Thought Bubble #1

Written by Antony Johnston, Duncan Fegredo, Andy Diggle, Robin Furth, Mark Rutter, Mike Carey, Gavin Ross, Sally Jane Thompson, Will Morris, Raymond Mak, Amy Evans, Kristyna Baczynski, Matt Sheret, HP Lovecraft, Stuart Gordon, Alice Summerscales, and Sophie Kamlish
Art by Charlie Adlard, Duncan Fegredo, D'Israeli, Frank Beazante, MD Penman, Gavin Ross, Jally Jane Thompson, Will Morris, Raymond Mak, Amy Evans, Kristyna Baczynski, Julia Scheele, Tula Lotay, Alice Summerscales, and Sophie Kamlish

I'm always a sucker for an inexpensive anthology, but picking this up at the comic store this week led to a nice surprise - this anthology of short stories by a mix of British comics professionals and prize winning-amateurs is printed on newsprint, and is folded over, making each page half the size of a page of Wednesday Comics.  This allows the storytellers more space for their work, and makes reading this a treat.

As is always the case with a project like this, the quality of the comics included ranges quite a bit.  The book starts with a one-page Wasteland strip, drawn by Charlie Adlard.  It's very cool, especially since it's only the second time Wasteland has been in colour.  It's followed by a single page by Duncan Fegredo, looking back at his career.  I also quite enjoyed Andy Diggle and D'Israeli's strip about a cop who believes a murder was committed by time travelers.

Mike Carey gives us a very cool story about Leonardo Da Vinci, outlining some of his lesser-known accomplishments, such as break-dancing and playing for FC Milan.  It's drawn by MD Penman, and is a nice companion to Marvel's SHIELD.  There's also a creepy adaptation of an HP Lovecraft story by Stuart Gordon and Tula Lotay.

Most of the rest of the book is kind of forgettable, but still a decent collection.  It's always a pleasure to be able to support projects like this, even if it ended up being published after the event it was intended to advertise.