More than ever, we need artists to show us that we carry on. That there are moments to value and treasure, however simple. To remind us to breathe and look around us. To tell us that everybody longs for a tranquil life. And that it’s worth being here so we can seek that peace and we can wish it for everyone else. In cats, in the early mornings, and even in ducks fighting at the local park. In accepting anxiety as a part of life, and in moving along, letting it guide us gently.

That’s how Kama’s (a.k.a. Weird is the Best) work makes me feel every single time. Her drive to carve a cosy corner of the world with her art makes me feel hopeful and inspired and helps me appreciate and celebrate more.

I found all of these things in her most recent publication, “What Happened on Thursday.” It was compiled from the drawings she produced during Hourly Comic Day, an event in which artists from all over the world draw a comic strip representing every hour of their day. Yes, it sounds difficult, and that’s because it is!

Teaser: there are cats. And coffee. And cats. and coffee.

There are also not entirely boring songs in the shower!

The best thing about Hourly Comic Day is how so many artists are connected by the same activity: documenting their going ons! It’s interesting how the act of doing it appears in the drawings because that’s, well… what they were doing at that time. Inception?

Overall, beautiful drawings and colouring too! I’m looking forward to seeing what she’ll bring us next.

Check out Kama’s shop for a flurry of positive vibes:

Weird is the Best Shop

About Weird is The Best

Kama Mielczarek is a Polish illustrator living in the UK. She draws comics, cats, and people and, in her own words, is always trying to make us laugh!

Where to buy: https://weirdisthebest.etsy.com/listing/1677973230

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weirdisthebest

Website: https://www.weirdisthebest.com/about

Do you have or know of a comic that you’d like me to review? Feel free to drop an email: reviews@claudiamatosa.com.

Thank you for reading! For more frequent updates, you can also find me on the following socials:

• Instagram (the one I update regularly)

• Mastodon

• Threads

• Ex-Twitter

• Bluesky

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If you follow my work, you’re potentially into dystopian futures, so this comic may be right up your alley.

I visited Salamanca in Spain two years ago and immediately fell in love with it. When I heard that Alba was launching an IndieGoGo campaign to fund the printing of a comic book that was set in the city, AND it was science fiction… well, I might have let a little cry of excitement escape. SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY, ALBA. Too loud. Sorry.

I opened the first few pages and was pulled into Alba’s dystopian world, where humans are not easily found, and giant creatures prosper and thrive.

I loved how the main character was involuntarily dragged into the plot involuntarily. She just really wanted to go on about her life, but then stuff happened.

Her comic is fun, exciting, and full of relatable characters maddened by heat and isolation. And as bonus points, you learn one or two things about the history of the city and its buildings. And there is a fabulous day-to-night-to-day transition that I think about quite often:

About Alba Ceide

Alba is a Galician artist based in the UK and was flagged as one of the Broken Frontier’s Six to Watch in 2022. I very much look forward to seeing more of her work.

Where to find the book: https://albaceide-comics.myportfolio.com/selling-points

Alba’s instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alba_ceide/

Alba’s Portfolio: https://albaceide-comics.myportfolio.com/

Do you have or know of a comic that you’d like me to review? Feel free to drop an email: reviews@claudiamatosa.com.

Thank you for reading! For more frequent updates, you can also find me on the following socials:

• Instagram (the one I update regularly)

• Mastodon

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I haven’t read the short story. Still, from what I gather from its online reviews, Imogen has peppered her comic book version with colourful details, a lot of imagination and beautiful visuals. Beautiful and eerie because that’s what the story lends itself to, and she achieved it masterfully.

The narrator leads us through a collapsed society, full of children scavenging and looking for remains of the old world. The main character calls it “the end of the world”. But you can’t help but think, how can the world have ended if they’re still there? I think that’s part of what makes this story so appealing. There’s a certain comedy angle to it, mixed with feelings of despair.

And they don’t know why the world has ended. Or when. They suspect that it was a sequence of events. But what events?

If you enjoy post-apocalyptic comics, oh, this definitely is for you. I know I do. But if you pick it up, don’t forget to follow up on the advice on the back cover:

Imogen also has a few online webcomics that you can look at. I’ll do that myself once I hit send on this post!

Read “Still Life with Apocalypse”

Imogen’s Instagram

Do you have or know of a comic that you’d like me to review? Feel free to drop an email: reviews@claudiamatosa.com.

Thank you for reading! For more frequent updates, you can also find me on the following socials:

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This was my first review, initially published on Zestworld. I chose a small zine that I purchased from the table next door at a comics fair last December:

This little zine spoke to me, and it sounded perfect for my first review. Through beautiful, poetic prose and colourful, evocative drawings, Flynn takes us through his complicated relationship with words and how they often take a life of their own. When he suggests that he doesn’t possess the gift of words, what I’m reading tells me otherwise.

A big part of the zine describes the challenges of speaking a second, a third and even a fifth language while trying to maintain the essence of one’s native tongue. The last page captured the bleakness of it all and left me thinking, being a borrowed speaker of English as well. Do we lose skill by speaking our mother tongues less? Or do we enrich our vocabulary and experience?

Something for you to think about. Quizás.

The beautiful chaining of drawing, text and colour keeps returning to this zine every once in a while. It’s just that satisfying. I’m looking forward to seeing more of Flynn’s work!

This zine and another one, Broken for You (which is also thoroughly wonderful), are available to purchase as a digital download in Flynn’s Ko-fi shop:

Flynn’s shop

And if you’re curious to see more of his work, find him on Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/flynn_zqk/

See you next time!

Do you have or know of a comic that you’d like me to review? Feel free to drop an email: reviews@claudiamatosa.com.

Thank you for reading! For more frequent updates, you can also find me on the following socials:

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When I looked at the cover on her website, I knew instantly this would be the kind of thought-provoking science fiction that I live for and that the art style would be imaginative and detailed. This proved true, but you already know this because I said it. Here is the cover:

The story is about a robot who wakes up in a devastated lab and ventures on a quest for friendship. Will they find it? I won’t tell you: you’ll have to buy Chloe’s book to discover!

I loved everything about this: the illustrations are beautifully detailed, with every line telling its own story. And it barely needs text to carry you through the narrative. Only a few expertly placed words and punctuation marks. I loved seeing the main character exploring their newly found post-apocalyptic world, inspecting every crumbled object and human lookalike on their path.

And, as good narratives go, the robot’s motivation is always with us: it desperately needs connection in a world full of false positives.

Oh, and don’t you think this is a cheesy comic book (there’s nothing wrong with those, though!) But no. It comes complete with a big action scene full of heart-stopping moments. I won’t tell you more about it. You wish.

All-in-all, this is a nicely crafted piece that flexes its storytelling muscles very intently. You can see it is created by someone who spent their life surrounded by great stories, and the ending gives you a feast for thought. I was happy that I got to re-read it for this review. And thank you, Chloe.

Find Chloe on Ko-Fi and Instagram to know when Fallen Empire becomes available for sale!

See you soon.

Do you have or know of a comic that you’d like me to review? Feel free to drop an email: reviews@claudiamatosa.com.

Thank you for reading! For more frequent updates, you can also find me on the following socials:

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I read the first chapters of the story in their printed volumes, which I ordered a few months ago but only got time to read in the moments when I wasn’t busy at the London Film & Comic Con a couple of weeks back.

The first thing people tend to mention when they speak about a story with beautiful art is that, well… it’s a story with beautiful art. However, for this one, the masterful writing and the lettering design shine as much as the drawings, and it’s unfair to mention any one of them without relating it to the others.

From the first few pages, I was transported to the world in the book, where two societies co-exist almost in opposition: the rich people inside a walled utopian city and those who aspire to get in but can’t and live in poverty for various reasons. The society inside the wall controls food production, after all.

But you don’t learn all these things in one go. The story makes you fight for it and feeds you information in small but satisfying bites.

I only read it after drawing the second volume of my comic, but I found it interesting how they came up with screens similar to mine, or actually, I came up with screens similar to theirs! Although mine, I have to say, are a bit on the rough side. I don’t have Alan and Carrie’s technical proficiency, but huh, perhaps one day. 😅

I also felt an immediate connection to the characters, especially the protagonist, who is working a dangerous job so she can help her dad follow his dreams. This sounds intriguing initially, but as we progress through the story, we learn more and more about her motives and why she feels responsible for her dad. The character arcs of this family are really, really well done.

This adventure is connected to family indeed, and we learn that as we leaf through the pages. But it also packs a lot of action, colour and satisfying character progression. I couldn’t put the thing down and may have lost a few customers, as I wasn’t paying attention to people who came by my table!

I haven’t reached the last pages yet because I only purchased the first and second volumes, but I look forward to reading the next part on their website! It’s still ongoing; they’ve been at it for nine years, which shows proper dedication. You know that, from this lot, you’ll only get excellent storytelling.

You can find links to their website and shop below if this piqued your interest.

Website: https://www.kamikazeanimated.com/
Store: https://movingink.storenvy.com/
Mastodon Profile https://comics.town/@kamikaze

Thank you for reading! For more frequent updates, you can also find me on the following socials:

• Instagram (the one I update regularly)

• Mastodon

• Threads

• Ex-Twitter (what the hell is going on with that?!)

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