NEVER MIND THE COMICS is a self-published anthology that was created by aspiring writer Alistair Pulling, who wanted to produce something that could be "aimed at editors and industry people to raise the profiles of the creators involved, and show that it is actually possible to make comics without too much fuss." It was produced with what Alistair calls a "punk attitude ... It doesn't matter how good we are, or what methods we're using, we're just going to get out there and do it!"

In other words, the anthology is a cheaply produced showcase work for aspiring British creators; a collection of material to hand out at the UK's largest comics convention, last weekend's Comics 2001 festial in Bristol. Pulling printed off the comics himself in three separate volumes, then stapled them by hand. He put a lot of effort into the project, as did all of the creators involved. The stories in NEVER MIND THE COMICS are short - from 3 to 6 pages - and were mostly produced by amateur writers and artists with no previously published work in the medium. Some of them have never even attempted to create before. Considering this, the work is surprisingly accomplished - some of it could easily stand up to or even surpass material being published by DC or Marvel.

'The Summoning' is one such tale, created by writer Tim Sayer and artist Natalie Sandells. 'The Summoning' is a gothic humour piece about a couple of guys from Newcastle who attempt to conjure up a demon from hell, but he unfortunately turns out to be French. This is easily the funniest story in the anthology - Tim's script is packed with great gags, and the story is a wonderful farce. The art is of a similar high quality; the dark, gothic and moody line work provides an ideal juxtaposition to the absurdities of the script.

Another great story is 'Stone And Light', probably the best-written story in the anthology. Written by Stuart Nathan and drawn by Dan Barker, it's about a handful of diamond smugglers attempting to recreate their dead boss by obtaining a perfectly cut diamond that has his personality and memories encoded in its facets and angles. The story is chock full of interesting ideas and concepts, all branching off from the central theme of gemstones. It's surprising, in fact, just how many great ideas and concepts are discussed or touched upon in such a short piece. The art contains some very expressive and clean illustrations. Perhaps the only flaw in this piece is that the font used in the lettering is poorly chosen - a sans serif font might have been easier to read.

'Coven Tree', a science fiction story about a city ruled by an oppressive cult, is the piece with the biggest 'name' attached to it - artist Brian Frey, more widely known for his work on the covers of DC's STARMAN collections. Brian produces some nice computer-modified photographic art here - very dark, very appropriate to the story. Mark Peyton's writing is a little tricky to follow, though, and it's not really clear what's going on in places. Perhaps a little too ambiguous for its own good?

'Wandering Star' is another science fiction piece, this time about orbital laser satellites. It has the feel of an early 80s 2000AD story feel - very macabre and cynical. Writer Al Stuart offers a nicely self-contained story in the space allotted, while leaving out no detail whatsoever - it's surprising how well a sense of several passing decades is accomplished in only six pages. The art is among the best in the anthology, as artist Tony Rollison has a very clean, technical style. The story is quite accomplished, well paced and professional. An advantage that 'Wandering Star' has over a lot of the others in the anthology is that it has been lettered with a very standard font, which is very easy on the eye.

'If This Was Heaven Wouldn't That Be Hell?' by Clive Nolan is quite notable for being easily the most experimental piece in the anthology. It's a piece created entirely by extensive modification of photographs and illustrations to tell a surreal moral fable. Some very interesting techniques are used to tell the story - it's strongly reminiscent of Dave McKean's covers on SANDMAN. The intriguingly ambiguous narrative fits the art very nicely, and the whole piece is very well integrated.

'Balance' is one of the two pieces written by anthology creator Alistair Pulling, and one of three drawn by artist Bevis Musson. It's a nice morality tale about a sister and brother, the former concerned for the environment, the latter uncaring and insensitive. It's a very neat and believable tale that uses its six pages with excellent economy and pacing, and employs some very smooth storytelling techniques. The art is lovely too, and Musson demonstrates in his two other stories that he is developing an admirable range. 'Cut', also written by Pulling, is a modest and well-constructed college drama, while 'Queen of Diamonds: Spotlit In Black', which Musson wrote himself, is a wonderfully tongue-in-cheek gay superhero adventure.

'These contributors are all out there waiting for a chance.' There are several more quality stories in NEVER MIND THE COMICS that there isn't room to mention here - the anthology contains seventeen stories in all, created by thirty contributors. However, it's fair to say that everyone involved did an admirable job. These contributors are all out there waiting for a publisher to give them a chance, and any one of them could turn out to be the next Grant Morrison or Steve Dillon, simply waiting patiently to get noticed. Hopefully the publishers will take a look at this anthology and show some interest.

The stories are not perfect - the writing needs time to mature, the artists are still honing their craft, and some of the writers were forced by necessity to sketch their stories themselves - but as a whole the anthology stands as a testament to the wide range of talent available in Britain. More importantly, the anthology serves its purpose as a calling card for these new talents. Alistair Pulling says; "It went down very well at Bristol, a lot of people - some highly placed in the industry, both creators and editors - had very good things to say about it. There was interest from DC, Com.X, Wildstorm; creators like Mike Carey, Peter Hogan, Mark Buckingham and Steve Yeowell. Somehow I failed to get it to anyone from 2000AD, but I'll be bunging them a few copies in the post, as well as to pretty much every other English speaking comics company in existence.

"Aside from being a success on it's own terms, it's also shown what can be done. A lot of the folk who were involved in NEVER MIND THE COMICS are now moving on and producing other material. I think it's about time people realised that making comics is not about waiting for someone to tell you that you can, it's about getting on and actually doing it."

The stories featured in NEVER MIND THE COMICS are not readily available to the public, as the anthology was produced in a limited print run. However, many of the stories included in the anthology will be reproduced at NextComics, at the discretion of the creators and the site owners.

Nick Locking is the award-winning co-creator of THE ATROCITY, and the writer of the forthcoming ROBOCOP: SIMPLE MACHINES.

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