Great Aches

Scary Go Round #5

by John Allison

The fifth SGR collection! Collecting all the Scary Go Round comics from February 27th to December 22nd 2006 (with the exception of the "Big Broadcast" story), plus chapter commentary, new illustrations and a (don't) cut-out and keep 8-page mini-comic intro.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Fantasy, Webcomic, Humor, Fiction

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

John Allison is the author and artist of the British webcomics Scary Go Round and Bad Machinery.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See other authors with similar names.

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is definitely the most out there stuff by Allison, and Bad Machinery can be pretty out there. The humor is what I expect from him—zany, off-the-wall cleverness—but I wasn’t as interested in the stories or characters as I am with his other series. Starting this series in the middle (because that’s what I could find in the library) didn’t really help.

[Helena · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first bit of Scary Go Round I've read (first paper copy available to me), and seems to work reasonably well as a jumping on point to delightful world (Allison provides short intros to each story arc with any necessary context). The earlier, experimental lineless art is a bit distracting to begin with, but is soon replaced by Allison's standard sweetly expressive linework. I've read bits of bobbin.horse and Giant Days but judging from this volume, Scary Go Round is a whole other level of weird. This is a funny and strange world, but in a rather tame and familiar way, probably due to the charming and relatable nature of the rather large cast of characters. I look forward to more.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

story is improving. was the boy and Erin in volume 5 of Giant Days?

[Colin Murtagh · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting little collection from SGR, art style changes as Allison changes his way of drawing at the start. It's surreal, odd, and just really good fun. Having Desmond on board always helps

[Ethan Hulbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's SGR #5 on my chronological readthrough of the Tackleverse. The intro comic in the ebook is wonderful.

We start off with Mayor Tim and Amy, and a visit from Robotania from Red Robot again. There's also Dark Esther and Erin and a minotaur, and Shelley is an intrepid reporter by now. The robot laser-beams the minotaur.

Bad ol' Ralph gets Ryan to get involved with the supernatural again, which mostly just means they kill him. And it switches back to hand-drawn again, yay! Ryan reunites with reaper Natalie in the Land of the Dead.

As Amy and Shelley run around the supernatural office, we see Shelley's file in the troublemakers index! Shelley Endeavour Winters, born 5/4/1980, La Pipistrelle, 5'4". Nosiness: 10, Disaster Power: 8, Financial Damage: 9, Escape Factor: 10. Ranked #4! We also see a hint of the name Desmond Carringt... - an early tease of Des?

Next is the big story of the Invent Off, with major implications for Tim and Riley. This is some of my favorite Shelley content too, and drama with her and reporter Mike and Erin and Esther all at once around The Boy. And a return from Elaine Wu, and Esther gets to show off her boxing skills punching her out. But alas, Riley gets her secret way, and Tim resigns and they move out, declining their appearances in SGR from here on out.

And then some Erin-Esther-The Boy plot and a storyline named Giant Days, hah! They go off to Wales. Amy tells Erin about how she and Shelley became friends (Bobbins refs!). Devil bears attack in Wales, The Boy saves Esther, and they officially become an item. Oh man!! They give the evidence to Riley, to no avail.

And then Erin turns into GIANT ERIN! Also Fallon is alive and returns.

Ryan is held up in the supernatural hospital and we see Des for the first time ever in a nearby bed. And the supernatural cultists are - GASP - Rachel and Tessa working for the devil! What a twist, years in the making. We get their devilish medium backstory, how they faked their deaths with the devil, the death of William, the Space Owl of Wales...

Also, Friend Bat has passed :( but is now with Natalie.

And then the nuns commit mutiny and burn Rachel to death - for real! And Tessa moves on. Whoa!

And then Shelley and Ryan and Amy and Tim and Riley all figure everything out for each other and it's a nice reunion, awww. (And Gibbous Moon is back for Des.)

What a book!!

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

After toying at hand-drawing the Scary Go Round series, John Allison returns to it full time roughly a fifth of the way into this volume. He also seems close to wrapping up a few near-forgotten character arcs. But in the midst of that blend of new and old, the best part of the whole book is the burgeoning relationship between The Boy and Dark Esther, two mid-series characters ripe for rounding out. Their trip to Wales—intersected by a hilarious, winking bit about fans of Shelley Winters—is the highlight of the volume, which is saying a lot considering it also features a junkyard invention competition, a trip to the afterlife, and a merman.

"Ashcroft, I don't think shoving patients down the rubbish chute constitutes after-care."
"Nonsense, Vella. There's absolutely no documentary evidence that ejecting patients into waste isn't highly therapeutic."

[Tory · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally, the backstory of how Erin Winters became the Queen of Hell/Mordawwa, and HOW she fell in love with Crowley, and all that jazz. It took a fair amount of hunting to find the start of this story (starts in July '06 and lasts through July '07).

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars only because I don't like the computer art in the first story as much.