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Faceache vol 1: The First Hundred Scrunges
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 16, 2020
This was my first experience with the work of Ken Reid, so this isn't a nostalgia rating, even a little. Though I'm generally overly picky about children's comics, I went for this because of the Alan Moore recommendation and the text piece he wrote on Reid in the latest League of Extraordinary Gentlemen volume, and I am in no possible way disappointed. Ken Reid is a master craftsman, genuinely and consistently funny, and depressingly under-reprinted. Read this!
March 5, 2018
You can keep your Dennis the Menace and Desperate Dan. If there was one British comic character that stirred my curiosity and had me hunting through piles of Buster’s whenever I came across them, it was Faceache.
Created by the esteemed cartoonist Ken Reid, Faceache was a riot of anarchistic action, hideous ‘fizzogs’ and grotesque goings-ons, all superbly rendered with Reid’s immaculate ink pen.
There was little rhyme nor reason to the strip other than an excuse for Faceache to pull a face, but rather than this hinder the story it made the possibilities varied and quirky. Sometimes he’d be up to no good, being either cheeky or downright naughty, other times he’d be trying to do the right thing, but either starting point could culminate in rich reward or a chase across the final panel. As far as the scripts go, they’re pretty good stuff, packed with daft doings, retired colonels and oiky schoolboys, but with a satisfying resolution and snickering wit.
To begin with, the first few strips gave Faceache the name of Ricky Rubberneck and his scrunges were relatively tame approximations of gurning and skull distortion, but as the weeks went by Reid became more and more daring with his monstrous doodling, creating the horrific visages that make the strip so memorable.
The book includes all the strips since it’s inception in Jet in 1971 until March 1973, so inevitably there are a few uncredited, or rather now unknown, stand-in artists amongst the pages, and it’s on these pages that you really get to appreciate Reid’s storytelling and fantastic cartooning skill as not a single stand-in strip comes close to capturing the magic and visual impact of the original.
Long overdue and superbly presented, may this be the first of many.
Created by the esteemed cartoonist Ken Reid, Faceache was a riot of anarchistic action, hideous ‘fizzogs’ and grotesque goings-ons, all superbly rendered with Reid’s immaculate ink pen.
There was little rhyme nor reason to the strip other than an excuse for Faceache to pull a face, but rather than this hinder the story it made the possibilities varied and quirky. Sometimes he’d be up to no good, being either cheeky or downright naughty, other times he’d be trying to do the right thing, but either starting point could culminate in rich reward or a chase across the final panel. As far as the scripts go, they’re pretty good stuff, packed with daft doings, retired colonels and oiky schoolboys, but with a satisfying resolution and snickering wit.
To begin with, the first few strips gave Faceache the name of Ricky Rubberneck and his scrunges were relatively tame approximations of gurning and skull distortion, but as the weeks went by Reid became more and more daring with his monstrous doodling, creating the horrific visages that make the strip so memorable.
The book includes all the strips since it’s inception in Jet in 1971 until March 1973, so inevitably there are a few uncredited, or rather now unknown, stand-in artists amongst the pages, and it’s on these pages that you really get to appreciate Reid’s storytelling and fantastic cartooning skill as not a single stand-in strip comes close to capturing the magic and visual impact of the original.
Long overdue and superbly presented, may this be the first of many.
May 8, 2018
A collection of humorous one panel cartoons from the 1970s which appeared in the kid’s comic magazine Jet (later on known as Jet and Buster), whose protagonist is the aforementioned Faceache. In the original he goes by a different name, Ricky Rubberneck, but like many ideas in pilot episodes, it was soon discarded, and afterwards everyone (even his own father) referred to him as Faceache.
The main character gained his moniker (I assume it’s not his Christian name) by his bizarre ability to reshape his face and parts of his skeletal structure to create different bizarre shapes and slightly change his height. Think of a bratty Mr. Fantastic and you have a decent idea (Fantastic Four meets The Infancy Gospel of Thomas). Page after page he gets into ridiculous situations, mostly moneymaking schemes, that require him to “scrunge” his face up in a grotesque manner. Most of them come to bad end for our hero and he ends up shot at, beat up, set on fire, chased by mobs, and so on. Only to start it all over again next week.
This is fun book, drawn and inked by a master craftsman. One who knows how to draw an odd face, and keep the action flowing. Comic drawing and timing has almost become an extinct talent in the art field. So few of this type are produced anymore, and those who do it, don’t have the background (yet!) to draw physical comedy on the level of Ken Reid. Therefore, I’m very glad this volume was put out. As the target audience at the time was probably around the 13-year-old mark, I appreciated it on a technical level, rather than the actual content. Nostalgia would probably help here in appreciation of the material. I could easily see someone, reliving part of their past gazing at the old cartoons
The main character gained his moniker (I assume it’s not his Christian name) by his bizarre ability to reshape his face and parts of his skeletal structure to create different bizarre shapes and slightly change his height. Think of a bratty Mr. Fantastic and you have a decent idea (Fantastic Four meets The Infancy Gospel of Thomas). Page after page he gets into ridiculous situations, mostly moneymaking schemes, that require him to “scrunge” his face up in a grotesque manner. Most of them come to bad end for our hero and he ends up shot at, beat up, set on fire, chased by mobs, and so on. Only to start it all over again next week.
This is fun book, drawn and inked by a master craftsman. One who knows how to draw an odd face, and keep the action flowing. Comic drawing and timing has almost become an extinct talent in the art field. So few of this type are produced anymore, and those who do it, don’t have the background (yet!) to draw physical comedy on the level of Ken Reid. Therefore, I’m very glad this volume was put out. As the target audience at the time was probably around the 13-year-old mark, I appreciated it on a technical level, rather than the actual content. Nostalgia would probably help here in appreciation of the material. I could easily see someone, reliving part of their past gazing at the old cartoons
September 3, 2020
This needs no words. It's Ken Reid! It's Faceache! Go and buy it!
Genuinely funny stuff from the wackiest, weirdest, most warped comedy mind in British comics.
From a man who specialised in drawing every character as a grotesque, here comes the boy who can scrunge into a whole new grotesque 'fissog' every week!
The only surprise in revisiting these early strips after all these years was the relatively late first appearance of the word 'scrunge' for Faceache's gurning achievements, which are described with 'scrunch' or the delightful 'squoylp' in the very earliest strips.
Pure gold.
Genuinely funny stuff from the wackiest, weirdest, most warped comedy mind in British comics.
From a man who specialised in drawing every character as a grotesque, here comes the boy who can scrunge into a whole new grotesque 'fissog' every week!
The only surprise in revisiting these early strips after all these years was the relatively late first appearance of the word 'scrunge' for Faceache's gurning achievements, which are described with 'scrunch' or the delightful 'squoylp' in the very earliest strips.
Pure gold.
January 2, 2018
I would not say that Ken Reid was the bestest UK comic artist ever, but I admit, he was innovative and creative.
Fun stuff, nicely produced book. But very heavy to read more than three in a row.
But I liked.
Fun stuff, nicely produced book. But very heavy to read more than three in a row.
But I liked.
January 14, 2018
This is a fantastic read for everyone who grew up reading comics in the 1970s, but it is definitely something to dip in and out of rather than trying to read it in one go.
May 5, 2018
Deliriously silly stuff from one of the masters.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews