Previewing ‘Monster Fun’ #20: All-Ages And All-Funny

by Richard Bruton

Now monthly, Monster Fun gives you a treat of an all-ages comic full of a mix of new characters and updated classics from one of the finest Brit humour comics!

Another month, another 36 pages of generally damn fine kids’ comics in Monster Fun, which has been slowly but surely increasing the number of completely new strips compared to the reworkings of classic Brit humour strips to the point where six out of the 10 are all new. This month we have two completely new strips Sally Astro, by the always excellent Roger Langridge, and Sir Render, plus the continuations of Forest of Fear, Witch Vs Warlock, Rex Power, and Frankencritter. These sit perfectly alongside the reworkings of the classics in Gums, Kid Kong, The Fright Shift (a Hire-a-Horror tale), and Martha’s Monster Make-Up. And of course, more of Henry Flint’s Global Ghoulies, his wonderful homage to Ken Reid‘s Worldwide Weirdos.

The opener every month and one that ALWAYS has me laughing – Gums by Stace Whittle and Brett Parson

So, to give you an idea of some of the treats in-store for you before we do a full preview, here’s a look at some of the new strips…

Really, all I needed to see with Sally Astro was the name Langridge to know it would be good fun. There’s few cartoonists out there who can do comedy this well. Sally’s an inept space agent who manages to land herself a new mission to Earth to rescue the planet’s ruler, the Mighty Zelda – and it goes about as well as you’d expect. Together with her lippy robot glove, ‘Glovesy’, it’s off to Mr Zoo, where first contact involves a mammal with unusual pyjamas and a healthy appetite. Silly, funny stuff.

I think Forest of Fear started last issue but I managed to miss that one, so it’s new to me. By Cat Sullivan, familiar to all 2000 AD readers as the creator of Droid Life, it’s got that immediately recognisable style transplanted into an equally ridiculous setting, that of John Grim and Darryl Foreboding, two trees in the Forest of Fear. Another really funny strip, gag after gag after gag, unrelenting through a tale of a mail-order magician kit and wooden idiocy…

Sir Render, The Cowardly Knight is a first for both writer Pete Wells and artist Stephen Webster in here, but it’s a great bit of silly – classic Arthurian-ish sword and sorcery, albeit more Terry Pratchett than Sir Thomas Malory or JRR Tolkien (and much better for it as well).

Set in The Kingdom of Albion (just after tea), where magician Boilbott the Pustular decides the village needs a protector as he’s sick abd tired of the Orcs trashing the place. So, you know the drill, there’s an enchanted slingshot in a mystical stone and it’s time for the potential protectors to try out. Which is where Rodney Render comes into it, as his pig has escaped up the ‘impossibly high mountain, standing next to that ominously glowing rock.’

It is a load of silly fun and one I hope we’ll see more of.

Monster Fun #20 is out right now from Rebellion and The Treasury of British Comics on 6 March, available on newsstands in the UK and from the website as a subscription.

So… preview time…

GUMS – by Stacey Whittle and Brett Parson