Tag Archives: ben hutchings

Review: Iron Bard Ballisto

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IronBardCoverIron Bard Ballisto, written and drawn by Ben Hutchings is a goofy 36 page cartoon read reminiscent of Sergio Aragone’s Groo. It is published by the Australian imprint, Milk Shadow Books.

Set in Tasmania, it follows our minstrel-singing hero’s adventure as he infiltrates the ZND corporate headquarters (I guess Australia has issues with blood sucking polluting multinationals too), and violently works his way up the Boardroom to musically right their wrongs. Humor and cartoon violence abounds all throughout.

This is a cartoon, so the art is basic. The satire made me laugh a bit, but some of the humor didn’t cross over to this end of the Atlantic Ocean. Maybe I’d buy it for the kids to culturally expose them to Australian bawdy humor, but beware of the musical violence.

Story: Ben Hutchings Art: Ben Hutchings
Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7 Recommendation: Read

Milk Shadow Books provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Review: Iron Bard Ballisto #1

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UntitledHilarious, unassuming, and…musical! Wait, what?

Iron Bard Ballisto #1 is a fun and surprising romp following Iron Bard Ballisto and his attempts to infiltrate the headquarters of a massive corporation.  Using instruments as weapons (physically as well as through the performing of various songs and tunes) this crazy character takes the headquarters by storm. It seems security services just aren’t prepared to deal with a bombardment of physical, musical, and lyrical attacks!

The musical element of this comic is something that I haven’t seen adopted through this media before and makes this issue really stand out from the ordinary. It also lends itself beautifully to some cracking puns and intensely amusing scenes.

The writing by Ben Hutchings is amusing, fun and completely unexpected. The protagonist is bizarre and the dialogue and writing are the perfect blend to exaggerate his features and entertain the reader.

The artwork is completely colored in shades of blue which makes this issue really stand out, much like the writing and story line itself. The characters are well drawn and the artwork completely supports the off the wall style this issues has adopted.

Overall, if you are looking for a comic that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and you are prepared to be amused then this is well worth your time to read.

Story: Ben Hutchings Art: Ben Hutchings
Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7 Recommendation: Buy

Milk Shadow Books provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review