The first impressive volume of The Jigsaw Review: Journal of Underground and Alternative Comics is available now from comic creator Mal Earl’s Gweni Press, offering a humongous feast of humorous, challenging, bizarre and mind expanding comics from a range of talented creatives.
Running to between 200 to 300 pages per issue, The Jigsaw Review is an A4 format, black and white collection of sequential art both old and new, from creators dedicated to the comics art form, many of whose works have been unseen for over thirty years.
The first issue features “Sadness In Space” by Bob Lynch, first published in 1988; a new strip, “Devil’s Dyke”, a tale of local legend about the devil, by Simon Russell; “Solus” by Mal Earl (1994), his debut small press comic, a prescient allegory of impending environmental disaster; a skittery, creepy, and visually disturbing, but entrancing “Gardenhouse” by Chris Webster (1989); “Tales from Zervanalia” by Denny Derbyshire (1988), stories with an enjoyable Moebius-inspired riff to them; “Being a Girl” by Dave Metcalfe-Carr & Paul Barlow (1996), offering a thought-provoking take on gender identity; a charming new tale, “The Long Night of the Soul”, by Morgan Gleave, in which a creator seeks their muse; “Knitting with Coalsmoke”, a delightful smorgasbord of comics by John Bagnall (2013), with a great pop joke; all rounded off with “Tales from The Staring Eye” (1997) by Ed Pinsent and Denny Derbyshire.
An absolutely magnificent anthology, it’s available now from Amazon/p, Lulu, and Mixam, the latter edition a ‘special collectors edition’, with printed interior covers and heavier stock paper.
Anthologies are a notoriously difficult beast to curate, all the more so when they feature so many creative voices telling stories in different ways and styles, but the blood sweat and, probably, tears, editor and publisher Mal Earl has put into this beautiful beast of a collection has paid off, in spades, and I sincerely hope it’s a success.
“Jigsaw has been a passion project for some time now,” Mal, a frequent contributor to David Lloyd’s Aces Weekly, tells us.
“Initially attempted a couple of years ago, the overwhelming response was one of demanded page rates,” he reveals, “rather than a cooperative attempt at pulling together an anthology that would serve as a showcase for, and in some cases a historical document of small press comics, and as such it fell apart before it had even fully taken shape.
“A lot of water under the bridge and, finding myself freshly retired and with time to pursue my own creative endeavours, Jigsaw was still buzzing in my ear, demanding to be heard… so what do you do?”
You persevere thankfully – with impressive results!
“This time around I personally approached creators who I personally admired,” Mal explains, “and who I knew were still active in the comics field, and I’ve been overwhelmed by the reaction from people who were truly on the cutting edge of small press comics in the 1990s.”
All the contributors were keen on showing decent amounts of their work, and in virtually all cases Volume 1 contains between 20 and 30-plus pages from everyone.
“John Bagnall, Ed Pinsent, Bob Lynch and Denny Derbyshire were all frequently seen in the pages of Paul Gravett’s ESCAPE magazine. Chris Webster self published MALUS, one of the finest pieces of comic work seen in any sphere in my humble opinion, Dave Metcalfe published his respected anthology SLICES and with a sprinkling of fresh talent like Simon Russell and Morgan Gleave, The Jigsaw Review has turned out a bit special.
“It is an honour to be curating what will now be a series from some of the finest, yet under appreciated voices in the small press sphere.”
Under appreciated, perhaps, but groundbreaking thirty years ago some were, and continue to be. So if you fancy a 228 page A4 black and white slab of a book that Mal would defy anyone to be not impressed by, follow the links below and grab yourself a copy now.
Anyone who once frequented the Fast Fiction stand at the Westminster Comic Marts of yesteryear needs this in their lives! (If you’re too young to get the reference, tough!).
• The Jigsaw Review: Journal of Underground and Alternative Comics Volume 1 is now available from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link), Amazon.com, and LULU at £15.99, and from Mixam as a ‘special collectors edition’ with printed interior covers and heavier stock paper at £26.49 | A4, 228 pages | Black and White interior/Full Colour cover| Mal Earl is online at malearl.com | Webshop
• The Jigsaw Review Volume 2 is scheduled for release in November
- About the Author
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as 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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