Punks Not Dead #5
David Barnett (w) • Martin Simmonds (a & c)
Take a Technicolor trip into the mysterious past of the Department of Extra-Usual Affair’s own Dorothy Culpepper as she carves her unique path of contained chaos across London in the swinging ‘60s! It’s part five of “Teenage Kicks.” You’ve been warned.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Punks Not Dead #4
David Barnett (w) • Martin Simmonds (a & cover a) • Dilraj Mann (cover b)
Fergie’s Twitter post gets him one creeper step closer to finding out why he and the ghost named Sid are unnaturally bound to one another. But it takes Julie’s sentimental journey to a late ’80s Smiths concert to figure out who’s behind it—which is likely to ruffle Dorothy Culpepper’s tarnished, bloody feathers.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Punks Not Dead #3
David Barnett (w) • Martin Simmonds (a & c)
Forget Trainspotting! It’s Granarchy in the UK for Sid and Fergie as they hit the rails and head to Wigan Casino to find out how they’re connected to each other—and a strange group of dancing pensioners. Little do they know that Dorothy and Asif have the same brilliant idea. Back home, Nat receives terrible news, and hospitalized Oggy receives a horrific visitation.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Punks Not Dead #2
David Barnett (w) • Martin Simmonds (a & c)
The ghost of dead punk rocker Sid is unlocking some pretty strange abilities in teenage geek Fergie, giving him a taste of power that he never imagined. But will he use it to clean his room, alter the solar system… or pick up girls? Meanwhile, MI5’s irascible baller Dorothy Culpepper, and her nervous, new recruit, are drawn to the Extra-Usual Affairs involving a scandalous haunting in Whitechapel in “Teenage Kicks,” Part 2!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
It’s new comic book day! What’s everyone getting? What are you excited for? Sound off in the comments below. While you wait for shops to open, here’s some comic news and reviews from around the web.
Newsarama – BKV Writing Silver Surfer Movie For 20th Century Fox – Report – When it goes into production, we’ll care.
Reviews
Comic Attack – The Brave and the Bold: Batman and Wonder Woman #1
The Beat – The Green Hand and Other Stories
Comics Bulletin – Ice Cream Man #2
Comics Bulletin – Punks Not Dead #1
Swap out rock stars or punk gods or whatever honorific name we’re calling long dead, yet still revered musicians these days with superheroes, and you’ve got Punks Not Dead #1. Writer David Barnett and artist Martin Simmonds steep the story in the occult and espionage more so than punching and heat vision so fans of British pop culture icons (The highly overrated) Harry Potter and James Bond might find something to love in the new release from Shelly Bond’s Black Crown imprint.
Punks Not Dead is Ultimate Spider-Man only ruder and with more safety pins and leather jackets. The protagonist, Fergie, comes off as your typical white male everyman YA character with a perverse 2018 twist that he and his mom make their money by having fake arguments on the British equivalent of Maury Povich and Jerry Springer’s daytime shows, which gets them splashed all over the tabloids. In reality, Fergie is a thoughtful, withdrawn teen, who wants to know who is dad is. His fairly flat personality is just waiting to filled by the ghost Sid Vicious, who is a kind of archetype for punk rock itself and gets all the funny lines beginning when he plays a kind of supernatural corner man to Fergie in the beginning in the comic as he fights a school bully, Peter Parker vs Flash Thompson style. Simmonds colors Sid in jet black, and he is a shock of life to Fergie’s mundane meets modern reality star life. His most pivotal role in Punks Not Dead #1 is providing comic relief and playing music critic to Fergie’s mom’s record collection, but he also is an inspirational figure and is kind of sort of a Ghostbusters antagonist.
Technically, Simmonds’ art isn’t bad. He draws detailed character likenesses and makes strong storytelling decisions like zooming into Fergie’s face when he’s about to get popped by a bully or playing with panel layout angles when Fergie begins to realize that he’s talking to a ghost. However, his art is more early-1990s John Bolton Vertigo polished than dirty rotten punk rock with the exception of a red tinged flashback to a Sex Pistols gig in Preston, UK. The presentation is more 2018 remaster than raw live tracks. There could be story reasons for this as some say the Sex Pistols weren’t real punks, but a ruder, cruder boy band with Malcolm McLaren acting as a predecessor to Lou Pearlman. But, from what I’ve gathered from Punks Not Dead #1 (Especially the Barnett penned backmatter.), the book is about punk as an attitude and isn’t a thesis on authenticity or the genre or anything. It’s about the spirit of the movement, not the letter of the movement. There’s no quiz at the end: enjoy the ride and a big helping of underdog hero comfort food.
With this in mind, Punks Not Dead is a fairly funny mashup of the slice of life, urban fantasy, and espionage genres. I know I mentioned James Bond earlier, but the book is more like Ghostbusters with a drier British sense of humor and the paranormal bits playing backing bad to Fergie, this book’s real star and whose thoughts and fears are broadcast loudly through David Barnett’s narration. Martin Simmonds’ art is a bit too pretty for a punk book, but he joins the ranks of comic book artists who prove that painted art can work in both sequentials and covers.
Yeah, Punks Not Dead #1 is yet another white boy Hero’s Journey story, but David Barnett and Martin Simmond’s sense of humor, (obvious) punk sensibilities, and paranormal investigation/espionage elements spice up the usual recipe and make it a dish worth sampling even if you’re more of a post punk listener like me.
Story: David Barnett Art: Martin Simmonds
Story: 8.5 Art: 7.5 Overall: 8.0 Recommendation: Buy
IDW/Black Crown provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Wednesdays are new comic book day! Each week hundreds of comics are released, and that can be pretty daunting to go over and choose what to buy. That’s where we come in!
Each week our contributors are choosing up to five books and why they’re choosing the books. In other words, this is what we’re looking forward to and think you should be taking a look!
Find out what folks think below, and what comics you should be looking out for this Wednesday.
Black Panther Annual #1 (Marvel) – Some of Black Panther’s greatest creators return for this annual.
Deathbed #1 (Vertigo) – We’ve read it, it’s amazing and entertaining. A writer is hired to tell the life of a mysterious person… then the twist happens.
Fence #4 (BOOM! Studios) – A wonderful series that takes the best of sports focused manga and gives it a Western twist. Every issues is fantastic.
Hit-Girl #1 (Image Comics) – The Kick-Ass reboot was a mixed bag but we’re hoping this one will be better.
Infinity Countdown: Prime #1 (Marvel) – Marvel’s next event is gearing up and we’re excited to see where it goes.
James Bond: The Body #2 (Dynamite Entertainment) – Have you read the first issue!? Bond recounts tales as to how he received the scars he has. A fantastic way to frame the story.
Mata Hari #1 (Dark Horse/Berger Books) – A new release from Berger Books is on our radar and a series we’re automatically looking forward to checking out.
Punks Not Dead #1 (IDW Publishing/Black Crown) – A new release from Black Crown is on our radar and a series we’re automatically looking forward to checking out.
Quantum and Woody #3 (Valiant) – One of the most entertaining superhero comics on the market. The team up will keep you entertained from the action and the laughter.
Rust Vol. 4 (BOOM! Studios/Archaia) – If you’ve read the first three volumes of this series, you know why it’s on this list. From the beautiful art to the amazing storytelling, this volume wraps up the series about a mechanical boy trying to live his life post war. We’re expecting a tearjerker.
Punks Not Dead #1
David Barnett (w) • Martin Simmonds (a & c)
As if being an awkward, bullied 15-year-old isn’t bad enough, “Fergie” Ferguson suddenly discovers he can see dead people. Well, one dead person specifically—the ghost of a certain punk rocker named Sid. Sid’s spirit was trapped in London’s Heathrow Airport for 40 years until the day he met Fergie. Sid’s ghost is now stuck to Fergie—as if Fergie doesn’t have enough on his plate, being raised by a single mum whose idea of parenting is strictly fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants. Now Fergie has to contend with an unruly ghost sidekick and some weird, uncontrollable new “abilities.” How does the father Fergie never knew fit into this mayhem? And why is the Department for Extra-Usual Affairs showing an interest?
Never Mind the Bollocks—all of this plus fish fingers, chunky chips, and endless pints of anarchy in the new monthly series PUNKS NOT DEAD!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Situated at the cross street of Great Yarn and Canon, the Black Crown Pub anchors a peculiar street where characters commingle and corrupt. As previously announced by IDW Publishing, legendary editor Shelly Bond has opened up shop at the publisher and is hurtling towards the launch of her creator-owned imprint, Black Crown. Peter Milligan and Tess Fowler, whose Kid Lobotomy will be Black Crown’s debut title in October, now welcome some rambunctious new residents to the neighborhood.
Come December, writer Tini Howard and Gilbert Hernandez will combine their talents on a 6-issue miniseries with more attitude than you can shake a sword or a game controller at in Assassinistas. Octavia is an ex-hitwoman who comes out of retirement to pay for her son’s college tuition — and, with any luck, rescue the kidnapped child of one of her former bounty-hunting partners. Octavia recruits her reluctant son Dominic and his boyfriend Taylor to become the next generation of Assassinistas.
Then in January, the British invasion is back in full force with Punks Not Dead, co-created by novelist David Barnett and artist Martin Simmonds. Fergie is a lonely, bullied teenager raised by a single mom who unexpectedly finds himself in search of the dad he never knew. But Fergie won’t be traveling alone. For some reason a strange branch of MI5 is hot on Fergie’s trail. Could it be the ghost of Sex Pistol Sid Vicious who becomes Fergie’s ethereal companion and unlikely father figure? Bound to Fergie for reasons unknown, is Sid in search of redemption himself or out to prove that punk is alive and well 40 years later?
Right on the heels of Kid Lobotomy is the Black Crown Quarterly, a 48-page compendium of all things comics, culture, and cool. It features a wraparound cover and a regular 10-page lead story set in the Black Crown Pub by Rob Davis. Other features include a two-sided pull-out poster with a view of the street and Frank Quitely‘s Kid Lobotomy #1 B-cover, music connections via CUD: Rich and Strange and Swell Maps, Canonball Comics, an exquisite corpse, and much more.
