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Whilst at Cardiff International Comic Expo (CICE) last month, in the few minutes where I wasn't running around like a headless chicken I was able to pick up the flipbook double feature preview of Stiffs and The Pride. Both books have some of the same creative team but are very different in tone and subject so we'll tackle each one as their own entity, look for The Pride review coming soon.

Regular listeners to the Sidekickcast may remember the interview we did with two of Stiffs' writers, PJ Montgomery and Joe Glass at last year's Thought Bubble Festival in Leeds, Drew Davies the other writer on the book, who also came up with the original concept for Stiffs unfortunately couldn't make it. If you did miss the podcast, I suggest you go have a listen but if you can't do that I can catch you up or you could check out this blog interview from one of our Sidekicks, Nick Roberts. The book is about a bunch of everyday 'working stiffs' that lead normal mundane lives by day but hunt zombies (and other supernaturals) by night, all whilst never missing a chance to grab a few beers down the pub.

Follow up:

Stiffs may be a first time small press book but it sure doesn't feel like it, from the explosive first page you feel at ease with the series, like hanging with an old friend that you only just met. The dialogue doesn't feel forced and the characters 'sound' like real people, no small achievement given that one of those characters is a sunglasses wearing, spliff smoking spider monkey named Kenny. In less capable hands a character like Kenny could go horribly wrong, standing out as a indignant, one-note joke but that never happens, he fits right in with the characters around him. The story may seem so real to me because it's something I recognize, no I don't have a secret life as a zombie hunter but rather it's about a close knit group of Welsh mates looking for something other than their ordinary lives, a feeling I can truly empathise with.

A big part of what makes Stiffs feel like such a quality production is the high standard of Gavin Mitchell's art, gruesome yet expressive enough to allow the more comedic elements of the story breathe. There is a distinct lack of detailed backgrounds for most of the story, usually characters are surrounded in encompassing darkness or block colours but rather than being a bad thing, this approach actually aids the storytelling in creating an isolated sense of tension. Mitchell is more than ably backed up in the art department with colours by Adam Cadwell, a name more familiar with his popular webcomic, The Everyday, he also does a great job lettering the book.

This story reads a lot like the pitch for a cult tv show or an Edgar Wright movie and I mean that in the best possible way, it has potential written all over it. I'm not the only one that thinks so either, the book was recently signed up to Dead Star Publishing who saw the book whilst at CICE and pretty much snapped it straight up. Overall, Stiffs is a fun horror comedy with bags of charm, it can't help but creep you out and entertain in equal measure. I look forward to seeing what this creative team do next, I have a feeling they're going to be around for a long time to come.