Lineup of Comics Featured in 'Cold Sweat & Tears'

• 'Love Senseless' by Emma Vieceli
• 'Simple Love' by Hwei Lim (no longer a Sweatdrop member)
• 'Out of Reach' by Dock
• 'A Message to You' by Keds
• 'Faded and Torn' by Fehed Said and Keds
• 'Black Peace' by Laura Watton
• 'Eine Kliene' by Selina Dean
• 'Caveboy Bink' by Monkey-X (no longer a Sweatdrop member)
• 'The Politics of Tears' by Fehed Said and Emma Vieceli
• 'Bunny' by Selina Dean

This review may come across as a little strange as it does not actually cover any of the comics featured in Cold Sweat & Tears. This is because, instead of being an anthology of new work, Cold Sweat & Tears is a compiled collection from 2 previous anthologies: 'Love, Sweat & Tears' and 'Cold Sweat'. Therefore rather than focus on the stories in the volume, I will be looking at the differences between this and the originals and if (like me) you already own the originals, the pros and cons of buying this book in addition. The actual comics will be covered in a future review of the original anthologies (I'd better do that one next hadn't I? ^_~ ) and then probably merged with this one in some way.

'Love, Sweat & Tears' and 'Cold Sweat' were Sweatdrop Studios' first and second anthologies. They were both released in a simple stapled format, so it seems to make sense to bind them together as a collected book for future sales. Saying that, if you are interested in what the authors are producing right now then this is not the book for you. This is a good buy for anyone who is interested in UK manga in general (especially UK manga history), beginners who are interested in seeing what some of the Sweatdrop members were producing when they were first starting out, or for those who are following the work of one or more of the artists in question.

Additions to the Original Comics

This explains where the book came from and why it has been produced.

Some freshly written information about the original anthologies, along with a reproduction of the original introductions by Keds.

There is about a paragraph of information on each author, positioned towards the end of the book (akin to the notes on the authors in a Tokyopop Rising Stars of Manga anthology). This covers the achievements of each author since the original anthologies were printed and makes for an interesting read.

New black and white illustrations of some of the characters in the short stories, produced by the authors specifically for this volume.

• 2 new illustrations by Emma Vieceli, based on 'Love Senseless' and 'The Politics of Tears'
• 2 new illustrations by Dock based on 'Out of Reach'
• 1 new illustration by Laura Watton based on 'Black Peace'


Comic Strips

10 strips from 'Rabid Monkeys' are printed towards the back of the book - this was the webcomic (by Fehed and Shari) that ran from 2002-2004 but has now ended. One strip from it had appeared at the front of each of the previous anthologies.

Trivia

There are 2 pages of trivia at the end of the book covering the production of the original anthologies. They range from stories of printing mishaps to some of the cameos and references present in some of the comics.

Ads

A few pages of ads for books the artists are now appearing in.

If you have never seen the 2 original anthologies that this book was compiled from and you are at all interested in UK manga, then you will probably find this an interesting (and possibly even essential) addition to your manga collection. However, if you already own the originals and are not someone who is very into extra content you are not going to find any new comics here.

So, throwing scepticism about buying a volume full of comics I already own aside, the extra content is what needs to be examined. Luckily it seems to have some thought put into it, and on the whole lends more depth to the experience of re-reading the comics. Should I want to re-experience these short stories again, I would most likely pick up this book from my shelf rather than the originals, as it is a neat microcosm of comics and extras.

Note... 'Biomecha: Thought' by Laura Watton, which originally appeared in 'Love, Sweat & Tears' has been removed from the lineup for this re-print, however it is still in print and now appears in Biomecha volume 1.