Comics Unlimited #4 (Out Now!)

 

The latest issue of the British comics journal Comics Unlimited has been released and is available via Amazon. The magazine is written and produced to it's usual high standard & contains a range of features across it's 100 pages that should appeal to a wide range of fans.

Starting with a tribute to Joe Sinnot a man who inked more issues of the classic Lee/Kirby run of the Fantastic Four than any other by Marvel artist John Floyd. There's plenty to say on that project with plenty of illustrations mainly of the Thing & the Silver Surfer but we are also reminded that back in the day artists were available for all sorts of comics as the illustration from a fifties romance comic shows!

Next up is part four of Tony Ingram's look at The Defenders and this was of interest as I am not familiar with this later period of history of the most famous non-team in comic-dom...as they say! Though did but #100 when I saw it in my local shop. Of course it's to be continued and there's plenty more ground to be covered..

There is the final part of an on-going interview with long time artist Tim Perkins whose current work World's End is illustrated a length and the two issues produced so far are on my "wish list" and hopefully I will reviewing these some time in the future.

There's an interesting comparative essay DC & Marvel focusing on Spider-Man and the Bat by Dean Plakas as he looks at the similarities at their heroes, villains and supporting casts. Killer Croc or the Lizard anyone?

However it's the essay on Jim Starlin's Dreadstar that interests me the most in this issue. I became an immediate fan when I started reading The price in the short lived but much loved Epic magazine, Marvel's attempt to compete with Heavy Metal. I have the first four black & white collections produced by Slave labour Graphics.

Besides being written and drawn by one of my all-time favourite artists Jim Starlin the amazing cosmic story has a fascinating publishing history having gone through several companies other than Marvel including Eclipse, First, Malibu & Image. We are told that Starlin has crowdfunded a new volume and that is something to look forward to.

Publisher Glen B Fleming has a feature on Thunderbirds from TV21 a favourite comic for many back in the sixties at the height of the popularity of Gerry Anderson's puppetry. In particular the art of Frank Bellamy on the strip is considered the best in the run of stories. 

Programmes that remain favourites to this day even though CGI has replaced the puppets. Sad really, much preferred the old school Brains!

There's also features on Thunderbolts, a Marvel comic I have never read and a look at Jack "King" Kirby who apparently walked out of art school because he couldn't draw the same head twice. Are we bothered? Nah Jacks one of the greatest. Without him the whole Marvel Universe would have been so different.

What comes next is a bit of fun as Dean Paklas looks at fan made productions. I have seen a couple and will use his article to explore You Tube to see what's out there but he recommends Batman: Dead End so I've pulled it from You Tube for your edification. Have fun watching. I did!

Dean then goes on to look at Asterix (he has been busy this issue) and I was surprised to find out that the diminutive French barbarian and his chums have outsold Tin Tin. I haven't read any of these books for years so when the bookshops reopen I may pick one of these comic albums as the French call them. 

The DC universe is a complicated place as it developed multiverses that were then all destroyed bar one and then returned with just the 52 alternates. Don't mention Hyper-time or Zero Hour for that matter. Yet despite all this DC probably has the most interesting shared univere to explore. Tony Ingram gives us his take. One that will be continued as he reaches 1986 in this first part. I look forward to more!

More Gerry Anderson on offer as Steve Laming looks at the short-lived Joe 90 comic which I sort of recall but didn't get n any regular basis back then. It contained a Star Trek strip which appeared before the TV show did. There's a couple of collected volumes of these, I have the first and they are shall we say an interesting take on the programme. Star Trek actually went on longer than the rest of the comic finally making it's last stand in the pages of Valiant!

In fact there's plenty more where this came from as features continue on Dynomutt, Doctor Doom,the short lived but terrific British comic Thunder more with the next issue due in march Comics Unlimited is proving itself to be an invaluable read for fans of the comic genre. 

And don't forget Hatch!

Rating 5 Stars: (Highly Recommended)

Order via Amazon.

(All previous issues and the Golden Age Special are still available)