Its that time of the year again, the time when the votes for this years Web Cartoonist Choice Awards are counted. Whilst a crack team counts votes I decided to look at the nominations and one name came up time and time again. The Phoenix Requiem. So I thought it might be worth a look. The Phoenix Requiem is 100 pages in and every single one is high detailed. Its set in a snow-bound industrial land, mainly in a town called Esk. The land is magical, but at the current time all magic has been sealed away. The story begins with an injured man being rescued by a nurse Anya. She has to deal with this when another soldier arrives with the plague. An unnatural plague that kills and rots him before more help can arrive. The plot line seems to have just about started, and with over 4 volumes of comics to come there is time to enough it.

 The artwork is slightly manga based like Gun Baby, and like Gun Baby the comic is strengthen by the way the artist has taken on some of mangas qualities and removed other parts not necessary for the story. The story seems to have references to Sarah Ellerton’s previous comic Inverloch which has now finished. Also with a bi-weekly release of 2 or 3 pages at a time the wait between pages doesn’t seem so bad and the plot can progress at a fair rate. One to watch as it will probably win at least one award at the WCCA with the amount of nominations it has received.

Okay, it’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Troy Smith’s comic, Scandal Sheet. So I’m delighted to report the news that after a hiatus of a few months, he’s back and better than ever!

For those of you new to the scene, the comic documents the trials of Foster Hearst, reporter for the Comet what is thought to be the sleaziest rag on the market. Let’s just say that it’s so bad makes the Weekly World News look PLAUSIBLE.

What most people don’t know is that the tabloid is a front for a secret organization sworn to protect the world’s mysteries by writing about them … because if it’s in the tabloids, it can’t be true, right?

With a zany cast of characters and a great story, this four-panel comic may be simply drawn, but it has a lot of heart. And for me, the story is where it’s at.