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In Review: You Get What You Want, an anthology by David Robertson (et al)

By John Freeman on November 30, 2024 • ( 0 )

You Get What You Get (Fred Egg Comics 2024, published and written by David Robertson) - Cover

You Get What You Get, the latest title from Fred Egg Comics, the latest anthology of short comic strips, all written by David Robertson, drawn by a wide variety of artists.

David has been publishing these eclectic “slice of life” anthologies for some years now, offering a mix of observation and sideways glances at human nature – sometimes, his. Some are reflective (“O.B. Outside Broadcast”, for example, written and drawn by David, contrasts the excitement portrayed on a live radio show with actually going along in person to that selfsame event); some drawing on life past (“Movie Choices”, drawn by Helena Edwardson, contrasts the hunt for a favourite film in video shops with online channel search today) and present. (Fraser Geesin provides art for “Wimbledon Final” that perfectly captures David’s script, commenting on modern television sports screenings).

You Get What You Get (Fred Egg Comics 2024, published and written by David Robertson) - “Wimbledon Final”, art by Fraser Geesin — *“Wimbledon Final”, art by Fraser Geesin*

You Get What You Get (Fred Egg Comics 2024, published and written by David Robertson) - “Zombie City Rollers” - story, art: David Robertson — *“Zombie City Rollers” – story, art: David Robertson*

Then there are the offbeat eternal questions posed, such as “Cat Box”, drawn by Claire Brown, pondering feline fascination with cardboard cubes, while “Zombie City Rollers”, written and drawn by David, shows that if you’re not into horror movies, you’re just not into horror movies, and “An Unusual Occurence” points out a type of car driving behaviour.

You Get What You Get (Fred Egg Comics 2024, published and written by David Robertson) - “Cat Box”, art by Claire Brown — *“Cat Box”, art by Claire Brown*

You Get What You Get (Fred Egg Comics 2024, published and written by David Robertson) - “Non Discussion”, art by Tim Kelly — *“Non Discussion”, art by Tim Kelly*

Some offer, for example, sideways swipes at Star Wars (one of David’s favoured sources for his stories), The Black Hole (“Tyson on The Black Hole”, drawn by Andy Hanks), the eccentricity of language (“Tell Iz Aboot It”, drawn by Rebecca Horner).

You Get What You Get (Fred Egg Comics 2024, published and written by David Robertson) - “Tyson on the Black Hole”, art by Andy Hanks — “Tyson on the Black Hole”, art by Andy Hanks

You Get What You Get (Fred Egg Comics 2024, published and written by David Robertson) - “Rocket”, art by Sam Stowold — “Rocket”, art by Sam Stowold

You Get What You Get (Fred Egg Comics 2024, published and written by David Robertson) - “ Tell Iz Aboot It”, art by Rebecca Horner — “Tell Iz Aboot It”, art by Rebecca Horner

As ever, there’s an undefinable nature to David’s work, but, as I’ve said before, they have a quirky, rather haunting appeal. I particularly enjoy the wide range of art styles, very much a snapshot of some of the best current and rising talent on the independent zine scene.

Offering 26 stories, each a microcosmic comic, packed with unexpected observation and humour, You Get What You Get is available here, while the Fred Egg Comics blog is here.

John Freeman

Previews of this anthology, reflecting the wide range of stories on offer, are here, here, here, here, and here!

You Get What You Get (Fred Egg Comics 2024, published and written by David Robertson) - Art Collage

Writer: David Robertson. Artist: David Robertson, with 13 short stories drawn respectively by Emre Altındağ, Claire Brown, Clio Ding, Zu Dominiak, Joan Edam, Helena Edwardson, Fraser Geesin, Andy Hanks, Rozi Hathaway, Olivia Hicks, Rebecca Horner, Iain Cranford Hunter, Tim Kelly, Marc KZ, Francesca Mancuso, Nando, Paterson, Iestyn Pettigrew, Alex Potts, Ludi Price, Neil Scott, Mike Sedakat, Tom Stewart, Sam Stovold, Andy Strachan, and Cherish York.

You Get What You Get (Fred Egg Comics 2024, published and written by David Robertson) - “Adventure into Nothing”, art by “Non Discussion”, art by Paterson — *“Non Discussion”, art by Paterson*

This A5 anthology offers 26 different short stories, all written by David, covering topics such as the difference between art and cooking, modern studies’ inability to stay modern, remembering lyrics, store thieves, new movies over classic ones, beautiful women in the crowd at sport events, Neil DeGrasse’s criticism of The Black Hole, burning witches, international variations of the middle finger, US idioms entering the British venacular, musings on YouTube’s Google listings, not feeling the need to always give your opinion, The Police’s 2007 reunion tour, Prince’s Purple Rain, eclipses which cannot be seen, repeated behaviour leading to success, the latest Planet of the Apes film, dead robins, infuriating TV quiz shows, sharing a moment with a theme park character, improvements in TV scheduling when football was off the menu, playing drums, playing with Star Wars figures – strictly by the rules, young peoples’ views on films, not fully understanding vending machines, cats’ fascination with cardboard boxes.

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John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.

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