Here we are with just a week and a few days from the end of the Kickstarter for ThirdBear Press’s fourth issue of acclaimed comics anthology Boxes and the realisation has dawned that we never gave Boxes #3 any review coverage. Perhaps that oversight worked out advantageously however as by rectifying that in this very week we may put a few eyes on the current crowdfunding campaign. Over the last 18 months Boxes has established itself as the premier UK periodical showcase for the indie scene, combining established voices alongside some up-and-coming new creators, and giving us both comics material and relevant text articles.
Cover by Asya Voitenko
As ever, and as we know this is usually both the nature and the strength of anthologies, what immediately connects with one reader may be different to others. Some of the strips that especially caught my attention this time, however, included the following. Millie Strachan’s ‘Mildred’s Adventures in Unemployment’ (below) has a retro underground vibe as it spends five pages focussing on the rambling routine of an unemployed recent graduate. Nothing much happens and that’s absolutely the point in this witty, self-indulgent (in the absolutely best way possible) series of somewhat cynical reflections on life. Strachan’s cartooning is densely packed and self-knowing. Definitely an artist to research further.
Abs Bailey’s use of colour is always exemplary in the vibrancy it gives her strips and ‘A Bug’s Life’ (below) is no different. An existential reflection on the brevity of insect life that is both cutesy and rather dark. Savannah Storm’s ‘At Sea’ similarly uses colour as an important storytelling tool in a slice-of-life short that employs multiple shades of blue to bring the reader into the soothing act of sea-swimming. Feff Silvers’ ‘The Umbrella’, meanwhile, is a beautifully timed tale of a seaside fortune teller on a quest to purchase the titular object which employs a lively sense of movement in its gentle comedy.
You can see, then, just how diverse the kind of strips and uses of the form are in Boxes. Possibly the standout entry in the issue is KitsuneArt’s ‘The Reckoning’; a dark fairy tale that again uses rich colours in its mystical story of misappropriated love. Elliot Hanks with ‘Star/Crossed’ (below) is perhaps the artistic find of the issue. Fluid, flowing artwork that gorgeously illustrates this ill-fated historical romance. And if you’re looking for your short strips to be bleakly funny, with more than a hint of the philosophical, then Daniel Bell’s ‘The Nihilist Dad’ will certainly satisfy.
As ever, Boxes remains a fantastic sampler for our UK indie and small press scene. Back the Kickstarter for issue #4 here.
Taran Taylor, J W Murray & Fran Morton, Abs Bailey, Millie Strachan, Asya Voitenko, Leo Healy, Steven Ingram, Savannah Storm, Feff Silvers, KitsuneArt, Elliot Hanks, Daniel Bell, Steve Thompson • ThirdBear Press, £14.00
Review by Andy Oliver
