{"id":34799,"date":"2026-01-25T09:00:47","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T09:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=34799"},"modified":"2026-01-22T17:57:58","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T17:57:58","slug":"robbie-burns-witch-hunter-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2026\/01\/25\/robbie-burns-witch-hunter-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Robbie Burns: Witch Hunter"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Gordon Rennie<\/strong>, Emma Beeby<\/strong>, Tiernen Trevallion<\/strong>, Jim Campbell<\/strong> & Jerry Brannigan<\/strong> (Renegade Arts Entertainment)
\nISBN: 978-0-99215-085-3 (HB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

This book includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> included for dramatic and comedic effect. <\/em><\/p>\n

Robert Burns was born in 1759 in Alloway. His father was a farmer who went to great lengths to ensure that his children were properly educated. Robert was schooled in the classics, French and Latin and began his creative writing when he was fifteen.<\/p>\n

He led a successful, tempestuous life – particularly favouring boozy carousing and roistering escapades with the ladies – and died in 1796 aged 37. As well as dialectical and vernacular poetry, Burns selflessly preserved a wealth of traditional Scottish songs and folklore – particularly the bizarre arcane bestiary of supernatural entities God-fearing folk of the 18th<\/sup> century knew were out there (sorry, oot there<\/em>) – and is more popular today than he has ever been.<\/p>\n

He is the only poet in history to have his own globally celebrated holiday, with his birth anniversary on January 25th<\/sup> an affair universally honoured by food, drink, recitations and well-loved scary stories…
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\nThis stunning re-imagining of the venerable wordsmith by scripters Gordon Rennie (Necronauts<\/strong>, Cabalistics Inc<\/strong>., Judge Dredd)<\/strong> & Emma Beeby (Doctor Who<\/strong>, The Alienist<\/strong>, Judge Dredd<\/strong>), breathtakingly illustrated by Tiernen Trevallion (2000AD<\/strong>, Judge Dredd<\/strong>) and lettered by Jim Campbell, owes as much to the modern fashion for stylish tongue-in-cheek horror comedies as the beguiling and frequently fantastical works of the poet, but the skilful interweaving of Burns\u2019 immortal lines with a diabolically clever but simple idea make this tale an unforgettable treat whether pages or screens float your particular boat.<\/p>\n

Think of it this way: in all those sterling supernatural sonnets and sagas, Burns wasn\u2019t reinterpreting his elders\u2019 supernatural folk tales or exercising a unique imagination, he was simply quoting from his diary…
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\nThe wee drama unfolds one night in Ayrshire in 1779 when rascally young gadabout Robbie<\/em> finds himself on the wrong end of an angry man\u2019s fist after playing fast and loose with the irate hulk\u2019s intended bride. However, even though all the lassies fall for the blithe blather of the self-proclaimed poet, our battered man himself knows he has not yet found his true muse…<\/p>\n

Half-drunk and well-thumped, the farmer\u2019s son heads his horse for home but is drawn to uncanny lights emanating from haunted, drear abandoned old Alloway Kirk<\/em>. Perilously enthralled, he then espies a scene out of Hell itself as witches and demons cavort in a naked ecstasy of dark worship to the satanic master \u201cOld Clootie\u201d…<\/p>\n

The lad\u2019s enrapt attention is only broken by a heavy pistol shoved in his ear by a stealthy pair also watching the shocking ritual. Old Mackay<\/em> is a daunting figure kitted out like a wrinkled human arsenal, but Robbie\u2019s attention cannot stray from the dangerous codger\u2019s comely companion Meg<\/em>, the most astounding woman he has ever seen.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately the confrontation between the mortal voyeurs has resulted in Burns\u2019 \u201cinnocent\u201d blood being spilled and the satanic celebrants have caught wind of it…<\/p>\n

Soon all the denizens of Hell are howling after the \u2018mazed mortals but things are not as they seem. The outlandish pair are actually Witch Hunters, ferocious and fully skilled in sending all Satan\u2019s minions back to the Inferno and always armed to the teeth with a fantastic array of ingeniously inventive ordnance…
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\nHaving fought free of the black Sabbat, the mortals take flight with the screaming witches in pursuit and when one grabs Robbie as he rides pillion on Meg\u2019s horse, the dazed, half-soused lad blasts the beast with one of his companions\u2019 blessed flintlock pistols. Tragically, in the selfsame altercation the pursuing she-devil had opportunity to mark him with her talons and the would-be poet promptly sobers up when he is informed that he has only three days left to live…<\/p>\n

With mounting terror he learns most mortals so infected become willing thralls of the hellions, but when a seductive minion of The Pit comes for him the next night, the scribbler somehow fends it off long enough for the suspiciously near-at-hand Meg to spectacularly despatch it back to the brimstone realms.<\/p>\n

Concluding that\u2019s there might be something of worth to the Burns boy, Mackay & Meg resolve to teach him how to be a true Witch Hunter so that he can defend himself when the horrors come in full strength to collect the Devil\u2019s due. Of course that\u2019s only three days hence…<\/p>\n

Renegade are a publisher who value fact as well as fiction and this superb full-colour hardback comes with a fine selection of factual features beginning with a lavish history and appreciation of Scotland\u2019s greatest poet in Robbie Burns: a Biography\u2019<\/em> by author and historian Jerry Brannigan as well as \u2018Selected Poems\u2019<\/em> which provides a tantalising entr\u00e9e into the uniquely impassioned, eerie world of the grand imagineer with a sterling sampling of some of his most famous works, all embellished and beguilingly illustrated with a wealth of Trevallion\u2019s pencils sketches of Bogles and Brownies, Spunkies and Sirens and even senior Witch Hunter Mackay.<\/p>\n

The rhythmic reveille includes Scots Wha Hae<\/em>, totally crucial, groundbreaking spooky saga Tam o\u2019 Shanter<\/em> (A Tale)<\/em>, the evocative A Red, Red Rose<\/em>, A Man\u2019s A Man For A\u2019 That<\/em>, the delirious Address To The Deil<\/em> and most moving lament Ae Fond Kiss, And Then We Sever<\/em>…<\/p>\n

Smart, action packed, skilfully suspenseful, uproariously funny, divinely irreverent and genuinely scary or sad by turn, Robbie Burns Witch Hunter<\/strong> is a gloriously compelling and truly mesmerising romp: a doom-laden, wisecracking rollicking love story no sensitive soul or jaded comics fan could possibly resist. It\u2019s even educational too…<\/p>\n

Robbie Burns: Witch Hunter \u00a9 2014 Renegade Arts Entertainment, Gordon Rennie, Emma Beeby and Tiernen Trevallion.<\/p>\n

In 1926, Mad Magazine<\/strong> stalwart Bob Clarke<\/strong> was born today, as was master mangaka Shotaro Ishinomori<\/strong> (Cyborg 009<\/strong>, Super Sentai<\/strong>, Kamen Rider<\/strong>) in 1938. Dutch creator and entrepreneur Kees Kousemaker<\/strong> arrived in 1942 and was – as I\u2019m sure you already know – the first person in Europe to open a comic shop.<\/p>\n

Crusading, pioneering Alvin Phillips <\/strong>was born today in 1952, before becoming Turtel Onli<\/strong> and revolutionising the comic reading experience of American readers of colour. Onli died on January 15th<\/sup> 2025, aged 72. Go look him up online, it\u2019s worth it…<\/p>\n

In 1962, The Victor<\/strong> began in Britain, running until 1992, which is less long than Dan<\/strong> (Tarzan<\/strong>, Flash Gordon<\/strong>, The Phantom<\/strong>) Barry<\/strong>, who kept on going until 1997. Kudos…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Gordon Rennie, Emma Beeby, Tiernen Trevallion, Jim Campbell & Jerry Brannigan (Renegade Arts Entertainment) ISBN: 978-0-99215-085-3 (HB\/Digital edition) This book includes Discriminatory Content included for dramatic and comedic effect. Robert Burns was born in 1759 in Alloway. His father was a farmer who went to great lengths to ensure that his children were properly … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Robbie Burns: Witch Hunter”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,42,113,122,66,125],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","category-best-of-british","category-comedy","category-historical","category-horror-stories","category-humour"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-93h","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34799"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34804,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34799\/revisions\/34804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}