Our writers reflect on what makes their hearts beat. Critical, witty, honest.
What delighted me about The Heroines Zine when I first started flicking through its pages was the way in which it embraces old school zine philosophy. It really is a…
Columns · Crossing Borders · Eyecatcher
It’s all about those magical numbers as Crossing Borders tackles time travel sci-fi in Numbercruncher and Japanese folk heroes in The 47 Ronin. Numbercruncher by Simon Spurrier and PJ Holden…
Accent UK’s supernatural Western series with its surly monster-hunting cowboy Josiah Black is one that I’ve covered twice before (on the old Broken Frontier site Book One here and Book…
Columns · Crossing Borders · Eyecatcher
As the cold and snow creep in, it’s time to snuggle up with the kids on a sheepskin with these all ages releases starring Gaston Lagaffe and the kids from…
Columns · Eyecatcher · Small Pressganged
This first ‘Small Pressganged’ edition of 2014 provides us with a chance to reflect on and celebrate the last twelve months of micro and self-published comics in the UK as…
In a world just one cataclysmic war removed from ours, a covert group of operatives are seeking to recover information from a hard drive in a high rise apartment building….
The triumphant rise of both the micropublisher and the small press collective as viable models for distributing and nurturing new talent has been one of the most exciting developments in…
It’s something of a rarity for me to squeeze anything Christmas themed into ‘Small Pressganged’ but Scene City creator Rob Cureton has produced a delightfully cynical stocking stuffer featuring some…
Columns · Crossing Borders · Eyecatcher
Beirut 1990: Snapshots of a Civil War is a touching biographical travel diary of two brothers to a land of war where we meet the people behind the abstract facade…
Columns · Eyecatcher · Small Pressganged
It’s been a longer than usual gap between issues for David O’Connell’s chunky but digest-sized ink + PAPER – a publication that I’ve referred to here in the past as…
Columns · Crossing Borders · Eyecatcher
A new emerging talent in the Belgian alt scene, Shamisa Debroey immediately goes for the throat with a stunningly rendered tale of parental loss. Brecht Evens and Randall C are…
Columns · Eyecatcher · Small Pressganged
Science fiction anthology Faction represents something of a ‘Small Pressganged’ first. While the Australasian continent has not been unrepresented in this column in the past, with work from Paul Bedford,…
A science teacher with attitude takes on otherworldly invaders in Mr. Yang Fights Aliens, Mickey Lam’s tale of an extraterrestrial incursion in London. Ostensibly a recently qualified schoolteacher with a…
‘Stories from the St. Louis’ is the banner tagline under which Caitlin Skaalrud has grouped all of the self-published work I’ve read from her to date, including the nostalgically structured…
Rob Jackson and Kyle Baddeley-Read’s sci-fi anthology RhiZome is a conscious attempt to create a comic that hearkens back to an edgier time of experimental small press publishing, as noted…
Columns · Crossing Borders · Eyecatcher
Al Ewing & Henry Flint’s hilarious and rather outrageous undead crime-fighter is back. THIS IS COMICS: weaponized zombies, mega-brained pop music moguls, male stripper minds in butt transplants, gung-ho military…
Columns · Eyecatcher · Small Pressganged
Cross#atch are a small collective of five manga creators from a variety of cultures who all share the experience of success in the UK Manga Jiman short story competition. Their…
Reading the background information which arrived with my copy of London artist Darren Cullen’s Join the Army I wasn’t surprised to note the polarised reactions this most uncompromising of anti-war…
“I Wanted to Change the Narrative as I Believe Comic Art Deserves the Same Respect!” – Dominica Claribelle on Experimentation, Representing Southeast Asian Culture in Her Work, and Her Debut Graphic Novel ‘Finding Home’December 3, 2025
“You Laugh to Keep from Crying” — A Conversation with Pascal Girard and Cathon on Their New Comic Strip Collections ‘Pastimes’ and ‘Fruit Salad’November 19, 2025
“I Think it’s Really Important to Follow Your Dreams!” – Sarah Graley Talks Working on ‘Pizza Witch’ with Stef Purenins and the Pleasures of Rewarding Audience InteractionsNovember 13, 2025
“I Hugely Admire Comics with Dynamic Page Structure!” – Beatrijs Brouwer/Beastly Worlds on the Lure of Fantasy Storytelling and Her Creative ProcessNovember 13, 2025
“People Are Having Good Ideas All the Time and Putting Them into Practice” – Alison Sampson, Charlie Adlard, Lucy Sullivan and More on the Importance of the Thought Bubble Portfolio Reviews and Comics CommunityNovember 13, 2025
