It Came Out on a Wednesday #2
Alterna Comics
Written by: Justin Sane, Shawn Milazzo, Chas! Pangburn, Troy Vevasis, Chris Charlton, Terry Mayo & Jeremy Massie.
Art by: Juan Calle, Cem Iroz, Nico Leon, Aleksander Jovic, Ryan Quakenbush & Dave Swartz.
Letters by: Nikki Powers & Tim Fuller.n
It Came Out On A Wednesday is a bi-monthly anthology that features a host of comic book creators, with the emphasis on horror, sci-fi and fantasy. As if that wasn’t enough, there are features, ongoing stories and a competition. Alterna somehow manage to produce this 40 plus page comic, for under 2 dollars. I think in the UK it’s £1.75. As a comic fan, you will be hard pressed to find that kind of value anywhere else.
Issue 2 has another great cover and it has the trade dress that brings 80’s Marvel to mind. Inside the covers there are no less than 7 separate stories including the irreverent Mr Crypt and the intense Wicked Righteous, who have ongoing mini series in the Alterna universe. The other 5 stories include Virus, The Dolls and Bloodfist.
Some of the strips are in full colour and others are bit of a mix of black and white or a limited pallet and I imagine that print wise that’s a financial decision. However, the different styles don’t detract at all from the overall content, and as far as anthologies go, the diversity in style should be expected. As a UK comic fan, I am far more familiar with anthology titles than my US counterparts.
Back in the 60’s and 70’s and beyond, UK comics were all anthologies. You would buy a title such as Lion, Action, Warlord or even 2000ad and every issue would have 6 or 7 different chapters of an ongoing story. These comics were bought weekly and read over and over again, and introduced us to characters such as The SpiderHook Jaw, Robot Archie and Judge Dredd. Perhaps that’s why I have always been pre disposed to this type of comic. I was one of the few that fell in love with DC’s Action Comics when it went weekly and became an anthology. There’s something so nostalgic about this format, and luckily It Came out On A Wednesday captures that spirit.
Sure there is varying degrees of quality and content, with some stories obviously designed for a younger readership, but the whole package is so well put together 
that everything has merit. Regular readers will know I’m a sucker for Alterna titles, but honestly, if you are a comic fan in any way, how can you resist picking a copy of this up? It’s a great read, it’s a great price and there’s so much to look at you will surely find something that appeals to you.
So for me, this is another winner, and I encourage you to take a punt and grab a copy of this. If your local comic shop is still unaware of Alterna, please point them in the right direction and tell them We Have A Hulk sent you. They won’t regret it!
