Poe’s snifter is filled to the brim once more, so it’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy some eerily funny horror. This month, the themes of each piece of the anthology sees similarities. “The Adventures of Three Narrators” by Paul Cornell and Greg Scott and “Ms. Found in a Bottle” by Kek-W and Alberto Ponticelli are the two comic strips this time. Both stories comment, in their own ways, on what women have to say. On top of that, “Sorry but You’re Going To Have To Go Nude in This Scene” by Jake Williams keeps the feel of the book going with his prose piece before Dan Micklethwaithe rounds out the book with “As We Mean to Go On.” Stacked to say the least.
The Good
Here at AIPT, AHOY comics regularly get glowing reviews. That won’t change here, as the fifth edition of Poe’s Snifter of Blood is yet again a stellar entry in the anthology comic field. The metafiction of “Three Narrators”, unlike many of the metafictional stories these days, has a purpose. The meta nature of the story is funny in its own right, but what it says with that humor is what makes this a great story. Cornell and Scott have leaped over the “meta = humor” barrier that so many stories seem to stumble at these days.
One of the hallmark aspects of AHOY Comics is their backup extras, and in an anthology series the prose pieces feel less like extras and more like full-bodied parts of the book. Nowhere is that more apparent than in Williams’s story. Told in the second person, the narrator perfectly captures the faux feminist front that Hollywood paddles for profit. The story comments on the disingenuous nature of controlling directors/producers (a bit like a certain creator of teenage vampire slayers). As a standout story within the issue, the book is worth the price of admission for this piece alone.
Any story by Kek-W, be it comics or prose, is always welcome. “Ms. Found in a Bottle” is a fantastic story that again has something to say. It’s worth the read. Micklethwaite’s story rounds out the book in a good way with yet another fantastic prose piece. If you had told the preteen me that my favorite comics would have prose in them when I’m older I’d have drawn you a dirty look, but AHOY constantly showcases that comic books can do and be more.
The ‘Bad’
Honestly, after a positive section like that what can you expect this part to say?
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