TITLE: Sawdust: The Workshed Anthlogy Issue 1

PUBLISHER: Workshed Studios

WRITERS: Radames Malave Jr, Justin Riley, Jason DeGroot

ART: Radames Malave Jr, Joel Cotejar, Alan Evens, Guiseppe Pica

Sawdust: The Workshed Anthology is a collection of short stories produced by Workshed Studios. This book, being the first issue of a four shot mini series, serves to introduce some very interesting characters and story ideas. There are four stories contained in the book, "Ebon Guard", "Homecoming", "Worldwide Solutions" and "Hazard".

Ebon Guard is the first story in the book and starts with "Homecoming", which introduces the character Hikage, a ninja vigilante who patrols the streets of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on his first mission out on the streets. This story is written and pencilled by Radames Malave Jr and lettered by Alan Evens, who fulfills this role in all of the stories in this issue. We are also introduced to King, a street thug who runs the streets if Milwauke, and who proves to be Hikage's first enemy. The artwork in Homecoming story is of a very high standard, and wouldn't look at all out of place in one of the big 4's comics. Like all of the stories in this book, this one is drawn in black and white and appears to have been drawn using a heavy pen and ink technique. The pannels are drawn in an expert way, and the use of action lines and close ups are very attractive and work very well. The writing flows well and the character's speech is sharp and witty.

The Fade story starts with "For Want Of A Name" and is written by Justin Riley and drawn by Joel Cotejar. This story focusses around the eponymous Fade, a demon hunter who is attacked while out hunting one night. This story is slightly shorter than all of the others but still serves to introduce the main character well, and the story ends on a suitably suspense-filled note. The artwork in this story uses heavier shading and the black-white contrast is much charper here than in the other stories. This serves the story's setting well though. The drawings of the monsters and of Fade himself are very good, and the opening shot of Fade in a graveyard is a real treat, which Joel Cotejar should be applauded for.

"Sinister Addictions" serves as the first installment of the Worldwide Solutions story. This tells the story of a young couple that are attacked by vampires while out for a walk. While the girl disappears, the boy, Mike, survives and is later tracked by the government to help them find the vampires that attacked him and his girlfriend. Like "Homecoming", the artowrk in the story is also of a particularly high standard, and some of the action shots and the character's facial expressions are done in a remarkable way. The final page in this story is, artisticly speaking, the best, as the use of shadows and the layout of the panels lead up to the cliffhanger ending.

The first instalment of the Hazard storyline, "Certified" shows what happens when a hardened demon killer has a day off. This story uses much more use of shading than the other three, but given the story's dark theme, this works well. The quality of the artwork is again of a very high standard, although at times more cartoon-like than in the other stories. Once again, the lay out of the panels has been well thought out, showing exactly what the reader needs to see in the short space available. The writing is again excellent, and really shows the quality work that up and coming comics creators are capable of.

Overall, this book looks as though it will become a real hit, due largely to it's great writing and excellent artwork. It is obvious from reading it that the creators are serious about their craft, and we can all expect great things from them. If Indie comics are your thing, this will prove to be a great addition to your collection, and if they aren't this book will deffinately change your mind.

Special thanks to Alan Evans for allowing me to preview this edition.

Questions or comments can be sent to me at gareth@comicbookbin.com