Links to New Releases and more underneath!

Andi Watson’s The Book Tour is a deft masterclass in visual and linguistic caricature, each bookseller an eccentric delight in their own right.

– Stephen on Andi Watson’s The Book Tour. I mean, obviously.

The Book Tour (Page 45 Exclusive Signed Bookplate Edition) (£22-99, Top Shelf) by Andi Watson.

“I don’t alphabetise. I’d rather customers explore. They come in looking for Byron and leave with an illustrated history of the Prague sewer system.”

Five decidedly odd bookshops lie on the immediate itinerary of minor English author Mr. Fretwell’s grand tour of Europe. Unfortunately no one is turning up. Eventually, you’ll find out why.

What a phenomenal cover! What a Babel of books!

What an eye-drawing sense of shadowed space and low, looming light which creeps up from outside on our baffled and blinking protagonist! There Mr. Fretwell sits in tiny, silent solitude, patient but vulnerable and dwarfed by an infinite cathedral-like height which is worthy of Schuiten himself!

He only wants to sign copies of his new novel.

“I’m afraid I’m not quite feeling myself.”

Everyone keeps banging on about this being Kafka-esque – probably because that sounds ever so cool and anyway the last critic did it and although you’ve never read Kafka it must be right, right…? Well, there’s a hint of it here and there; but a more careful reading reveals that this is pure early-to-mid Evelyn Waugh, satirising not bureaucracy but quack psychiatry, wonky police procedure, inflammatory mob gossip and the book retail and publishing industries with all their attendant vagaries, fickleness, professional incompetence and casual disregard for anyone who can’t immediately further their own fortunes.

Andi Watson’s THE BOOK TOUR is a deft masterclass in visual and linguistic caricature, each bookseller an eccentric delight in their own right. It has so many more Waugh hallmarks from a narrative and thematic structure so tightly fitting that it could only have been created by comics’ equivalent of a carpenter or architect like Chris Ware, quick-fire conversations leaving the protagonist no better informed, marital distance followed by disintegration, minor recurring characters whose fortunes oscillate off-camera as a direct consequence of Mr. Fretwell’s own, and an entirely innocent and well meaning but weak, naive and hapless protagonist helplessly buffeted both by those more brutal than himself and events entirely outside his own control.

Add in a little Paul Auster (although Waugh did it too in ‘A Handful of Dust’) and you’ve a man increasingly lost, both to himself and to the world – or, perhaps, blessedly freed from it.

I could point out with precision each and every parallel between Waugh and Watson, but that’s hardly the point. The point is this: THE BOOK TOUR is priceless. It is too, too funny – otherwise it’d be terrifying, and its early home sequence is a masterful foreshadowing of the ever-increasing isolation to come.

Perhaps the Kafka-centric critics confused THE BOOK TOUR’S literary style and thematic content with its visual execution of grainy lines which does indeed nod east…but towards 1920s German Expressionist cinema. Most obviously, the prologue sweeps us slowly through the old quarters of a deserted European city late at night or in the early hours of the morning, until we spy through an arched passage a silhouette moving silently through the angular-shadowed streets. Eventually he pauses, and deposits on the cobbles an old battered suitcase… before disappearing into the black horizon.

More importantly, what the washed-out effect of overexposed early cinema also achieves is a pervading sense that there is nothing of substance to hold onto: that one is in constant danger of coming unanchored and left to drift away at only the tide’s discretion.

Let’s start in the middle.

“Hungry?”
“Famished.”
“Then you’ve come to the right place. The food’s no good, but there’s plenty of it… Not cheap, either.”

As our ever-imposed-upon Mr. Fretwell will inevitably find out.

He’s being taken out to lunch at a critical juncture in his unaccompanied book tour not by his publisher as promised (from whom a befuddled Mr. Fretwell might finally find answers), but by some ineffectual minion, unqualified for the job, sent in the elusive publisher’s stead, both of whom would rather be doing absolutely anything in the world other than attending to their immediate responsibilities.

“Can I be honest with you?”
“Certainly.”
“This was dropped in my lap at the last minute. Not that it isn’t enjoyable. The thing is, you see, I’d already planned to have drinks with a lady friend of mine.”
“Lady friend?”
“Precisely. I knew you’d understand.”

And off he goes.

Poor Mr. Fretwell has been out to lunch for a while now, and it’s a pea soup partly of his own unfocussed making. If he fails to pay attention, he’ll be taken to the cleaners next.

Following the publication of his latest novel ‘Without K’ Mr. Fretwell has been dispatched on tour by train with a printed itinerary but without any back-up, his sole company being a suitcase full of his own freshly printed books. This is immediately stolen from under his nose by a thief whom Mr. Fretwell mistakes for a helpful if unscheduled contact. No matter, you might think, until Mr. Fretwell dutifully reports the theft to the local constabulary and so finds himself – a little further down the line – the prime suspect in the hunt for a missing person.

This is Rebecca (two ‘c’s, without a ‘k’ – just like Mr. Fretwell’s equally absent wife), who’s been left in sole charge of Mr. Fretwell’s first signing to which he hurriedly races, through the rain, straight after leaving the police station.

“Sorry I’m late. And damp.”
“Perhaps I can find you a towel.”
“Don’t worry about that. I don’t want to keep anyone waiting.”

There’s no one to keep waiting.

“I don’t understand it. We had a signing yesterday and it went really well.”

That would be for one F.P. Guise, author of ‘Sierra Umbra’, as diligently advertised in the book shop’s window.

“It’s never happened to me before.”
“The weather might have had something to do with it. Isn’t that typical? The rain’s stopped.”

Although Rebecca’s dining out that night on a mysterious, last-minute assignation, Mr. Fretwell’s not offered a meal. But at least he won’t get wet again, plus there’ll be room service at his appointed hotel, once he’s found it.

“I have a habit of getting lost.”

It’s not a bad hotel, either, with a decent room, phone service and breakfast to which his morning paper is delivered. This means our writer can get some rest, contact his wife, ask about his son, and keep himself vitally abreast of all the latest news. Mr. Fretwell reads the newspapers most assiduously! Well, the review sections, at least.

No one’s reviewing his new book, though. Like everyone else, they seem much more interested in F.P. Guise: “a startling new voice”.

Gradually, throughout Mr. Fretwell’s travels and travails, a pattern will emerge and begin explaining itself… I’m afraid it’s not a very fortuitous one.It’s one of incremental degradation (“the condition or process of degrading or being degraded”; geologically speaking, “the wearing down of a rock by disintegration”) and it will impact on all aspects of the above, from the worsening condition of his hotel rooms, his scarcer ability to stay in touch (we never see Mr. Fretwell’s wife: to begin with he talks to her through a closed door, then down the telephone, and he only hears about his son from her), his increasingly, hilariously thwarted opportunities to eat, and his diminishing access to a decent newspaper – or its review section, at least.

“Don’t you read the papers, Mr. Fretwell? There’s a predator on the loose. They’re calling him the suitcase killer…”
“I only read the arts pages.”

And because we’ve only been following Mr. Fretwell’s movements and observations, we’ve only been reading the arts pages too. While more immediate events have been brought to boiling, we’ve all of us been out of the loop – clever, that.

THE BOOK TOUR is screamingly clever, as you’d expect from Britain’s Andi Watson (please see our Andi Watson Graphic Novels and Andi Watson Mini-Comic Collection sections), including the parallels between the fortunes and fiction of Mr. Fretwell who is hilariously inept at hand-selling his own work.

Still, eventually he’ll attract some attention.

“We’d like to ask you some questions.”
“Oh, you’re from the Literary Review?”
“We’re police, sir.”

THE BOOK TOUR is Page 45 Comicbook Of The Month for January 2021. Andi Watson’s LITTLE STAR was our first. Let’s see that back in print, please!

SLH

Buy The Book Tour and read the Page 45 review here

Kerry And The Knight Of The Forest (Page 45 Exclusive Signed Bookplate Edition) (£9-99, Penguin Random House) by Andi Watson.

“I fear your trust in others will be your undoing.”

Ooooh…!

So speaks the monocular floating Waystone of the cover, the self-styled Knight of the Forest and the very last of his kind.

He has observed that young Kerry’s most courageous quality is to invest a little kindness and compassion early on, even in those whom others deem a threat, and who seem to have acted with overt hostility towards Kerry himself. It’s an act of faith on Kerry’s part which so often overrides his well-founded fear.

Kerry hopes for the best; the Waystone fears the worst.

But I’m afraid that you must find out for yourselves which one is proved right…

Page 45 FAQ: “What more would I fall for if I adore Luke Pearson’s HILDA?” Answer: This! This, this, this! Oh, so very much this!

The imagination on display and the spectacle on offer are both phenomenal!

 

 

Kerry is racing frantically home through golden fields with a satchel full of medicine to cure his ailing parents, but is lured into a vast and all but impenetrable, shadow-stricken forest by the yellow glow of a girl and the prospect of a desperately needed shortcut. Almost instantly Kerry is lost in its overgrown briar tangles, the spectral girl leaving nothing behind except a hand-held mirror.

But it’s upon helping a screaming snail escape the claws of a ravenous crow that Kerry’s woes really begin.

 

 

From Andi Watson, the creator of adult fiction THE BOOK TOUR, and DUMPED, all-ages GLISTER and so much more (please see our Andi Watson Graphic Novels and Andi Watson Mini-Comic Collection sections), KERRY AND THE KNIGHT OF THE FOREST is a belter of a book for anyone aged roughly 7 to 12 – or ever so slightly older in my case.

At over 250 full-colour pages before you even get to the activity pages, the multiple mysteries at the heart of what’s happened to render both this forest and its denizens so very treacherous are given all the room that you could hope for to be explored in their interconnected depths.

Key words: interconnected, mysteries, multiple, heart, treacherous. I don’t type these words randomly, you know. These days, I rarely review at all! When I do, it is Because a Book is Important.

 

 

The design is delicious, with angles, shapes, colour, light and long, long shadows providing far more than atmosphere, but narrative cues too, with sudden striking shifts in each denoting imminent danger.

Birds, spiders, bushes and bats… every beast lurking within is monocular. That’s immediately alien and unsettlingly “other” because two eyes is the very minimum requirement you’ll encounter in nature outside Greek Mythology (and its Cyclops wasn’t exactly the most endearingly well-behaved host). Until you’ve attempted to create nuance on the page with anything fewer than two orbs then you might not understand the problems it poses for any artist brave enough to attempt this – their juxtaposition, in harmony or otherwise, is everything – yet astonishingly Watson wrings maximum narrative expression from every single eye.

 

 

But let’s cut to chase and get back to the hunt, for Kerry’s multiple trials run from tricky navigation, astute observation and ingenious problem solving to close-quarter combat. Far more central to Kerry’s success, however, will be the moral choices he makes. Temptations lurk around every corner, and not just for our plucky protagonist.

 

 

Now, where did we come in? Ah yes, Kerry’s compassion.

“You would feed yourself to the wolves if you heard their stomachs rumble.”

Some people’s censures, in my experience, are the greatest compliments in the world.

SLH

Buy Kerry And The Knight Of The Forest and read the Page 45 review here

 

 

Paris 2119 h/c (£22-99, Magnetic Press) by Zep & Bertail.

“I love the Metro…
“The slowness… the darkness…
“The smell of burning wood and rubber.
“No one travels like this anymore. Except the odd tourist.
“No one travels physically anymore, really…
“Not since that damn Transcore.”

My, isn’t DeForest Kelley looking all young, hip and smoulder-y these days? You just wait until he gets his kit off!

That isn’t something which I ever expected to type.

It’s actually Young Parisian and audience-seeking writer Tristan Keys, but not since Star Trek’s scowling curmudgeon Dr. McCoy has someone railed against teleportation so cantankerously. Tristan even brings his gripes home with him to calm Kloé, a far more pragmatic professional who needs to travel, worldwide, to meet clients for the Network; so she slips into the nearest deluxe Transcore teleportation cabin, lies back, and pops out in Beijing. Tidy!

 

 

 

 

I find myself falling into both camps. I adore walking to work every morning, crossing the River Trent then strolling down its Embankment between trees, admiring the light through the leaves up above…or kicking them if they’re crisp and senescent and no longer part of the summer canopy. On the other hand, give me the option of an instantaneous Transcore trip straight home some dark winter nights and – You understand me, right…?

Let’s listen in on Tristan again, if only so that I can type a little more monologue to emphasise that all our copies are English-language – unlike the illustrations I’ve found online.

“People don’t like the rain…
“People don’t like going outside…

I’m definitely down with Tristan now. I love the rain. And I’d sure as each Spring spend as much of my time as possible strolling outside if it took me via the Arc de Triomphe… and locals were walking their anteaters… while a virtual shark circles in the suddenly sunny blue sky.

 

 

Did you notice Tristan slipping under a prism of light, there, into much more clement, metereologically controlled conditions? Such “spotlights” are dotted all around town. They’re gorgeously rendered by Bertail who’s put even more into this graphic novel than his exquisite delineation, resulting in Zep having to rewrite key sequences which weren’t anywhere near the thumb-nail sketches accompanying his original script. Including the climax!

Bertail has even totally re-imagined Tristan himself from Zep’s more perfunctory, drab rendition. If that version got his kit off, I’d probably look away. No, it’s a true back-and-forth collaboration between creators which has resulted in something infinitely more slick and satisfying than a story which could otherwise have been a little bit thin underneath.

 

 

Because (bear with me here, please) the weather prisms, sadly, aren’t really explored and form no integral or even extraneous part of the plot: that all centres squarely and unfairly with the teleportation system – nigh-universal but for some malcontents seemingly in love with the Channel Tunnel – which Tristan begins to witness going awry. On the Metro he bumps into a seemingly drugged-up or zombified version of someone he later meets if not in prime condition, then at least coherent and sober. Then Tristan spies something far more alarming in action: the police’s immolation, right under his nose, of someone staggering, dazed, from her teleportation capsule.

And this is where Zep’s script triumphs, for it is a glorious misdirection in a way that I cannot possibly explain without alerting you to the true, suppressed secret behind everyone’s new favourite method of transport. In terms of teleportation, I’ve never seen this posited before, and it’s brilliant.

 

 

PARIS 2119 may not be as meaty as Morvan & Wei’s exquisitely Baroque, retro-futuristic ZAYA, but it’s perfectly weighted for its 70 pages plus extensive, illuminatingly annotated process-piece back-matter.

Plus the punchline – foreshadowed while I wasn’t watching – pays off.

As well as the truth, there’s a joke in that sentence, but you’ll only get it if you buy the book.

SLH

Buy Paris 2119 h/c and read the Page 45 review here

Brand-New Arrivals: Comics & Graphic Novels

Wednesday 12^th January 2021 is truly slim pickings! There are normally two dozen or so!

Still, it does contain the brand-new Jiro Taniguchi!!! My all-time favourite Japanese comicbook creator! Please click on older covers in our Jiro Taniguchi section for all our reviews!

Page 45 New Graphic Novel Arrivals  is a permanent link, updated every Wednesday morning which you can use any week to see what’s new. Click on any of the covers for publisher information and to purchase, perchance.

Page 45 Graphic Novels Week By Week is where you can catch up on previous weeks’ releases. Simply click on any given date there for a similar grid of graphic novel covers. Click on any of the covers for publisher information and to purchase, perchance.

We’re looking into backdating that further to incorporate all new releases since the last Page Blog,

Page 45 Blogs is where you read all our previous blogs – scroll back a dozen years if you fancy! They used to be weekly, but 2020 was very patchy – for almost everyone in every conceivable way.

And, hey, Page 45 Comic Book Of The Month is where you can catch up on all our selections over the last 15 years or so, read all our reviews of those graphic novels by clicking on their covers in the main grid below latest large cover, and indeed read more about Page 45 Comic Book Of The Month, and even sign up online. Neat!

Finally, Page 45 New Comics… should be self-explanatory once you get to that page.

Here’s wishing you an infinitely happier 2021 than 2020!

Cheers,

Stephen

 

 

 

Featuring Charlot Kristensen, Andi Watson, Jamie Smart, Gipi, Art Spiegelman, Alan Moore, Eddie Campbell and over TWO HUNDRED new graphic novels since last we blogged, linked to, with covers, below!

What We Don’t Talk About (£11-99, Avery Hill) by Charlot Kristensen.

“People will only see racism when it’s at its most extreme…
“But racism is more than just slurs and violent acts.”
“I think it’s important to be true to yourself.
“If something feels wrong you should speak up.”

For over 10 years I wrote up to 15 comic and graphic novels reviews every week – on my days off.

Two years ago I decided I wanted my life back, and for a year I’ve been virtually silent.

But this book is worth missing a whole month of anyone’s leisure time, so I’m back.

Charlot Kristensen, everybody: this is her debut graphic novel. I hope you are paying attention, for Kristensen has created something deceptively complex with extraordinary economy – and the lushest of lines, form and colour enhanced by carefully chosen light throughout – that will reward your careful consideration with much to ponder upon.

 

 

It’s time to meet Farai and Adam.

“I really want to get along with Adam’s family…
“Our relationship means a lot to me…
“But I also want him to be there for me.
“Is that too much to ask?”

No, if we are as committed as we claim, it is the very least we can do for our dearly beloveds: listen long enough to understand and, if necessary, back them to the hilt. It’s called love and loyalty. Especially since Farai’s already reassured her own caring and concerned mother, “I already told you, mom, he’s different.”

But what happens when your boyfriend’s parents turn out to be nightmares, you find yourself trapped in their affluent home territory and therefore beholden to their oh-so-generous hospitality, then it transpires that said boyfriend…

Well, that’s “nurture” for you.

After two years of not-so-subtle stalling for which Farai gives Adam the benefit of what must inevitably be considerable doubt, Adam has finally invited Farai to meet his parents, so they travel to Windermere by train.

 

 

Farai is excited! Adam is angry. Farai’s tardiness almost made them miss their train. But it didn’t; they haven’t. So why is Adam so angry?

Farai is an artist, a positive and inspired young artist, secure in her identity. Adam is a musician. He’s really very pretty. He’s kind of lanky with a disarming flop of hair falling over one side of his forehead. Farai is full-on beautiful with large, pool-deep eyes, rich lips and a casually tied-up bunch of black hair threaded through with blue and purple highlights. They’re a very attractive couple.

But for Adam’s mother, Martha, Farai is a new toy to play with, a sick power trip to take pleasure in, and a goal to be achieved. Can you guess what it is yet?

Hegemony must be maintained at all costs.

 

 

Kristensen has created an appallingly real and ever so clever ogre in Adam’s constantly angling mother. She’s a domineering bully who knows precisely what she is doing. She’s all charm and smarm to begin with, while her husband Charles has been whittled away over the years into being the most monosyllabic, compliant and complicit co-combatant that any garrulous general could hope for. And make no mistake: Martha’s vile and outrageously forthright racism is far from casual or accidental. She bides her time and then she pounces before pulling back, wounded blood drawn.

 

It’s cold, calculated and strategically deployed then, as I say, skilfully withdrawn at the very last minute, leaving Farai with little room to manoeuvre by speaking out or conferring with Adam whose default setting is defensive: especially of his parents.

“Ah, maybe you’re reading too much into it.”

That’s always a favourite of mine.

“Adam, I know what I heard. And that’s not all of it. Your dad and mom were talking about an African gardener they fired just because he forgot to water a plant. They said he had a funny African name and they couldn’t understand his accent.”
“Farai… maybe they didn’t tell you the whole story, I don’t know. I’m sure there were other problems.”

There’s a constant sneer on Martha’s mouth, and disdain in her eyes, She’s smug, supercilious, condescending and patronising.

“Look, Farai Darling, I’m only referring to common knowledge. There’s no need to get so worked up.”

Also: “Every child knows…”

I had an older relative who used to greet almost everything I said with, “Oh don’t be so stupid!” And I’m not, really, stupid. But using nebulous language like that is a very clever way of dismissively shutting down counter-arguments.

Deliciously, Kristensen’s art throughout – in defiantly uplifting and colourful contrast to Martha’s withering, caustic toxicity – is an exuberant, life-affirming, joy!

Oh, where there are inevitable, final flare-ups of anger, they are projected with jagged, barb-edged speech balloons and equally angular gesticulations! And Kristensen’s expressions are ever so subtle and telling.

But predominantly there is a celebration of truly juicy light, form and colour, of fabrics and foliage and stone; beams and streams of sunshine cascading in through the windows, elevating everything inside! And out on Lake Windermere – from mid-summer day to shepherd’s-delight dusk – there is an awe-inspiring beauty in the wide-open, bright sky above and the dazzling, tiny white diamonds dancing on the deeper blue waters below which is entirely immune to the self-satisfied shadows cast in between.

 

 

“Look!” the art demands. “Look at what could be yours! Look at what is yours for the taking! Look at what you are missing!”

It’s actually ungrateful, isn’t it?

I leave you with Martha fishing for what she loves most instead – a reaction – this time feeling no need to find any sort of emollient whatsoever to what she erroneously considers will be her coup de grace:

“Oh that’s interesting, Farai. That… thing on your head.”
“Oh! You mean my headwrap.”
“Is that what it’s called? I didn’t know you were a Muslim.”
“Ahh I think you’ve misunderstood… This is a very common head attire in my culture. And there are many people from across the world who wear head coverings for different reasons.”
“Oh, so you’re not a Muslim?”
“No I’m not…”
“Oh thank god! I thought I was going to have a heart attack.”

By contrast, you’ll be ever so proud of Farai’s response.

 

 

Martha delights in playing cat and mouse games but this time she’s misjudged her victim, for Farai – however calm, reasonable and accommodating of as much of Martha’s cold, calculated and malicious behaviour as she can be – is no mouse.

That would be Martha’s long-dominated son.

I cannot wait to see and hear more from Charlot Kristensen, whose work I already rate right up there alongside early Tillie Walden (I LOVE THIS PART and A CITY INSIDE etc), another of Avery Hill’s many discoveries whose talent they recognised in her mid-teens then gently shepherded towards producing longer-form works like ON A SUNBEAM and her autobiographical SPINNING, all four of which have sold in their hundreds here.

Now that really is true nurture for you!

Page 45 Comicbook Of The Month, October 2020.

I mean, obviously.

SLH

Buy What We Don’t Talk About and read the Page 45 review here

Dumped (Page 45 Exclusive Signed & Numbered Bookplate Edition) h/c (£14-99,self-published) by Andi Watson.

The first in a feverishly anticipated series of Andi Watson graphic novels, long out of print and sorely missed, now lavishly redesigned with a matching trade dress and completely re-coloured to make maximum use of modern production values.

Each will be accompanied at Page 45 by a free, signed bookplate, limited to 50 copies.

Please do also check out our best-selling Andi Watson Mini-Comic Collection section. You’ll find several there reviewed.

“Just checking it’s bought, and not out of a skip.”

Duncan’s referring to Binny’s bag of beer, brought to a party hosted by bloke called Tony – whom neither of them knows – to celebrate some sort of anniversary.

Normally Binny’s bags contain second-hand books which, yes, he might well have salvaged from the side of a road, such is his passion for the secret lives they’ve led prior to being dumped: all the highlights and annotations each might contain, revealing a little or indeed a lot of their past owners.

 

 

Upstairs in a bedroom, Binny finds a stylish young lady unceremoniously throwing some of Tony’s prized possessions out of the window onto the bonnet of his car. They, ummm… yeah…

 

 

Binny wakes up very happy the next morning, but entirely oblivious to the young lady’s name (she never offered it), and has to do some pretty decent detective work to track her down to a shop selling vintage clothing. Debs too appreciates history, this time in a discarded garment.

 

 

 

Andi Watson’s customary economy of line, evoking so much (an entire city square through little more than a silhouette of some equestrian statue, as deftly as troubled thoughts by an eyebrow or glance) – is enhanced by gorgeous, charcoal-effect textures and one hell of a lot of British rain.

But Watson also brings economy to the rest of his storytelling, and it may surprise those who’ve snapped up his recent mini-comics from our Andi Watson Collection Section to discover that same succinct discipline in his full-blown graphic novels, as well as the wealth of lateral thinking. You wait until Binny waxes lyrical about all that may lie between dusty covers…

So back to the romance: the romance between Binny and Debs and the romance which they both perceive in found objects’ history. It seems like a match made in heaven.

So why is it not?

SLH

Buy Dumped (Page 45 Exclusive Signed & Numbered Bookplate Edition) h/c and read the Page 45 review here

From Hell Master Edition (In Colour) h/c (£44-99, Knockabout) by Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell.

Please Note: this is my review of the original FROM HELL black and white edition (still in print, and in stock) from many moons ago. Interior art of this Master Edition, transmogrified by its new colour treatment by Eddie Campbell himself.

You will want both. Trust me.

On the surface (Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell’s surface are most creators’ core) it’s the story of one sick bastard’s execution of a royal cover up, fuelled by his own personal Masonic obsession with carving a male sigil across the heart of London by slaughtering the women of the street who happen to have strayed too close to a blue-blooded Victorian’s philandering.

Madness and ceremony and the architecture of time play large parts in this gruelling masterpiece, as the women struggle hard enough to survive in their own unforgiving environment, let alone when they’re lured by grapes into the alien world of an upper class cab, and Dr. Gull has visions of the world as we know it, where his deeds are anything but forgotten.

Eddie Campbell’s intense visuals are inseparable from the experience, whether it’s the look in Dr. Gull’s eyes that see more than is there, or the bleak, unsanitised and dark and stark London which he scratches indelibly on your mind. How did anyone have the arrogance to believe that they could ever “film” that? And speaking of Hollywood, how typical of them to turn this into a Whodunnit. That we know the “who” from just after the prologue makes the investigation all the more frustrating, infuriating and painful to follow, so it was never about the “who” – it’s about the “why”. Why did Dr. Gull do it? Why was the case never solved? And why are we still studying these events then studying the studies of those who have studied the events?

This is a vast work of enormous power that will take you twice as long to read as almost any three other graphic novels combined.

I present you with comparison pages between the original black and white edition which has a raw power of its own, and this brand-new colourized revelations…

 

 

 

Here are two of my favourite pages. Such is its foreboding, its raw, stark power, that I’ve used the bottom-right image to promote the book ever since it was first published. Then behold the new, almost glutinous fog and Eddie Campbell lamplight:

 

 

And this bottom-right panel has been completely redrawn…

 

 

As I say, I believe you will want both.

Please see my review of Eddie Campbell’s FROM HELL COMPANION for more depth and insight. Largely Eddie’s.

SLH

Buy From Hell Master Edition (In Colour) h/c from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

One Story h/c (£19-99, Fantagraphics) by Gipi.

War:

“It’s all so slow.
“You. You’re an inventor. You should invent a better weapon. That can accelerate everything.
“Modernity demands it.”

“I’m not scared.
“Why should I be? I have you.
“You remember? I promised.
“I’ll come back.”

The publisher writes:

“One Story actually consists of two entangled tales- those of Silvano Landi, a writer, who sees his life falling apart and Landi’s great-grandfather, Mauro, a soldier mired in the carnage in the First World War. Alternating between past and present, One Story documents the roots of a twisted family tree and traces the pain passed down from one generation to the next.”

It’s a masterpiece. One of the very finest graphic novels I have ever had the pleasure of absorbing.

 

 

To begin with it’d fragmented. You’ll find out why.

What’s more, each of the fragments, once pieced together, make perfect, oh so powerful sense. Including the tree in the middle of the tennis court.

The tree which Landi can’t stop drawing, just like the petrol station with its vast awning, in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This book will break your heart.

Repeatedly.

SLH

P.S. It’s an English language edition. We’ve only used foreign language pages to disguise any spoilers. Perhaps.

Buy One Story h/c and read the Page 45 review here

In The Shadow Of No Towers h/c (£40-00, Pantheon) by Art Spiegelman.

Nearly two decades ago our Mark wrote the following upon the book’s initial release:

You might have seen excerpts in either the COMICS JOURNAL or MCSWEENEY’S 13. I think that the Guardian ran a few pages a while ago. This is Spiegelman’s reaction to the attack on the twin towers, American reaction to that and the government’s reaction to the whole thing. Ten huge pieces, aping old Sunday comics sections, printed on thick card like baby’s first book. The scale is correct, the book, with the black cover, spot-varnish and illo of ancient American comic characters kicked sideways by a foreign goat, is huge.

The format works, carefully spelling out the events of the day.

A scary kids’ book for adults.

MAS

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The Old Guard vol 1: Opening Fire s/c (£14-99, Image) by Greg Rucka & Leandro Fernandez.

That is one well equipped modern mercenary: combat boots, flak jacket… ancient, double-bladed battle axe.

Not quite standard issue.

From the writer of LAZARUS and BLACK MAGIC and – with Ed Brubaker – GOTHAM CENTRAL comes an impeccably researched, more action-orientated mystery of military manoeuvres across the globe. Across time too, and Andy is fucking sick of it.

Clue: her full name is Andromache and if you know your Euripides, she had a pretty shitty time of it ever since Achilles went and whopped her husband Hector. I mean, a really shitty time of it. The Greeks tossed her sprog over the Trojan walls then, just to rub it in, made her a slave to Achilles’ own son.

As the opening three pages make brutally clear the intervening centuries haven’t brought much more peace. She appears to have fought her way through them all. Which is one way to trying to work through your understandable anger issues. She hasn’t stopped fighting, either. Andy and her three male colleagues have one key advantage over others engaged in mortal combat: they’re not mortal. They cannot die.

 

 

Unfortunately in the 21st Century keeping that quiet is a tad more difficult than it used to be: live footage not recorded onto a drive which could be deleted, but beamed immediately around the globe via satellite to someone who wants a piece of their anti-agapic action. You’ll see.

What you won’t necessarily see immediately – as Andy and co are on their way to South Sudan to rescue seventeen girls from heavily armed abductors – is what relevance there could possibly be in American marine Nile Freeman’s search of a family home in Afghanistan full of very frightened women. But you will, at the end of chapter one.

 

 

The initial scene inside the home is beautifully played by both Rucka and Fernández who delivers both day and night, throughout, in a style similar to 100 BULLETS’s Eduardo Risso: lots of silhouettes and shadows.

“We are searching for someone. We believe he is hiding her. This man. He has killed many of my people and many of yours. Have you seen this man?”
“No,” replies the old woman, staring at the photo in terrified recognition.
“No, there are no men here,” she says, glancing to the door behind which they are hidden, “and a man who would cower behind women… who puts them in danger and uses them as shields… he is no man at all.”
“I thank you for your honesty and help. We will leave you in peace… blessings on your house…”

 

 

Everyone’s in for some surprises, including you: being immortal isn’t all it’s cracked up to be if your family aren’t in on it. And cannot be – Andy is adamant about that and eloquent on the subject.

On the other hand, discovering the love of your life early on, if they are immortal too…

 

 

Tenderness and brutality in equal measure.

SLH

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New Arrivals Linked To Reviews

Berlin (Complete) s/c (£30-00, Drawn & Quarterly) by Jason Lutes…

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The Times I Knew I Was Gay Expanded Edition (£14-99, Virago) by Eleanor Crewes.

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Bunny vs. Monkey (vols 1 & 2 combined) (£8-99, DFB) by Jamie Smart.

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Footnotes In Gaza s/c (£18-99, Jonathan Cape) by Joe Sacco

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Blacksad: The Collected Stories vol 1 s/c (£26-99, Dark Horse) by Juan Diaz Canales & Juanjo Guarnido

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The Giver s/c (£11-99, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) by Lois Lowry, P. Craig Russell

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The Complete Works Of Fante Bukowski h/c (£34-99, Fantagraphics) by Noah Van Sciver…

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Young Avengers By Gillen McKelvie Complete Collection s/c (£31-99, Marvel) by Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie

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Avengers By Hickman Complete Collection vol 1 s/c  (£31-99, Marvel) by Jonathan Hickman & Jerome Opena, Adam Kubert, Steve Epting

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New Arrivals Linked To Publishers Blurb

It’s been a while, and there are so very many! For reviews, try popping the creators into our search engine for their earlier books, like Tomine’s OPTIC NERVE (his autobiographical book immediately below, for example, is a catalogue of his worst professional embarrassments, very much like his old letter column!).

If a book doesn’t say out of stock, it’s in stock and available right now for worldwide shipping! Cheers!

The Loneliness Of The Long-Distance Cartoonist s/c (£16-99, Faber) by Adrian Tomine

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Pulp h/c (Page 45 Signed Bookplate Edition) (£14-99, Image) by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Jacob Phillips

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Cruel Summer h/c (£29-99, Image) by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips

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Kerry And The Knight Of The Forest s/c (Signed Bookplate Edition) (£12-99, RH Graphic) by Andi Watson

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Rat Precariat (Sketched & Signed In) (£2-99, self-published) by Andi Watson

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Kevin and the Biscuit Bandit: A Roly-Poly Flying Pony h/c (Exclusive Page 45 Signed Bookplate) (£8-99, Oxford University Press) by Philip Reeve & Sarah McIntyre

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Don’t Call Me Grumpycorn! h/c (Exclusive Page 45 Signed Bookplate) (£12-99, Scholastic UK) by Sarah McIntyre.

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Taking Time h/c (£11-99, FSC) by Jo Loring-Fisher

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Paying The Land h/c (£20-00, Jonathan Cape) by Joe Sacco

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Walking Dead: The Alien h/c (£17-99, Image) by Brian K. Vaughn & Marcos Martin

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Blackhand & Ironhead vol 1 h/c (£22-99, Image) by David Lopez

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Killadelphia vol 1: Sins Of The Father s/c (£8-99, Image) by Rodney Barnes & Jason Shawn Alexander

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Heathen vol 3 (£13-99, Vault) by Natasha Alterici & Ashley Woods

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John Constantine Hellblazer vol 1: Marks Of Woe s/c (£17-99, DC Black Label) by Simon Spurrier, Kat Howard & various

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Basketful Of Heads h/c (£22-99, DC Black Label) by Joe Hill & Leomacs

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Skies Of Fire h/c (£19-99, Mythopoeia) by Vincenzo Ferriero, Ray Chou & Pablo Peppino

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Steeple s/c (£17-99, Dark Horse) by John Allison

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Giant Days vol 13 (£10-99, Boom) by John Allison & Max Sarin

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Five Years vol 2: Stalemate s/c (£14-50, Abstract Studios) by Terry Moore

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Mongrel s/c (£14-99, Knockabout) by Sayra Begum

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Blade Runner 2019 vol 2: Off-World (£13-99, Titan) by Michael Green, Mike Johnson & Andres Guinaldo

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Donut The Destroyer vol 1 s/c (£10-99, Graphix) by Stef Purenins & Sarah Graley

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Lucy Claire: Redemption vol 1 s/c (£14-99, Image) by John Upchurch

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Lumberjanes: Campfire Songs (£10-99, Boom) by Nicole Andelfinger, Liz Prince, Shannon Watters & Maddi Gonzalez, Kat Leyh, Brooklyn Allen

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The Witches – The Graphic Novel s/c (£13-99, Scholastic) by Roald Dahl & Penelope Bagieu

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Useleus vol 2: Kraken Up (£9-99, Bog Eyed Books) by Alexander Matthews & Wilbur Dawbarn

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Victory Point h/c (£14-99, Avery Hill Publishing) by Owen D. Pomery

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Zebedee And The Valentines (£12-99, Avery Hill Publishing) by Abs Bailey

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Doom Patrol: Weight Of The World s/c (£16-99, DC) by Gerard Way, various & James Harvey, various

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City Of Secrets s/c (£9-99, Penguin) by Victoria Ying

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Lumberjanes vol 15: Birthday Smarty s/c (£10-99, Boom) by Shannon Watters, Kat Leyh & AnnaMarie Rogers

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Prison Pit – The Complete Collection h/c (£34-99, Fantagraphics) by Johnny Ryan.

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20th Century Boys Perfect Edition vol 8 (£15-99, Viz) by Naoki Urasawa

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Perramus The City And Oblivion h/c (£44-99, Fantagraphics) by Juan Sasturain & Alberto Breccia

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Ghost Writer h/c (£17-99, Fantagraphics) by Rayco Pulido

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One Million Tiny Fires (£9-99, Silver Sprocket) by Ashley Robin Franklin

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The Rough Pearl s/c (£20-99, Fantagraphics) by Kevin Mutch

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Breaks vol 2: Truth And Dare s/c (£15-99, Soaring Penguin Press) by Emma Vieceli & Malin Ryden

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Avatar, The Last Airbender: Team Avatar Tales (£10-99, Dark Horse) by various

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Buffy The Vampire Slayer Legacy Edition vol 1 (£22-50, Boom) by Andi Watson, Christopher Golden, Dan Brereton & Luke Ross, Joe Bennett, Hector Gomez, others

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Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Hellmouth s/c (£12-99, Boom) by Jordie Bellaire, Jeremy Lambert & Eleonora Carlini

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Meka h/c (£17-99, Magnetic Press) by J.D. Morvan & Bengal

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Fence vol 4 (£10-99, Boom) by C.S. Pacat &  Johanna the Mad

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Lucifer vol 3: The Wild Hunt s/c (£14-99, Vertigo) by Dan Watters & Max Fiumara, Fernando Blanco, Sebastian Fiumara

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Lumberjanes vol 14: X Marks The Spot (£10-99, Boom) by Shannon Watters, Kat Leyh & Dozerdraws

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The Quotable Giant Days s/c (£10-99, Boom) by John Allison & Max Sarin

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Bone One Volume Colour Hardcover Slipcase Edition (£150-00, Cartoon Books) by Jeff Smith

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Castle In The Stars vol 3: The Knights Of Mars h/c (£15-99, FirstSecond) by Alex Alice

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Hellblazer vol 23: No Future (£24-99, Vertigo) by Peter Milligan, Jamie Delano, Mat Johnson & Giuseppe Camuncoli, Stefano Landini, Simon Bisley, Jock, Tony Akins, Dan Green

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Middlewest vol 3 s/c (£14-99, Image) by Skottie Young & Jorge Corona

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Mister Invincible s/c (£14-50, Magnetic Press) by Pascal Jousselin

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The Flood That Did Come (£8-99, Avery Hill) by Patrick Wray

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Seeds And Stems s/c (£26-99, Fantagraphics) by Simon Hanselmann

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Streets Of Paris, Streets Of Murder: The Complete Graphic Noir Of Manchette & Tardi vol 1 h/c (£26-99, Fantagraphics) by Jacques Tardi & Jean-Patrick Manchette

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Death Or Glory vol 2: I Still Miss Someone (£14-99, Image) by Rick Remender &  Bengal

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Just Beyond: The Horror At Happy Landings (£7-50, Kaboom) by R.L. Stine & Kelly Matthews, Nicole Matthews

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Minecraft: Wither Without You (£9-99, Dark Horse) by Kristen Gudsnuk

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Windows On The World s/c (£22-99, Fantagraphics) by Robert Mailer Anderson, Zack Anderson & Jon Sack

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Eat And Love Yourself s/c (£10-99, Boom) by Sweeney Boo

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I Want You (£19-99, Drawn & Quarterly) by Lisa Hanawalt

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Kusama h/c (£14-99, Graphic Lives) by Elisa Macellari

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Little Bird: The Fight For Elder’s Hope s/c (£17-99, Image) by Darcy Van Poelgeest & Ian Bertram

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Slaughterhouse-Five The Graphic Novel h/c (£18-99, Boom) by Kurt Vonnegut, Ryan North & Albert Monteys

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The Contradictions s/c (£19-99, Drawn & Quarterly) by Sophie Yanow

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Wings Of Light: A Retroworlds Story s/c (£14-99, Humanoids) by Harry Bozino & Carlos Magno

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Mujirushi: The Sign Of Dreams (£15-99, Viz) by Naoki Urasawa

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The Adventure Zone vol 3: Petals To The Metal s/c (£15-99, FirstSecond) by Clint McElroy, Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroy, Travis McElroy & Carey Pietsch

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Buffy The Vampire Slayer vol 3: From Beneath You s/c (£10-99, Boom) by Jodie Bellaire & David Lopez, Marc Aspinall

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The Dreaming vol 3: One Magical Movment s/c (£16-99, Vertigo) by Simon Spurrier & Bilquis Evely, Marguerite Sauvage, Dani, Matias Bergara

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East Of West vol 10 (£14-99, Image) by Jonathan Hickman & Nick Dragotta

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The Emotional Load And Other Invisible Stuff (£14-99, Seven Stories) by Emma

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Jim Henson’s Dark Crystal Age Of Resistance – The Quest For The Dual Glaive h/c (£18-99, Boom) by Nicole Andelfinger & Matias Basla, Esdras Cristobal

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Genpet s/c (£14-99, Magnetic Press) by Damien & Alex Fuentes

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Ladybird Tales Of Adventurous Girls h/c (£12-99, Penguin) by various

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Milo’s World Book 3: The Cloud Girl (s/c £14-99, h/c £17-99 Magnetic Press) by Richard Marazano & Christophe Ferreira

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Be Gay Do Comics s/c (£22-99, IDW) by various

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SFSX vol 1: Protection s/c (£8-99, Image) by Tina Horn & Michael Dowling, various

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The Winter Of The Cartoonist h/c (£19-99, Fantagraphics) by Paco Roca

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The Sky Is Blue With A Single Cloud (£18-99, Drawn & Quarterly) by Kuniko Tsurita

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Wonder 3 s/c (£26-99, Digital Manga Distribution) by Osamu Tezuka

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A Thief Among The Trees – An Ember In The Ashes Graphic Novel h/c (£14-99, Archaia) by Sabaa Tahir, Nicole Andelfinger & Sonia Liao

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Bix h/c (£26-99, Gallery) by Scott Chantler

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The Cloven Book One h/c (£21-99, Fantagraphics) by Garth Stein & Matthew Southworth

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The Complete Calvin & Hobbes Slipcase Softcover Edition (£100-00, Andrews McMeel) by Bill Watterson

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Critical Role vol 2: Vox Machina Origins s/c (£17-99, Dark Horse) by Jody Houser & Olivia Samson

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Eight-Lane Runaways h/c (£21-99, Fantagraphics) by Henry McCausland

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Journalism s/c (£14-99, Jonathan Cape) by Joe Sacco

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The Machine Never Blinks h/c – A Graphic History Of Spying And Surveillance h/c (£20-99, Fantagraphics Books) by Ivan Greenberg & Everett Patterson, Joseph Canlas

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Once Upon A Space Time h/c (£12-99, Random House) by Jeffrey Brown

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Star Wars: The Rise Of Kylo Ren s/c (£14-50, Marvel) by Charles Soule & Will Sliney

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Stranger Things vol 3: Into The Fire s/c (£17-99, Dark Horse) by Jody Houser & Ryan Kelly

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Stranger Things: The Bully s/c (£11-99, Dark Horse) by Greg Pak & Valeria Favoccia

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Out Of The Blue h/c (£26-99, Aftershock) by Garth Ennis & Keith Burns

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The Stringbags h/c (£26-99, Dead Reckoning) by Garth Ennis & PJ Holden

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Firefly vol 4: New Sheriff In The ‘Verse vol 1 h/c (£14-99, Boom) by Greg Pak & Lalit Kumar Sharma, Davide Gianfelice

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Firefly vol 3: Unification War Part Three h/c (£14-99, Boom) by Greg Pak & Dan McDaid

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Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection vol 2 s/c (£19-99, Avani) by various

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Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection vol 3 s/c (£19-99, Avani) by various

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Rascal h/c (£13-99, IDW) by Jean-Luc Deglin

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Things From The Flood h/c (£24-99, Simon & Schuster) by Simon Stalenhag

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American Gods vol 3 h/c (£19-99, Dark Horse) by Neil Gaiman & P. Craig Russell, Scott Hampton

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Crowded vol 2 s/c (£14-99, Image) by Christopher Sebela & Ro Stein, Ted Brandt

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Cuisine Chinoise: Tales Of Food And Life h/c (£17-99, Dark Horse) by Zao Dao

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Fight Club 3 h/c (£26-99, Dark Horse) by Chuck Palahniuk & Cameron Stewart, David Mack

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Strayed vol 1 s/c (£17-99, Dark Horse) by Carlos Giffoni & Juan Doe

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Sword Daughter vol 3: Elsbeth Of The Island h/c (£17-99, Dark Horse) by Brian Wood & Mack Chater, Jose Villarrubia

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Undiscovered Country vol 1: Destiny s/c (£8-99, Image) by Scott Snyder, Charles Soule & Giuseppe Camuncoli, various

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Star Trek Picard: Countdown s/c (£14-50, IDW) by Mike Johnson, Kirsten Beyer & Angel Hernandez.

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Joker: Killer Smile h/c (£24-99, DC) by Jeff Lemire & Andrea Sorrentino

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Wolverine: Weapon X s/c (£17-99, Marvel) by Barry Windsor-Smith

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Powers: The Best Ever h/c (£24-99, DC) by Brian Michael Bendis & Michael Avon Oeming

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Fallen Angels vol 1 s/c (£15-99, Marvel) by Bryan Hill & Szymon Kudranski

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X-Men+Fantastic Four: 4X s/c (£14-50, Marvel) by Chip Zdarsky & Terry Dodson

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Immortal Hulk vol 7: Hulk Is Hulk s/c (£14-50, Marvel) by Al Ewing & Joe Bennett

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Iron Man: Epic Collection vol 4 – The Fury Of The Firebrand s/c (£35-99, Marvel) by Archie Goodwin, Gerry Conway, others & Don Heck, George Tuska, others

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X-Force By Benjamin Percy s/c vol 1 (£15-99, Marvel) by Benjamin Percy & Joshua Cassara, Stephen Segovia

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X-Men: Epic Collection – Proteus s/c (£35-99, Marvel) by Chris Claremont & John Byrne

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Batman: Curse Of The White Knight h/c (£26-99, DC) by Sean Murphy

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Green Lantern: Earth One vol 2 h/c (£22-99, DC) by Gabriel Hardman & Corinna Bechko

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The Vision – The Complete Collection s/c (£24-99, Marvel) by Tom King & Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Michael Walsh

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DCeased: Unkillables h/c (£20-99, DC) by Tom Taylor & Karl Mostert

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Amazing Spider-Man vol 8: Threats & Menaces s/c (£15-99, Marvel) by Nick Spencer & Ryan Ottley

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Tarot: Avengers / Defenders s/c (£14-50, Marvel) by Alan Davis & Paul Renaud

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Flash vol 11: The Greatest Trick Of All s/c (£15-99, DC) by Joshua Williamson & Scott Kolins

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Gotham City Sirens s/c (£22-99, DC) by Paul Dini & Tony Bedard, Scott Lobdell, Marc Andreyko, Guillem March

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Justice League vol 5: Justice / Doom War s/c (£22-99, DC) by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV & various

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Young Justice vol 1: Gemworld s/c (£15-99, DC) by Brian Michael Bendis & Patrick Gleason, various

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Conan: Serpent War s/c (£14-50, Marvel) by Jim Zub & various

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Conan The Barbarian Epic Collection: The Coming Of Conan s/c (£31-99, Marvel) by Roy Thomas & Barry Windsor-Smith

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King Thor s/c (£14-50, Marvel) by Jason Aaron & Easd Ribic

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Ms. Marvel vol 2: Stormranger s/c (£15-99, Marvel) by Saladin Ahmed & Joey Vazquez, Minkyu Jung

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Punisher: Soviet s/c (£15-99, Marvel) by Garth Ennis & Jacen Burrows

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Avengers: Epic Collection vol 5 – This Beachhead Earth s/c (£35-99, Marvel) by Roy Thomas, Harlan Ellison & John Buscema, Sal Buscema, Neal Adams, Frank Giacoia, Herb Trimpe, Sam Grainger

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Venom vol 4: Venom Island s/c (£15-99, Marvel) by Donny Cates & Mark Bagley

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Miles Morales vol 3: Family Business s/c (£14-50, Marvel) by Saladin Ahmed & various

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Savage Avengers s/c vol 2 To Dine With Doom (£16-99, Marvel) by Gerry Duggan & Kim Jacinto

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X-Men Milestones: Messiah War s/c (£22-99, Marvel) by various

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Amazing Spider-Man vol 7: 2099 s/c (£15-99, Marvel) by Nick Spencer & Patrick Gleason, Bazaldua

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Marauders vol 1 s/c (£15-99, Marvel) by Gerry Duggan & Matteo Lolli, Michele Bandini, Lucas Werneck, Mario Del Pennino

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Valkyrie: Jane Foster vol 2: At The End Of All Things s/c (£14-50, Marvel) by Jason Aaron, Al Ewing, Torunn Gronbekk & Pere Perez, Cafu, Ramon Rosanas

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Batman: Detective Comics vol 2: Arkham Knight s/c (£15-99, DC) by Peter J. Tomasi & various

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Silver Surfer: Parable s/c (£13-99, Marvel) by Stan Lee & Moebius

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Marvel Action Spider-Man vol 4: Venom s/c (£8-99, IDW) by Delilah Dawson & Davide Tinto

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DC Super Hero Girls vol 10: Weird Science s/c (£8-99, DC) by Amanda Deibert & various

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DC Super Hero Girls vol 12: Midterms s/c (£8-99, DC) by Amy Wolfram & Yancey Labat

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Teen Titans Go To Camp s/c (£8-99, DC) by Sholly Fisch & Marcelo DiChiara

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Cagaster vol 1 (£11-99, Ablaze) by Kachou Hashimoto

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Saint Young Men vol 2 h/c (£20-99, Kodansha) by Hikaru Nakamura

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Saiyuki The Original Series vol 1 – Resurrected Edition h/c (£19-50, Manga) by Kazuya Minekura

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That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime vol 12 (£10-99, Kodansha) by Fuse & Taiki Kawakami

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Transformers – The Manga vol 2 h/c (£19-99, Viz) by Ban Magami & Masumi Kaneda

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Dr. Stone vol 12 (£7-99, Viz) by Riichiro Inagaki & Boichi

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My Hero Academia vol 24 (£7-99, Viz) by Kohei Horikoshi

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One-Punch Man vol 20 (£7-99, Viz) by One & Yusuke Murata

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That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime vol 11 (£10-99, Kodansha) by Fuse & Taiki Kawakami

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Demon Slayer vol 14 (£7-99, Viz) by Koyoharu Gotouge

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Demon Slayer vol 15 (£7-99, Viz) by Koyoharu Gotouge

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Demon Slayer vol 16 (£7-99, Viz) by Koyoharu Gotouge

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Legend Of Zelda vol 16: Twilight Princess vol 7 (£7-99, Viz) by Akira Himekawa

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Sailor Moon vol 1 (£9-99, Kodansha) by Naoko Takeuchi

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Dragonball Super vol 9 (£7-99, Viz) by Akira Toriyama & Toyotarou

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Shoulder-A-Coffin Kuro Side Story: Nostalgic Travelogue (£12-99, Yen) by Satoko Kiyuduki

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Inside Mari vol 6 (£11-99, Denpa Books) by Shuzo Oshimi

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Persona5 vol 3 (£7-99, Viz) by Hisato Murasaki

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My Hero Academia Smash!! vol 5 (£7-99, Viz) by Hirofumi Neda

Buy My Hero Academia Smash!! vol 5 from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype hereAposimz vol 5 (£10-99, Vertical) by Tsutomu Nihei

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 4: Diamond Is Unbreakable vol 6 h/c (£15-99, Viz) by Hirohiko Araki

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The Drifting Classroom vol 3 Perfection Edition h/c (£28-00, Viz) by Kazuo Umezz

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Saiyuki The Original Series vol 2 – Resurrected Ed (£19-50, Kodansha) by Kazuya Minekura

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Attack On Titan vol 31 (£9-99, Kodansha) by Isayama Hajime

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Gadgetry – Shirow Miwa Design Archives (£29-99, Pie) by Shirow Miwa

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One Piece vol 94 (£7-99, Viz) by Eiichiro Oda

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Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction vol 8 (£10-99, Viz) by Inio Asano

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That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime vol 13 (£10-99, Kodansha) by Taiki Kawakami

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Mob Psycho 100 vol 5 (£10-99, Dark Horse) by One

Buy Mob Psycho 100 vol 5 from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Crikey, eh?

I’ve tried to separate the manga and superheroes so that they at least are all together but time constraints on this already punishing project mean that the rest really are in no particular order! Just stroll up and down until you spot a cover that speaks to you, click on the link and you’ll either see our reviews or a publisher’s blurb.

If a book doesn’t say “out of stock” then it’s in stock for worldwide shipping!

Right, I’m on holiday now until mid-October. It’s the first break I’ve had since last September! So if you have any questions, please email page45@page45.com

Look after yourselves, and thanks so much for all your support.

– Stephen

 

Please click on images or the links to buy or learn more from the publishers. Or, in the case of The Andi Watson Mini-Comics Collection Box, from me!

The Andi Watson Mini-Comics Collection Box (£4-99, Self-Published) by Andi Watson

Buy The Andi Watson Mini-Comics Collection Box from Page 45 and /or read Page 45’s Review here

Buy from our Andi Watson Mini-Comics selection and / or read Page 45’s reviews here

Brand-New Arrivals: Graphic Novels

Ascender vol 2 s/c (£14-99, Image) by Jeff Lemire & Dustin Nguyen

Buy Ascender vol 2 s/c from Page 45 and /or read the publisher’s hype here

Check, Please! vol 2: Sticks & Scones s/c (£12-99, FirstSecond) by Ngozi Ukazu

Buy Check, Please! vol 2: Sticks & Scones s/c from Page 45 and /or read the publisher’s hype here

Deadly Class vol 9: Bone Machine s/c (£14-99, Image) by Rick Remender & Wes Craig

Buy Deadly Class vol 9: Bone Machine s/c from Page 45 and /or read the publisher’s hype here

Deep Breaths s/c (£16-99, Top Shelf) by Chris Gooch

Buy Deep Breaths s/c from Page 45 and /or read the publisher’s hype here

Farmhand vol 3 (£14-99, Image) by Rob Guillory

Buy Farmhand vol 3 from Page 45 and /or read the publisher’s hype here

Moonshine vol 3 s/c (£14-99, Image) by Brian Azzarello & Eduardo Risso

Buy Moonshine vol 3 s/c from Page 45 and /or read the publisher’s hype here

Snowpiercer vol 1: The Escape s/c (£12-99, Titan) by Jacques Lob & Jean-Marc Rochette

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Wendy – Master Of Art s/c (£18-99, Drawn & Quarterly) by Walter Scott

Buy Wendy – Master Of Art s/c from Page 45 and /or read the publisher’s hype here

Doomsday Clock h/c Part vol 2 With Slipcase (£22-99, DC) by Geoff Johns & Gary Frank

Buy Doomsday Clock h/c Part vol 2 With Slipcase from Page 45 and /or read the publisher’s hype here

Daredevil vol 3: Through Hell s/c (£14-50, Marvel) by Chip Zdarsky & Marco Checchetto, Francesco Mobli

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Fantastic Four: Epic Collection vol 5 – The Name Is Doom s/c (£35-99, Marvel) by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby

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Iron Man: Epic Collection vol 1 – The Golden Avenger s/c (£35-99, Marvel) by Stan Lee & Don Heck

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Iron Man: Epic Collection vol 3 – The Man Who Killed Tony Stark s/c (£35-99, Marvel) by Archie Goodwin & George Tuska, Johnny Craig

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Silver Surfer Omnibus vol 1 h/c (£89-99, Marvel) by Stan Lee & John Buscema

Buy Silver Surfer Omnibus vol 1 h/c from Page 45 and /or read the publisher’s hype here

Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku vol 2 (£9-99, Viz) by Yuji Kaku

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Levius est vol 4 (£9-99, Viz) by Haruhisa Nakata

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Ping Pong vol 1 s/c (£23-99, Viz) by Taiyo Matsumoto

Buy Ping Pong vol 1 s/c from Page 45 and /or read the publisher’s hype here

Brand-New Arrivals: Comics

Old Haunts #1 (£3-50, AWA) by Ollie Masters, Rob Williams & Laurence Campbell, Lee Loughridge

Buy Old Haunts #1 from Page 45 and /or read the publisher’s hype here

That Texas Blood #1 (£3-50) by Chris Condon & Jacob Phillips

Buy That Texas Blood from Page 45 and /or read the publisher’s hype here

And oh so many more! If a graphic novel doesn’t say “Out Of Stock” then it is in stock! Not so with comics, so if you would prefer to check if we’ve specific comics in stock before ordering, please email page45@page45.com and we’ll let you know, but FYI over the past few months These Current Comics have all come in through our doors, and we’ve plenty of older issues in those series too if you want to email and ask.

ALSO: WE ARE OPEN AGAIN NOW! Regular Page 45 Opening Hours too! Please come along and ask for personal recommendations etc. I promise you won’t have to queue, and there is plenty of space for a 2-metre distance. We’re sticking to 2 metres, cheers, much safer, and we’ve not seen more than four people in at any one time, so you’ll feel perfectly relaxed.

Until Jonathan and I start hard-selling you more lovely comics and graphic novels than you can carry or, quite frankly, afford.

Cheers,

Stephen

Please click on images or the link to buy to, you know, buy, or learn more from the publishers. Luther Arkwright and Kevin’s Great Escape already reviewed.

Department Of Mind-Blowing Theories h/c (£12-99, Canongate) by Tom Gauld

Buy Department Of Mind-Blowing Theories h/c from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Luther Arkwight: The Adventures Of Luther Arkwright & Heart Of Empire s/c (£35-99, Dark Horse) by Bryan Talbot

Buy Luther Arkwight: The Adventures Of Luther Arkwright & Heart Of Empire s/c from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

You Brought Me The Ocean s/c (£12-99, DC) by Alex Sanchez & Julie Maroh

Buy You Brought Me The Ocean s/c from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Medicine: A Graphic History s/c (£15-99, SelfMadehero) by Jean-Noel Fabiani & Philippe Bercovici

Buy Medicine: A Graphic History s/c from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Paul Is Dead s/c (£14-99, Image) by Paolo Baron & Ernesto Carbonetti

Buy Paul Is Dead s/c from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Dragon Hoops h/c (£15-99, First Second) by Gene Luen Yang

Buy Dragon Hoops h/c from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Go To Sleep (I Miss You): Cartoons From The Fog Of New Parenthood h/c (£11-99, First Second) by Lucy Knisley

Buy Go To Sleep (I Miss You): Cartoons From The Fog Of New Parenthood h/c from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Bone Adventures s/c (£8-99, Scholastic) by Jeff Smith

Buy Bone Adventures s/c from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Kevin’s Great Escape: A Roly-Poly Flying Pony Adventure s/c (£6-99, Oxford University press) by Philp Reeve & Sarah McIntyre

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Star Wars: Age Of Rebellion – Villains s/c (£14-99, Marvel) by Greg Pak with Simon Spurrier & Marc Laming with many more

Buy Star Wars: Age Of Rebellion – Villians s/c from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Superman Action Comics vol 2: Leviathan Rising s/c (£15-99, DC) by Brian Michael Bendis & Steve Epting with Yanick Paquette

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Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed s/c (£14-99, DC) by Laurie Halse Anderson & Leila De Duca

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The Amazing Mary Jane vol 1: Down In Flames, Up In Smoke s/c (£14-50, Marvel) by Leah Williams & Carlos Gomez, Lucas Werneck

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X-Men vol 1 s/c (£15-99, Marvel) by Jonathan Hickman & Leinil Francis Yu with R. B. Silva, Matteo Buffagni

Buy X-Men vol 1 s/c from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Attack On Titan vol 30 (£9-99, Kodansha) by Hajime Isayama

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Blue Flag s/c (£8-99, Viz) by Kaito

Buy Blue Flag s/c from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 4: Diamond Is Unbreakable vol 5 h/c (£15-99, Viz) by Hirohiko Araki

Buy Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 4: Diamond Is Unbreakable vol 5 h/c from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

My Hero Academia Smash! vol 4 (£7-99, Viz) by Hirofumi Neda

Buy My Hero Academia Smash! vol 4 from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Not Your Idol vol 1 (£7-99, Viz) by Aio Makino

Buy Not Your Idol vol 1 from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Perfect World vol 1 (£10-99, Kodansha) by Aie Aruga

Buy Perfect World vol 1 from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

The Way Of The Househusband vol 3 s/c (£9-99, Viz) by Kousuke Oono

Buy The Way Of The Househusband vol 3 s/c from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Brand-New Arrivals: Comics

If you would prefer to check if we’ve specific comics in stock before ordering, please email page45@page45.com and we’ll let you know, but FYI over the past few months These Current Comics have all come in through our doors, and we’ve plenty of older issues in those series too if you want to email and ask.

I Tweeted a whole bunch of photos of those we’ve stock of yesterday (Tuesday June 9), but hopefully you can see for yourselves when we reopen on Monday June 15! Fingers crossed, folks!

Cheers,

Stephen

Normally retailing at £17-99 but a mere £14.39 for Page 45 Comicbook Of The Month members… this month’s selection is…

A Gift For A Ghost h/c by Borja Gonzalez

You can learn more and join the Page 45 Comicbook Of The Month here…

Meanwhile, here’s our Page 45 review of A Gift For A Ghost…

A Gift For A Ghost h/c (£17-99, Abrams) by Borja Gonzalez

“Did you really like the tape?”
“She wants to be in the group.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Look, we have the guitar, what’s the problem?”
“I don’t know how to play any instruments. I tried to explain that to Cinderella over here.”
“Huh, you think I know how to play this? I’m not even sure what the black buttons are for.”
“Okay. I accept that knowing how to play an instrument isn’t necessary for a high school punk band, but… there’s no one who can understand these lyrics.”
“Of course you don’t understand them. Laura writes them. Imagine the Bronte sisters giving a talk about a study on the thermonuclear fusion of stars. I think its supermodern.”
“I have a gift and I must use it.”

Indeed you must, Laura, indeed you must…

It’s only upon much reflection, and a third re-read of this dainty ethereal work, at first glance pure stark juxtaposition, yet in fact so deftly immaculately intertwined, that I finally realised just how clever it truly is.

 

 

The word play is delightful, even when we can’t initially possibly grasp how precisely Borja is playing with us, with his seemingly carefree turns of phrase yet actually very purposeful choice of words…

 

 

The art too is mesmeric, stretching seamlessly across the gulf of two very different social eras with hints of elements as disparate as Tom DEPARTMENT OF MIND-BLOWING THEORIES Gould and Mike HELLBOY Mignola. It also kept making me think at times of LOVE & ROCKETS but I think that was primarily because of the girl punk band angle and the sense of playful fun that is also woven throughout this work. There’s some very interesting and clever use of colour too, and a suitably unusual palette that definitely contributes to the mildly spooky sense of atmosphere gently pervading proceedings.

 

 

(PSSST… have a peak under the dust jacket for even more butterflies!)

But how times change and how they don’t… as we start by finding ourselves back in 1856 and a girl seemingly out of time, in several senses. For whilst Teresa’s family want nothing more than to ensure she’s launched successfully onto the debutante circuit, which will of course hopefully lead to a respectable well bred hand in marriage, she’s far more interested in writing some pretty off-the-wall avant garde poetry such as “The Ghost Rider.”

“The fire velocipede hero! The fire velocipede hero?
“Can you see it beautiful lady?
“It is sparkling like the stars.
“The stars, the stars, the stars, the stars of the k…”

Her mum’s a tough audience though…

“Can you tell me what this is about? Is this what you call a poem?”
“It’s… I’m not sure yet, mother. I think it is about someone who shines.”
“It’s less than a month until your debut. Your father and I have everything ready. You know it’s important, right?”
…
“Yes.”

So when Teresa bumps into a sad skeleton late at night by the lake (who most definitely isn’t Johnny Blaze) she’s not remotely scared.

 

 

In fact, she’s more than up for some cultural cross-pollination and simply wants to chat about poetry with this amazing apparition. Shame the skeleton is having a somewhat morose time of it and isn’t really in the mood to muse about metre and rhyme.

Meanwhile, Teresa’s older sisters Gardenia and Daisy, already lost to society by having firmly established their conforming places in it with their bonnets and frilly dresses, and of course ladylike behaviour at all times, are not remotely sympathetic to Teresa’s plight. Younger sister Rose, still possessed of her rampant childish imagination, is as intrigued as she is terrified by Teresa and her tall tales of stygian assignations with fleshless wailers. She’s also a total snitch…

As we gently oscillate backwards and forwards temporally between our two sets of protagonists we start to unravel that perhaps Laura and Teresa have far more in common than one might think. Both products of their time, yet wanting to rebel against the constraints that they, as young females, find placed upon them. But perhaps not knowing precisely how to, or indeed just how much they can. There’s a question neatly posed of just how much identity is perennially forged by rebellion I suppose, but that’s not overly dwelled upon.

For this is an exceptionally well nuanced and delicately balanced work. It’s certainly one for the reader to find their own place within as they read it. I hugely admire that talent, to create something which has the potential to engender very different responses in those who engage with it. Plus then to leave people thinking about it long after they have finished… Which is precisely why I picked it up again for a second, and then a third read.

But most of all I absolutely adored the deeply mysterious, almost wilfully amorphous and I am sure deliberately ambiguous feel to it. I desperately felt throughout I wanted an answer as to how these two parallel narratives were connected, whilst suspecting I wasn’t going to get that closure. But when we do, of a fashion, it is an immensely satisfying payoff. I didn’t suspect at all. Maybe I should have. Perhaps I was just too drawn in and masterfully hypnotised to see it coming. Bravo to Borja for that!

It’s also wonderful to see just how expressive a relatively simple art style can be. None of the characters have faces, just blank visages, or are occasionally even simply silhouettes, but there is so much emotion conveyed in the body language of the figures themselves.

 

 

Thus it’s almost like mime or watching marionettes in that respect, and again, I think causes the reader to be invested more deeply emotionally into the characters sense of their identities.

Quite unlike anything else I’ve read so far this year, it’s a timely (that word again…) reminder of the prodigious power of comics to take us away from the present moment into other realms and states entirely. A gift from the very real Borja Gonzalez in this case.

Arrived, Online & Ready To Buy!

Yes, there have been new arrivals recently!!! Two whole weeks worth of goodies arrived last week (and another fortnight of fun will be arriving next week)!! For more on those new arrivals please read our Stephen’s recent blog…

Page 45 Comic & Graphic Novel Reviews AND New Comics & Graphic Novels UNDERNEATH, May 2020

New Comics and Graphic Novels are now flooding back in, and soon it will be time to open the shop properly once more! Meanwhile, Page 45’s Worldwide Mail Order Service Has Never Ceased! Please do check out all the New Releases below our reviews. Thanks!

The Fire Never Goes Out: A Memoir In Pictures h/c (£16-99, Harper Collins) by Noelle Stevenson.

“There are no concave lines on the human body – only overlapping convex lines.”

Yes, yes, yes!

And Noelle recreates an illustrative life-drawing sketch which she made at the time when this moment of satori first hit her!

Until I read this page I hadn’t fathomed this either, but what a vital piece of observation to impart to anyone embarking on a career in art – whether it be comics, picture books, illustration, design or those well serious fully painted things – and to anyone who has suffered from body issues, as Stevenson has under the tyranny of ubiquitous wafer-thin media models. Its scope is much broader still, but one has to begin a review somewhere.

 

 

Stevenson is still only in her mid-20s, yet her astonishingly honest, hard-won wisdom moved and impressed itself upon me as fiercely as Tilly Walden’s equally early autobiography SPINNING. And by “hard-won”, you will swiftly realise why this graphic memoir has been included in Page 45’s burgeoning and ever so vital Mental Health Section.

Noelle Stevenson is the creator of our Young Adult best-seller NIMONA, as well as the co-creator of Page 45’s smash-hit LUMBERJANES series, and her early success in both – detailed here in what could very much be regarded as a galvanizing, inspirational “How To” guide for so many young individuals now embarking on their first tentative steps towards honouring us all with their brand-new voices – comes in stark contrast to what you might assume would be a self-satisfied, artistically vindicated “the world is now my oyster”. Instead, even at the height of her triumphs (and with a tentatively discovered and supportive, newfound lover), Stevenson is plagued with the same crippling self-doubt which so many of us secretly harbour too.

“At night, you like awake and shake.
“You feel guilty all the time.
“It feels like a piece has been ripped out and left behind, but you can’t tell which piece and you can’t look back to check or you will surely fall apart.”

The illustrations which accompany these retrospective confessions are so tender and so fragile.

 

 

“Your fear of doing wrong is keeping you from doing good.
“This is what you wanted, ain’t you proud?
“You’re not evil, you are a mundane, selfish kind of bad and that is what you’ve always feared, isn’t it?”

There’s a profound humility here which informs the candour and self-awareness.

“You do kind things for praise, or to feel better.
“You fear hurting people, but maybe because you fear being disliked.
“You’re not strong or brave in the way you want to be.”

 

 

It’s a very rare kind of courage that can commit this to paper in order to help others who might be suffering the same serious self-assessment in silence, fearing that they are alone while the rest of the world waltzes on in oblivious abandon. Clue: most of the world isn’t, in my experience, waltzing on in oblivious abandon, whatever it looks like from the outside. So much of this certainly resonated with me.

If I were to summarise the overwhelming, prevalent, rare but vital humane quality on display here, it would be compassion: compassion, in retrospect, towards yourself.

Told in annual snapshots from 2011 to 2019, each chapter is divided into immediate impressions as they happen, then a considered annual overview of what that year actually brought about. There are sequential art sections, then integrated, illustrated prose.

 

 

The art morphs in rendition from a fragile, febrile even at times angry sort of Hayao Miyazaki (cf NAUSICAA), to bold, emphatically concave Philippa Rice forms (like SISTER BFFS) to a front cover illustration below the dustjacket that struck me very much as akin to Jan Ormerod. But those are just my personal references, not at all necessarily Noelle’s own.

There’s also an enormous, connected tenderness on display, especially when it comes to coupling – to spooning – with her girlfriend now wife, and if you enjoy the occasional photographic portraits interspersed throughout, I promise you will air-punch with unbridled glee at the final, glorious, giggling, and celebratory photograph which rounds off this journey of at times painful self-discovery with a “Yeah, you can do it too!” moment of exquisite, unequivocal and unconditional love.

 

 

Artless, exceptional, and recommended to all, this would be perfect as a gift to anyone embarking on a career in art, the arts, or this thing called life.

SLH

Buy The Fire Never Goes Out and read the Page 45 review here

Crash Course: If You Want To Get Away With Murder Buy A Car s/c (£14-99, Street Noise) by Woodrow Phoenix.

Do you drive a car? Please read this book.

A heart-felt, eloquent and surprisingly gripping indictment of our current obsession with cars, our behaviour on the roads and the vulnerability of the pedestrian, this is as Paul Gravett observes, “an extraordinarily human book… without showing a single human being.”

I’d hazard a guess that this very exclusion forms part of Woodrow’s argument that pedestrians have been relegated to anonymous and dehumanised second-class citizens whose rights are as nothing compared to those of us enclosed in thousands of pounds worth of hard, heavy metal. We’re what counts: we need to get where we going far more urgently than you lot on foot, so don’t you dare cross the road until you’re told to, where you’re told to, and I don’t give a shit if it’s raining outside because it’s not raining in here. Where’s that CD I burned last night?

Yes, that’s how old this review is, resurrected with tweaks for a timely brand-new edition with an infinitely more apposite title, CRASH COURSE: IF YOU WANT TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER, BUY A CAR.

 

 

I originally read this an hour before my own car was due in for its annual MOT and service, plus as a precautionary measure they changed what I believe is called the cambelt. If they hadn’t, they would definitely be changing it now. I’ve never understood a mate who was so concerned for his children on board that he turned on his headlights in broad daylight, yet happily answered his mobile phone whilst driving along, one-handed, distracted. For my own guilty part I’ve lit so many cigarettes over the years while driving. Yup, the first one to put his hand up is me. I’ll never do it again, and nor will you once you’ve read this. I feel wretched.

 

 

 

As Woodrow navigates motorways, turns at junctions and admires the view through his windscreen he muses on our self-delusion when it comes to safety, our attitude to death by driving (you kill someone any other way, and you’re in deep trouble; in a car, not necessarily so much), the horrors of the pedestrian underpass, the weirdness of an empty retail car park, and the absurd SUV 4×4 family arms race. It’s moving, compelling and even poetic in places, pared down to level-headed wake-up calls like this:

“There is a dreamlike quality built into the experience of driving. A car windshield is a big window. And also a screen. A windscreen. A long rectangular picture frame. Locations unwind on the other side of this rectangular glass almost as they do on a movie screen. The constant, smoothly unrolling scenery. The continuously changing vistas. It’s like the ultimate cinematic presentation. With you, the driver, as both the director and the star.”

It can be mesmerising too.

 

 

“It’s an intoxicating feeling to have the power to govern every aspect of your private world. You sit cocooned in your cabin. You control the temperature of the interior and you listen only to the soundtrack you have chosen. Everything outside your windows is contained, the rest of the world an arm’s length away.”

But no more than that for BMW drivers who tailgate.

That’s from about the least affecting couple of pages of this book (and they ring so true, don’t they?) as Phoenix assesses what your car says about you, why some arrogant arseholes refuse to budge out of the middle or even outside lane regardless of what speed they’re doing (my own biggest irritation with others, along with their failure to indicate – the consequences of which you’ll discover towards the end), and quietly relates some very real incidents of fatal failures to give a damn about cyclists and those on foot.

As to road rage:

“How did it happen that ridiculous, inappropriate eruptions of impulsive brutish aggression should have been thought to be adequately described by the handy appellation, ‘road rage’? It’s a phrase that hides more than it reveals. Designed to neuter and tidy away the truth. A sheet thrown over a misshapen lumpy ogre of violence. Almost legitimising the strange shapes that poke around underneath. Road rage is an indulgent, doting term, dignifying and excusing behaviour that has no dignity and no excuse.”

 

 

And so we come to the art. Roads. Roads and roads of roads. And rorries.

Is it even necessary? Would your experience reading this be any different if you’d just paid £1-50 for this week’s Guardian, and this was reduced to a single prose feature in the Weekend Supplement rather than 150 pages of chevrons? Yes. Yes it would, because the chevrons here are as hypnotic as they are in real life, and therein lies a point.

Anyway it’s not all roads: there is, for example, a small procession of human beings reduced from individuals to the faceless figurative forms that symbolise human beings on pedestrian crossings; and you’ll never take those for granted again, either. Best not think of all those actual lives now snuffed out: people who woke up and went for a walk but will never come home again.

 

 

The ideas I’ve expressed here are all Woodrow’s – ideas, not views: his views if not awful experience match my own seamlessly. I could never have done so without his prompting, and it worries me terribly that I may ever be careless enough to hit someone in my car. The chances of that after reading this, however, are at least a lot slimmer because I’ve been given a wake-up call, and we could all use a little reminding, surely?

Originally released as RUMBLE STRIP in 2008 (still in stock), this comes with a new essay by Woodrow Phoenix of PANTS ANT infamy, who co-curated the British triumph NELSON with its instigator, Rob Davis. Please note: some of the interior art comes from the original UK publication from Myriad and may have since been amended – for example to reflect other countries driving on the right – other images come from this new edition.

SLH

Buy Crash Course: If You Want To Get Away With Murder Buy A Car and read the Page 45 review here

American Jesus vol 1: Chosen s/c, American Jesus vol 2: The New Messiah s/c (£8-99 each, Image) by Mark Millar & Peter Gross.

 

 

The first collection is from over a decade ago!

“Can I ask you something, Father?”
“Of course you can. That’s what I’m here for, right?”
“Nah, you’ll just think I’m an idiot. I shouldn’t even be here. My mom and dad aren’t even Catholics.”
“Well, neither’s Muhammad Ali, but I’d still given him five minutes of my precious time. Just tell me what you want to know.”
“Do you think it’s possible I’m the returned Jesus Christ?”

Jodie’s a normal kid who’s been living the normal life a normal kid does: comics, salvaged porn and average grades at school. Then one day a truck careers off a bridge and lands right on top of his noggin, but Jodie walks away without a scratch – just a fresh fluency in any known language, an intuitive understanding of all forms of science and a complete encyclopaedia of history on tap in his head.

 

 

When his mother tells him she’s never had sex, he begins to entertain the idea that he’s the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, as do many of those around him with the emphatic exception of the local priest. As the priest explains, it’s common for people of Jodie’s age to think they’re a little different, especially after they’ve survived some sort of accident. It’s tempting to give in to grandiose presumptions of being special. Tempting, and dangerous.

 

 

Gross keeps suburban life real, whilst Millar keeps the suspense simmering, exploring what a young boy like Jodie might make of the situation. I loved the extended comparison Jodie comes up with between the Bible Testaments and the Star Wars Trilogy. Not only does it work, it’s just what a kid might do if they were suddenly that bright. As for what’s really at work, well, Jodie’s thirty-three as he looks back at these difficult days, so he’s evidently come to terms with how things have turned out.

One way, or the other…

As to the second volume from last year’s series (there will be three), we switch to a young girl at school with a kind, thoughtful boyfriend so respectful of her that he’s not even sure he should ask for a kiss. She falls pregnant but swears she’s never had sex. Against all imaginable odds, her boyfriend believes her unquestioningly. At which point, he became my favourite young man in the whole of comicbook fiction.

 

 

She’s telling the truth.

Then we fastforward, and I do believe that you will recognise some of these… institutions.

Brilliant.

SLH

Buy American Jesus vol 1: Chosen s/c and read the Page 45 review here

Buy American Jesus vol 2: The New Messiah s/c and read the Page 45 review here

House of X / Powers Of X (£22-99 UK s/c; £49-99 US h/c) by Jonathan Hickman & Pepe Larraz, R.B. Silva.

Exceptionally eloquent and comprehensively thought-through elevation of the mutant legacy.

For the very first time the X-Men have a geopolitical power base and a global economy of their own. The latter derives firmly from the former, thereby securing its stature, and indeed future.

Didn’t you ever wonder how ridiculous it was that Charles Xavier could somehow sustain a Westchester mansion housing, feeding, clothing and presumably funding several dozen Playstations for nearly one hundred mutants…? For decades…? Let alone defend it!

All of this – all of it – is secured by their new base of operations and its “produce”. As if that weren’t clever enough, Hickman hasn’t even had to invent their home – it’s an established part of mutant lore – but he has extrapolated infinitely more potential from its nature than any writer has been imagined before.

 

 

 

Plus, mutants now have a language of their own for, without language, how can they hope to have a culture?

With all this now laid as bedrock, Professor Charles Xavier approaches the global stage with a positive, pro-active, worldwide agenda. He has economically enticing gifts – many revolutionarily beneficial for human health – to offer countries which would revoke their former genocidal hostility towards mutantkind, and engage openly, honestly and commercially instead with his new nation state.

Professor Xavier also has sanctions.

 

 

This is the most astute and entertaining X-MEN run ever, easily equalling Claremont & Byrne’s tenure on UNCANNY X-MEN, Morrison’s NEW X-MEN, then Whedon and Cassady’s ASTONISHING X-MEN.

Artist Pepe Larraz was a revelation, too. Svelte! His gesticulations are graceful, arms acting expressively when a face is concealed.

From the writer and designer of BLACK MONDAY MURDERS, THE NIGHT NEWS, THE MANHATTAN PROJECTS, EAST OF WEST, SECRET,as well as his fabulous new series, DECORUM #1.

 

 

It’s also from the writer and designer of the definitive FANTASTIC FOUR VOL 1 and FANTASTIC FOUR VOL 2, equally recommended and reviewed at greater length, this whopping edition collects HOUSE OF X #1-6 and POWERS OF X #1-6, and leads straight into X-MEN #1 which launches the new slyly composed and attitude-ridden series by Jonathan Hickman and Leinil Francis Yu. At the time of typing, we’ve a complete run in stock.

This is twelve chapters long, I would remind you, and only the beginning…

SLH

Buy House of X / Powers Of X s/c and read the Page 45 review here

Buy House of X / Powers Of X h/c and read the Page 45 review here

Brand-New Arrivals: Comics & Graphic Novels

Before we get to the new graphic novel / collected editions, a quick word about all the comics on our shelves! Page 45 Has Been Mail Order Only for two whole months and, although we’re looking to open ASAP in June, because the comics on our website aren’t quantity-specific like the graphic novels (which, unless they say “Out Of Stock” are most definitely in stock) they’ve been kind of languishing on our shelves in the darkness. If you would prefer to check if we’ve specific comics in stock before ordering, please email page45@page45.com and we’ll let you know, but FYI over the past few months These Current Comics have all come in through our doors, and we’ve plenty of older issues in those series too if you want to email and ask.

 

 

I can certainly confirm that we have a complete run so far of the new, exceptional Hickman and Yu X-MEN series which follows directly on from Hickman’s HOUSE OF X / POWERS OF X reviewed above, and a complete run of the NEW MUTANTS series which also spins out of it, one storyline of which is by Hickman & Reis and is very, very funny indeed. To save you the trouble of searching, I’ve linked to each below:

X-MEN #1, X-MEN #2, X-MEN #3, X-MEN #4, X-MEN #5, X-MEN #6, X-MEN #7, X-MEN #8, X-MEN #9

GIANT-SIZED X-MEN: JEAN GREY & EMMS and GIANT-SIZED X-MEN: NIGHTCRAWLER were also written by Hickman. The former and contains a major plot point; the latter is in stock regardless of the pre-order blurb.

 

 

X-MEN / FF #1, X-MEN / FF #2, X-MEN / FF #3 by Chip Zdarsky & Terry Dodson are also all in stock; you can also pre-order the final X-MEN FF #4. Thanks! Not read, ‘em, sorry, but isn’t it extraordinary how little help Sue and Reed Richards have ever offered our beleaguered mutants given that their son Franklin is a mutant too? That is the bone of contention.

By Hickman & Reis (one uninterrupted story; and, as I say, I laughed a lot!) NEW MUTANTS #1, NEW MUTANTS #2, NEW MUTANTS #5, NEW MUTANTS #7.

 

 

You might think you’ve missed something when you start reading that last one. You haven’t: it’s Hickman mischievously messing with the very notion of recaps!

By Brisson & Flaviano (in all honesty: not my cup of tea, but very few superheroes outside of MISTER MIRACLE, reviewed in depth, are these days) NEW MUTANTS #3, NEW MUTANTS #4, NEW MUTANTS #6, NEW MUTANTS #8, NEW MUTANTS #9

New Graphic Novels

Please click on images or the link to buy to, you know, buy, or learn more from the publishers. Cheers!

Akissi: Even More Tales Of Mischief s/c (£12-99, Flying Eye / Nobrow) by Marguerite Abouet & Mathieu Sapin

Buy Akissi: Even More Tales Of Mischief s/c from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Amulet vol 1: The Stone Keeper s/c (£8-99, Scholastic UK) by Kazu Kibuishi

Buy Amulet vol 1: The Stone Keeper s/c from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Bog Bodies s/c (£11-99, Image) by Declan Shalvey & Gavin Fullerton

Buy Bog Bodies s/c from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Family Tree vol 1 s/c (£8-99, Image) by Jeff Lemire & Phil Hester

Buy Family Tree vol 1 s/c from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Flake h/c (£18-99, Jonathan Cape) by Matthew Dooley

Buy Flake h/c from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Kairos h/c (£15-99, First Second) by Ulysse Malassagne

Buy Kairos h/c from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

The Phantom Twin s/c (£13-99, First Second) by Lisa Brown

Buy The Phantom Twin s/c from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Snotgirl vol 3: Is This Real Life? (£14-50, Image) by Bryan Lee O’Malley & Leslie Hung

Buy Snotgirl vol 3: Is This Real Life? from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Stranger Things: Six s/c (£15-99, Dark Horse) by Joudie Houser & Edgar Salazar

Buy Stranger Things: Six s/c from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Summer Spirit s/c (£12-99, Nobrow) by Elizabeth Holleville

Buy Summer Spirit s/c from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Tinderella s/c (£10-99, Uncivilised Books) by M. S. Harkness

Buy Tinderella s/c from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Transmetropolitan Book 3 s/c (£24-99, DC) by Warren Ellis & Darick Robertson

Buy Transmetropolitan Book 3 s/c from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Batman: Last Knight On Earth h/c  (£24-99, DC) by Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo

Buy Batman: Last Knight On Earth h/c  from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

The Girl From The Other Side vol 8 (£10-99, Seven Seas) by Nagabe

Buy The Girl From The Other Side vol 8 from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

 Levius est vol 3 (£8-99, Viz) by Haruhisa Nakata

Buy Levius est vol 3 from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Demon Slayer vol 12 (£7-99, Viz) by Koyoharu Gotouge

Buy Demon Slayer vol 12 from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Dr. Stone vol 11 (£7-99, Viz) by Riichiro Inagaki & Boichi

Buy Dr. Stone vol 11 from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Knights Of Sidonia vol 5 (Master Edition) (£29-99, Vertical Comics) by Tsutomu Nihei

Buy Knights Of Sidonia vol 5 (Master Edition) from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Persona 5 vol 2 (£6-99, Viz) by Hisato Murasaki

Buy Persona 5 vol 2 from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Twisted Visions: The Art Of Junji Ito h/c (£25-00, Viz) by Junji Ito

Buy Twisted Visions: The Art Of Junji Ito h/c from Page 45 and / or read the publisher’s hype here

Lastly, our Jonathan wrote a big blog about the interim delivery of New Comics and Graphic Novels that arrived a fortnight ago after being held up in the Diamond UK warehouse, all linked up so you can buy some of those seriously excellent books!

Lastly, lastly, two Page 45 Young Readers Reviews from silly old me.

Cheers,

Stephen

 

 

Featuring Sarah McIntyre, Brigita Orel & Jennie Poh…

Don’t Call Me Grumpycorn Page 45 Signed Bookplate Edition (£6-99 s/c, Scholastic UK) by Sarah McIntryre.

First 100 copies come with a FREE, EXCLUSIVE PAGE 45 BOOKPLATE SIGNED AND DESIGNED by Sarah McIntyre!

Welcome back, my lovelies, for a brand-new all-ages adventure by our biggest-selling picture book creator, Sarah McIntyre! Please pop ‘Sarah McIntyre’ into our search engine or visit our dedicated Philip Reeve & Sarah McIntyre webpage here https://www.page45.com/store/Philip-Reeve-And-Sarah-McIntyre.html for all her other books and our reviews.

FABULOUS! It’s all going to be FABULOUS!

And discovery is everything, especially when it comes to friendship.

 

 

Dawn beckons you into a brand-new day of fresh air, enormous potential and limitless possibilities. And oh, but the patterns of colour!

The northern sun radiates dazzling displays of prismatic gold, and then streams across a quite chilly sea, rippling its liquid light over cool blue and purples.

Out on a wooden jetty, Unicorn has evidently been fashioning something very big and very exciting and very, very mysterious – and he has done so with a DIY diligence that puts me to shame.

 

 

It is a rocket!

“I’m going to discover the most FABULOUS planet in the universe,” he said.

Do you believe him? I do!

“This made him feel very pleased with himself. He already liked being an astronaut.”

He‘s certainly put a lot of work in; and a great deal of thought too. For as well as the buttons and switches and levers, as well as the gizmos and views screens and astronomical charts, Unicorn has decked out his new cockpit domain with hand-drawn portraits of his favourite friends (all his friends were his favourites, but too many more pictures and there’d be no room for doughnuts) and all the other essentials for intergalactic travel.

His tea and coffee making facilities won’t let him down!

There are biscuit dispensers and foil-wrapped boiled sweets in case his tummy rumbles or his mouth runs dry… I spy a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste too! Very wise! There’s a bell jar with a miniature fruiting orange tree inside. Underneath I spy a sleeping bag complete with cuddly Teddycorn! What else can you and your young ones spot? Sarah always packs her pages with so many fun things for bright eyes to discover and relish! Those ‘accelerate’ and ‘brake’ hoof pedals made me howl!!!

And that is a disco ball, yes!

There should always be disco! He might want to dance!

 

 

Unicorn might also want to get his ego back under control again too. Do you remember where he went wrong in GRUMPYCORN? I do!

For when Mermaid and Narwhal and Jellyfish are keen as can be to accompany him on His Expedition (for which he is secretly grateful – most of the best experiences are shared experiences and nobody wants to be left all alone), he doesn’t half make himself the centre of attention and demand that he must do everything FIRST and LOUDEST like…

“LIFT OFF!”

Or

“BLAST OFF!”

Or whatever he booms: whatever he booms is bound to be FABULOUS!

 

 

Best beloveds, we have barely begun, but I’m going to leave you there to discover for yourselves what happens next.

Clue: they do discover a planet, and it is FABULOUS!

Another clue: Unicorn needs to get one – a clue. A clue as to what are really the most important things in life.

Final clue: the answers are true friends and friendship.

Mermaid and Narwhal and Jellyfish are thrilled with their voyage, as loyal as ever and so very patient with Unicorn’s self-centred commands, but he really does need to rein himself in!

 

 

Far from saccharine, like THE NEW NEIGHBOURS, this is another exuberant belter from Sarah McIntyre about getting your priorities right early in life and so setting yourself firmly on course for maximum fun and frolics.

Did I mention the details? There are no spoilers here, but you’re in for a riot of running jokes that grow cumulatively funnier, and a planetary sphere which could only be called Disco!

SLH

Buy Don’t Call Me Grumpycorn Exclusive Page 45 Signed Bookplate Edition s/c and read the Page 45 review here

The Pirate Tree h/c (£11-99, Lantana Publishing) by Brigita Orel & Jennie Poh.

“The breeze is generous and the ocean is wide before them.”

Look at the language there; it’s all so very positive!

The breeze is “generous” and the ocean is “wide”, plus it’s now a new shared experience: “them”.

This is such a thoughtful, poignant and positive book which, like Sarah McIntyre’s THE NEW NEIGHBOURS, has at its heart the warm welcoming of strangers.

But first, there are obstacles to overcome. Reservations, shall we call them.

‘The gnarled tree on the hill sometimes turns into a pirate ship. A rope serves as an anchor, a sheet as a sail, and Sam is its fearless captain.
‘Today, the tree watches as another sailor approaches.’

 

 

I love the warm antler-grey of the venerable tree and its long, feathery, willow-like leaves; the cool blue above them and the exotic orange blossom which is reflected, a little paler, in the stripes of Sam’s t-shirt. Then there’s the strong red of young Agu’s long-sleeved shirt, picked out in the parrot which later wears a pirate hat.

(Yes, yes, it’s a Macaw! A Macaw is a parrot. I was making maximum use of my ‘p’s!)

I also adore all the clean white space, so that those colours stand out and breathe.

‘“Can I play?” Agu asks, standing on the ship’s leeward side.
‘Sam hoists the sheet up over a branch and glares.
‘“I don’t know you. You’re not from my street.””

Ah yes, the reservations…

 

 

‘Agu’s face falls. He watches her struggle with a thick rope.
‘No one wants to play with him because he’s a newcomer.’

However, Sam hasn’t rejected him; she’s just so immediately swept up again in her imaginary game that she’s forgotten him. Nevertheless, the effect on Agu is profound, and Jennie Poh nails the boy’s body language, his arms drooping heavily to his sides in contrast to Sam’s wild gesticulation, his head bowed in introspection.

 

 

‘When Sam doesn’t as much as look his way, Agu’s shoulders slump. Auntie told him to be patient, but he’s been patient for days.’

Oh, the poor love! There’s no self-pity, merely dignity and disappointment. Unlike the pirate tree, he’s had the wind knocked out of his sails, once more.

But what makes all the difference in the world on the very next page is… well, Agu’s difference!  It’s his specialist knowledge that there are no diamonds in Nigeria. He tells Sam that he used to live in Nigeria, and he has sailed on a ship! His voice rising, Agu offers to tell her all about it, and that has Sam most intrigued!

 

 

“They set sail again.”

Hooray! Which is where we came in, but where will their shared imaginations take them?!

My heart soared while reading this book, and so will those of families so keen for their young ones to make new, exciting friends. I adore all of mine for their individuality and all the knowledge and mad skills that they possess which are way out of my current capabilities. I do love to learn, though!

 

 

Indeed, I’ve loved all the books I’ve seen published by Lantana like Chitra Soundar & Poonam Mistry’s YOU’RE SAFE WITH ME and YOU’RE SNUG WITH ME and YOU’RE STRONG WITH ME which are full of warmth, reassurance and maternal wisdom and the most meticulously composed, radiant illustrations.

You can see those on the bottom rung of our central Young Readers section here:

 

 

I also have enormous respect for Lantana’s committed, progressive policies, addressing the very real imbalance which persists in Young Readers Picture Books and comics alike:

‘In the United Kingdom, almost a third of school children identify as Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME) yet fewer than 5% of children’s books feature BAME characters and fewer than 2% of children’s book creators are British authors of colour. And the picture is even more bleak for those who identify as working class, LGBTQ+ or disabled.’

That’s truly shameful, isn’t it?

‘At Lantana, we’re changing the game and publishing inclusive books that celebrate our differences – whatever they may be. And because we all live on one extraordinary planet, we print our books with non-petroleum-based inks on Forest Stewardship Council certified paper to minimise our carbon footprint.”

They’ve won so many rewards. Please visit their website!

SLH

Buy The Pirate Tree h/c and read the Page 45 review here

 

 

 

Also Arrived Online & Ready To Buy!

New releases arriving imminently!

After two months delay due to all our suppliers’ warehouses being understandably closed, distribution looks set to begin again in a week or so.

We’ll keep you updated, but for the current situation about purchasing what we have in stock now, please read my recent blog…

Page 45 Temporarily Switches To Mail Order Only. We Ship Worldwide!

Cheers,

Stephen

 

Normally retailing at £16-99 but a mere £13.59 for Page 45 Comicbook Of The Month members… this month’s selection is…

Altitude h/c by Jean-Marc Rochette with Olivier Bocquet

You can learn more and join the Page 45 Comicbook Of The Month here…

Meanwhile, here’s our Page 45 review of Altitude…

Altitude h/c (£16-99, SelfMadeHero) by Jean-Marc Rochette with Olivier Bocquet

“That was the day I fell in love with mountains.

“Beauty in its purest form.
“And there was only one thought in my head: going up. All the way up.”

Which immediately brings but one thought into my head… What goes up has to come down, right?

One way or another…

I’ve never really understood the appeal of staring death in the face in which mountaineers seem to revel. Getting completely off my face, certainly, but the prospect of repeatedly daring the grim reaper to come and take me away has always seemed a bit much. I certainly can’t deny the power of a majestic snow-capped mountain range to induce awe in me, mind you.

 

 

I do believe, though, a not inconsiderable part of the appeal of mountaineering for most is the mental peace and quiet. Aside from the eye-watering vistas and the lung-bursting exercise obviously! But I do wonder whether seeking absolute overwhelming solitude in the near infinite and icy vastness of unforgiving mountains isn’t perhaps just a little about trying to escape one’s self too. Or find one’s true self, depending on your perspective. I’m just not sure dangling from a precipice by little more than my fingertips is the right angle of approach in that direction for me…

 

 

No, I’ll just read about it instead thank you!

I think there is definitely the risk of addiction to the adrenaline induced by such activity, though, which is possibly what encourages mountaineers to take crazy chances when perhaps the risk versus reward calculations don’t really stack up. In other words, they get over-confident, both in their own abilities, but also in that of the natural world not to prey upon them. Others yes, but not them…

Right, philosophical aside and the mildest of hints about the content of this work complete, I suppose I should tell you a bit more about it really!

From the creator of the epic post-apocalyptic trilogy SNOWPIERCER consisting of VOL 1: THE ESCAPE, VOL 2: THE EXPLORERS and VOL 3: THE TERMINUS, plus also now the pre-apocalyptic anticipatory lead-in with SNOWPIERCER: THE PREQUEL PART 1 EXTINCTION (all four reviewed by Page 45) comes this autobiographical tale of one young man’s burgeoning obsession with mountains, and indeed also learning to draw comics.

I found lone wolf Jean-Marc’s coming-of-age story inspirational and moving in equal measure. It’s not going to make me want to climb mountains, it’s had quite the reinforcing opposite effect in that respect, but I came to greatly admire his indomitable will, and also his complete absence of desire to conform. Sounds like he’d be perfect for a career in comics…

 

 

The seeming disinterest of his mother towards pretty much any part of Jean-Marc’s life whatsoever must certainly have contributed enormously to his sense of isolation, but I would imagine also helped to engender his immense independence.

 

 

Even the one true bonding attempt she tries to make, asking a teenage Jean-Marc if she can come climbing with him, inevitably takes a turn for the worse. Instead she seems far more interested in simply collecting the stipend from the French state for the loss Jean-Marc’s father in Algeria many years previously.

So it’s probably no surprise that upon attaining his emancipation from her with his 18^th birthday, Jean-Marc promptly kicked her out of his life.

 

 

The control of his cash payout, which he would continue to receive for another three years, allowed him to pursue his love of mountaineering with a greater intensity. Indeed, we don’t see his mother again until a certain… disturbing moment… when even then, she seems far more interested in herself than her son.

It seems puzzling therefore that he actually dedicated this book to his mother…

 

 

I almost wonder whether it was entirely to prove a point. That despite her complete lack of maternal affection, he had succeeded in achieving his goals. Though I am sure it is perhaps far more complex than that. Still, she doesn’t seem to come out of this work with much merit at all.

Before that moment, though, there are a few far-too-close brushes with death for Jean-Marc and his coterie of climbing chums. It’s inevitable, of course, that eventually one of them will succumb, but when it happens, it’s still as much of a shock for Jean-Marc as it is for us. Not least because of the circumstances…

 

 

Does Jean-Marc learn his lesson at that point though? No, of course not… Nothing could happen to him, right?

 

 

So once again it seems the peerless natural wonder of mountains and their deranged devotees and denizens is the perfect material for brilliant comics! I am a huge fan of Jiro Taniguchi’s THE SUMMIT OF THE GODS, in fact it is one of my all-time favourite comics, being primarily a story of one of the most bloody-minded and singularly determined individuals ever to decide to do it just because it’s there. There‘s more than a little of that attitude going on here.

Also, Gou Tanabe’s exquisitely beautiful insanity inducing two-part adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s classic AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS. You might think that title isn’t an appropriate comparison to this work in terms of content, but I don’t know, it certainly seems to be that all mountains have a way of inducing a temporary insanity of sorts in those who become truly obsessed with them.

Rochette has buddied up for this project with writer Olivier Bocquet (who wrote the concluding part of the SNOWPIERCER trilogy) who I imagine has merely (I say merely, but who wouldn’t want a brilliant writer giving you a hand with your autobiography?!) provided some degree of input on that aspect to help his artist friend. Between them they’ve done a superb job. I was gripped from the off like a well-tightened crampon and the tension doesn’t just come from taut climbing ropes either as Jean-Marc finds himself under immense emotional pressure both at home and at school.

 

 

Which is why the mountains provide his escape route… where he finds a group of like-minded individuals with whom he comes to enjoy a true sense of camaraderie.

 

 

The art meanwhile is suitably rugged, yet subtly detailed, like an unforgiving rock face that reveals more and more complexity as you are required to pay it increasingly close attention. There are some lovely flourishes of colour too, an early trip to the museum providing an example of the sort of almost rapturous trance than our young Jean-Marc could concentrate himself into even then.

 

 

There’s actually a delightful reprise to that visit many years later which I thought was a brilliant touch.

 

 

Plus, it was truly fascinating to learn of the local pioneering legends of climbing in the French Alps. There are some brilliant anecdotes that Jean-Marc and his chums recount to each other of these early alpinists. His adoring respect for them and their part in opening up the mountains he loves is clear to see as he and his friends try to follow in their huge footsteps, whilst also dreaming of making their own marks for posterity.

 

 

Danger, however, is of course always only ever a misstep, a brief lapse in concentration or just a random moment of misfortune away. Much like comics really, read enough comics and you’ll get a paper cut eventually…

 

 

As we exit the book we find Rochette wisely leaving the mountains behind, but firmly in the foothills of a new and equally demanding odyssey, his ascent towards the pinnacle of the extremely treacherous and demanding professional world of the comics creator. I think there can be no doubt he has reached the summit.

 

 

[NOTE: Assistant Ed. – Just stepping outside of comics for a moment, if you do get chance, you really should check out the film version of Snowpiercer which was very loosely adapted indeed by director Boon Joon-ho, who of course recently won the Oscar for Best Film with Parasite. It is genuinely brilliant and I think a superb example of how an adaptation of comics material needn’t just be a slavish (if frequently abridged) copy of the original, but how the comics can instead provide the inspiration for something rather wonderfully different.

Also, there is a loose continuation of Snowpiercer coming to French TV soon, which I am rather intrigued about. Again, it looks like it is going to take inspiration from the comics rather than just be a direct adaptation / continuation. But it certainly looks to have just the right post-apocalyptic vibe from what I’ve seen so far, and I’m sure more than a few snow-capped mountains.]

JR

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