Reviews

Griff Gristle (Madius Comics) by Rob Jones, Mike Sambrook, and Rory Donald

“Ain’t nothing’ honest about what we do anymore. Worse thing is, sea knows it. It’s angry at us fishin’ folk. S’why it’s takin’ vessel after vessel.”

Madius Comics first Kickstarter offering delivers everything that writers Rob Jones and Mike Sambrook promised their backers. Broader in scope than their previous, outstanding, stories and setting up some questions to, hopefully, be answered in future issues about the sibylline sailor and slugger of the supernatural; Griff Gristle.

Set in the fictional Charlsberg, a sleepy fishing village, we begin the tale with a ghostly fog 2016-04-28_0714that attacks the crew of a fishing boat returning from a rather dubious catch.

Arriving at the cannery to the tune of ‘Whiskey Is The Life Of Man’, Anti-hero Gristle comes across as a very satisfying mix of Jaws’ Quint, Captain Nemo, and Hellboy.

“My name ain’t important, it’s what’s goin’ on here that matters.”

Part investigator, part curmudgeon, part fighter, part mystic, and part Jacques Cousteau, his character provides a refreshing change to the norm. Burnt but not burnt out, with a name that Dickens would’ve been proud of, Jones and Sambrook’s Gristle will have many a sea shanty to tell as he weighs anchor in future tales.

The pairing of Gristle with a young companion (Justine; the sister of one of the fog’s victims) works well as a device to move the action on and to provide Griff a sounding board to explain some of the occult elements of the story to the reader. Very much like the style of Doctor Who utilising a companion to verbally spar with. It’ll be interesting to see whether Justine resurfaces (no pun intended) in later issues or whether it was a one off meeting and Gristle will continue to sail to his next port of call encountering new assistants, like the Dr. David Banner/Littlest Hobo of the waves!

There are wonderful details to the writing and the illustrations, I particularly liked the 2016-04-28_0716_001inclusion of Griff winning Chester MacDuffee’s Atmospheric Diving Suit in a card game, a nice nod to the real world and more than a touch of steampunk about it.

“You don’t go rubbin’ shoulders with the vicious and the villainous without expectin’ that to leave a mark on your soul.” 

The artwork by Cornish based illustrator Rory Donald is chunky and dynamic and suits the style of storytelling perfectly. Panels are easy to follow and allow a flow and pace to the work. The limited colour of muted blues, purples and greens adds to the overall spectral and salty feel of the entire book.

For a guy who loves retro it gave me strong memories of World Distributers’ Doctor Who annuals of the 70s and 80s or Cam Kennedy’s work on the Star Wars Dark Empire series that employed the same small palette of hues to convey atmosphere.

The epilogue “Love Story” introduces another character that is key in Gristle’s past and returns in an unexpected way. In the tradition of all the best thrillers it leaves us on a cliff-hanger (albeit at sea) and wanting the next instalment.

The authors describe Griff Gristle as “a supernatural thriller with a punk rock tone”; common punk themes include anti-authoritarianism, a DIY ethic, non-conformity, direct action and not selling out, this book certainly ticks those boxes.

This first story shows great promise of further occult adventures with our new favourite mystical maritime mercenary.

Deinde usque ad tempus

Gary