A new year heralds more exciting must-read digital comics as we unveil the first Sunday Digest of 2014 featuring QAM Comics‘ brilliant Guided View action series Template #4, and two globe-spanning anthologies in Outré Press #2 and Tales to Admonish #1.

Template #4 (QAM Comics)

QAM Comics latest installment of their cyberpunk infused Guided View Native adventure sees Agent Beta embark in her first sanctioned mission and falls straight into the clutches of her predecessor Beta. Meanwhile at the clandestine Oversight security they continue to investigate the potential leak that jeopardised Betas last mission. Quinton Miles and Andres Quesada’s superb indie comic deserved its spot as an honorable mention on our list of the best digital comics as they continue to exhibit the same level of quality and innovation as those from the big two (or three if you include Madefire!)
Template is available in collected editions from ComiXology for £0.69/$0.99 or you can read the whole first season for free via their website

Outré #2 Hopelessness (Outré Press)

Norwegians Glenn Møane and Magnus Aspli’s latest digital anthology is based around the subject of Hopelessness – what is with these Scandinavians and their bleak outlook on life?! But it’s not all doom and gloom as we get a fantastic mix of indie spirited short stories and pin ups from a wide mix of artists and writers from all over the world. Anthologies are very subjective titles where different stories may appeal to different readers but for us the standout was Torsobear by Brett Uren – a fluffy crime noir that sees teddy bears and other cuddly toys investigate a ‘brutal’ murder. It reads like Raymond Chandler meets Teddy Ruxpin with a generous dose of Robert Crumb and we’d love to see a full series of it.
Outre #2 is available for free from www.outrepress.com

Tales to Admonish #1 (if?)

Another globe spanning anthology, this time from Australian duo Andrez Bergen and Matt Kyme. The first issue with it’s Kirby inspired cover is throw back to the days of pulp anthologies with 3 stories that range from nerdy crime thriller Sugar Spice Dice (the story of two geeks trying to rob a comic shop), to Lazarus Slept (a post-modern twist on the zombie tale, with a very noirish tone) via Icing on the Cape (a goofy superhero story). With different styles for each story, it helps give the book a really broad range, and with a knowing sense of humour and solid understanding of the genre, all three stories make for a fun read. Issue 2 which set to be released on January 26th continues that trend but with a more crime based look and is packed full of sketchy monochrome noir. As with Outré Press there is plenty of variety in content here and there should be something for even the pickiest of digital comic fan.
Tales to Admonish #1 is available via their website for $1 with issue #2 coming soon