Geek Syndicate Issue 7 | Page 108

Geek Syndicate COMIC REVIEW IT CAME! Issue #001 Dan Boultwood has been a busy artist over the years, working with some talented writers. With It Came!, he goes it alone in a project that takes us back to the golden era of Sci Fi. I myself love the old black and white films of the 1950s and have made it my mission to own and watch everything that came out during that decade. What Dan is doing here is given us a chance to see a “missing” tale from the period. Most of the films back then were about aliens or monsters from the deep but here we get a giant robot. This immediately brought one of my favourite films to mind - The Iron Giant, based on the Ted Hughes book and I was please to find out that Dan also loved this film. We were on the same page which boded very well for It Came! Dan has a very distinct art style and here he brings something recognisable but also something new, giving It Came! a unique style that works. It helps put you in the yarn and the right frame of mind. The style of the Robot is detailed yet simplistic in design which is both enjoyable but also gives you a feeling of dread that something more dangerous lurks underneath that clean exterior. The art of the human characters is just pure fun and I know that Dan changed his style from issue 1 to issue 4 so look out for that change. The story is quick to get going and within the first issue we go from introducing the various characters to being in full attack mode. Knowing this is a limited series of 4 issues is also a blessing because you know the end is in sight and things will only get worse for our main “leads” as the next issue arrives. The comic is marketed and written as a parody of a film – Dan isn’t the writer / artist, he’s the Writer / Director / Producer. The main stars of this “film” are (fictional!) actors Dick Claymore and Fanny Flaunders who play Dr. Boy Brett and Doris Night respectively both of whom are your typical personas of nineteen fifties America but in England and this is what makes this a pleasure to read. All of our memories of the black and white B movies are set in America but Mr Boultwood wanted none of that and placed our tell of GRURK the giant robot firmly in the land of beer and cricket. This means that we see all types of British humour and stereotypes that will make you smile and chuckle at every turn. Dan has also hidden some very amusing Easter eggs in the series so make sure you read everything and look at the various signs and pub names. The dialogue is smart, witty and completely in tune with its setting and you get the impression that Dan has sat and watched every single alien invasion movie made just so he could make one better and funnier. The men are chauvinistic but loveable and the women are curvy and sassy yet also provide the key to success in other ways. The book also includes adverts that Dan has created that just shows how much extra he wanted to make this series authentic. There will also be some surprises for future issues like a cutaway diagram of the robot which will have you remembering when you read the Eagle or stuck the poster on your bedroom wall. No? Ok just me then. Titan are taking this series and running it with some cool ideas like the trailer available on youtube. Pure genius if you ask me. Image © Titan Comics, 2013 Writer: Dan Boultwood Artist: Dan Boultwood Publisher: Titan Comics Witness a very British invasion! Fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000 will love this hilarious Bmovie romp, a knowing throwback to the heyday of low-budget SF cinema – in comic book form! In IT CAME!, ‘director’ Dan Boultwood has unearthed a lost classic from the forgotten Pinetree Studios. An enormous alien robot lays waste to the English countryside, annihilating bunting, villages and diagonally-sliced sandwiches alike! Only the pipe-chomping space scientist Dr. Boy Brett and his assistant Doris Night (a lady) stand a chance of stopping it from marching all the way to London but can they possibly escape the grasp of GRURK and get the might of the British Army on their side?! Keep your upper lips stiff, your ties immaculately knotted, and your notions of gender equality dialled back sixty years – for the sake of the planet! 108 Christophe Montoya Rating GGGGG