Kult Creations -The Clock Strikes!

The Clock Strikes! #1
John Short (W) and Vincent Danks (A)
Kult Creations
Black & white
US size (B4)
24pp
£3.50   US $4.99
Order via Amazon or: http://kultcreations.blogspot.com/

When I opened up the package and saw this comic I shrieked like a soppy wuss that had just seen a mouse twitch its whiskers and threw it onto the floor and ran out the room.

“Why?” you may well ask.  Well, I’ll answer you.

Black Tower reprinted many of the lost old Centaur characters in two books in 2009 and 2010 –now combined into the 148 pages The Ultimate Centaur Collection. One of the characters in the book is The Clock and this Autumn “Tick-Tock It’s The Clock!” is to appear which contains all new stories set back in the 1930s/1940s. Therefore, I didn’t want anyone to say I’d ripped off another Clock story.

Luckily, as I found when I plucked up courage to open up the book, nothing clashes!

Phew.

There is a great cover that I assume is by Danks –it certainly looks like his work (sign your covers!).  This is probably the best Vincent Danks comic work I’ve seen to date and there is good use of grey tone.  All the uniforms and scenery look accurate though I ought to point out Lieutenant Brenner should be wearing a hat.

Odd though it seems today, it was the dress code.  I once met an old NY detective who was in service in 1937 and a mutual friend introduced us and he looked over a strip I’d drawn –The Leyman.  “Hey, kid –you ever seen a Bogie flick?”  Me –“kid”? I replied yes. “How many guys you see not wearing a hat?”  Apparently, he had once been reprimanded by his lieutenant for attending a crime scene and not wearing his hat!

Is that my main gripe?

Uhhh. Yes.

The art is great and the story well-paced so it’ll be nice to see how the series turns out (I’m assuming there will be a series?).  A lot of the public domain Centaur characters have been filtering through Black Tower books so its nice to see someone else who appreciates them and offers a different take.

Highly recommended.