Review: Whatever #4

This article originally appeared in Strangehaven issue issue #14, June 2002.

Whatever #4
by Adam Jakes [Whatever Press] $2.95 US/£1.95 UK
Comic book [6.75” x 10.25”] 28 pages B/W; colour covers

Regular readers of my small press reviews in these pages will remember Adam Jakes who published three issues of his Floid comics and also sent me two issues of an anthology The Five Horsemen. Since I last reviewed his work (briefly, in issue 12), Jakes has embarked on an ongoing self-published series titled Whatever, and his work continues to improve.

Jakes’ line has become stronger, his spotting of blacks is very confident and his page composition is superb. My biggest criticism would be that his backgrounds are very sparse at best and usually non-existent; although this could be interpreted as a distinctive trait, I do believe the occasional scene setting would benefit his work enormously.

Story-wise he is finding his voice – a new serial, Tales From The Inside starts this issue (after the three part Road Kill) set in an insane asylum. Brave stuff. Jakes is already up issue four – an impressive output for a small press book – and if he continues along these lines he will surely break through to a bigger audience soon.