If you have become “Ticked-off” with comics from the big companies, feeling that there are boxes “unTicked” in terms of entertainment, and generally feeling “Tick and Tired” of traditional stories, have I got news for you!
Tic Toc Tom is the brainchild of Chetan Patel, a Toronto Ontario creator. This time-traveling character, wearing steampunk welder goggles, is the centrepin around whom the rest of the characters orbit. And by ‘orbit’, I mean: #1: actually orbit as in outer space, and #2: socially associate with and oh yeah, #3: mix and match wits with.
It’s a really fun, twisted, and inventive scenario, this Tic Toc Tom series. Sci-Fi, Crime, and Horror, mixed with everyday life. Multiple interrelated short stories, ranging from characters fighting off the undead and the odd assortment of flying whales and one-eyed aliens to time spent hanging around the local comic shop. Her coffee in hand, her luger in the other, Iggy, deals in a matter-of-fact way while running, killing, and transporting herself all over the living and dead universe. Jack, Tom, Kirby, and the others are usually nearby, fighting and ‘contributing’.
The imagination is on full tilt in these collected short stories. The variety of styles and ideas is both amazing and amusing. It’s in the rapid pace of the dialogue, the witty comments, the sly references to comic creators, and the eccentricities of comic tropes. The drawings in the stories contrast widely in approach and technique, and that makes reading Tic Toc Tom volumes so much fun. The visuals range from black and white line art to hand-lettered, hand-coloured marker renderings to full digital. But one thing is consistent in the many short tales: their inventiveness. And so are the panel compositions, action scenes, and expressions of the characters.
Hats off to the dozens of talented creators, and here’s a quick list of those on the latest book (Dead Souls): Chetan Patel, Paul Marhue, Kenneth Gallant, Tom Yeo, Peter Macchione, Megan Bannon, Chris Stewart, Derek Barton, Mary George, Massimo Sabadin, Travis Stedmond, Jeff Pacitto and Emil Koepcke.
There is a LOT to enjoy even in the two latest volumes, and much more to explore in the previous issues, all available from the Tic Toc Tom website.
They also have a Patreon page, where you can follow the team’s newest work:
https://www.patreon.com/tictoctom
“So What”, $10 CAN plus shipping, for 44 pages of content,
“Dead Souls”, $25 CAN plus shipping, for 88 pages of content
http://www.tictoctom.com/shop/
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