Back in March 1982, a fondly remembered character made his first appearance in the pages of Eagle, a British weekly anthology comic.

Doomlord was incredibly distinctive when it debuted, as it was told using photos – with the eponymous character being an ‘actor’ in costume, complete with a somewhat repulsive looking alien mask.

Though it’s most remembered in this format, it didn’t last long, transitioning to a more traditionally illustrated comic from September 1983 onwards, which is how it remained until its final episode in 1989.

Yet the early photo strips proved to be potent and were lodged firmly in the minds of the strip’s young readers; those creepy black and white photos, though somewhat campy, gave it an air of believability and realism despite their cheap and often staged nature.

Why is this important in relation to new comic, The Chefs of Death?

Well, as you can probably tell from the cover, it takes a lot of cues from the early days of Doomlord; not just with its alien protagonist, but also its black and white photography and amusingly daft ‘effects’, such as the eponymous character’s laser gun.

In The Chefs of Death, an alien named Zarmdov is sent to Earth to find food for his hungry father, a ravenous creature whose appetite has seen him work his way through all of his available forms of sustenance.

Zarmdov initially finds himself with an awful lot of guilt-free snacks available on Earth – human and animal alike – but soon runs into a few complications, as well as potential allies and enemies, in some unexpected places.

It’s all very British, as befits an homage to Doomlord; there’s a rich and very dark vein of absurdist humour running through The Chefs of Death, alongside some blunt but amusing political satire too.

It’s a lot of fun, with the photo strip adding a great deal of humour to the story – and you’ll notice quite a few amusing details hidden in some of the photos too.

In short, it’s a loving, clever and knowing homage to the brief life of a bleak, photogenic anti-hero – though no knowledge of Doomlord is needed to have fun reading The Chefs of Death.

The Chefs of Death #1 is currently seeking funds on Kickstarter – and there’s a wealth of special rewards for pledging at different levels, including the chance to feature in the comic yourself!

You can back The Chefs of Death #1 right here.

Many thanks to creator Alex Finch for providing me with an early digital copy of The Chefs of Death #1 for review purposes.