Culture

Author: The Dunedin Comic Collective (3/5)
In stark contrast to The Good Book, the Dunedin Comic Collective’s first comic revue is blissfully unpretentious.
 
A long time coming, this publication is a selection of works by members of the Dunedin Comic Collective and friends. It includes a compilation CD so you can ‘read and listen’, which is kinda cool. Without the music (as I first read it), the book pretty much does what it’s meant to. There’s a good variety of comics; some quirky, some funny, some earnest. Some I enjoyed, others I didn’t. I found Rory MacMurdo’s contribution ‘Daddy’s Li’l Ghurl’ especially repugnant.
 
With the music, it was an entirely different experience. Many of the songs correspond with comics, some don’t or maybe are meant to but don’t: it isn’t very clear and either way almost all are a bit optimistic about how long you are going to spend looking at the drawings. The effect of listening along was a bit hit-and-miss. Tim Cornelius’ number set the mood nicely for ‘Apocryphal tales of No 23’ but probably wouldn’t stand alone. ‘Talkin’ ‘Bout the Fridge’ was obviously intended to be an audio-visual experience, but unfortunately some of the lyrics didn’t quite match up to what was written, which I couldn’t help but be irritated by. In the back of the magazine you can find links to the bands’ websites should a particular track interest you.
 
Something I found a little awkward was the choice to not to number the pages. This made it next to impossible to find a particular comic and difficult to deduce the identity of the contributor of an appealing work. This was not helped by those comics in which the style changed several times in one submission.
 
Overall this was a nice way to spend my afternoon and I’m looking forward to many more releases from the Dunedin Comic Collective. You will find this one in University Bookshop or from dudcomics.blogspot.com
 
 
Interestingly enough, the magazine with the most (or any) advertising is the one which received the lowest rating, going to show that you don’t need a big budget to produce something people will want to read. Despite the small niggles which I had, these people deserve kudos for making a magazine in the first place, and the three I reviewed all looked like they could be found in a newsagents or chip shop. Dunedin has talent and I’d like to see more of what it can offer.