Friday, December 17, 2021

Kenny Who? and the Outcasts



Cam Kennedy has churned out huge amounts of fantastic art, and I've been gobbling it up for years. His Light and Darkness Wars; the odd Punisher or Batman or Bogie Man comic; the strips he did in Battle in the early days; all the Star Wars - especially the thrusting Boba Fett stuff - every single Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper story he did. There might be some Kennedy art lurking in one of the old hardback 2000ad annuals that I am still hunting down, but I've almost hoovered it all up.

You'd be mad not to be a fan. Kenndy's art is sharply stylized and can be intensely gloomy, but it's also some of the best action comics you'll ever read - whether it's Batman bashing the shit out of Dredd, or the Punisher closing in on some worthless fools. There is always a weight to the action, real gravity in the way his figures plant his feet and fall through the air, and it's absolutely beautiful

But sometimes there is only so much of some kinds of genius in the world, and you got to space it out, before it's all gone.

And while he wasn't as slow as a McMahon or Bolland, he wasn't as insanely prolific as somebody like Steve Dillon, and there is only a limited amount of Kennedy art actually out there. I have to be careful now.

So for the past couple of years I've been getting a single Outcasts comic once a year and only once a year, and it's a fucking treat. Outcasts - written by John Wagner and Alan Grant - is largely forgotten now, but still has a punch and Kennedy's brings the explosions and flying motorbikes and decaying flesh that he is so good at.

All in DC's bright New Format of the 80s, it's a series that is unlikely to be collected anytime soon, even with the amazing artwork. But it's the last Kennedy I've yet to find, and I'm going to relish the last half dozen issues as I get them over the next few years. This is something you've got to savour.

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