Outcastes #1-5

Having written about the Ariel Press series, Harker, two or three times over recent blogs, suffice to say that issues 6 and 7 more than live up to the first half dozen issues. The story has all the hallmarks of the first arc coupled with a loving spoof of Agatha Christie murder mysteries and some really excellent illustrations of Whitby on the North Yorkshire coast. I have been to Whitby a number of times and can testify that these illustrations are spot on. It's a great series and well worth anybody's time and money.

Another independent series I have been following but haven't mentioned in my blogs thus far is Tony McGee's Outcastes from True Stories Comics. This series can be read individually but collectively make up an intriguing on going story with a slowly growing cast of characters. Describing the story is quite difficult as it is quite unlike anything else that I can think of. It has an almost dark, fairytale quality about it coupled with the kind of mystical, haunting stories found in old comics like Misty. Basically we have twins Summer and Winter who emerge from a cave and go on the run meeting other waifs and strays including Geo, the son of a rather odd magician and a girl called Armida who has strange powers. I'm not quite sure where it is all going but it is highly enjoyable. The time period is uncertain too as we have medieval villages, wandering gypsies, rather unusual steam ships and Mark IV tanks from the First World War.

The storytelling is very good and well served by Tony's bold art. The panels have no borders and this lends the pages a kind of motion, especially noticeable in the closing pages of issue 5 where fire breaks out on the deck of a steamship; the angled panels add a feeling of sea-sickness to the whole. The series is highly original and distinctive and at only £1.75 an issue is very good value for money. The strips are all in black and white although mentioned should be made of the distinctively, sepia-toned covers which greatly add to the surreal and fantasy tones of the series. Definitely a series to look out for.