Donut Squad Take Over the World

Can you make a whole comic book on the premise that donuts want to take over the world? If you are Neill Cameron, you can. And, having done just that, and without any apparent fear of competition, at the end of the book, he shows you how to do it too. There is very little in the way of story and the humour depends very much on his cast of irreverent donut characters who, within a single page spread and four cartoon boxes, can wreak mischief, or avenge wrongs both on a domestic and cosmic scale, leaving bemusement and laughter in their wake. These include Caramel Pirate Jack, “He’s Salty,” whose every other word is a curse (obviously no resemblance to Father Jack of blessed memory); and Chalky, the ghost of a Victorian murdered donut (how does that make any sense?). About halfway through the book, there is an invasion by the Donuts’ arch enemies, the Bagel Battalion, surprisingly like donuts to look at, but “bready and bland.” Sent on a spying mission to another page, Anxiety Donut must brave the page margins outside the safety of the cartoon boxes, and there’s an apocalyptic confrontation between the sweet and savoury in which the Bagel Battalion is driven from the page. A spin off from the Phoenix Comic, the book is both fun in itself and an incitement to your own cartooning. You can buy some of the donut merch which Cameron shamelessly advertises, but thankfully, the donut theme park is not yet open.