Geek Syndicate

Lou Scannon, a sci-fi comedy, is the Eagle finalist for Favourite British Black and White Comic. Co-written by Kris Carter (colourist for Transformers and Doctor Who) with Dan Harris and Jim Bampfield, Lou Scannon follows an inter galactic space mercenary. Think Deadpool in space.

The humour works really well for anyone that is a sci-fi fan. As soon as I saw that this was a sci-fi comedy, I automatically thought of Red Dwarf, and that is not a bad thing. Once I started to read the books, I realised that this was the case and that it should be seen as a great achievement by the team. It lovingly mocks TV shows and films such as Star Trek and Star Wars, and even war films like Full Metal Jacket.

The book moves at light speed pacing, throwing one liner after one liner. This is always a good move for a comedy book because if one line fails to make you laugh, then surely the next one will. With Lou Scannon, however, the majority of the jokes will at least make you chuckle.

The artwork is cartoony and works really well for this book. It is a book that does not want to be taken too seriously and therefore, by having a cartoony sense to it, makes the reader feel that they are reading something more comical than disaster strikes epic space opera. The shading is nicely done, adding tone to the characters.

The world that Lou Scannon and his crew inhabit is different enough from ours, yet has enough similarities to be able to poke fun at typical Western occurrences such as nights out gone wrong.

We also get much more at the end of each book, such as how the story was put together and Lou’s Bulging Sack – otherwise known as a letter page. The title alone should indicate the kind of humour the book is.

These books are just good fun and entertaining. Sometimes there is nothing better than this. At its best, this book reminds me of an adult Hanna Barbera cartoon.

Check it out here.

GS Rating: 4/5
Reviewer: Luke Halsall