1987-88 (collected 1989) / Ecomics / 127 pages / UK
***
Now I remember why I stopped reading these. The perpetual repetition is part of the joke, but it's a slog when you're reading a year's worth of strips back to back. By this point, it was only the (seeming) one-off strips that kept me going, the more pointless the better – Hugh Phamism, Jelly Head, Rubber Johnny, Norman's Knob, Careless McKenzie, Suicidal Syd, Luke O'Like, Dai O'Rea, Captain Magnetic ('He Doesn't Attract Ferrous Metals At All!'), Clarence Coxes ('He Puts Used Matches Back in the Boxes'), etc etc.
Fave: Hooray Henry
1998 / Ebook / 32 pages / Australia
***
A colonial parable for kids to grow up with and gradually lose their innocence to, provided they don't find it as off-puttingly grim and ugly as I did and would actually want to read through it again for reasons other than vague ancestral penitence.
Rhys Hughes, Link Arms with Toads!
1994-2011 (collected 2011) / Ebook / 286 pages / UK****
Intended as a sort of self-titled showcase of the author's non-patented, not-totally-clear 'Romanti-Cynical' style, this wasn't one of my favourite collections, and far from his funniest, but there's a vaguely Gothic consistency I appreciated. It's also impressive how he keeps getting his past selves to write new stories, how deep is that well?
Fave: 'Castle Cesare'
2014 / Ebook / 152 pages / Canada
****
A nostalgic celebration and brief history of a Frank Miller parody that got a bit out of hand, with thoughtful analysis of why the Heroes in a Half Shell™ were a cultural force for good. Donatello's his favourite, so you know he's talking sense.
2019 / Ebook / 219 pages / UK
***
The hook of a child's certain death, with plenty of dramatic teases along the way, makes this the most unpleasant variation on the pseudonymous author's customary folk horror chords, as well as the slightest. It also feels the most like a film in waiting, if that sounds like the sort of thing you'd enjoy watching.
