Publisher: Rapid Comics
Writer/Artist: Gav Boyle

Awrite troops?

The premise behind Rapid Gazzer, the latest project from Gav Boyle [The Steamin’ Headmaster], is a fairly simple one;

‘What if Flash Gordon were a wee Glasgow ned?’

As setups go, it’s a pretty intriguing one, and with the potential shown by Boyle’s contributions to the Steamin’ Headmaster, I was definitely curious to see how he fared on his own.

First things first, the dialogue here is pretty much spot-on, and leaves us with absolutely no doubt as to where the comic is meant to be set.  While it may be a little tough to penetrate for folks not familiar with Glasgow slang, for a Glaswegian like myself it just felt right.  For instance, having the ‘hero’ shouting “Edgey!” as he and the ass-kicking heroine find themselves hiding from soldiers on an alien spaceship is about as Weegie as you can get.  Star Wars this definitely isnae.

Boyle’s artwork remains straightforward – basic, almost – but he does a terrific job of conveying what’s going on in a no-nonsense fashion.  And while the backgrounds can sometimes be a little flat, the characters themselves are brilliantly created, and their overblown, cartoonish facial expressions work perfectly for a title with such an ‘out there’ feel to it.

The story that’s being told here is far from a groundbreaking one, with several nods to a lot of established franchises, Star Wars in particular.  However, the real appeal of this comic is seeing such a well-defined genre getting an injection of Glaswegian neddyness (that’s a word, right?), and in that respect, Rapid Gazzer ticks all the boxes I was hoping for.  Boyle does a great job of infusing humour into the comic right from the opening page, with even the menacing, Vader-esque villain managing to provide his own moments of comedic brilliance.

This is the first part of a five-issue series and, based on the groundwork already laid here, is going to be a hell of a lot of fun as things move forward.  And for me, it’s great to see a comic creator staying true to his roots and writing about what he knows rather than trying to force himself into yet another cookie-cutter ‘capes and cowls’ tale.

Rapid Gazzer is well worth a look for fans of either the sci-fi genre or some good old fashioned Glesga banter, and it manages to merge the two different styles extremely effectively.  So go on, gee it a wee swatch.  Ye wilnae regret it.

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If you want to grab yourself a copy, you can contact the creator directly.

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The writer of this piece was: Craig Neilson (aka Ceej)
Article Archive: Ceej Says