Originally published on SBC’s Fool Britannia

So let’s take a look at those automatic weapon wielding simians, the Monkeys with Machineguns. Issue two was available at the Expo, and I’ve been trying to work out what the hell to say about it for about two weeks.

I mean, what do you say about a book like this. It’s an anthology of the most piquant wit, perfectly balanced by a dash of horror and some truly flavoursome twists. This time the monkeys offer us strange alternate realities, ending worlds, red snow, and the most unexpected ending to a letter from the trenches I’ve ever read.

Resident scribe Chris Lynch handles it all with the style and aplomb I’ve come to expect from him over the last couple of years, and once again the art blends beautifully with his words. The stark brutality of Stu.Art is present once again, accompanied this time by a strip from the more cartoony pen of Christian Ward. Very different styles which give this anthology a deliciously eclectic feel.

The big innovation in this issue though, is the total abandonment of the traditional comics format for two of the story segments. ”Why Snow shouldn’t be red” is an illustrated prose story, while Photonic Graffiti is a collection of, well, I guess a collection of photo poems.

That might sound a little poncey, but they’re all written by Chris Lynch, so naturally they’re not. The Photonic Graffiti section is in fact both mesmerising and chilling, as Lynch allows his darker voice full reign. Two of these one page vignettes in particular stood out. The frighteningly ambiguous Burn Baby Burn is truly terrifying, while the wonderfully psychotic Gone with the Wind is a study in obsession that made be laugh so hard I snorted Coca-Cola out of my nose!

What more of a recommendation do you need?

This is a hugely entertaining, strangely haunting and dangerously thought provoking book. You should give it a look, you really should.

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