Writer: Will O’Mullane / Pencillers: (Establishing Shot) Alfie Gallagher, Lane Lloyd, Edison Neo, Clark Bint, Daniel Romero, Butch Mapa / (Second Chances) Marco Perugini, Fabian Lelay, Luke Balmer-Kemp / Colour Artists: (Second Chances) J.R. Harris / Letterers: Jonathan Stevenson, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, Lloyd / Cover: (Establishing Shot) Alex Moore
28th December 2023
The Pitch: Warning! This comic features: Sentient caption boxes! An old guy with a flame thrower! Ninja Santa Claus! This two-in-one anthology features stories that range from the comedic and meta, to the hard-boiled and criminal, to some things existing in-between.
Somewhere, in an imaginary time and place, this could all be happening right now...
Two hapless criminals are undone by the Noir narration telling their story, the way so many comics are undone by an over-emphasis on the writing...
In a teeming Metropolis (no, not that one), a muscle-bound, lantern-jawed caped super type rejects the descriptive Voice Over he's saddled with as he battles an armoured enemy.
Elsewhere, Sound Effects tear through the city, causing havoc...
Beneath our feet, in the subway, two criminal lovers try to off each other for the loot of their latest crime...
At Christmas, a group of speculating criminals battle scalping Santas for possession of a must-have toy that will fetch a high price on eBay...
In a city overrun with crime, someone posits on just what is it that makes so many people go bad...
Far away, in London, late night on the Underground provides a commuter with a supernatural second chance...
A son battles genetic clones of his father as the ultimate test...
And finally, A Batman-esque hero gets swept away in something that might be too big even for him...
The comics form offers many unique pleasures. Whilst the uneducated often dismiss comics as being 'like the movies', there are those among us who know it is an art form all its own. Strictly speaking, what the creators of Establishing Shot have made isn't narrative. Not comics, as such. Instead, what you find yourself reading is a comic about comics. Not the meta-commentary you might see in a lot of books now, such as Crossover or Local Man (both excellent), but a piece that uses the tools of comics to explore the conventions within them that we lean on, complain about, and hey - actually might enjoy.
Wisely, the creators fall back on the two genres that made comics what they are: Superheroes and crime. I'm probably biased to like this since those are my two favourite genres of comic books. Tell the truth: they're yours too, right? Comics are a medium of nostalgic pleasures and O'Mullane is aware of them. He draws on them, making them present once more. In the hands of a lesser writer, this might feel like readers are being called out for the tropes they love. Not so with O'Mullane. He wants us to embrace the repetitive tropes of the comic book and not feel ashamed about it. There's a touch of Stan Lee about the opening page of Establishing Shot, placing O'Mullane's and Alfie Gallagher's hearts firmly In the Silver Age. It's not long before you realise this enthusiasm runs right through every story in both books. There's genuine love here, not just for the art but the art form, the craft, the nuts and bolts that make comics that unique medium. Think about it: it's the medium you read but watch, where the pace at which the information comes to you is controlled by the way the thing is drawn, and therefore how fast your eyes and brain process the information, and where you hear written words in a way that's unique to each reader. Insanity!
And it's that Insanity the murderer's row of up-and-coming creators tap fully into - and what a row it is! Lane Lloyd delivers a Peter Bagge-esque beatdown! Edison Nero's sparse, clean lines tackle rogue SFX! Daniel Romero's beautiful, organic work goes underground for a B&W robbery! Butch Mappa's clean, expressive art recalls early Queen and Country issues but you know, with Santas! And Clark Bint's Gotham-a-like war zone, playing with familiar manga such as Tekkonreeket and Akira. And let's not forget Second Chances, the shorter companion piece, rooted in more horror and sci-fi than Establishing Shot and worth checking out, with expressive horror drawn by Marco Perugini and Fabian Lelay, with Lelay's tight pencilling coloured by J. R. Harris to a nicely lit effect. Finally, recalling the giant typewriter era of Batman, Luke Balmer-Kemp brings us to a sweeping exit, reminding us that we're in a meta-commentary. Backing these folks up is Letterer extraordinaire Jonathan Stevenson (with Lane Llyod supplying his own letters and the never less than terrific Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou providing type on one story). Stevenson proves he should be hired all day, every day as he tackles a buffet table of styles and voices. And holding it all together? Will O'Mullane's excellent, affectionate love of comics and talented testimonial to the comics he grew up with! Get him on a book now, publishers! Somewhere there has to be a universe where all these guys are working on books for the big two. Somewhere, this could all be happening right now...
Buy Establishing Shot and the short comic collection Second Chances from Will O'Mullane's shop.
