Comic Book Review - The77 Issue #4

Comic Book Review: The77 Issue #4...

The77 is back for its first issue of 2021 with The77 Issue #4.

Riding high after a successful 2020 - what with four incredibly successful issues and debuting at #2 in ComicScene's top 10 list. With beating the likes of both Spacewarp and the mighty Meg. Issue #4 of the British independent comic couldn't come at a better time. 

Much like the previous issues, The77 team continue to use crowdfunding via Kickstarter to bring the anthology to life. The campaign this time around amassed a decent £5,778 via 282 backers. Incredibly the funding goal was achieved in just four hours which is an incredible achievement. This commitment from the fans shows why the anthology was voted 2nd in the ComicScene survey and why too many people The77 is that something special. I was also one of the backers with this being my second campaign with the team. 

Before I crack on with the review I'd like to give the team over at The77 a big shout out, for both their recent support and for still allowing a now flying solo Rob to review their work. 

So with that said and done let's dive into The77 Issue #4

Gracing the standard-issue cover this time around is Penny Pentagram which has been designed by Scottie. It's an incredibly eye-catching cover which is filled to the brim with bright colours - even though it's at night. We also get a variant wraparound cover for Issue #4 too which has been created by the extremely talented Lew Stringer. Lew's cover features the many characters that makeup The77 having a snowball, axe, laser fight and is done in his signature Beano style. 

Bounty on the Mutie

Bambos Georgiou and Neil Sims bring us a tale of cyborg bounty hunter- Johnny O'Mega. Johnny's pursuing the bounty of infamous mutie - Skargantua. It's a nice humorous done-in-one that has quite an interesting ending. Will we see a part 2...probably not, but stranger things have happened.

As always Sims' artwork is phenomenal and his work on Skargantua is particularly impressive (that poor Priest). Georgiou gives us a nice script that's full of action and it effortlessly flows from beginning to end. 

Penny Pentagram: Occult Detective - Part 2

Cover Star Penny Pentagram returns for part 2 of her supernatural tale. Continuing from their last outing our heroine teams up with Sam as the duo head of in search of the werewolf. It's not long before the werewolf find them as Penny and Sam begin to wonder if they're in over their heads. 

David Thomas and Jon Roydon continue their Buffy The Vampire Slayer-esq story. Penny Pentagram has so much room to grow and I'm looking forward to seeing how it all turns out. Roydon also gives us some brilliant art - especially with the done-in-one-cell whirlwind kick. I find the phrase 'less is more' appropriate when it comes to Penny Pentagram. Whilst Roydon's art isn't intricately detailed, it still packs quite an effective punch. I also felt that the werewolf lost its horror when it started to talk, and I couldn't help but picture him talking with a posh English accent. But all-in-all it's a great little strip. 

Prodigal: Dream of the Dragon Tree - Part 3

Mal Earl is back with the final instalment of Prodigal to appear in The77. Thankfully the series will be continuing but will be in its format. This interlude sees Yigraine still recovering from her injuries in the ruined remains of London's Underground and is in the care of The Prodigal. Earl gives us a great hallucination piece that teases what's to come when Prodigal returns shortly. 

The Trackless Depths - Part 2

Oh boy! Where do I start? So we're back on the seas with the H.M.S. Catullus. With the mysterious suicides of two of the crew, the Captain attempts to address the situation. Then it gets weird...but a bloody good kind of weird! 

Dave Bedford is on to something here with The Trackless Depths. It's an interesting horror, that's not giving us any answers but providing plenty of questions. With ghosts and monsters aplenty. Is being on the Catullus the safest option? 

Much like part one, Mac gives us some incredibly detailed artwork, with plenty of gorgeously detailed expressions. The lack of colour works tremendously well and portrays a sense of unease...He Knows The Way Home...sorry about that. Normal service has resumed!

The Cell - Part 4

Bambos Georgiou is back with his second adventure in this issue. This time he teams up with Andrew Sawyers as the pair takes up back into The Cell. This time around we get more world-building as the mysterious Valkyr13 and her Troops of Doom descend on a pile-up of human bodies. Who are these mysterious people? Well, we still don't know but Georgiou gives us hints towards their agenda with "the endless flow of citizens must continue" line. Add this to their need to make the "prisoners" more malleable gives a lot of questions. I've mentioned before that I get a sense of Judge Dredd when reading The Cell but in reality, I don't even think Mega-City-1's finest would survive...

You can tell that Sawyers is enjoying his work on The Cell. His art and colour scheme feels almost psychedelic. When the action kicks in Sawyers goes to work and the scene below is just an incredible scene. The look of Valkyr13 is also fantastic and you know by her look that she's a bad-ass. More, please! 

V - Interlude 

We're back within the world V as Steve Bull and Ade Hughes show us the aftermath of Anat's escape. This time around we get a few shots of the scared guy, hacking up the headless corpse of Anat's brother. There's also a hidden other throughout this interlude as the scared guy seems to be after Anat for these hidden characters pleasure. 

This one's a lot different from the previous outings. First of all its in colour, although it works, it feels entirely different from V's previous parts. So much so I had to double-check that it is the same story. We are also viewing the story from a different perspective so the use of colour, compared to black & white could also symbolise this as well. 

This time around we also seem to lose the sci-fi element of the previous outings. There is also a form of time-travel at play in V, so theoretically we could very well be in the past too!

Chi77er - A Demon For Dinner 

Much like the Future Shocks, these Chi77er tales are a done-in-one that features a story with a twist at the end. Coincidentally at the time of writing, The77 are running a competition in which the winner gets to create their very own Chi77er for a future version of the anthology, so if you think you can do better then nows your chance. 

A Demon For Dinner is a festive tale about, well a Demon who comes for dinner. If you're unfortunate enough to know the plot to The Tiger Who Came For Tea then you know where this one is going. James Tomlinson gives us plenty of laughs as the Demon quite literally gets put in his place by the Mum character. The ending is quite comical and wasn't one I was expecting. 

Rupert Lewis Jones art is well done and the whole story gives off a Victorian-era style to it. I especially liked the use of dark colours on the Father's face as he starts his tale and the look on Spring-Heeled-Jack's face as he experiences the foul taste of the humble Brussel Sprout. 

Martian Law: Marty’s Martian Mining Mission’ – Episode 1

Martian Law is back for another trip to retro-futuristic Mars. This time around Sherrif O'Martyan partners with a cooky old Grandma and her nervous Grandson - Eugene. What starts as a simple lift into town then takes a monstrous turn as the group get hoodwinked into investigating a Martian mine. 

I've got no idea what the overall story to Martian Law is. The retro-futuristic setting is unique and has a lot going for it. The Grandma is an interesting character who's banter with both the Sherrif and her Grandson is quite amusing. A few time I smirked as at her wise-ass answers. Whilst I'm still lost to where Martian Law is going, but Brendon Wright's art and colours more than makeup for it.

Undertow - Part 3

The Father and Son team of Joe and Jeremy Dunn are back with another dive into their flooded world of Undertow. 

We catch up with the Jack of All Trades as he's in the thick of it. Last time around a guy who looks like Mortal Kombat's Shao Kahn sent "Jack" on a mission to retrieve something of value from a flooded Fairground. Jack then stumbled across the Fairground's residents and a fight then followed. This time around we get to see that fight. 

This one doesn't feel much of a story. There isn't a lot of dialogue and we don't get told much about who or what the Shao Kahn-a-like wants. The same can be said for both the Jack of All Trades and the world. There's so many questions but no answers. We do however get a very well-sequenced fight scene as Jack ploughs through the room of enemies with little resistance. I want to like Undertow and a big part of me does, however, I feel that it could make massive use of just a few more pages. 

FunSShun 

I'm not quite sure what I've just read but I like it. FunSShun is an extremely odd "love story" - I guess you could call it that...

What's going on? Well, I don't know. There's nice choreography from the narration and whats happening on the page. I kept getting a feeling of Tron throughout Paul Duncan's tale of love in the advanced digital age. I'm hoping we also get to re-visit this strange world soon.

Division77 - Part 4

With Division77 now semi-free from the Grakon's control, Shard leads his troops to Hill 237. However, the Grakon don't take kindly to insurrection and send the Denocylins after the former Humans. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again - I bloody love Division77. Dave Heeley doesn't give us much this time around but what's there is just as effective. There's a nice comedic moment as Colusa goes to attack the nervy aliens, which does well to lighten the darker tone of Division77. With Division77 concluding in the next issue I hope it goes out with a bang! 

Sgt. Shouty of the Moon Force

Closing out this issue is the variant cover star: Sgt. Shouty. Lew Stringer brings us a fantastic one-pager that has plenty of action and banter-filled dialogue throughout. 

As always the artwork is gorgeous and has Lew's signature Beano style to it. With a nice plot twist at the end, Sgt. Shouty is going to smash his way through The77 for a little while longer. 

Summary

All in all its another great addition to The77. Both Andrew Sawyers and Neil Sims continue to stand out from the crowd with their impressive art. Issue #4 isn't a "newbie" friendly strip and if this is your "jumping on" point then I suggest buying the previous issues as well. However, for long time readers, we do have a continuation of what came before. With Undertow and Division77 concluding in the next issue - and Prodigal ending this issue - that leaves us space for more stories to come. 

Be sure to check out The77 on Kickstarter for the next funding campaign. 

The77 can also be purchased via their online store by clicking here

A review copy was kindly provided for this review. 

Rating 9/10 

Rob Lake - You can find us on Twitter for more comic book chat @GeekCultureRev