Click on it to embiggen.)

What the (nice) critics have said so far:

"Septic Isle, written by Winter and illustrated by Mick Trimble is that rarest of things – a modern spy story that doesn’t rip off James Bond and isn’t shit. Seriously, it’s right up there with Oni’s Queen and Country and TV’s The Sandbaggers, which in this genre is about the highest praise I could give. Winter’s pacey script is worthy of John le CarrĂ©, and Trimble’s moody black and white art is a fine compliment to the noir feel of the book. I can’t claim to be an expert, but I strongly suspect that the world of the modern spy is very much like that of Jacob Marley – tense, dirty, desperate and utterly unglamorous. Winter captures something of modern Britain, our fears and our paranoia in these fifty two pages. Had me gripped from the very first page, and I literally couldn’t put it down."

-Regie Rigby, Comics Bulletin.


"... this story has elements of the TV series/books featuring the character Callan [starring Edward Woodward] and even The Professionals.... I enjoyed the story and art and if you get a chance to buy a copy – DO!"

-Terry Hooper, ComicBitsOnline.

"The plotline is kind of James Bond mixed with Spooks, so plenty of brutality and terrorism, mixed with whimsy and one-liners. The writer and artist are clearly having a lot of fun with the genre....Gripping, but brutal stuff. Worthwhile spy thriller. 9 out of 10"

-Glenn Carter, Comics Village.

"A dark-edged, modern-day spy story for the War On Terror era Britain ...it does it very well, with a nice twist and lack of sentimentality or relying on Bond-style fantasy...Andy and Mick do something remarkable – they make you feel sympathy for a suicide bomber. And no, I don’t mean in a bleeding hearted liberal kind of way as in ‘oh it is an awful act but we should try to understand what desperation drives a person to do such a thing.’ No, this is a horrible, brutal act – not just the actual bombings themselves, but the reasons behind them...Spy versus rogue spy is always going to be entertaining as a thriller (especially arrogant young turk versus seasoned old school player), but Andy and Mick invest it with some realism in the Harry Palmer mould so it never becomes too ridiculous...Mick’s black and white art suits Andy’s story well – he doesn’t try to do ‘superhuman’ poses, going for a more realistic styling, while even large action scenes like a fight or a desperate escape from an exploding block of flats, while satisfying our guilty action desires still don’t cross the line into being too cartoony or over the top, showing commendable restraint because it would have been too easy to go down that route...
I can see fans of Queen & Country or even Shooting War picking this up and enjoying a story which eschews gee-whizz gadgets and heroics for a more realistic tale which avoids the stereotypical plot traps of many of its fellows.

-Joe Gordon, Forbidden Planet Blog Log

"Septic Isle is a masterful espionage thriller...Taut, topical and terrifying"

-Mike Carey, writer, Crossing Midnight, Hellblazer.

"Where's my copy, you fat, four-eyed git?"

-Marc Trimble, Crimewatch.

No comments: