This weekend’s must-read digital comics in the Sunday Digest include David Kendall and Mike Carey’s ultra-creepy Houses of the Holy from Madefire, Matthew Petz’s delightfully quirky War of the Woods (featuring an otter with a turtle on it’s head) and Jon Lock and Nich Angell’s The Heavenly Chord which was unveiled at this weekend’s Melksham Comic Con.

Houses of the Holy #5 (Madefire)

David Kendall and Mike Carey’s Houses of the Holy is a brilliant reminder of how dark and twisted Madfire motion comics can be. With it’s truly stunning painted artwork and incredibly sophisticated design Houses of the Holy is a bleak and eery book that will truly unsettle you as you read it (but in a good way!). In the previous instalments we uncovered the story of gypsy girl Magna whose father does a deal with the sinister Ustrel to save her life, but in return turns her into an immortal who must feed on the living to survive. Meanwhile in 1930s Germany (where the book starts) Wachtmaster Jaeger is forced to investigate the grisly death of a Gestapo agent from issue #1, but is there something his superiors aren’t telling him about this gruesome case? After the more wholesome outings of My Little Pony and The Heroes Club, this is a return to what Madefire do best – dark and twisted adult comics with an ultra sophisticated use of the motion book technology. Now is a great time to jump into this brilliantly creepy story, but also make sure to go back and download the previous 4 issues (which are free) to truly make the most this dark and sinister story.
Houses of the Holy #5 is available via the free to download Madefire app and via DeviantART

War of the Woods (Season 1 The Collected Edition)

On the surface, Matthew Petz’s book about cutesy woodland creatures banding together for adventures looks like it should a kind of sweet and charming Wind in the Willows type adventure – especially with it’s cutesy cover that features an otter wearing a turtle on it’s head. But then the flying saucers arrive and aliens start destroying the world and you know you aren’t in Kansas any more. Reading War of the Woods is as exciting an adventure for the reader as it is for our woodland heroes. To discuss it any further would be to spoil the inherent charm in this utterly brilliant story, but suffice to say it turns into a strange and dark fairy tale adventure that is more Tolkien that Kenneth Grahame – and in ‘that cover’ Petz has created one of the most iconic images we have seen in comics this year. Utterly wonderful from start to finish and one of the most original books we have read all years!
War of the Woods Season 1 is available now via ComiXology for £3.99/$4.99 with Season 2 issue 1 and 2 also available for £0.69/$0.99

The Heavenly Chord (Jon Lock Comics)

Jon Lock and Nich Angell’s universe spanning crossover sees Zach the moody musical hero from Angell’s 7String, land in the world of Lock’s Afterlife Inc in search of his mystical musical sword. But will he be able to rescue it from the clutches of Afterlife Inc’s con man hero Jack Fortune and can the pair of them combine their forces to defeat the evil Requiem? The Heavenly Chord is a really fun book with smart story telling and a clever use of the conventions of crossovers to help make these two disparate world make sesne. Lock and Angell clearly both love creating these characters and it comes across in every panel. Make sure to check out the accompanying Spotify playlist too that allows you to soundtrack your reading of the book with some appropriate tunes!
The Heavenly Chord is available from either Nich’s Comicsy Store or Jon’s Comicsy store for £1.99 as a digital download.