Webcomic Weekly: PJ Holden’s ‘Null Space’

by Richard Bruton

Webcomic Weekly, Comicon’s increasingly badly named look at all things comics and online. But ignore the frequency, feel the quality! This week, time to take a look at PJ Holden’s Null Space…

Now, we’ve featured PJ and John Reppion’s Fascinating Folklore in the Webcomic Weekly slot already had a look at the new Fascinating Folklore book as well. PJ’s also busy with his 2000 AD work, having recently finished the Dredd serial Poison with Rob Williams, but he’s not one to stand still at all, which is why he’s started Null Space, a new single-page weekly thing, each one standing alone, each one written by a different writer, most of whom are genre fiction writers who’ve not written for comics before – so far season 1 of Null Space has included fantasy and sci-fi author Adrian Tchaikovsky; writer, illustrator, and artist Tade Thompson; writer, poet, and editor Chrissy Williams; writer and podcaster Lizbeth Myles; Canadian sci-fi author Geoff Ryman; sci-fi author Gareth L Powell; comic writer and novelist Cecil Castellucci; magazine journalist and editor Dave Bradley; and sci-fi, fantasy, and horror editor Lee Harris.

It’s been running since October and it’s really turning out some great work, with Holden switching up his style to suit each new piece. Each one is completely different from the next and each week we get plentiful and fascinating process notes from PJ.

So, fancy a ghost story set on an amusement ride? How about a comedic mishap with Excalibur? A fantasy tale of a barbarian and giant spiders? Maybe a serial killer getting his comeuppance? A poem on books interpreted as a post-apocalyptic wasteland? All of these and more are here. And that’s just what makes it such a great project, the variety of what both writers and Holden are bringing to it.

Definitely worth a look for anyone interested in seeing something done extremely well in an unusual format.

Oh, and whilst you’re having a look at Null Space, be sure to also check out PJ’s A4, what he describes as his ‘microfiction newsletter’. Another fascinating thing that he’s doing, again something that pushes his art into someplace different and interesting.

So, all that’s left to do is give you just a taste of a few of these…

RED MOUNTAIN by PJ Holden and Chrissy Williams