Originally published at MediaGauntlet written by Steven G. Saunders.

For those of you out there that dig dark comic shorts with twists, this is for you! Decent art mixed with great ideas and admirable story execution, I’m looking forward to what these guys will throw at us next!

Recommended for those out there who read 2000AD (particularly Future Shocks), Negative Burn, and other comics anthologies; also recommended to those who enjoy shows like The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, and Tales From the Darkside.

“Making Deals With Devils” is a fine example of what an independant publisher can do with limited resources and make it succeed beyond typical or even above-average expectations.

Bravo, MWM!

A more detailed review is also available as an audio stream – click here to listen to what MediaGauntlet had to say about MWM

Media Gauntlet reviews “Making Deals with Devils”

From the pages of Silver Bullet Comicbooks: http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/fool/115066916380250.htm

” I was even happier to see a new issue from the Monkeys with Machineguns. Following on from last year’s excellent #0, we are now presented with a fully fledged issue #1. I have no idea why last year’s wasn’t #1, and this year’s isn’t #2 – it may be something to do with counting on your fingers when you lack opposable thumbs.

Who cares? It’s another rollicking good read.

Those of you who read my review of the last issue might remember that every issue of this menacingly monochrome anthology is intended to have a theme. The theme this year is “Making Deals with Devils”, and we are presented with four tales with radically different takes on this Faustian idea.

The scripts have all oozed from the pen of writer (and Fool’s Errand poster) Chris Lynch, who has lost none of the unnerving ability to mess with your head he exhibited in the previous issue. His first tale, Left Behind is illustrated in starkly contrasting black and white by Stu.Art (who can also be found occasionally on the Fool’s Errand boards) and is somewhat reminiscent of the old Roald Dhal Tales of the Unexpected. A man sits alone in the flat he used to share with his girlfriend. He came home three days ago to find her and half her stuff gone. Everything else was packed in boxes and he hasn’t seen her since.

Where has she gone? How will he find her? And how come she didn’t take the cat?

I’m a cat person. This one made me shiver…

The second story, Thirty Pieces, made me laugh. A London Cabbie stops to help a bedraggled man in the street. A man who, it turns out, is being pursued by all manner of demonic hordes. A man who tries to pay using Roman silver coins. Yeah, OK, so it’s a simple set up, but it’s amusingly told with a dry wit and a sly smile. And I’m sure I’ve been in that bloke’s cab y’know. This is the only story not illustrated by Stu.Art’s high contrast brush, and Mark Smith’s softer more organic shading suits the style of the story perfectly – an object lesson in the art and importance of matching script to art style. I can think of a few editors who could do to learn such good judgement.

The third story will be familiar to anyone who ever had to buy a house, and the final tale is a beautifully macabre prose tale in the tradition of Edgar Allen Poe.

The whole shebang is a masterpiece of monkey business – a striking simian success, a perfection of primate prose. I love it. I read my copy sitting outside in the dark of night with a beer to hand and The Mission on my mp3 player. An owl flew over my head somewhere in the middle of Thirty Pieces – something that never happens when I read Stephen King. Could more proof of the power of this comic be required?

From the Forbidden Planet Blog:
http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/?p=1167

It struck me that we’ve been talking to British comics creators this month, telling you about the ones who we’re now representing on our webstore, talking to editors and so on, but I haven’t actually posted a review. Well, since Chris Lynch of the wonderfully monikered Monkeys With Machineguns press kindly sent me a PDF of Making Deals With Devils, their second collection, it’s time to change that.

Making Deals with Devils manages to pack four short, creepy tales into its 36 pages. The tone is set right from the cover, with its skeletal Roman soldier, which has a fine Mike Mignola quality to it I thought (no bad thing since Mignola is one of the best). Each tale is relatively short, but this seems to be no impediment to Chris and partner Stu.art creating a suitably menacing atmosphere, which the heavy-ink, black and white artwork suits perfectly.

Left Behind starts with a man, Mark, in dazed despair, wondering why his partner Kirsty has left him. Slumped dejectedly among packing boxes he muses on why she would leave him, what he did wrong and why she left her cat behind. What looks like being a morose tale of a jilted lover soon takes a more macabre turn when Mark follows the cat hoping to be lead to Kirsty. Again the artwork reminds me a bit of Mignola here, or Steve Parkhouse’s moody style in Angel Fire, while the dialogue is suitably grim:

“There’s something about being left. It’s like finding out you were broken, faulty, when you thought you were working. Suddenly everything inside you feels sour and hollow like a dead fruit.”

Which isn’t to say there isn’t some knowing humour in this collection too, spooky and disturbing as it is. For example, Mark complains that nothing works in the flat, even the knives won’t cut – eyeing the view outside he comments “I guess suicide’s out the window then.” In Thirty Pieces that humour is again evident in a tale of a cab driver suddenly overtaken by supernatural events. Crowded and pursued by spectral Roman soldiers on horseback after picking up the wrong fare, our cabby gets a mite ticked off and decides to sort out these soldiers from beyond, swerving into them. When his passenger screams at him, demanding to know what the hell he’s doing our cabby replies “same thing I’ve been doing for twenty years – driving like I own the road.” There’s a line from someone who has obviously read his fair share of A Cab Driver Writes in Private Eye.

The Exchange looks to be a straightforward tale of people selling their home, moving on, changing their lives. It is only as the tale progresses that the reader’s suspicions are raised that there is more going on here than a simple real-estate transaction, with the growing menace aided by some nice touches in the artwork, such as a close-up of an old lady’s face, flecked with cake crumbs, which is very disturbing (although damned if I can articulate exactly why, it just is). I can’t really say much more about this one without blowing the ending, but it reminded me very much of the sort of short tale Robert Silverberg used to conjure (again that is a compliment).

The printed version contains a fourth story which I haven’t seen yet, with Wrathbones, the Macabre Machiavelli from Issue #0, now back in the early period of the French Revolution dealing with a desperate nobleman in Deathbeds and Heirlooms. All in all I thought this was a cracking little collection, trading mostly in creepy atmosphere and twists rather than simple gory horror. Much as I enjoyed a nice bit of horror gore from time to time, it is the more atmospheric tale which sticks more effectively in your mind and returns unbidden in the small dark hours of the night when you hear a scratching at the window. I think this will appeal to anyone who enjoyed Angel Fire, Mike Mignola’s work or short spooky tales like those by E.F. Benson. And at a mere £2.39 it is a pretty affordable chance to take, so why not give it a bash?

Originally published at:
http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/smallpress/115684441215039.htm

Written by: Steve Saville

Monkeys with Machineguns #1 is an exciting new title that contains four separate stories unified by a common general theme. In this first edition that theme is the notion of making deals with devils. This British horror anthology is a well produced little gem of a comic. The pairing of Stu Art’s dark and often grotesque art with the twisted storylines of Lynch is very effective and makes for a very satisfying if unsettling read.

This edition kicks off with Left Behind and initially this seems to be a story of a jilted lover as we observe the despair of a man left heartbroken and confused by the sudden departure of his loved one. It is only when he follows her cat in the hope that it will lead him to her that the story takes a more sinister turn. Lynche’s writing is very reminiscent of Roald Dahl at his most macabre. The skill is in the sudden, gruesome twist that turns the reader around with narrative punch that they never saw coming. Another noticeable aspect of Lynche’s writing throughout Monkeys with Machineguns #1 is his mastery of dialogue. Short, direct and realistic he has pruned his writing back to the bare bones without losing the ability to create believable characters through his careful choice of words

I am not sure that the whole talking animal thing is entirely convincing but there is no doubting the careful and well managed structure inherent in this opening tale. Stu Art’s art is a perfect compliment to this tale of horror. It is bold and definite with a heavy use of black that adds a definite sense of gloom. The very angular style gives a visual sharpness and adds to the tenseness that Lynche’s narrative sets up so well.

The title of the second story 30 Pieces should clue in anyone who has even the most rudimentary knowledge of Jesus Christ’s final hours.
This tale places a Jesus look alike in a modern London cab being pursued by skeletal Roman legionnaires. The art work here is not as bold but nevertheless it still works well with Lynche’s intriguing storyline. The ending is a little rushed and it is easy to miss the whole ‘who is Judas’ issue, so I advise readers just to slow down on the final page. The real highpoint of this story however is the cab driver character, a thoroughly believable rogue, the evil glint in his eye warns us early on that there is more to him than is initially apparent.

The most successful story though is the third titled The Exchange again this is an example of the story with a twist. We are led to believe that we are reading a story about a real estate sale when the reality is far less wholesome. In this story the art work splendidly works to unsettle and warn us. The grotesque caricatures, desolate expressions and graphic close ups of eating all work towards unnerving us, we know all is not well but we are just not sure what the truth is.

The fourth story is a prose chapter of an ongoing Victorian tale. Well written but I couldn’t help feeling it would have made a damned good comic. The only real concern I have is the cover. The art work is great but the muted colours and layout design that verges on the cluttered means that I fear this commendable comic could get lost on the shelves of many a comic book store. Overall then this is the kind of comic that makes you snigger in a maniacal way to yourself as you read it. Delightfully disturbed.

In a Word: Confident