Advanced Review - Sentinel Issue #14: Heartbreak Spotel

Rob reviews Sentinel Issue #14: Heartbreak Spotel…

Back after the phenomenal tribute to the late Dave Evans that is Bolt-01, Alan Holloway returns with another adventure in the realms of Sentinel. 

Teaming up with artist, Paul Spence, Holloway brings a semi-sequel to previous Sentinel tale - A Fair To Remember. With a crime-caper plot that’s chock full of Fawlty Towers inspired shenanigans, Heartbreak Spotel will certainly raise a few chuckles from those who grew up with Basil Fawlty, and his hapless personality. However, if like me and you checked out of Fawlty Towers, does Holloway leave you stranded at check in? 

As you’ve probably guessed, I’m not a fan of Fawlty Towers. While John Cleese and Connie Booth’s creation has gain a legion of fans - and numerous awards - for me it never really clicked. The kind-of sad point to this is that the punch line to many of Holloway’s jokes were meaningless without the context provided by the British sitcom. Either way, even without this foreknowledge Heartbreak Spotel is still an enjoyable read. 

Cantered around the cesspit that is the Heartbreak Spotel, Alan Holloway and Paul Spence introduce us to a couple of  intergalactic criminals attempting to getaway from the law. As the hotel is out of the pursuing polices jurisdiction, it’s the perfect place to lay low. But to duo haven’t counted on hotel owner Nigel Lobsang and his insufferable clone; Nigel-1. What follows is a caper of calamities as Nigel catches wind of the incredible loot that’s hidden in his establishment, the criminal duo’s unease to give it up, an undercover cop, and a hapless family caught up in it all. For 68-pages there’s certainly a lot going on. 

First thing you’ll notice is that there’s a heck of a lot of character work out into Mr. Lobsang. While I wouldn’t necessarily say that a Nigel starts off as a main character in the story, come its conclusion and the hapless hotelier has truly taken over the narrative. That being said, even with both Nigel’s hogging the pages, and being a couple of complete cretins, you can’t help but take a shine to them. Across the strip, we get to see the Nigel’s complete distain to their guests, profession and each other. It’s quite comical, and as someone who’s day job is in retail I started to rally behind Nigel’s contempt for his guests - the general public. This is helped furthermore by Holloway’s writing, which is no doubt written with a bit of his own personal experience of being a shop owner thrown in. It’s full of dry sarcastic remarks, and back handed comments that everyone customer facing worker is guilty of doing. And for me was quite entertaining to see written down. 

Elsewhere and in true Sentinel fashion, the story comes at quite a pace. While this has to happen due to the mini-digest format, sometimes it can be a bit hit or miss. Thankfully for Heartbreak Spotel, the lightning fast pace works. Each of the entwined narratives synergise well with each other, with each coming to their natural conclusions by the strips end. It’s definitely a skill that Holloway has refined as Sentinel moves across its double digits. The inclusion of Snork from A Fare to Remember is also a nice touch, and is a nice tribute to those retuning characters who’d often appear in Starblazer - Sentinels spiritual predecessor. Likewise, the obligatory cameo by Alan Holloway and Ed Doyle was a silly unexpected addition, yet was a nice nod to Stan Lee’s cameos in the MCU  - whether intentional or not. 

Away from writing and Paul Spence returns to flesh out the universe he helped create back in A Fare To Remember. It’s always a pleasure seeing Paul’s work, and here is no different. Each page is a great display of imagination as Spence spares no expense in creating the weird and wonderful hotel patrons. You only have to take a look at the artists Instagram page to see just why he’s the perfect choice to bring this tale to life. 

Overall, Heartbreak Spotel is another fine addition to the Sentinel library. While most of its intended humour didn’t wash with me, I’m pretty certain that fans of Fawlty Towers will appreciate what Alan Holloway has done with this sci-fi homage. However, even without out being a fan, Heartbreak Spotel is still an accessible read. Throw in plenty of great art work by Paul Spence, and a variant cover by Starblazer’s own Keith Robson, Heartbreak Spotel is worthy of checking in to. 

Just don’t be late for breakfast! 

Rating:8/10

Sentinel Issue #14: Heartbreak Spotel is still available to pledge towards on Kickstarter. You can check out the campaign page by clicking here. 

Rob Lake - For more comic book and video game chat why not follow us on X/Facebook @GeekCultureRev, TikTok/YouTube @Geekculturereviews, and BlueSky @geekculturereviews.bsky.social