Kult CreationsL Shokwave Book 6 -The Vampire Has It!

 

52pp

US size

full colour

£9.00 UK  £12.00 Europe

order from https://shokwavecomic.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2025-05-29T07:59:00-07:00&max-results=7

 

Firstly, that raging colour god of a cover is far more muted in print. Pity really as it is great but, sadly, as I have found too often, what looks vibrant in its original form can be quite toned down in printing. Still, Hal Laren'[s cover is very eye-catching and in the publishing business he who catches eyes first wind... no, that didn't sound right, did it? No real eyes are involved it's just a figure of spoeech.

All scripts are by John A. Short who can handle the serious and comedic -or twist both together if needed.  Published in May, 2025 I would not normally review a year old book but Shokwave is fun and the sign over the door does say "If It's Receive It's Reviewed!".

NOSFERATU II with art by David Hitchcock. What can I say? It stays creepy and gory and and is just like watching a horror movie as the plot develops.  Dr Gruber is not having a very good time and to be honest his next trip may be to the real actual Hell. Goes from strength to strength and one day may make a fine collected edition.

 

RESISTORS has art by Richard Pester and it leads you to ask whether a Standard Sexbot can outfight a trained Global Head of Security/ex-marine war veteran? It is a question demanding deep analytical analysis and the question of whether a Sexbot should be fighting at all. Do we get the answer? There's lots of fighting so buy a copy to find out!

Honestly, I never thought I would get to an age where as a reviewer I have to question a Sexbot and its fighting capabilities. In my day it were all one eyed tyrannosaurus Rex's and cowboys.

 ANNA KEY  with art by Chris Askham has nice clean art and good colouring along with everything you expect from a Short script and, oddly, the style is growing on me. Anyway, there is a chase because... but have no fear the sign painter does make it out alive

THE CLOCK STRIKES! with art by Adam Jakes and Brian Donlevy is back. Yep old Quatermass himself. There is nothing wrong here but it just leaves me cold. I think it may be the fact that each panel looks to be a photo reference and I'm sure Jakes puts a lot of work in and despite the story being okay ...nope. I just cannot get past the photo reference images and it is annoying because I cannot put my finger on WHY.

Kult Creations: Shokwave 5

 

52pp

Colour

US size

£9.00 UK   £12.00 Europe

Order link https://shokwavecomic.blogspot.com/search?q=shokwave+5

Previous reviews can be found here and I actually thought I was seeing things as Book 4 was 2023. I was absolutely positive I had reviewed Book 5....Terry is getting very old. 

Book 1 https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2023/01/kult-creations-shokwave-book-1.html

Book 2 https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2023/05/kult-creations-shokwave-book-2.html

Book 3 https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2023/10/kult-creations-shokwave-3.html

Book 4 https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2024/05/kult-creations-shokwave-4.html

Anyway, here is 2024s offering.

Firstly, as usual, John Short writes everything from the comedic to deadly serious. The issue leads off with Nosperatu which is drawn by David Hitchcock. The art style is still creepy and stylised so that it fits the story perfectly and is in greyscale which also adds a lot. With the gory scenes it works which is good because the amount of red ink needed would have been even scarier.  That final page... 😱

Resistors – "Our rebel robots are on a mission in this episode... Get ready for heist-style hi-jinks with Jez and Daisy behind enemy lines! Sexbot versus war-droids!" Reading that for some reason gave me a flash back to 1980s sci fi horror films (probably starring Tim Thomerson, Tom Atkins or Treat Williams -it was a thing).  the last two pages in a vibrant red really wakes your eyes up after grey scale!!

Now, The Clock Strikes was okay but Adam Jakes' use of movie photo references made this jar a bit for me. Brian Donlevy as Prof Bernard Quatermass in scenes from  The Quatermass Xperiment (1955)  - in the US renamed The Creeping Unknown was hard to take. Of course if you are not into sci fi horror or a huge fan of the Quatermass films none of this will mean a thing!

Anna Key goes on a fake date which isn't surprising since she tricked her was into becoming sheriff. What can go wrong? A restaurant, a little eaves-dropping. Oh, Zinks Karos - who is, apparently, a notorious "hits-being"  so, yeah, should be memorable. Chris Askham's style is still growing on me so that's a plus.

Luckily each strip has a "Previously" to remind old folk like me what happened in the previous issue... probably be why it is called "Previously" -a service to the old croakies.

All fun and recommended!

Buck Danny Classics 10 - The Hunt for Molotok-41

 

Authors: Frédéric Zumbiehl and Frédéric Marniquet; illustrated by André Le Bras
Age: 12 years and up
Size: 21.7 x 28.7 cm
Number of pages:  48 colour pages
 ISBN: 9781800441804

£8.99 incl VAT

https://www.cinebook.co.uk/buck-danny-classics-hunt-molotok-p-4594.html

1958. Buck Danny continues the covert operation intended to rescue American nuclear scientists kidnapped by the USSR in 1951. Unfortunately, nothing goes as planned, and Buck and friends find themselves struggling to escape the clutches of deadly SMERSH operatives – the Red Army’s counter-intelligence arm … From Russia to Iran and Turkey, from desperate dogfights in the air to commando operations on the ground, courage and consummate skill will be the key words of this conclusion to a two-part story. 

First thing: although Cinebook lists vol 9 on its site re Buck Danny Classics none of the other volumes showed up and 10 is nowhere to be found. I had to do an internet search to actually find the details... on the Cinebook site!!! No idea what is going on there but I';ve given the links to save you getting an headache.

Now, a spoiler but not a major one: in the last book Sonny was arrested for the murder of someone close to him. Away from Buck and his friends things look like they might get a little rough but one thing is certain: Sonny is toughing it out.

Meanwhile Buck and friends are knee deep in action and at one point things are looking a little bleak for them until "someone" rescues them!

Gun fights, shark attack and more than a few surprises are in store for any avid reader of this series and the rather sinister organisation that just lost its leader has a new one appointed: none other than Miss Lee -and she is one Sonny's revenge list!

Buck Danny Classics 9 - Flight of the Rapier

 

Authors: Frédéric Zumbiehl and Frédéric Marniquet; illustrated by André Le Bras
Age: 12 years and up
Size: 21.7 x 28.7 cm
Number of pages:  48 colour pages

ISBN: 9781800441798
£8.99 incl VAT

https://www.cinebook.co.uk/buck-danny-classics-flight-rapier-p-4593.html

1951. A plane carrying an American general and 40 nuclear technicians makes an emergency landing off the coast of Ireland. When rescuers reach the spot, though, they find nothing – no life rafts, no bodies … The West cannot afford to leave anyone with knowledge of atomic weapons in enemy hands, so it will be up to Buck and his friends to find the missing men, thanks to an experimental, high-altitude, Mach 3-capable aircraft: the Rapier …

That's the aircraft called Rapier NOT the Rapier Anti-Aircraft missile system. Mentioning that before anyone else does 😋 

I think there are enough Buck Danny fans out there who know what to expect -action, well drawn aircraft and a few plot twists. Espionage can get dirty as Sonny finds out. The series is not just about nice looking military jets flying around, which some people imagine it to be. I mean, enemy spies killing MI5 agents and scarpering before "the SAS get here" is far removed from flying. Before anyone says anything; this series is set in 1951 and from the end of WW2 into the 1950s the SAS were involved in going after Nazi war criminals as well as other "enemy threats".

I know there are a few Buck Danny fan sites out there and I know they like hearing when the next English language edition appears (some collect in as many languages as they can). Well -here you go lads and another is on its way!

Remember ordering from Cinebook direct helps them keep the cash flow going because most publishers lose out on services like Amazon. Show Cinebook some love!

Cinebook: Emilie's Inheritance vol.5 - The Arcana

 

Author: Florence Magnin
Age: 12 years and up
Size: 21.7 x 28.7 cm
Number of pages: 64 colour pages
£11.99 incl VAT

ISBN: 9781800441811

https://www.cinebook.co.uk/emilies-inheritance-vol5-arcana-p-4595.html

The Hatcliff Estate is dying, but its inhabitants have one last chance to escape the accelerated march of time: Emilie believes she has found the entrance to the Labyrinth, a passage to other worlds – a whole galaxy, waiting. Meanwhile, Hatcliff goes to plead with the Arcana, the mysterious entity rumoured to reign over the interstellar gates. He wants to put his mistakes right and saves his old friends in the estate. Can he really trust the Arcana, though …?

The one thing I can say about this series is that Magnin has written  a series that you will need to read through more than once. Not just that but she has drawn and coloured every single page to perfection for the story; I get somewhat jaded at times and after almost four decades of reviewing that should not come as a surprise to anyone.

The characters are drawn beautifully but then the scenes are just so well drawn that they often had me stopping for a minute or so just to take them all in. From spooky magical forest, to some incredibly drawn architecture and all coloured in ways to add even more atmosphere to the scene/story.

Sitting back and thinking about it I believe that this is one of the best and freshest series Cinebook has published in the last couple of years. I hope we see more from Florence Magnin in the future.

Do I recommend the series? YES. It's only 5 volumes and you can buy from Cinebook direct. This afternoon I may well sit back and start from volume 1 again.

Cinebook Ltd: The Bluecoats 19 - Drummer Boy

 

 Authors: Lambil & Cauvin

Age: 8 years and up
Size: 21.7 x 28.7 cm
Number of pages: 48 colour pages
 ISBN: 9781800441774

£8.99 incl VAT Buy direct from Cinebook at https://www.cinebook.co.uk/bluecoats-drummer-p-4592.html

After yet another bloody battle, the Union Army organises a recruiting drive during which Blutch attempts to dissuade an obviously too young boy from signing up. To no avail, though, and before long the kid, Pucky, joins them as … a drummer boy! 

While Chesterfield is tasked with looking after him, Pucky begins to practice his drumming – much to the displeasure of the troops, who are eager to get some rest before the major engagement looming on the horizon.

There is one thing that I have pointed out before and I will point it out here once again. The creators do not hide the fact that the American Civil War was BAD but around this they produce stories that are quite funny. In this book the first page deals with the aftermath of a battle and the commanders on both sides reacting to casualty figures. The book then ends with....the aftermath of a battle and the commanders on both sides reacting to casualty figures!

Sadly, men were cannon fodder and The Blue Coats tend to show this. That written; the humour, which can be slap-stick at times, always works with two characters you might call "Dumb-ass" at one point and "Total ----" the next but that makes them and their adventures even more fun -they are flawed characters who will even fight like two tom cats in a field hospital.

There is NOTHING gory shown. I will admit that at one point I thought they were going to have the drummer boy shot down in battle. He wasn't.

I always recommend The Blue Coats and there are now 19 volumes for you lucky folk to collect!

Cinebook Ltd: Amazonia 5 - Episode 5 (Finale)

 

Authors: LEO & Rodolphe; illustrated by Bertrand Marchal
Age: 15 years and up
Size: 18.4 x 25.7 cm
Number of pages: 48 colour pages
Publication: January 2026

ISBN: 9781800441781

£7.99 incl VAT
 

Kathy Austin and her Brazilian Navy partner have finally stumbled upon the lost German submarine but quickly discover that they aren’t the first to set foot in it since it was abandoned. When Reinhart and the doctor, the two Nazis looking for the gold hidden in the U-boot, arrive in turn, bringing with them Jo, the albino with otherworldly powers, secrets will be revealed, old debts will be settled, and the British spy will finally be able to close her investigation – for now.

Part 4 (july 2025)  https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2025/07/cinebook-ltd-amazonia-4-episode-4.html

Part 3 (March 2025) https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2025/03/cinebook-ltd-amazonia-3-episode-3.html

Part 2 (October 2024) https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2024/10/cinebook-ltd-amazonia-1-episode-1-and-2.html

I can never find a fault in this series as it is very well written, drawn exceptionally well and the colour work adds a great deal to the overall work. However, and as I am getting older it matters, three years to publish five volumes can be seen as a bit of a stretch, The problem is that we, the readers, do not know what goes on behind the scenes and, importantly, the translation has to be carried out and that is not quick.

I wonder whether there is more of Jo's story to be told. From suspected extraterrestrial to genetic experiment his story has been quite bumpy..in fact, in this volume I thought "That's it. He's dead"..but that is where the reader gets fooled (damn writers!!!).  There are a few surprises and a snappy ending for someone (you will laugh hysterically at that if you've read it...no, you will).

I suspect Kathy has not seen her last mission for British Intelligence and this creative team keeps things nice and fresh so we'll see!

There are five volumes in Kathy's first mission, Kenya and five in her second outing, Namibia. All three volumes together ought to keep the X Files fans out there happy as well as the sci fi buffs.All series are still available via Cinebook and their web site -the best way to order. 

Purchase direct from Cinebook: https://www.cinebook.co.uk/amazonia-episode-p-4591.html