Malcolm Magic #2
Malcolm Magic is an anarchic and amusing comic about the inebriated rabbit, Malcolm, and his associates: Pygmy, Chester, Fikov and Reggy.

Malcolm seems to have an aptitude for attracting trouble, yet a similar ability to get his way out of it. In addition, since the engine oil incident, he seems to be able to flit back and forth between a strange other world called “Happy Hippy Dale” and his home whenever he gets injured or off his face.

The great thing about Malcolm Magic is the sense of humour contained within. The dialogue is really good, if a little surreal and the whole thing is really very humorous, from the tweaked scenarios to the one-liners that fill the dialogue.

Also, the characters are really well thought out and they are all different from each other, with personal quirks and traits, which make the reading experience more interesting and worthwhile. In fact, the writing on the whole is excellent and easy to read.

The artwork is of a high standard throughout, from the gorgeous colour covers to the clean Indian ink work within the pages. It is very stylised, detailed and individual art, although, perhaps it could benefit from being in fully in colour, as the detail is so fine the colour could help aid comprehension in the more complex panels.

It is very pro quality artwork and remains consistent throughout – an important distinction in independent comics, where the norm tends to be varying qualities of art as the comic progresses.

Occasionally, the lettering makes it tricky to read, especially on the Fikov’s dialogue and I think that it could benefit from being in a slightly more user-friendly font in places. Really, that is all I could find to criticize in this otherwise excellent example on independent comic production.
Furthermore, Malcolm Magic is a really polished and well-presented comic. It is published on A4 but on really nice, heavy weight paper that has a feeling of quality. It is just really nice to hold and to turn the pages.

I would recommend this comic to most adults. It is witty, silly, slick, fun and definitely worth a look.

Malcolm Magic is published by Blink Twice and can be found on the Internet at http://www.malcolmmagic.com/ - you can purchase the comic through the website.

- Glenn Carter