Boo Koo #2
Boo Koo © Geoff Coupland
| Boo Koo #2 Geoffrey Coupland |
| Links: Zeel Industies |
Geoffrey Coupland could well be a big new fish in the pond of the UK comics scene and this bold new series could be his big splash. His vivid, naive style, his audaciously rule-bending approach to storytelling, and his dark, fable-like tales are well worth checking out.
Issue 2 gives us an issue-sized chunk of the title story, putting back-ups Sally Cukor and Floating Monkey Head on hold. This is both good and bad. Developments in this installment are perhaps big enough to deserve the promotion However a nice feature of #1 was the contrast in style between the scratchy, frenetic Boo and Koo and the slower-paced bold painterly strokes in the more meditative Sally Cukor.
In Boo and Koo Coupland continues to put his cutie-bunnie leads through as many diabolic experiments as his villains. Actually I don't think I could describe what's going on here if I tried so I won't. As Coupland says himself, "all rational thought shuffles into a corner and hides under its grubby duvet." But suffice to say as the dream logic takes over In an ever-more-sinister succession of events, there's not one 'normal' scene in the comic; even a tiny link between incidents is given its own memorability.
Better still, this is not weirdness for it's own sake, but part of Coupland's grand scheme.
There's a significant moment where KOO tries to rescue BOO, but is nearly tempted away from his mission by a cunningly-placed 'coolarino' collection of Space Battles figurines.
Beneath the cynicism and modernity lies an almost medieval morality tale. One warning, however. Coupland also contributes a centre-spread urgently advising readers to "Abandon London Now!" and escape to a golden land. Now this issue's dated '97 and I haven't seen a third issue, begging the question - has Coupland abandoned comics now? Over the years we've temporarily attracted so many talents to our medium, only to lose them again when they realise the difficulty of finding an audience (let alone gold!) Whichever way, make sure you get these issues to see a top talent at work!
Gavin Burrows
| Boo Koo #2: 32 A4 pages, 2 colour card cover. | Received at ZUM! HQ: 1997 (still available - hint, hint) |
£3 +P+P?. | Geoffrey Coupland, Zeel Industries, 24 Rivington St, Shoreditch, London, EC2A 3DU. |