Robots Published by: Accent
UK Review By: Jeff Marsick
Anthologies are
tough to grade. Sure, they’re the box of chocolates that Forrest pithied about,
but you’re pretty much guaranteed to get a handful of submissions that are
pretty pictures with no story, or a solid story decapitated by horrendous
artwork, or a tiny minority like chase cards from a Topps set that are actually
good reads and solid artwork. All of those are then awash in a sea of
underachievement where nothing at all works and your cockatiel wouldn’t deign to
have it line the bottom of its cage. Just as I’m convinced that there hasn’t
been a book published that doesn’t contain at least one typo, I’m also a firm
believer that an anthology is a success if at least 51% of the book is composed
of winners. Hey, if it works for hedge funds, it should work here as well,
right?
Following that logic, Robots by Accent UK should
be on everyone’s bookshelf. Mind you, this isn’t some high-falutin’ anthology
like those Flight books, nor is it even in full color like them
Popgun books. It feels like a working-man’s anthology.
Forty-two stories, probably around four hundred pages, all about robots. Nice
robots, bad robots, evil robots, robots who contemplate the whys and wherefores
of their existence. Stories that explore the horrors and sins of suckling from
the teat of technology, as well as the benefits and bonuses of having tinmen and
women around. Funny, droll, campy, cartoony, serious (like the way-awesome
“Tiger Tiger” by Johnson and Brown)...tt’s all-you-can-eat at the Robot
Sizzler.
Each story runs two to eight pages, so the painful ones don’t
last too long yet the great ones don’t last long enough. I’d love to bore you
for pages and pages dissecting them all, but that would do a disservice to you,
the reader, who would get more from just going out and picking it up. I will
tell you this, however: [b]Robots[/] is a better anthology than Image’s
Popgun.
You can buy this and more from Accent UK’s
website (www.AccentUKComics.com) or
from Amazon. I think this is the best anthology the company has put out in a
while, even better than their Zombies anthology. If you like
Robots, then you should also order their next effort,
Western (I think the name speaks for itself as to what the
topic is going to be), which should be due out in the US any week now.
The problem with anthologies is that they can, by their very
nature, be something of a mixed bag. It’s arguable that, as a
result of this, the best way to organise an anthology of work by
different writers and artists, is to pick a theme. The British
anthology comic 2000AD, to pluck a name at random, has
survived since its launch in 1977 by treading a fairly safe line
through sci-fi adventure stories, and you can’t really argue with
that.
With
Robots, Accent UK has created a self-contained book-sized
anthology, sensibly picking a single theme. This is no mixed bag of
stories though – a vast swathe of them are so far above average,
you can’t help but wonder how the editors have managed to scramble
such talent. The answer, quite possibly, is that they’re merely
giving them a break, selecting from the cream of British
up-and-comers (as well as a few bigger names, attracted by the sheer
unassailable quality these guys are managing) and giving them a more
mainstream voice.
It works an absolute treat. The longest story is about eight
pages so even if you don’t like something, which I found to be
extraordinarily rare in this collection, you’ll be on to the next
before you know it. Most of the stories, however, will leave you
itching for more.
So while buying an anthology is always a bit of a punt, this is
one of the safest bets we’ve seen, presuming you like robots of
course. Give it a try – I’m sure that this won’t be the last
time you’ll be reading comics by some of the wonderful talents
contained within Robots’ pages.
I thought I would review the comics I enjoyed at this years
Bristol Comics Expo. Before I start i'll just say 'who am i to
review things?' Well i'm going to do it anyhow as I don't think
there are enough reviews around these days. The first comic I'm
going to review is-
ROBOTS
Hot on the heels of the great Zombies Anthology we get Robots
And anyone who has read and enjoyed Zombies is going to read and enjoy this.
OK some of the art is a bit shabby in places, but the good stuff outweighs this, one of my customers put it very nicely when he said “you can
see that they are learning their trade, but that’s OK because it’s a bloody good read” Thanks Steve I couldn’t have put it better myself.
With great scripts like Divinity Existence and Toast: by Benjamin Dickson.
Robot: by Kieron Gillan and Andy Bloor.
Robot Interviews, Man Made, and What is Life, how can you not want to read this
So is it better than Zombies? Close, very close, maybe its because I read Zombies first that I prefer it, but having said that its still a very very very good little
independent title and deserves a place on your bookshelf nestled next to both Zombies and Wolfmen (which is still my favourite) oh and leave a bit of space for WESTERN and WOLFMEN II,
And while its on my mind, I wouldn’t be ashamed to put my copy of the Eleventh Hour next to these.
Another fine publication to fire your imagination.
It gets a very nice and well deserved 8.9/10.
I thought I would review the comics I enjoyed at this years
Bristol Comics Expo. Before I start i'll just say 'who am i to
review things?' Well i'm going to do it anyhow as I don't think
there are enough reviews around these days. The first comic I'm
going to review is-
ROBOTS the 2008 Accent UK Anthology This is my favourite yet of the Accent anthologies, last
years was good but I am just very bored with zombies. It is very
good value at £8 at the expo, its very long and professional
looking. I'll just go through and mention some of the stories I
liked best. I really liked the art on Kingdom, the first story,
especially the robot. David Baillie did interviews again, like in
Zombies, and they were all funny one page stories, especially the
one with a robot getting old. I was very keen on the art in
'Divinity Existence and Toast' as well by Benjamin Dickson. 'The
Creator' by Tony Hitchman & Leonie O'Moore was a good robot spin
on that Lovecraft story - 'The Outsider'. Other stories I enjoyed
were 'Made Men' and 'Null and Void'.
Review:
I was one of the lucky ones to buy a copy of this at Bristol for a very nice
price of £8. Trust this is a bargain for near enough 200 pages of quality
printing. The hard part of doing this review is mentioning everyone’s work,
which will be impossible on my ikle Blog so I will just review my favourite
comics in here. First up is…
Ned Iudd’s Museum – by Jim Thompson & Shaun
Mooney
One of the final comics in the anthology is a marvel of story telling with
regards man’s ongoing quest to get machines to do all their shit for them. The
comic revolves around Ned Iudd who is a curator at a museum that deals in old
robots from years gone by. He narrates a story about how machines became the
dominant intelligence on Earth as man passed over more and more responsibilities
to the machines. It’s a very dark tale and the artwork by Shaun matches
brilliantly to the feel of the story.
Divinity, Existence and Toast – by Benjamin
Dickson
This is one of the better comics from an artistic point of view (well more to
the style I like should I say). The comic is about a woman who buys a robotic
toaster that wakes up one morning to decide that it is in fact God. The humour
comes from the relationship of the woman and the ego mad toaster and makes a
very enjoyable section in the anthology.
The Creator – by Tony Hitchman & Leonie
O’Moore
Not great art wise but a cracking read with an excellent twist at the end.
Made Men – by Jay Eales & Charley Spencer
For some reason this reminds me very much of a Garth Ennis comic. Very dark and
violent and with a hero who is a complete bastard but you can’t help but love.
Teruo – by Paul Bowles & Marleen Lowe
A story based on a gangsters’ moll and a Ronin robot samurai that is charged
to look after her. Very good artwork with hints of Tim Sale about. The
characters are nothing new but you feel for them and especially the lead female
character.
…all in all ‘Robots’ is an excellent read and I’d recommend it to anyone
With
Robots, Accent UK has created a self-contained book-sized
anthology, sensibly picking a single theme. This is no mixed bag of
stories though – a vast swathe of them are so far above average,
you can’t help but wonder how the editors have managed to scramble
such talent. The answer, quite possibly, is that they’re merely
giving them a break, selecting from the cream of British
up-and-comers (as well as a few bigger names, attracted by the sheer
unassailable quality these guys are managing) and giving them a more
mainstream voice.