An Onslaught of Brilliant Satire

Our literary journey around the world continues with
Onslaught written and illustrated by New Zealander Greg Broadmore.

This compilation contains the three previous released books in the Dr. Grordort universe: Dr. Grordbort’s Contrapuntal Dingus Directory, Victory, and Triumph.

Subtitled, “Excessive Space Violence for Girls & Boys,” I was a little leery of what I would find. Turns out, it is an absolute hoot!

Lord Cockswain is a stereotypical “great white hunter” on Venus, and as much of a blunderbuss as his favorite weapon, blowing up a base of Moon Men in this hilarious satire of British imperialism and colonialization.

Presented as a spoof on early twentieth-century pulp comics, in addition to the comic adventures of Lord Cockswain, it includes catalog pages of and adverts for Dr. Grordbort’s Infallible Aether Oscillators, bestiary of Venus, genre movie posters, and more.

The extensive raygun collection that graces the pages comes from Greg Broadmore’s work as an artist and concept designer for Weta Workshop. Creating a backstory of each weapon’s origin led to the Dr. Grordbort universe.

Call it steampunk, call it retro sci-fi, Onslaught is a brilliant piece of satire, beautifully illustrated and cleverly constructed.

Unbelievable Unknown Origins & Untimely Ends

 

Finishing up this Indie month, I chose to go out with Unknown Origins & Untimely Ends, a collection of 32 unbelievable but true tales of bizarre phenomena and cold cases, edited by Emi Gennis.

One thing I love about anthologies is they expose readers to dozens of authors and artists. And this is no exception. I found several writers and illustrators whose work I would like to see more of.

As choosing a favorite would be purely a matter of stylistic preference, I will refrain from doing so.

In this collection, contributors present the known facts about their cases. Some add embellishment, others offer a possible explanation, but in each case, the “truth” is left to the readers’ speculations.

The tales come from around the world and span over 400 years. Likewise, the authors also come from around the world, (although most are from North America) with their styles varying as widely as their locations.

Some stories, readers may be familiar with, such as D. B. Cooper or Harry Holt, but I doubt any will have heard of all the cases.

Filled with intriguing tales for which one can’t help but offer one’s own theory, this book is for anyone who likes a good unsolved mystery.

Unknown Origins &amp: Untimely Ends, is available from Hic & Hoc Publications.