10 YEARS OF THE BF SIX TO WATCH! There have been a number of comics anthologies over the years that have focussed on fondly remembered pop cultural icons of yesteryear. Blobby Horror is not one of them. Instead this collection of stories by small pressers, both familiar and newer on the scene, centres on Mr. Blobby, the irritatingly destructive co-star of Noel Edmonds’ 1990s UK Saturday night light entertainment show Noel’s House Party. I would argue that it’s one of the most niche comics collections to come from the UK small press scene to date but projects like Zinezilla: Megalazine and the upcoming Secrets of the Majestic prove that esoterica and anthologies go hand-in-hand in British indie comics.
Art by Erika Price
Set in the fictional village of Crinkley Bottom Noel’s House Party was hardly challenging fare, even for a Saturday night. But somehow Blobby, an unfortunate gawky, pink and yellow polka-dotted creature (some poor soul in a giant rubber suit for our international readers) gained an undeserved level of televisual popularity, including a number one Christmas single and his likeness becoming a major part of multiple theme parks.
It was the 1990s; an era when good taste was optional, and mediocrity in vogue.
Art by Sarah Gordon
Blobby Horror brings 17 creators together to give us their nightmarish remembrances of Blobby-mania, channelled into short horror comics narratives. With a suitably disturbing cover by Erika Price – herself one of the UK scene’s greatest proponents of body horror comics – Frisson Comics have compiled a collection that casts new light (or should that be shadows) on this unlikely media sensation of yesteryear.
Art by Gareth A Hopkins and Erika Price
The real gems herein are, perhaps unsurprisingly, from the direction of the more established artists involved. Sarah Gordon’s possible remembrance of attempting to ascertain Blobby’s identity at a ‘90s public appearance shifts from slice-of-life story about childhood curiosity to a tale of being demonically haunted by “the anarchic, poxed trollbeast of Saturday night entertainment.” Gordon’s folk horror comics are much lauded and here she emphasises her nightmare vision of Blobby by using his otherwise innocuous pink and yellow bearing as a sinister colour scheme soaking into her pages.
Art by Atticus Lee
The most chilling contribution is Gareth A Hopkins’ ‘Digestive Suit’ which in its one page juxtaposes Blobby’s supposedly mirthful violent slapstick with the brutal horror of the experiences of the man inside the suit. To say more would ruin the reading experience but it’s absolutely chilling in delivery. Erika Price, meanwhile, gives us ‘Pink Vinyl’ wherein an unfortunate listener to Blobby’s terrible eponymously titled 1993 song finds themselves toxically seduced by its malevolent melodies. Again the colour scheme, together with near abstract panels, transport us to the victim’s delusional mindscape with a worrying intensity.
Art by Renata Mukhametzhanova
While there’s quite a degree of similar takes on the theme, largely casting Blobby as simply a gaudy bogeyman, it’s clear everyone involved is having a lot of fun with the subject matter. Tom Smith’s ‘To Him…’ gives us a Mr. Blobby/Chuckle Brothers team-up which is all the more fun for the many cameos from 1990s kids TV presenters/shows, while Atticus Lee recasts the character in the roles of multiple horror film villains. Renata Mukhametzhanova, meanwhile, gives us a visual incarnation of Mr. Blobby that is almost Lovecraftian in its realisation.
Art by Shane Melisse
Special mention to Broken Frontier 2021 ‘Six to Watch’ creator Shane Melisse whose ‘Blobby Cake’ takes us back to childhood birthday parties (an often horrifying experience in themselves) and underlines just why the world of children’s comics would benefit so greatly from his knowing humour and fluid cartooning. Blobby Horror is not going to travel well outside of a certain demographic but for those familiar with the character there is much recommended dark ribaldry to be enjoyed in these pages.
Michela Cicconi, Luke Francis, Sarah Gordon, Jake ‘Parappa’ Hainey, David Hingley, Gareth A Hopkins, Jabe Jackson, Arfon Jones, Atticus Lee, A D MacRitchie, Shane Melisse, James Park, Erika Price, Renata Mukhametzhanova, Thomas Skews, Tom Smith, Katie Whittle • Frisson Comics, £10.00
Review by Andy Oliver
