Review: So You've Been Conquered By The Human Race
How about a propaganda pamphlet ready to distribute amongst oppressed alien species as the intergalactic foot of fascism, heralded by an intergalactic human empire, once more desolates and exploits an indigenous populace in wicked cool black-and-white art? The revolutions here with So You've Been Conquered By The Human Race from Leo Healy and Torgo Wells with help from Claire Napier.
Leo Healy is a Yorkshire comic book writer, lover and zine enthusiast with previously published work, including a Walter The Wobot short in Zarjaz #38, other stories featured in Dogbreath #38 and two for the Comic Creatives UK Anthology #2. So You’ve Been Conquered By The Human Race is Leo's first self-published outing and a title I'll probably refer to as S.Y.B.C (mostly out of laziness, perhaps for word count, but if I fall short, you may notice it again.) Leo is also responsible for the free PC browser horror game The Library and likes writing about comics and Pro Wrestling. Leo's musings on Constantine are a particularly fine example.
The artist on this one is Torgo Wells, a Newcastle artist specialising in traditional comic creation with awesome style. Torgo is a Warhammer 40k aficionado with previous comic work including a short for Comic Creatives UK and Stardozer: The Hunt. Torgo is also Arch-Chierophant of Gnilbogg which sounds like an excellent guest for Sunday morning tea and biscuits or a great way to spend a sunny afternoon.
Next, it's script editor and talent of indeterminable quality, comic critic, cartoonist, Bunty and Manga fan, Women Write About Comics co-founder, feature editor and editor in chief, freelance editor since 2017 with her first book, Hari Conners award-winning Finding Home, it is of course Claire Napier.
So, let's start with the art. Torgo Wells has a very interesting style. It's on the edge of Graffiti character sketch work with one foot firmly in an underground or alt-comix style. It has also got the quality of black and white art found in a 2000 AD Future Shock in that 00's Graffiti flair. Something with style notes like, if Kevin Eastman did a 2000 AD Future Shock. There are bold ink lines and strongly used screentone, maximising the extremely limited space made available.
Despite this lack of real estate, there is plenty to admire in this art. There's a quality balance of despair and humour, inventive design in humans and alien combat gear, with perhaps a few nods to weapons found in 40k. I particularly enjoyed the mind wipe machines panel, a smiley face goes a long way when conveying hopelessness. Also, the design for the distinctive emblem for the Intergalactic Human Empire of three palms I just found really interesting. I need to know more about it, conceptually and narratively.
The first page of weaponry is cleverly imaginative and suitably sci-fi and equally matched in accomplishment by the conquered planets page, and border for it. Everything in between is marvellous.
Finally, for art, Torgo also delivers lettering and delivers it with talent. The art for this comic is heavily reliant on design and layout, and Torgo has succeeded at creating eye-catching, eye-pleasing, exemplary expressed, easy-to-read art.
Metrodorus of Chios said, "To consider the earth the only populated world in infinite space is as absurd as to assert that in an entire field sown with Millet only one grain will grow." Leo Healy said, "stay cool fruit mat" (which I needed to shoehorn in as it's an amazing catchphrase) - back to something relevant, and Leo has expanded the Metrodorus concept with faultless logic (despite logic's potential for weaponisation, at least in the context of this comic.) with the assumption that if this be true, the human race would waste no time at all, conquering and colonising every inhabited planet we can get our greedy hands on.
S.Y.B.C then is a heavy-handed commentary on Fascism dressed in a short but sweet sci-fi found document pamphlet or zine, with the added enchantment of being a choose-your-own adventure. Leo packs in plenty of comedy with this little delight so as to keep things entertaining while slipping in well thought out observations of police state tactics.
Leo has a strong nose for satire. It's remarkable to squeeze in a "choose your own" in such a short format, but Leo's narrative is presented wonderfully. As short as the experience is, there's plenty of joy to be found. There's maybe even an easter egg for a perhaps mythical, perhaps legendary, Roman father of a man who hated plebs. The obligatory re-reads are well worth it, with an excellent ending to reward and delight.
They say less is more, but I definitely would like more from Leo and Torgo. It seems like a great match, and if "choose your own" was something Leo could manage as a series, I could see a rival for Dice Man in the making. It should be said that Leo cites Claire Napier as giving invaluable script editing and helping to make the comic better than could have been imagined. How much of that is Leo's modesty and Claire's unquestionable talent for such matters should remain between the two. Whatever the involvement, the result is exceptional. This is a talented team.
For fans of sci-fi, choose your own adventures, Fascism, propaganda pamphlets, protest, effective weapons against humans, uprisings, infiltrations, resisting colonisation from large-club wielding riot gear adorned three palm bearing regimes, raging against the Intergalactic Human Empire, aliens, police brutality and damn good black and white art get your hands on So You've Been Conquered By The Human Race.
Copies can be found and are being distributed at https://ellaitch.bigcartel.com/. For all things Leo, check out @LeoHealy for Torgo @TorgoWells, and Claire can be found at Claire Napier, Freelance Comics Editor.
Rating: A very easy and not enforced by the government 5/5
