Merlin has failed, the King is dead, the age of magic is over.
An Unremarkable Man: Part One
Welcome to somewhere in South Wales. It's seven a.m. and the alarm is going off. Our everyman, Killian Turner, gets up with the “Thank God it’s Friday” declaration, one I’m sure we’re all familiar with. It seems Killian works in a call centre. Hmm, Killian lives in South Wales. He works in a call centre (feels like the only growth industry around here sometimes). Do you think the author might just know the area well?
After work Killian goes down the pub with his mates. He’s had a few by the time he decides to walk home. Alone. In the dark. So getting a trio running past him is probably a clean escape - at least they weren’t trying to mug him. In fact Killian is such a good citizen he tries to return a dropped pipe. I wonder if he even notices the tail hanging out of one of the runner’s jackets? But he follows them only to find… well… two magic users, a lizard man and a bloody great dinosaur, or possibly a dragon, not sure which. But it’s got big teeth. Big and soon to be bloody big teeth. Anyone surprised Killian pisses his pants?
Because this is a brand new comic, that’s all the spoilers you'll get from me. Suffice to say that Druid Investigations is totally on the mark for observation and humour. And I’m loving the mates reference with the 'Moon' t-shirt too (that’s another indie comic I reviewed a while back).
One of my vices is that new book smell. You know the one? You get a fresh unopened book or comic and it carries the scent of newness with it. Okay, it’s probably the smell of oil based printer ink and it may even have slight hallucinogenic qualities (it certainly transports me) but this comic had that smell and feel. What is slightly more important, and the reason I’ve mentioned this personal idiosyncrasy, is that the production values on this one are very high. I have the Kickstarter variant cover (below), the physical cover is one of those all but card thickness covers and every page feels like quality. I’m not an expert on paper, but I think it’s the china glazed type, all glossy finish and silky to the touch. (Even I think this is getting weirdly sensual so I’ll move on.)
Some of you may have read my review of Lou Scannon, if you didn’t, go read it, and if you did and/or you have the comics yourself, then you’ll be pleased to hear that Druid Investigations is the latest offering from Lou Scannon artist Dan Harris. Now I’ve loved Lou since I first found him at a Cardiff Comic Expo a few years ago, so when I saw that Dan was doing a Kickstarter I was quick to put my tuppence in the tin - so quick I was in fact the first contributor. I must have reached the big time too because my name is in the back of the comic and everything - yeah, okay, that’s a standard contributor perk, but I’m there. If you need proof that it’s the little things in life that make it worth living, then see how I got a kick out of the contributor notice and how I’m pleased to have been able to do even one tiny bit to support this work coming to reality.
I am loving the goodie bag that greeted me when I got home from work, in particular the sketch card. Dan asked if there was anything the contributors were interested in, so I told him to remember that I’m a writer with a sense of humour, and to send what he thought would amuse me. So I got Lou on the loo reading Druid Investigations, and yes I do think that’s amusing. I also love the book mark, it’s not overly clear in the image but it says “You’re reading? HELLO!?! Doing magic here…”
Druid Investigations, like Lou Scannon, isn’t available in your comic shop, but they have set up a lovely new website: www.atticstudios.website, where you can pre-order your copy today.
Gail Williams lives in her own private dungeon populated with all the weird and the wonderful she can imagine. Some of it’s very weird, and the odd bits and pieces are a bit wonderful. Well okay, she lives in Swansea with her husband and daughter. And the world’s most demanding cat. To find out more about Gail, check out www.gailbwilliams.co.uk - Dare you!
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