Phil Meadows and I are getting ready to turn in our finished two pages for the final Small Press Idol voting, which begins on Wednesday. Phil’s nervous, which is why I’m grateful for all of the reviews currently pouring in praising his art.

: RevolutionSF reviews Shooting Star Comics Anthology #4 and has this to say about our story:

Michael Hutchison and Phil Meadows’ “Time Meddlers” in issue 4 is, page for page, the funniest story in the entire series so far. It’s two British gents, screwing up the time stream trying to get rich. Honestly, this one knocked over my giggle box. There’s one time-trip that comes up suddenly, and I didn’t realize where they were at first, but — I’m ruining it. Never mind.

I was nervous when Erik informed me that Johanna Draper Carlson had a review. Phil and I did a taut 14-page thriller for Job Wanted, and were disappointed when it hardly got any reviews. Johanna’s review of Job Wanted was rather snide, and her summation of “Enigma in Outer Space” consisted of calling it “a sterile astronaut story.” Four words.

But she is much kinder to “Melvin and Marvin Middler, Time Meddlers”:

The time travel story, about two guys trying to exploit a time machine to collect old comics and otherwise make money, was cute, funny, and well-illustrated. I especially liked the throwaway Titanic car joke.

I should note that so far no one has (as far as we can tell) picked up on some of the jokes hidden in the background, so I’m going to give a couple hints: Grab your magnifying glass and get a look at Shakespeare’s contract, and then take another look at the people sitting in the deck chairs on page 7. Okay, ’nuff said.

So far, the reviews for Shooting Star Comics Anthology #4 are enthusiastic and positive, and while I’m hardly an unbiased source I do have to say that the last few issues have been far more consistently entertaining from front to back. The SSC team is now putting out the books on a quarterly basis, luring at least one professional guest shot in every issue and offering a solidly entertaining product. If it’s not on your pull list, call up your comic store and add it! (And I say that not out of any self-interest. Our story in #4 was only a guest shot and they don’t have any more openings for a couple years!)

Meanwhile, if your comic shop doesn’t have SSCA #4, I believe Shooting Star will have the book available from their web site soon.

We’d like to thank everyone who has given the book such good reviews. Now…does anyone have any in-depth feedback on Phil’s art or my writing? We’re always looking for tips on how to improve. Just give us a shout!