My Skateboard Life back

Courage and competitiveness when confronted with a vert ramp of doom, a shop full of snazzy equipment, and the watchful gaze of girls. I was looking forward to this enormously: the cover design in black, white and red stands out a mile, Syder's wide eyes greeting his potential readers' straight on, and it's easy to see why his Manchester music scene posters were so sought after. Also, the way he draws hair is lovely. Lovely.

Sorry, that's about it.

It's very thin in every aspect. There's none of the broader self-questioning that made KING-CAT's John Porcellino such an instant hit at Page 45 with PERFECT EXAMPLE (particularly with skateboarders but also our wider community of students) then kept them on board throughout MAP OF MY HEART etc., and when the publisher claims two "mini-interviews" with classic skateboarders as a bonus, you could fit each on the back on a postcard - after you've filled in the address. There's no insight, no discipline and, worse still perhaps, even as an outsider I cannot think I learned anything new at all. A mere two-pager from ALEC's Eddie Campbell gives me far more to digest than this entire graphic novel put together. Plus Ed's limitations as both storyteller and artist are readily apparent in the expressions which barely fluctuate and the top-left panel halfway through in which Ed is indistinguishable from his mother. Incredibly disappointing.