Glorious Wrestling Alliance: Ultimate Championship Edition

Description

Step into the ring at Glorious Wrestling Alliance, the universe's least-professional wrestling company. The Great Carp, an amphibious wonder, is feeling the weight of his championship. Miranda Fury has donned a mask to smash wrestling's glass ceiling. And Gravy Train is desperate for a new gimmick, but it's hard when you're shaped like a giant gravy boat. Collected in colossal full color for the first time, Josh Hicks's cult-hit comic covers identity, anxiety, and leg drops. In this hilarious love letter to the surreal theater of pro wrestling, the insecure grapplers of GWA lock up, throw things, throw each other, and occasionally curl up into little balls.

Josh Hicks is a cartoonist from Wales, UK. Born in 1991, he was raised in a small ex-coal-mining village and has since moved to a city that is twenty minutes away by train. He has been making comics since 2015, working with anthologies and independent publishers in the UK and self-publishing his own minicomics. Glorious Wrestling Alliance is his debut full-length work. When not making comics, Josh is usually thinking about them. He also works in animation as an art director, animator and storyboard artist. Josh Hicks is a cartoonist from Wales, UK. Born in 1991, he was raised in a small ex-coal-mining village and has since moved to a city that is twenty minutes away by train. He has been making comics since 2015, working with anthologies and independent publishers in the UK and self-publishing his own minicomics. Glorious Wrestling Alliance is his debut full-length work. When not making comics, Josh is usually thinking about them. He also works in animation as an art director, animator and storyboard artist.

Readers intrigued by wrestling will enjoy the opportunity to dive into this amazing wrestling book! In this satirical masterpiece, readers will explore the world of wrestling through a humorous lens, from the crafting of larger-than-life personalities to the untold poetic lives of star wrestlers. Each page provides a glimpse into wrestling filled with charm and humor, a fitting tribute to the wrestlers who bring their skills and personalities to the stage in matches around the world. For those who are learning about wrestling for the first time and those who are longtime fans, this book brings the characters of Great Carp, Miranda Fury, and Gravy Train to life. Within this comic strip narrative, wrestlers show dynamic personalities and charming details. Readers of all ages will enjoy this fascinating glimpse into the professional world of wrestling, told with a light touch. Josh Hicks has created an epic story that will entertain wrestlers of all ages. Reviewer Rating 5 -Children's Literature -- "Website" (9/20/2022 12:00:00 AM) https: //aiptcomics.com/2021/10/07/global-wrestling-alliance-ultimate-championship-edition-takes-the-series-to-the-main-event/ 'Global Wrestling Alliance: Ultimate Championship Edition' takes the series to the main event Wrestling fans will get a superkick out of this. Wrestling's depiction in other media usually come in two flavors: they either try to focus on serious character drama, or they completely embrace wrestling's goofiness and showmanship. Sometimes you get people who try to do both, like the Netflix series GLOW. For me, the wrestling comic that has the best balance of this is Glorious Wrestling Alliance (GWA). I've been aware of Josh Hicks' GWA series since 2017, collecting the self-published versions before supporting the Kickstarter for the GWA Premium Special. That was where I expected the series to end: An enjoyable book that found a small audience and left a good impression. What I did not expect was for the series to be picked up by a US publisher. Lerner Publishing Group took the GWA Premium Special, put it under their Graphic Universe imprint and collaborated with Hicks to give it a new coat of paint. The Glorious Wrestling Alliance: Ultimate Championship Edition took the full GWA series and added a brand-new element: color. Well, the comics version of color. Not the wrestling world's meaning of the word. GWA is a book about wrestling. It's set in a WWE-inspired wrestling promotion, looking at the drama involved in being part of a (questionably) successful wrestling company. The cast of characters range from normal wrestlers like the frustrated Miranda Fury or wannabe poet Death Machine, to more bizarre characters like Great Carp or Gravy Train -- the former having a fish for a head and the latter being a human gravy boat. The wrestling itself is downplayed, but it peaks at the right time with a very fitting finale in the fourth chapter. A satisfying main event, as it were. There is an inherent wackiness to large swathes of this book. Some of the humor is derived from the weird situations, or concepts such as Death Machine, a violent wrestler who just wants to be a poet. But at its heart, GWA: Ultimate Championship Edition is not about wrestling. For me, the true strength of the book is how Hicks has crafted a cast of likable characters with their own personalities, doubts, and frustrations. The book is driven by its characters, both in terms of drama and humor. Great Carp is at the top of his world while also being plagued by self-doubt and anxiety. Miranda Fury's frustrations about being held back see her take her destiny into her own hands in a way that mirrors the rise of women's wrestling in WWE. In many ways, her story arc is the spine of the book. Death Machine is such a fun character, and I love how he is used in the fourth chapter, but he also has his doubts. The book's core message is about persevering through difficulty and limitations, whether they are internal or in the workplace. It's a feel-good story that doesn't take itself seriously and makes you laugh along the way. Like most comedies, the sense of humor will not suit everyone, and you get more out of the book if you enjoy wrestling. Hick's art style is a great fit for the tone of the book and the feel of the characters. The color is a good fit considering that the original comic was just line art. Global Wrestling Alliance: Ultimate Championship edition tells a delightful story about characters beating their self-doubt with metaphorical steel chairs. It's a mix of silly fun with gentle introspection. Wrestling fans will get a superkick out of this. - AIPT Comics -- "Website" (10/7/2021 12:00:00 AM) Glorious Wrestling Alliance is a tongue-in-cheek homage to pro wrestling that will have readers rooting for a scrappy crew of misfit athletes. Great Carp, who has a fish for a head, is the current champion, but he's having an existential crisis ('I just feel . . . empty. And lost. And overwhelmed. All the bad feelings'). Other team members are grappling with identity issues: Miranda Fury resents being seen as a lesser wrestler because of her gender; Gravy Train, who has a gravy boat for a body, wants a different persona; and tortured poet Death Machine wants his writings to be taken seriously. A traveling tour results in comedy and mayhem as they all struggle to move into new roles. Cult classics in some circles, Hicks's comics have been collected and colorized for the first time. His straightforward six-panel format, with occasional breaks for amusing maps or sidebars, capably brings to life the characters. The story has a 'Scott Pilgrim' vibe, with witty dialogue and spot-on satire poking fun at the world of pro wrestling. Miranda Fury and Death Machine appear to be white; Gravy Train is cued as Asian. VERDICT This campy graphic novel is a knockout; sure to be popular with older youth and adults, who will enjoy the quirky illustrations and humor.--School Library Journal -- "Journal" (10/1/2021 12:00:00 AM) When even suplexing people can't cheer you up anymore, what's an unhappy professional wrestler to do? Cartoonist Hicks delivers an affectionate body slam to the world of pro wrestling with this compilation of graphic episodes chronicling the ups and downs (mostly the latter) of a struggling troupe of ring warriors--led by fish-headed veteran Great Carp, who's feeling the existential depression more than the pain these days. He's accompanied by frustrated Miranda ('If you can't beat 'em, join 'em . . . and then beat 'em to death!') Fury, who secretly adopts a new persona as Hyper Mask so she can take on men too; and struggling poet Death Machine ('I gaze upon her beauty, her flowing, glistening hair / shimmering in the moonlight, like a reflective steel chair.') Great Carp's departure to find himself (and make a fortune selling branded vodka and housewares) nearly causes the Great Wrestling Alliance to founder, but in a properly rousing climax that underscores the spectacle's timeless appeal, he returns in the nick of time for a final, torch-passing Ultrabrawl XXVI bout that will have sweaty readers pounding their seats and saluting a new GWA champion. The art's cartoon style (not to mention the costuming) make it hard to distinguish racial identities, but the cast does show a range of skin tones. Spine-crushing fun.--Kirkus Reviews -- "Journal" (9/1/2021 12:00:00 AM)