The joys of being retired means being able to stay up late and get up late except for this morning as the post came extraordinarily early so coffee made, I was able to lie back down and read this splendid missing comic from the seventies, the much missed Blazer!
Of course there was no such thing but this kick-starter project from Steve MacManus of 2000AD fame along with various artists and the publishers of The 77 attempts to recreate the feel of a comic back in the year that I left school. Complete with editorial and fun pages including a "letters" section this comic delivered and more!
First up of the five stories was Godwin's Law a tale of of war, loss and revenge set in the Burmese Jungle with excellent art from Dan Cornell. A Baptist Minister and his "flock" (he refers to them as "sisters" but Nins they are not) have an accident as they flee the Japanese advance. Only two survive and Godwins revenge begins. This would make a great series!
Next up is Derringer and So'n about a Vietnam veteran Jack Derringer and his adopted son operating a protection service. All very seventies indeed..... though I'm not entirely sure the same can be said about the following feature Dominica's Ring which was shall we say a little "psychedelic" in presentation and like something out of a sixties Hammer Horror film. Not hat's a bad thing, far from it. This was my second favourite story in Blazer!
Now I don't normally read sports stories (and nearly didn't having spent my childhood avoiding football) but did give this a try. I'm not sure if drug stories were the "thing" most Roy of the Rovers fans would expect but it is what it is.
Finally we come to the rather tongue in cheek Sheriffs of Nottingham which clicked after a couple reads as the caffeine kicked in and the dialogue began to make sense. A comedy horror in the making.
Overall a nice package. Plenty of potential here but how the publishers will juggle Blazer! with their on-going The 77 which was delayed by this production remains to be seen. Would I come back for more? The answer is yes.
On sale at https://the77comic.bigcartel.com/ and https://getmycomics.com/The77Rating: 5 Stars
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