Comic Scene #9 (December 2019)

The latest Comic Scene has big news for the next issue, with the release of Corker!, an all-ages comic that will be appearing as a pull-out supplement. It, and other promo material dominate the first few pages where we would normally find the editor's chatty introduction and a list of contents. Expecting to find them a few pages on, it was a surprise to find myself in the middle of a 2000AD timeline celebrating 42 years of the comic.

What do you buy for a comic on its 42nd anniversary? The general consensus is 'real estate'. Well, it got you four pages in the latest issue of Comic Scene... that'll have to do.

Chris Hallam, timeline compiler, also has a feature on Halo Jones and a third on Watchmen.

Irmantas Povilaika concludes his 2-part look at Ken Reid's strips for Scorcher & Score, an article full of detail that makes me hope that its author is busy on his promised Ken Reid biography.

Steve J. Ray interviews Andy Diggle, which has some interesting insights into his career and work, including a period as Tharg the Mighty and as a writer on 2000AD, and then in the USA on such diverse titles as Swamp Thing, Action Comics, Batman Confidential and Daredevil. By coincidence, I recently read and enjoyed his Green Arrow origin series. We will have to wait to see what else he has to say, as this is part one of a two-parter.

The centrepiece of this issue is the Hidden Histories project, a National Lottery Heritage Fund project that has resulted in a booklet entitled Great War Dundee. The project, organised through the University of Dundee's Scottish Centre for Comic Studies, involved collecting stories of Dundonians and their experiences during the First World War.

As well as local events, the booklet—included as a pull-out section with his issue of Comic Scene—has a new story by Pat Mills about a Black Watch soldier returning to Dundee. It was pencilled by Gary Welsh and inked by Phillip Vaughan. Other stories in the booklet are 'The Women's Toon' by Erin Keepers & Hailey Austin, with art by Anna Morozova, and 'Casualties of War' written by Calum Laird with art by Elliot Balson. The cover is by Ian Kennedy.

Russ Sheath interview Scott Ian and Kirk Hammett of metal bands Anthrax and Metallica, both avid comics fans. This, too, ends in the dreaded "to be continued next issue". I championed longer articles in the magazine in its early days and it seems churlish to complain, but you would think that, with 80 pages to play with, not every article would need to be split.

The issue wraps up with the usual excellent reviews section, which covers primarily independent comics but now with a European reviews section that was added recently.

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