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Shift Comic - new UK anthology

Started by Colin YNWA, 25 September, 2020, 02:18:51 PM

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The Mind of Wolfie Smith

terrible name. but has there ever been a better looking british comic? nope. consistently fabulous storytelling.

rogue69

Shift have just announced on facebook that they will be running a new Empire story by Mark Waid and Barry Kitson in 2022

Tomwe

Quote from: rogue69 on 09 September, 2021, 11:16:29 PM
Shift have just announced on facebook that they will be running a new Empire story by Mark Waid and Barry Kitson in 2022
Is it new or are they just running the original issues? Sorry just been and looked... hopefully they'll run the original stuff first. I've never read it.

Colin YNWA

Quote from: Tomwe on 10 September, 2021, 07:46:22 AM
Quote from: rogue69 on 09 September, 2021, 11:16:29 PM
Shift have just announced on facebook that they will be running a new Empire story by Mark Waid and Barry Kitson in 2022
Is it new or are they just running the original issues? Sorry just been and looked... hopefully they'll run the original stuff first. I've never read it.

Yeah never seen this but Mark Waid and Barry Kitson is quite the team. Wonder how I missed this one! Shift the comic that keeps giving!

IndigoPrime

I've only read the first issue so far, so I need to dig into the other couple a kindly forumite sent me. It struck me that the comic had a lot of energy and ideas—although it desperately needed a copy editor. That first issue made my inner sub-editor shiver (not in a good way), given how many errors there were in the text. I hope that subsequently improved!

Tomwe

I'm interested to know how the creators get paid for their strips. The majority have seen print somewhere before, so are GMC licensing them to run or are the creators just letting them have at it, with a portion of the sales profits heading their way afterwards? Maybe a bit of both.

I imagine Scott Morse being quite happy for his decades-old strip to generate new cash for him with little effort. Actually, I hope they look at his other work afterwards.

Mark Waid was only talking about Empire on Word Balloon the other day. The rights have reverted to them. It will be the most mainstream strip SHIFT has run to my eye.

rogue69

QuoteYeah never seen this but Mark Waid and Barry Kitson is quite the team. Wonder how I missed this one!

Empire originally came out in 2000 through Gorilla comics but only printed 2 issues. In 2003 it was picked up by DC which published the two original comics as #0 and then the rest of the story was told over six issues. A 4 issue sequel came out in 2015 via IDW Empire: Uprising as DC had let the rights lapse in 2014

Tomwe

Quote from: rogue69 on 10 September, 2021, 10:46:51 AM
QuoteYeah never seen this but Mark Waid and Barry Kitson is quite the team. Wonder how I missed this one!

Empire originally came out in 2000 through Gorilla comics but only printed 2 issues. In 2003 it was picked up by DC which published the two original comics as #0 and then the rest of the story was told over six issues. A 4 issue sequel came out in 2015 via IDW Empire: Uprising as DC had let the rights lapse in 2014
So around twelve issues exist up to date? That's quite a chunk for Shift to cover if they were to include the original material first. Maybe the 'new' stuff is just a few pages as in order to set up the original run.

rogue69

Shift have just added to their site a new version of Empire as part of their "Shift presents" range being released in November and this will not be available in newsagents

This collected edition is only £11.99 and the first 50 people to pre-order this will also get a signed Barry Kitson print

https://theshift.store/collections/all/products/shift-presents-empire

Colin YNWA

Quote from: rogue69 on 27 September, 2021, 12:34:27 PM
Shift have just added to their site a new version of Empire as part of their "Shift presents" range being released in November and this will not be available in newsagents

This collected edition is only £11.99 and the first 50 people to pre-order this will also get a signed Barry Kitson print

https://theshift.store/collections/all/products/shift-presents-empire

Ohhh  nice one. That's ordered - have no idea if I'm in the first 50 or not but at £11.99 (and £2 postage) and clocking in at almost 200 pages of Mark Waid and Barry Kitson goodness I'm winner either way!

Barrington Boots

I've also ordered this. I wasn't into 'regular' Shift as an anthology, but I'd definitely support more of this sort of thing and the Brawler / Spacewarp stuff.
You're a dark horse, Boots.

Colin YNWA

Issue 8 has landed and this remains a wonderful comic. Little more uppy and downy than the first few issues, with some variation in quality but heck what do we expect from an anthology.

To be fair its the strips form the original lineup that are strongest, so I'll come back to them. I'm still struggling to get into Crucible, it kinda bounces off me. The one-off this month(ish) by Lyndon Webb is okay. I've seen this art as posters and single images all over Facebook and they have a very distinct style, so its very interesting to see that applied to sequencials, overall it pretty nice, if it all gets a bit tight in at times. The story reminds me of the kinda one-off your get in the old Dark Horse Presents - pretty good but when you strip it down its just an okay Future Shock. Decent.

Degas ends this month and Dan McDaid's 4 parter (from his 44 page OGN) has a very effective ending but now I need to go back and read it all again to make headway with what was going on as cross the story as a whole.

The regulars all have very, very good episodes this issue. Shifter remains intriguing and as the story has unfolded its drawn me more and more into its world. Soulwind is such fun this month. At some point I must go back to that first episode and see how that works in the context was what we have learnt since. Kora remains my favourite strip and this dialogue free episode is another exemplar of fantastic visual storytelling. To be honest though To the Death is probably the best strip here, it has a fantastic episode and this series does work best when it strips back from the massive gun battles and focuses more... well in this case on the smaller gun battles! The characters really shine here though.

So yeah we're up to issue 8 and this is still a lovely product - the extra flip section is an okay advert for a new mini from a ne3 publisher - well put together and yes it still smells GREAT.

rogue69

Shift has announced their winter special will be launch as a kickstarter shortly
they are setting up a number of pledge levels which will allow you to get original art from Geoff Senior, Lyndon Webb, Barry Kitson and more
It will also be on sale through the normal channels after the end off the kickstarter

Colin YNWA

Good news - be very interested to see how this does. Also be very interested to see who the other original art teirs might be - the Facebook page suggests there will be others. Would love a Kora page (if its not digital?)

rogue69

The kickstarter goes live on Friday 29th October