“You should just always be reaching a little further than you think is actually possible.” The fitting words of small press creator Will Powers from an interview we ran with him a few years back at Broken Frontier. Powers has always had an esoteric approach to his work whether it be the wildly experimental Never Been Reborn or the unlikely Basil Wolverton tribute series Space Wolf. With that in mind I was a little shocked in preparing for this review of his most recent comic Blood Doughnut when I realised the last time we covered his work was before the pandemic.
Blood Doughnut is a riso-printed, self-published comic that is distinctly quirky in tone and presentation. Perfectly Powers-ian in fact. It chronicles the eccentric comings and going in a day in the life of an unnamed vampire. One who has a notably Nosferatu-like bearing in appearance but who also seems to have a Bruce Wayne-style background in terms of manor, secret headquarters, and spiffy equipment.
In a way not very much happens in Blood Doughnut but that’s very much the comic’s charm. We observe our vampiric hero’s arrival at his homestead which includes driving his car underwater on his way to his secret “Batcave” kind of lair; his leisure activities including abstract sculpture and playing his keyboard; his scientific experiments; and his consumption of the titular delicacies. All prior to his more standard nocturnal activities as a creature of the night.
Powers works entirely in dark blue tones here which gives the comic a suitably macabre tone but somehow also works to emphasise the bizarreness of some of its more idiosyncratic takes on an undead bloodsucker’s life. The art has a deliberately naïve feel in places which again adds to the strangely alluring incongruity of the piece. Multiple full-page panels makes it feel like we’re connecting with the vampire’s daily routine on a far more intimate level while early scenes of him approaching his domain are highly atmospheric in presentation.
Blood Doughnut is simply fun in an understated, unostentatious way. A reminder of the experimental qualities of the self-publishing scene and the spaces it creates for projects you simply wouldn’t be likely to see anywhere else.
Will Powers (W/A) • Self-published, £12.00
Review by Andy Oliver
