Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, entertainment, mac's books, rose black, rough comics, the surgeon

Mac's Books: The Surgeon And Rose Black

A monthly review spotlighting the best titles the UK indie press has to offer.

By Olly MacNamee

This month, two titles coming from Rough Cut Comics which have recently been re-printed and re-released.

The Surgeon

Writer: Ed Murphy
Artist: Jaeson Finn

Based on a film project that would end up in 'Development Hell', The Surgeon certainly reads like a film script as we are introduced to a group of paranormal investigators looking into the strange case of Westfield Hospital left abandoned a while back. Immediately, we have our victims and our abandoned setting. You could imagine this as a low-budget horror film but as a comic, Murphy and Finn's aims were rather to emulate, pay homage, to the House of Hammer B+W comic strips of the 1970's. And, in this, they succeed.

As each paranormal investigator is hunted down and savaged, slashed and hacked, the survivors piece together a theory to support not just the supernatural manifestations occurring in the here and now, but an explanation for all supernatural happenings across the ages. All the while, confined within the walls of a suitably cavernous hospital. All the conventions and tropes of a classic House of Hammer strip are played with here by Murphy.

The eponymous Surgeon itself is malleable in its appearance, able to grow from it's stumps, organic weaponry; scalpels, knives, bone-saws, adding to its presentation in this book as a decaying demonic doctor who arrives with a bang, in some sort of pulsing, fleshy egg-shaped transport.

If you were a fan of the classic UK horror magazine, or even a fan of horror films of a certain budgetary constraint (which made for some great visceral horror films when compared to today's big budget remakes) you'll enjoy this read. Finn's linework, reminiscent of a young Charles Vess, with its smooth, controlled cross hatching, prevents the art form being swallowed up in shadows and swathes of black and Murphy's inclusion of a sci-fi background to The Surgeon's machinations gives this character an origin somewhat different to your average slasher.

Rose Black

Writer: Ed Murphy
Artist: Jaeson Finn

Looking back at The Surgeon and then at this later collection, one immediately notices how much more Jaeson Finn's art style has developed. In this book, introducing us to the walking puzzle that is Rose Black, an amnesiac vampire fighting on the side of good, Finn's work takes on a more detailed, realistic dimension. The careful use of lines rather than shading to suggests shadow, is still there but a mastery over their shapes, size and width adds depth, dimension and texture to this comic and its country hopping vistas. If anything, the choice of printing this on somewhat smaller sized pages to your average comic book, means Finn's art is not showcased as much as I think it could be.

Rose Black herself, upon being introduced to her, is in hiding, living the peaceful life of a nun, devoted to God. It's soon revealed that she once stood shoulder-to-shoulder with members of the British Secret Service, who have tracked her down and out of retirement.

What follows is a classic tale of espionage, subterfuge and revelations that encompasses the Secret Service as well as the Vatican and members of the clergy. What we are left with is a character with plenty more adventures to be told. By the end of the book, she is stronger, more aware of her own roots and now ready to take on the world once again, after some decades in retreat.

We learn about Rose Black's past – well, what she can remember – and we learn that, like so many women in comics before her – Rose may be a strong fighter, but her clothes do have a tendency to perish while in combat.

Whether she is an angel or a demon, Rose had spent most of the 20th century trying to keep her savage nature at bay. A nature she has problems dealing with, when factoring in her faith.

A worthwhile book to read, and one with a strong female character that has plenty of potential for future stories too. With a follow up book, Rose Black: Demon Seed, I'm glad to see there are more adventures for me to seek out.

Olly MacNamee teaches English and Media, for his sins, in a school somewhere in Birmingham. Some days, even he doesn't know where it is. Follow him on twitter @ollymacnamee or read about his exploits at olly.macnamee@blogspot.co.uk. Or don't. You can also read his articles fairly frequently at www.bleedingcool.com too.

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