This year at the London Super Comic Convention I picked up issue 6 of London Horror Comic. I've only just gotten round to reading it and as it fits our remit, having the words London and horror in the title, I thought it was worth a quick review as part of our other media coverage.
It's a self published horror anthology comic written by John-Paul Kamath and drawn by Lee Ferguson and Dean Kotz.
This issue contains four stories all very different in content and style. A good move because no story out stays it's welcome and they leave you wanting more.
The first story, I Saw the Beast introduces us to a man who seems very down on his luck and we follow his story until he snaps. His back story is revealed in a very natural way, given the brevity of the story, so that when he snaps its not really surprising. There's nothing overtly supernatural happening and as such this didn't really appeal to me. Its nicely written just not my thing. Like I said earlier though its over quickly and we're onto the next story.
This one I loved. A great take on a vampire story. I'll not say anymore than that in case I ruin it. I'm totally bored by modern vampire stories so for Kamath to make me like this so much is a huge achievement. Great stuff.
The next story is totally different. The supernatural elements are ramped up and we get a very twisted version of daddy anxiety. This genuinely creeped me out and made me go urgh out loud on the train where I was reading it. That's a recommendation by the way.
The final story is a love from afar romance story with a warped twist. The situation is probably something us nerds can relate to, although I'm sure none of us would go to the lengths our protagonist goes to. The fact that it's clear the girl he longs after is not the girl in his head makes his predicament that much more sad.
There definitely seems to be a love/loneliness theme throughout the book and I don't know if that's intentional or not.
The art throughout is consistently good
Overall I enjoyed reading this comic book and I'll definitely seek out future issues. If I had one criticism, it's that the stories draw too much on the American EC comics and don't really emphasise the London aspect in the title. The stories could be set in any large city in any part if the UK or US. But thats my small gripe.
Check this out.
