Yesterday was a special day for me. A new Ben Templesmith issue came out. Even better than that, Ben Templesmith is the writer as well as the artist. He is an amazing artist, unlike anything else out there, but he is also a good writer. Recently another Templesmith authored and illustrated story was finished, Welcome to Hoxford. I get so excited when these books come out because I know I'm going to enjoy them. And this issue was no exception.If you are not familiar with Templesmith's book Wormwood Gentleman Corpse, have no worries, this issue is complete. It is a one-shot and has a beautiful synopsis at the beginning to being you up to speed on Wormwood. This is not a spoiler for other stories or something that depends on other stories. It is truly stand-alone and that is essential for a good one-shot. So, if you haven't read Wormwood before, go pick this up - don't let that stop you.
Another great thing about this issue is that it is a 29 page story completely uninterrupted by advertisements. There is one (maybe 2, I don't remember) at the very end of the issue, like on the back page or something - but there are no ads between story pages. I love that. It allows you to stay saturated in the world of the story - without distraction. That's important. Good job IDW and Templesmith! I'll pay a slight premium for less ads or ads in the back instead. Good move.
This issue is three mini-issues in one. Each little story is a very fun read and illustrated beautifully. I cannot praise Templesmith highly enough for his art. It really is amazing. It is so different from anything else out there too. I would love to see a video about his process. I think it is sketch -> watercolors -> scan -> Photoshop, but I really have no idea. 
His book Fell that he did with Warren Ellis was where I first became familiar with his work. I don't really know how to better explain his style than to show more samples from his Flickr gallery of pictures from this issue.
Well, I bet you didn't see this coming, but I highly recommend this issue! And if you are not familiar with Ben Templesmith, this would be a good introduction. Also, check out my review of Welcome to Hoxford. The trade paperback will be out soon.My only disappointment with this issue has nothing to do with the issue itself. I ordered 10 copies of this issue through my local comic shop so that I could get the variant cover for this issue, but due to a Diamond order mix-up, the variant did not ship. My comic shop is trying to straighten it out with Diamond, so we'll see what happens. Hopefully they will ship the variant. It's a pretty cool looking sketch cover.
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