REVEREND CROSS No. 006
24 pages
US Comic format
Colour Cover/Black and white interiors
Cover Art: Richard Pester
Available as both print edition from: http://reverendcross.blogspot.com and digital kindle comic from: http://reverendcrossdigital.blogspot.com
Reverend Cross appears to be popping up quite regularly which is never a bad thing...especially if Gabby Noble is involved along the way! And of all people Richard Anthony Pester provides the cover as well as an interior strip. So what does this issue have in store (certainly not a cross-over with Merriwether: God's Demon-Thumper but you can't have everything!
VILLAGE FATE
Script: John A. Short & Art: Gabrielle Noble
Length: 5 pages
Nutshell: A winged demon assassin travels to Abby's own parish in Sunnybrook to execute her.
ooh, now. Really not on attacking a vicar on their own turf, is it? And just as she is showing the new curate around and introducing her to some of the locals. Is this the end of Reverend Cross? I really cannot say but the clue is in this being the first strip in the book. Gabrielle Noble delivers more fun.
HUNTING & FISHING
Script: John A. Short & Art: Andrew Richmond
Length: 5 pages
Nutshell: Abby versus a Scottish werewolf… with a jetski?!
I have to admit to being in two minds (I am a Gemini after all) over the art here. Quite rough but with some nice touches. There are some things Richmond could tighten up on but still enjoyable enough -and THAT is the point.
QUICK & DEAD
Script: John A. Short & Art: Richard Starzecki
Length: 5 pages
Nutshell: The Archbishop of Canterbury is targeted a spectral hitman.
Same advice regarding art as with the previous strip but, again, it is fun and not everyone can be a John Byrne (I cite Byrne because he drew rather than the modern 'artists' who all use computers) and so long as you convey the point of the story then go for it. Mind you, this strip may have you looking at the Arch Bishop of Canterbury differently.
HELL FOR LEATHER
Script: John A. Short & Art: Richard Pester
Length: 5 pages
Nutshell: Demonic bounty-hunter, Madam Azgar, has captured Abby. Is this the end of our heroine?
Now, I have known Richard a good while so he knows I am going to write that I miss the solid black outline. Apart from Noble's work this was the strip I wanted to see -there is even a full colour page! I can't complain about the art and it is good to see Pester adapting a Short script.
Here is something for you to consider when you think this is "just a bunch of short stories". Short writes a lot of short scripts and that is not as easy as you might think. You have to first come up with the idea, the puns and twists and then you have to write a script that gives the artist everything they need to draw it. A werewolf on a jet-ski...come on how many writers have come up with that one? There are the visual gags and, of course, the twist as at the end of Hell for Leather....and remember to mock your own pun-making characters.
You also have to remember that the strips have to have the hint of danger but still be fun and also readable several times (I'll raise my hand to doing that) -Savage Jungle Princess and Captain Wylde demonstrate this. But if you've read Short's other work such as The Clock Strikes!, Armageddon Patrol and big favourite The Sixpenny Murder (all available on Kult Creations webstore) you'll know he can handle the serious.
Basically, Short has learnt his trade from hard work and he produces some of the best Independent UK comics around. So don't just try a copy of Reverend Cross -try one of his other books and The Sixpenny Murder I'd very much recommend -like this issue of Reverend Cross!
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