This is England

Words: David M. Brown

Art: D.N.S.

“Well, I suppose this is fucking England now”, Rob said as he stared out the apartment window. We’d moved all the way to the top floor of the building, barricaded the ground level doors shut and cut the elevator cord with these huge industrial bolt cutters I found outside. The bastard things almost got me killed…so goddamn heavy I couldn’t outrun the Things.. Thank Christ for Rob, his four years of university baseball and his aluminum bat.

Rob stands peering out the top story window, I notice the blood on his shirt has dried a deep raspberry jam. “It’s not getting any better. It’s not thinning out”.

I know in my heart he’s right but I’m not ready to admit it to myself yet. “C’mon, the Things are moving through. They will eventually all go to wherever they’re heading”.

“It’s been almost two weeks for fuck’s sake. We’ve got maybe three days of ravioli left. What happens when we need to go out there?”, Rob spits.

I don’t have an answer for him. I don’t have an answer for me. So I bite my lip, stand up and put my arm around him. Rob turns away from me and back to the window. He looks down at the Things with some mix of morbid fascination and utter, primal hate. They scuttle down the city street in between the buildings just rotting through their clothes. The sun bakes them and they don’t care. So many questions…why did this happen…what happened?

I wish Mrs. Martin was still with us. She was always so calm, so level headed. But she’s gone now. They’re all gone now. Now it’s only me and Rob. Hot-headed, unreasonable Rob. A guy I saw around the building for years before all this happened. A guy I’ve never liked. I’ve seen how he looks at me sometimes, he doesn’t know but I see him. But what would I do without him? Stay here alone? Chew on my finger nails until i’m left with bloody finger tips? Die alone in this hot fucking room?

Night came on slowly and the constant moan of the crowd of Things became more sinister the darker it got. I’ve almost become used to it. It’s like when you grow up around train tracks you can’t go to sleep without the sound of steel wheels grinding on the rails. As the hours wore on, Rob drifted to sleep sitting against the wall with a frustrated look on his face. I wasn’t far behind. I finished my ravioli and curled up on the kitchen floor using an old shirt we found as my pillow. Sleep was never restful, between the heat and the constant nightmares, I may as well have stayed awake…I wish I had.

When light finally did crack my eyelids, I woke up to blood.

Rob, slumped in the corner. Rob, his head hung at a strange angle. Rob, fresh gore running from his wrists onto the rickety wooden floor. Rob. Dead.

I get to my feet, strangely calm. I walk to the window and look down at the mess of Things still moving by in droves.

“This is England”, I say out loud. Whether or not I say it to myself or Rob, I don’t know.

Advertisement

5d store up and ready for business!

Check out the new 5d store for 2 exclusive, extremely limited prints!

 

http://5dcomics.bigcartel.com

Obscura is 91% funded!

Hey kids! NOW is the time if you’d like to help support our new graphic novel, ‘Obscura: Collected Edition’! We are 9% away from the finish line and we’d be forever in your debt if you help us get there! Click here to help out and get amazing rewards!

In return you’ll get the best indie book on the market, full of savage, no holds barred tales and packed with incredible art. Join the fun!

Obscura: Collected Edition Kickstarter is ALIVE!

Hey kids,

Just thought I’d let you all know that the ‘Obscura: Collected Edition’ Kickstarter is LIVE right now! Our campaign is currently 67% funded! I hope you’ll consider backing us and spreading the word, this is without a doubt the pinnacle of our work here at Fifth Dimension Comics. You will NOT REGRET it! Thank you for supporting independent comics!!!

Collects Obscura # 1-4.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/5dcomics/obscura-collected-edition

Christmas!

 

Even sickos like us love the holidays…have a great Christmas, Heathens! Be ready to shed some blood in the new year…

And now, the 5d X-mas card, special for you.

Chewler graphic novel Kickstarter!

Hello Heathens!

A while back, artist Shannon Gretzon (The Disgruntled Avenger, Completely Inaccurate) and myself (David M. Brown, ‘The Wisdom of Fools, Obscura’) decided to come together and create something that we both feel akin to…something odd…something insane. Half out of a dream and half out of imagination, ‘Chewler’ was born!

The Kickstarter for the graphic novel of ‘Chewler’ is just about ready to unleash itself upon an unsuspecting world! So if you’re in the mood for a balls out insane adventure involving clones, bots, tentacle monsters, skinheads, cats named Curly and a freeze dried Hitler, you’ll want to keep any eye on this very space. When the Kickstarter goes live, I’ll post up a link here!

Of course you can keep up with us on Twitter and get updates as they happen! http://www.twitter.com/5dComics

New logo, same badass comics!

May I present our new logo!

 Wherever you see this image, know that quality Fifth Dimension Comics content is attached to it.

 

Moonshine and Mythological Creatures! A ‘Hellbillies’ #0 Review! (King Bone Press, 2014)

(A spoiler-free review)

Eustace: Don’t go talking that injun mumbo-jumbo now.

Jack: You know it to be true, White Devil.

What’s wrong with me?

I’ve known the name ‘King Bone Press’ for quite a while now, they run with the same Twitter crowd as I do, I’ve really liked all the art I’ve seen from them…so what took me so long to get hip? I’m not really sure. Probably the fact that I myself am overwhelmingly busy making comics…but still, no excuse.

But hey, good news! I finally got off my ass and showed them some support! I’m glad I did because the book I’m reviewing is awesome! It’s not titled ‘Awesome’ but it could be. This book is called ‘Hellbillies’ and she’s a beauty! It’s brought to us by the aforementioned King Bone Press. Written and lettered by Jon Westhoff, art by Bryan Boles and colors by the world’s greatest Canadian, Sean Fagan.

The short, bare bones synopsis goes something like this: Something weird is stirring in the southern backwoods of America. Eustace Conway and his merry gang of misfits do their damnedest to keep the world safe from all manner of monsters and oddities. Joined by a tough chick claiming to be a reporter, we follow them on an adventure to stop a pissed off mythological creature.

Immediately after opening the book, I was struck by how well the ‘backwoods’ feel was captured by the creative team. Boles’s style leans to the cartoon side which is perfect for the tone of this book. Westhoff moves things along nicely with enough characterization and humor to keep those pages turning. Fagan, who’s skills have been honed on comics like Monkey Squad One and a few 5d projects, offers up his best work yet as his colors kept me absorbed in the setting of the book. Well done all around!

My favorite character was Eustace’s Dad who brought to mind Hank Hill’s little bastard father from King of the Hill. He had my favorite moments from the book which I won’t ruin for you here. Suffice it to say though, I want more. Not sure what that says about me as a person but hey, who has the time for introspection when there are comics to read (and write).

I’m not one to spoil things so I’ll stop here but let it be known, King Bone Press is the real deal. I’ve had the pleasure of reading another of their books titled ‘Caperbet’ and it too was top shelf stuff. Their back catalog is fairly deep and a couple of the books, including this one, are available on Comixology. Hellbillies is a really fun read and I can’t recommend it enough…now I better get back to making comics…can’t let King Bone have all the glory now can I?

-David M. Brown

Get your King Bone Press goodies at www.kingbonepress.com and follow them on Twitter @KingBonePress!

Obscura: Volume One on sale now! Only $5!

Hello faithful 5d readers!

We’re back with our newest book…the first of a new series called, ‘Obscura’. The idea for it originated out of the fact that I had a lot of little shorts lying around that were either too odd, weird or just plain fucked up to fit anywhere else. After some meetings with the mighty D.N.S., we decided to compile 4 or so shorts and a handful of pinups and release them as single volumes of what would come to be called ‘Obscura’. More issues are already in the works and we’re hoping for a quarterly release schedule.

You can pick your copy up AT OUR STORE for only $5!

But what the hell is inside you ask? Here is a sample from the book…a few pages from the tale, ‘Seed’.

 

 

Dun Dun Dunnnnnnnnnnnnnn….find out what happens to poor Karen in Obscura: Volume One!

Written by: David M. Brown

Art by: D.N.S.

Lettered by: Sean Fagan

Boom! Welcome to the Womb!

-Interview conducted by the talented Ari Carr-

The Brothers Ford clearly up to no good

————————————————————————————–

Jason Ford, of  The Womb Mates podcast, The Servant and general interwebby fame is one of the most enthusiastic people I’ve ever had the pleasure of talking to about comics. Everything he says is fired up with the passion of a thousand suns, and he takes such pride in his work it’s hard not to be inspired by his crazy work ethic. I was recently lucky enough to be able to grab a chunk out of his busy schedule to interview him about his podcast, his web comic The Servant and his work here at Fifth Dimension…

AC: Hi Jason! You have a hell of a lot of stuff going on in the geekosphere [the Wombmates podcast, your comic The Servant and working on Ascension for 5D]. What’s it like to be putting so much out there?

JF:  First off thanks for interviewing me! As to why I put so much out there… Quite simply because it’s so easy to do now! With social media, like twitter and the internet, that is a must in today’s society, its easy reaching out there and getting people interested in what you’re doing. It all comes back to creating something you love, putting it out there and now it’ll find the people who also love it. I put so much out there because I have so many (sometimes too many) projects going on. It’s a great problem to have though. I have also found out that I don’t need sleep. Imagine that…

AC: What’s your favourite thing to work on?

JF: My favourite thing to work on is The Servant by far. It’s a project that I have been writing for the last 10 years and have finally pulled the trigger on letting it go into the wilds of the internet. It’s a comic that has everything I love in a comic but isn’t being done right now. The tag line I use is ‘It’s the greatest D&D game you never played!”

AC: Have you found places where all your work can come together?

JF: The Womb Mate podcast has opened a LOT of doors for us. We’ve been able to meet indie creators which turn into great friends and even hosts of the show like Andrew Grieve of Team Stryker! We’ve also met guys that we are now working with on comics like KING BONE PRESS and of course 5th DIMENSION COMICS. All and all the podcast is a great hub for us to do all the creative ideas that we have.

AC: Your comic The Servant is a fast-paced hilarious action adventure! Tell me about the creation process.

JF: The Servant is a high fantasy tale that deals with 6 brothers in a world readying for a new God and has been in my head for a LONG time now. The creative process has been a blast! I get to work with Felipe Anguanio on art, Sean Fagan on lettering and of course my brother, James as an editor. I have the entire 9 chapter story paced out and I’m in the middle of doing the thumbnails of issue 6. First I go over the story for each issue with James and then from there I do thumbnails which I then send to Felipe to beautifully draw. Once I get the pages back I then do the dialog. Then I send it off to Sean to work his magic on lettering and then finally to James for a final proof read and then I post it to the website! I work in a sort of the Marvel way I guess. It’s been working for us.

Jason and Felipe running shit

AC: Where would you like to see The Servant in the future?

JF: The future of The Servant is set in my mind, it’s just the matter of getting done with the art. I want to go to Kickstarter with the project as soon as Chapter One is done. Right now I’m doing zine sized books that I hand out as ‘advertisement’ trying to get the word out about it. I will always keep it up at the website for free to read because that’s how I roll. From there I will do a Kickstarter every time a chapter is done.

AC: What’s the inspiration behind The Servant?

JF: The inspiration behind The Servant is that it’s the story that I have to tell. Pure and simple. It’s about leaving some mark on this world while you’re here and doing The Servant is my calling. I also love being creative so that helps. It’s the story that wakes me up at night while I scramble for my notebook to write down a scene in. Don’t laugh it has happened more than once.

AC: Your podcast is a riot! What’s the best thing about podcasting?

JF: The best thing by FAR in doing the podcast are the people we meet! It’s a sneaky way for us to talk to the people who make the comics we like reading! We’re clever like that…

AC: What’s it like podcasting with your brother?

JF: Growing up James and I were the only ones that liked comics and all we had were each other to talk about them with so it was a pretty easy decision to do one with each other. To say we had a lot of practice is an understatement.

AC: You recently had my friend Andrew Grieve [Team Stryker web comic] on the show. Do you get guests often?

JF: Andrew is now a permanent host on the podcast! He’s a perfect fit on The Womb Mates and I really can’t imagine doing the show without him now. As to getting guests on, we try to get creators with Kickstarters going on to hype up their projects or creators that we’re big fans of. It doesn’t always work with everyone’s hectic schedules but we try to help the indie guys out as much as we can.

AC: What can you tell me about Ascension? I love the sound of it!

JF: Ahh… Ascension… That’s the million dollar question David Brown should be answering! It started out as a short story David did but then quickly spiralled into this massive project that involves a lot of creators, me being lucky enough to be one of them. It’s basically a world ending story told in 3 parts. The first part is going to have world building and will be the set-up of the crisis told through the different races of the realm. That will be in an anthology trade. The second part will be 3 different story lines told by 3 different creative teams all coming together in the end. The third part will be ‘the event’ where the second part left off and will be an original graphic novel or OGN. David and I have had some LONG talks about it and I will say when it’s done it will be like when DC did 52 only indie style!

AC: What is the inspiration behind Ascension? It sounds like a hugely ambitious project!

JF: We wanted to do something that we each haven’t tried before. David really liked what I was doing and I loved Wisdom of Fools so that was an easy match.  Along with David and I, we have Philip Nolte on board helping with the writing duties.  I never worked with a ‘writing team’ before and it turns out I love it! Doing comics is such a solitary experience and can get lonely but this way you can bounce ideas around and become a much better writer. I know I have. We want to push the comic medium in different directions and try new things. This project is perfect for that. Now if we could only have some spare cash to pay these artist…

AC: What do you hope to get out of Ascension?

JF: What I hope to get from this experience is an Eisner because when we pull this off it will definitely deserve one! It’s a HUGE project and we have a TON of creators helping out for free so an Eisner is the least they could do! I kid… I kid… but it would be nice!

AC: Will there be any crossover of your work- elements of The Servant appearing in Ascension and vice versa?

JF:  I’m sure I’ll throw some nerd eggs in there from The Servant but not any full blown cross-over work. Not yet that is… DUN DUN DUNNNNN!!!!!! Being a creator owned book does have its perks in that I don’t have to answer to anyone when I make comics. James, Andrew and I do have a cross-over project coming soon that is pretty funny but that’s all I’ll say for now.

AC: Tell me about your projects with Fifth Dimension.

JF: My other project with 5th Dimension is The Gifted that started out as a 4 page break from The Servant for Felipe and myself that has tail-spun into a 16 page epic battle!!! All I will say about it is that it has a 100 foot tall baby fighting Godzilla. Mic. Dropped.

AC: What do you hope to bring to Fifth Dimension?

JF: I hope to bring awesome comics and a ton of attention to 5th Dimension Comics by the projects I’m doing with them and the hype we do for them on the podcast and blogs. David is a great guy to work with and we share the idea of doing comics for the pure love of them. Also it’s really fun working with all the guys over there!

AC: Where do you hope to be next year in regards to your comics?

JF: Next year will hopefully have The Servant #1 the 48 page comic in print, the Ascension anthology out, James and my anthology for The Womb Mates out, The Gifted in print and James and my comic strip, The Swashbucklers of Shadow Seas, coming back! So yeah… I’ll be busy.

AC: Lastly, do you have any teasers about what we can expect from you in the future?

JF: *shaking magic 8 ball* The future says… With the help of Pete, our Womb Wizard, we are going to finish off our stop animation short Twin Tales with a movie. We’re also working on a 8 bit video game to accompany The Servant and a web series is in the works as well. All in all, The Womb Mates will be quite busy for a long time to come!!! As always…enjoy!!! BOOM.

———————————————————————————————————————

 

For more info on Jason Ford and his kingdom, check out http://thewombmates.com/ and follow him on Twitter @Thunderduck360 or @thewombmates

For more on Ari Carr, visit her endlessly entertaining blog at: http://comicsandcookies.com/ and follow her on Twitter @Ariellalphabet