Live now on Kickstarter, Transmissions #1 is the latest comic coming from TPub Comics – and I’ve got a sneek look at the issue!
Transmissions – An espionage graphic novel
An espionage comic about a Cold War era brainwashing op that is resurrected in modern times
It was supposed to be an ordinary day at work for Paul. But after grabbing a coffee and checking his emails he clicks on the radio and… The next thing he remembers he’s standing in the middle of his office with his friends and colleagues lying dead around him and he’s holding a gun. He does the only thing that makes sense.
He runs for it.
Bang!
This first issue really hits the ground running!
This is some really good espionage stuff! If you’re a fan of Brubaker & Epting’s ‘Velvet’ then this looks to be the series for you! First the story – think a MKUltra style brainwashing, but the instructions seem to be triggered by a radio station. The question is, who is transmitting these signals, who has programmed the attackers and what is there endgame?
That’s a lot of questions, and we start the investigation into all of those here, but things are not looking good!
We’ve got a good ‘James Bond’ character and a helper who seems to have the inside track on the radio signals. There are the higher-ups who seems to know something about this and want it sorted. Talking of ‘getting it sorted’ there is someone on the other side, who looks to be tidying up the mess.
The story is well told and I like the pacing – there is a certain amount of humour here, with some nice sarcastic comments about the others. This makes it feel more real, with some realistic reactions to what is going on.
I really enjoy the art style, there are some interesting choices made with colour and shadow here, and the action scenes are well done, especially the double page spread at the beginning!
I’m glad to be a backer of this series on Kickstarter and would recommend it to all!
A digital version of the book starts at £10 – and there is even an option for those who are attending Thought Bubble to pick up their copy from there!
Transmissions was written (and lettered!) by the Jed McPherson. He’s the writer behind Deadbeat (a finalist in the Ghost City Comic competition for best single issue), has written The Show (a surreal send up of reality tv and the lunatics that create it), and is the first external writer that TPub has taken on for the Twisted Dark series.
Jed is lucky to be joined by Marco Perugini on inks. He’s well established in the Italian scene working on the Morgan Lost series for publisher Sergio Bonelli Editore, and his work has been published in Heavy Metal.
He’s ably assisted by Shannon Bennion on colours. Aside from colouring transmissions, Shannon mostly works freelance whilst working on her original concepts, all of which lean heavily into sci-fi/fantasy and thriller genres. She’s currently working on a original graphic novel called If We Shadows
And finally we’ve invaluable editorial insight from Neil Gibson, TPub’s founder and writer of Twisted Dark. He’s also a great editor with the uncanny ability to find plot holes in even the tightest scripts (seriously, give him your favourite comic and he’ll tell you exactly what’s wrong with it).
