Biggol #1

Biggol #1 recently launched under the Carp Publishing Endeavors banner and with it described as “a documentary comedy focusing on a fictional and insane sixties television show about a wizard”……it had me onboard before I even saw the cover.

There’s a slick sense of planning to the events in the book from the off as every character is given what feels like a formal introduction to the reader and while that feels a bit off-the-wall at first it quickly settles into feeling almost nostalgic.  Given the subject matter and the warmth creator Ioan Morris seems to have for his book it’s fitting that that’s the vibe he’s helped flourish here.

The toing & froing of every aspect of developing a TV show while trying to finely balance the ego’s of those involved because another finely crafted piece of the puzzle that’s building across this first issue and I’d be hard pushed to remember a 24-page issue that felt as full as this one does.  Full of ideas, full of world building and full of intrigue as a result.  That’s backed up with art that is flooded with flashbacks, finer details, glimpses of the character’s lives before & after the series and in that sense of completeness, there’s an approach to art that plays around with basic panel layouts to squeeze everything it possibly can from a glimpse at the TV world.

This all settles into it having the feeling of a book with a Mad Men type structure wrapped in some Fawlty Towers sensibilities – with a story that’s as as intricately planned as I’ve seen in a while but with a a definitie, strong sense that it’s willing to tap in to its less serious side to help make it relatable.  A well-balanced yet unhinged cast of characters helps this feel like a comic project retelling the story of real people as they navigate the turmoil-filled world of TV and it also highlights how good a creator Ioan Morris is as his is a new name to me.  Hail Ioan!

Head over to the Carp Publishing Endeavour website to get look at this and their other titles and take the chance to pick up a copy too.  You can also keep up to date with what else is on the way from CPE through head honcho Josh Hicks’ Twitter & Instagram pages and see what else Ioan Morris is working on over on Twitter too.

8/10

G-Man