When the news hit in November that Rebellion’s much lauded Monster Fun monthly – the re-imagining of the classic 1970s British weekly comic – was coming to a premature end with its Christmas issue it came as a shock to many. The cancellation was incredibly abrupt, even for the current marketplace, and with future issues solicited through to February the news seemed to have even taken some its contributing creators by surprise given their reactions on social media. If you trust our judgment of quality here at Broken Frontier then a side note that the series is nominated for the second year in a row in the Broken Frontier Awards in the category of Best Periodical Series.
It’s an absolute shame because this final issue, Monster Fun #26, is another example of the potential of an all-ages humour anthology that had evolved into something very special. The signs of its sudden shuttering are markedly frequent throughout, sadly, with some of the more serialised strips concluding with ‘The End… for Now’-style captions. Regardless, the miadventures of the regular line-up of characters (some based on the 1970s originals and others newly originated) are as mischievous, inventive and imaginative as ever.
With a festive theme to the proceedings the standouts this time round include many of those characters from the original incarnation of Monster Fun fifty years ago. Gums – the toothless, dentures-wearing shark – has been a delight over the last few months and here Stacey Whittle and PJ Holden seem him getting a Christmassy but still cartoonishly violent comeuppance after encountering some electric eels. Neat visual gags and great comedy pacing again here.
Dave Bulmer and Abigail Bulmer bring us Martha’s Monster Make-Up as the schoolgirl with the cosmetics that change anything they touch into something altogether more grotesque gets one up on Father Christmas. It’s a jaunty one-pager with witty cartooning and a script that reminds us that the fun of classic IPC Comics back in the day was often about kids getting one over on authority figures.
Elsewhere Derek Fridolfs and Rebecca Morse take the rivalry of Witch Vs Warlock to a winter wonderland of cleverly choreographed snowball fights. The absolute best of the bunch, though, is Kek-W and PJ Holden’s one-page Prankenstein strip, a story that I cannot even begin to describe without ruining the whole thing but it’s a masterclass in comedy build-up and timing with a glorious punchline. A gem. A final mention for Helly, Hell’s Little Angel by Dave Bulmer and David DeGrand in this issue which has been consistently the cleverest and most visually experimental feature in the comic.
Presumably there’s already created material that should have run in Monster Fun now looking for a new home. Time will tell where that ends up. Perhaps in future collections to conclude ongoing features. Some of the Monster Fun serials have been compiled as trades. The The Leopard from Lime Street story, for example, that rather fittingly echoed the ‘70s/’80s version of the Buster strip and its wholesale ripping off of early Amazing Spider-Man by unconsciously echoing J. Michael Stracynski’s rewriting of Spider-Man’s origins with mystic animal totem additions. The more things change, etc…
What we are left with are lots of questions about what could have been and what this means for the future of kids comics in the UK in periodical form. The Phoenix has built its reading base on the solid foundation of a subscription model. The Beano has the best part of a century of brand recognition and a market for its IPs outside of the confines of its pages. Monster Fun seemed far more reliant on traditional newsagent distribution; a dying, archaic and now almost anachronistic method of delivery, as anyone who has entered a branch of WHSmith recently can attest. What isn’t in doubt, though, is the quality of Monster Fun and the material it was showcasing, especially in the last year or two. It deserved a kinder fate and editor Keith Richardson’s curatorial achievements here should not go uncelebrated.
Stacey Whittle, Dave Bulmer, Ned Hartley, Pete Wells, Stephen Webster, Alec Worley, Roger Langridge, Derek Fridolfs, Matt Baxter (W) PJ Holden, Abigail Bulmer, Dan Boultwood, Ruairi Coleman, Karl Dixon, Roger Langridge, Wayne Thompson, Rebecca Morse, Ozwaldo Sanchez, Andreas Butzbach, David DeGrand (A) Barbara Nosenzo, Valentina Pinto (C) Kay ‘Nine’ Mowlah, Sarah Fimm, Oz, Roger Langridge, Anna Nass, Leila Jess (L), Matt Baxter (CA) • Rebellion, £3.99
Review by Andy Oliver
