Cherona #7&8
Cherona #7© Richard J Smith
| Cherona #7&8 Richard J Smith |
| Links: Interview on Smallzone Online comics on There Goes Tokyo |
The 'mentality' behind these comics seems to have spent a good long time marinating in Saturday Morning Kids TV cartoons. It's a fun, fun, fun world & there are supervillans & baddies to be vanquished with the minimum of nastiness. I am going to have to look hard for a reason to give this comic a PG rating.
There is playfulness in the scripting of the stories taking an ironic leaning to the cartoon roots. In #7 where there is a big Rocky pastiche build up to the final confrontation, but then you find that Richard pulls the rug from under the finale in such a way to not make you feel too cheated.
In issue #8 he drops into the storyline himself & gets involved in an animus & anima situation with his female creation. Hmm - I'm probably making this sound more interesting than it actually is, but you could read a lot into such things if you were so inclined. To ensure its kids carton roots it ends with one of those, "I woulda got away with if wasn’t for dem peky kids" styled endings.
Richard's cartooning has a self assured confidence to it, & he is good. Compliment barbed with a criticism: however, his confidence sometimes allows him to be sloppy. His rendering of hands sometimes get confused in the stylisation. Overall, it has to be said that my main gripe his line work. Richard had such a nice fluid cartooning style, that I would hope to see a line with more fluidity, but the density remains static. I'm not sure what he uses to draw with but it would make for a much richer comic if something with more infection were used. This would give his line work much more gravity & life. As things stand in these comics, the line work has a tendency to flatten things out & cartooning that you could really fly, sort of, 'dances like your dad'. I feel I might be over stating one aspect of the comic, but it's something that I feel could really make a difference.
The comics also include pin-ups from other small press luminaries & a backup strip in #8 from the UK Manga queen Laura Watton: 2 snapshot episodes of Reluctant Soldier Princess Nami. These are brief shouty strips that are well executed in a space that seems hardy able to contains them. It al feels very cramped in & is the aspect of them that is most unlike most all of the Manga I have read, where a story has ample room breath & develop. I've seen Laura's work over the years & have always been impressed with her draughtsmanship, so even these cramped missives are a pleasure.
Evidence seems to point to Cherona having a happy cult following with it's peers. This fun attitude, rather like an old British newsstand comics ploy of inclusively, kinda makes me want to join in, & send along my own bit of fan art.
mooncat
| Cherona #7: 28 A5 colour stock pages, & colour copy cover) #8: 36 A5 colour stock pages, & colour copy cover. |
Received at ZUM! HQ: mid 2002 |
£1.50 (P+P)? | Richard J Smith, 39 Lower Unwin St, Penistone,
Sheffield, S Yorks, S36 6LX available @Smallzone |