Hope for the Future #
2&3
Hope For The Future © Simon PerrinsHope For The Future #2: |
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A quick synopsis of the general idea behind Hope for the Future.
While the world didn't come to an end in the Year 2000 a Millennial Malaise
has descended on the world, fraying civilisation at the edges and making
all kinds of outlandish events possible. Standing against this nebulous
menace are three students: Lee, Greig and Hannah.
Hannah is a witch; "Willow!" you say, "hard to deny" I reply. Lee and Greig are geeky, immature and frankly interchangeable. In fact they seem to share a personality except when one of them needs to explain a bit of the plot to the other. Together they have misadventures!
Issue
2 is a disaster-zone in terms of narrative. It starts with the assassination
of a sleazy Chancellor of Exchequer in the middle of his regular S&M
domination session and ends with plastic robots invading the Games Expo
at Earl's Court. That is a hell of a stretch and the journey comes courtesy
of some heavy handed plot devices. So, the boys win a competition to the
Expo (sorted) with free accommodation at the hotel where the Chancellor
was killed (convenient) and decide to take the witch along because she's
cute (characters all in one place - check!). This might not be so bad except
it all takes so long to do. If you are going to contrive something like
this you need to do it quick before the reader notices the counterfeit.
As it is the characters amble along on a genuinely boring train journey
(authentic at least) swapping trite pop culture references and then wander
around the show ooh and ahhing at a load of fictional games. When the robots
turn up you are willing to ignore the jarring change of gears just because
something is finally happening.
There are two good things about this issue; the accomplished artwork which after a slightly shaky start swiftly does the business. The other is the small sequence where Hannah uses "sympathetic magic" to find a clue as to what happened in the assassination. It is an excellent depiction of subtle urban magic that is sadly undermined as the clue becomes irrelevant when the robots themselves turn up a few pages later. It almost as if it was originally going to be a bit of a detective plot and then the writer had a sudden change of heart and decided to go for a bit of action-adventure.
Overall the story is just too incoherent and the characterisation too weak to really enjoy. There are definite sparks of excellence though.
Issue 3 takes those sparks and whips them up into a fire as the
story settles into an outrageous rip-roaring parody of Star Wars Episode
One with the various parts being recast with 80's cultural icons and
computer game characters. By the time the issue ends with the villain accidentally
piloting his rocket sled into one of his own advertising blimps you have
to admire its insanely good humour.
If you just read Issue 3 (and I would recommend that you just read this issue, the background from Issue 2 is handily recapped at the start of the issue) then you would think that Hope for the Future is really funny pop-culture tribute.
On the other hand if you had read issue 2 you have to wonder what is going on. Remember this story started off with a kinky sex death scene and ends up with a cackling villain blowing up over London. None of it really makes sense and that is only okay if the series settles on the light-hearted humour style. If the plot continues to weave around and the style to veer so wildly then it is going to be impossible to enjoy anything in it. The style of issue 3 is great, funny, lots of references for "people of a certain age" and seriously tongue in cheek. Trying to mix in straight mystery plots, naturalistic character sketches or camp "guess the reference" games is simply not going to work.
Again, the art is great although sometimes the facial expressions seem strange relative to what is happening in the panel.
I hope Perrins takes what he has hit on here and keeps at it. If he
wants to try different "takes" on his basic idea then he might
be wiser to break out separate series from the main book. Perhaps focussing
on individual characters rather than the group.
Robert Rees
Writer/artist Simon Perrins produces the 'framing story' of Hannah, Lee & Greg: three students out on the town telling each other Halloween stories.
His drawing style is semi-realist, making his characters moderately likeable (well, they are students).
The first proper strip is Rock Club of The Damned, and it's the weakest here, although John Lycett Smith's art is interesting and very like Simon Gane in places. I prefer his prologue that opens the book, as it seems more finished.
In a similar stylistic vein is Greg's Psychedelic Breakfast, but Richard J Smith's art is even more rushed; particularly on the 2nd page, but he does juxtapose art & narration perfectly, making the story funnier.
In both cases, these two artists have good, fun styles; there's just not enough finish. This is something you can't say about John Welding's Stones Holes & Dogs. Like a more detailed Denny Derbyshire this is an atmospheric tour de force, particularly as we follow Hannah into a mysterious cave.
On the whole, this is a good comic. The only real drawback is that Simon seems to have a problem with endings. None of the featured stories finishes successfully, and the 'framing story's' end is far too obvious. He is however quite good at characterization and pacing and like his artists has an interesting, appealing style. It all just needs tightening up.
Pete Doreé
I should hate Hope for the Future (HFTF).
It should come across as puerile Buffy-lite. It doesn't however, mainly because of high quality writing and art from Simon Perrins (script and pencils) and Andrew Livesey (inks).
HFTF follows the exploits of Hannah, Greg and Lee, three monster-busting
slackers whose world, though packed with all manner of spooks and ghouls,
is very like our own.
In this edition they take on a demonic Santa Claus and a town that's gone unexpectedly pagan and severely sex-mad. HFTF 6 is the second of a two-part story, but fortunately the inside front cover gives a story-so-far rundown of previous issues, which makes the action pretty easy to follow.
HFTF is a quality product. Perrins' pencils remind me of Simon Fraser's, circa Fraser's collaboration with Martin
Millar on Lux And Alby Sign On And Save The Universe. His script doesn't disappoint either: it's light and funny, with characters that are well drawn and dialogue
that sparkles. HFTF has a great 'real people dealing with extraordinary
events' feeling and, in that way, echoes Skizz
or Wired
World.
Livesey's inking is impressive too, with a clean line
that serves rather than swamps Perrins' art. Livesey also
contributes a one-page pin-up to HFTF 6, a good piece of work that's
slightly reminiscent of Jamie Hewlett. On this evidence, I would
like to see more complete art from Livesey. My feeling is that his work
is of the standard that could easily sustain a whole comic.
HFTF is a little gem, a page-turner that, while not rocking your world with
profundity, will make an otherwise dull half-hour fly.
Matthew Badham
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