Saturday 24 June 2017

OLLY CUNNINGHAM - BLACK LINES: DODGY PILLS: VOLUME 1 (2016)


Synopsis/blurb....

A visual story of sex drugs and social deprivation, based in Dublin, Ireland. Drug dealers Tommo and his father-in-law Jimmy receive a new batch of pills from a very different source to their usual guy, they test them out and things get very strange indeed. Tommo is on a mission to confront this new dealer, Will he survive this Dangerous overlord? Not for the easily offended.

Hmm......well not sure I will be seeking out further adventures from our drug dealing pair.

I liked the artwork, but I’m not a massive fan of comic books/graphic novels. I do appreciate the skill and talent that goes into the creation of characters and being able to consistently reproduce recognisable people. I can’t do anything better than stick figures myself.

The story was mildly amusing but the whole shebang was let down by the formatting for Kindle readers. I don’t want to get too picky, (it was a freebie book after all) but the pictures to the RHS of the screen were cropped which also affected the dialogue which showed up incomplete. I know I’m an old bugger but there was also a lack of sharpness to the screen images and in places the speech was also indecipherable. That said I got the gist of events. You would be better off seeking out a printed version if you want to give this one a go.

A short tale of drugs, drug-dealing, and an uncomfortable outcome for our two main participants when the pills they imbibe take them on a trip they probably wouldn’t want to take otherwise.

Social commentary? Not sure, maybe a bit laddish and immature with the crude depictions of two men getting it on together and the shame they feel about it afterwards. Like I said earlier, maybe I’m just getting old.

2 from 5

Olly Cunningham can be found at his Black Lines Comics website here.

Read in June, 2017
Published - 2016
Page count - 28
Source - Instafreebie
Format - Kindle









8 comments:

  1. I respect the skill and work that goes into creating a graphic novel or story, too, Col. But....no, this one's definitely not for me. Nope, really not my sort of thing, I'm afraid.

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    1. I think I might be tempted by one or two other offerings in this genre, but this wasn't the right book for me.

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  2. I don't read a lot of graphic novels and this one's probably a bit too dark for me.

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    1. Hard to recommend in all honesty, Prashant.

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  3. I do like graphic novels, but not necessarily on the kindle. although some of them can be formatted quite nicely. But the subject matter doesn't appeal.

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    1. I think I have a couple in the collection, but I think the printed format makes them more accessible. Not one for you here, Tracy.

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  4. That's a shame they haven't sorted out the formatting. Not a huge fan of graphic novels, and the problems you describe would really put me off.

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    1. I believe the second episode is out now, but I'll be passing! Not a great reading experience.

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