Sneak Preview – Bertie Bear Issue 4

Bertie Bear Issue 4 - Cover

Words and Pictures by Andy W. Clift
Letters by Jon Scrivens
Script Editor – Rachel Barber
Guest Cover Artist – Daniel John Sendall-King
Published by Bounce Comics

The Story: In the fourth installment of this series our hirsute rough and tumble hero finds himself in an ancient temple surrounded by a lot of enemies and a couple of allies. Uber villain ‘The Prince’ wants a dagger from our bear and he has all sort of fangy colleagues to help him grab it! The action amps up and a mystical portal opens. Who will survive? Who will get the dagger? Will Bertie get any in this issue?…

Bertie Bear Issue 4 - Sample Panels

The Preview: This is a book that is pure fun, it never takes itself seriously and has a great sense of irreverence. As an anthropomorphic bear of the cuddly type Andy Clift does superbly with injecting him with a genuine personality. He’s a tough bastard this bear but you occasionally see past that mask (and the eye patch) to a soft (and probably foamy) interior.

Done mostly in black and white, as with the previous issues, we also see interesting use of dashes of colour. Interesting choices once you realise that Andy is also a colourist for Marvel Comics recent Punisher run. These colour flashes are used for dramatic, sexy and magical reasons. The script is full of excellently performed oblique humour that counterpoints the straightish action scenes.

“Why doesn’t he walk through the giant crack in reality?” (hehe he said ‘crack’.)

This book marks the end of the first arc of Bertie’s story and I reached out to Andy who tells me that he has plans for series two and should hopefully start on it sometime next year after he finishes some other projects. (Andy recently featured in the excellent Samurai Slasher written by Mike Garley  and regularly carries out the art chores on Sgt Steel Allied Avenger over on Tapastic).

• Bertie Bear Issue 4 will be launching at DemonCon in Maidstone this upcoming Sunday the 23rd of August 2015  

• You can also find copies at http://bertiebear.bigcartel.com and find out more details at www.facebook.com/TheBertieBear and find Andy on Twitter @andyWclift

You can find Jon Scrivens on Twitter @JonScrivens and Daniel John Sendall-King @Hit_the_Wax

Many thanks for reading.



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