Page 45 Review by Dominique
There will be a book from Una soon; however for now, we have a couple of comics in stock and, if these are anything to go by, the book should be very interesting indeed. Issue 2 is perhaps the more straightforward of the two, telling the tale of a mother (I presume Una’s mother – it is – Ed.) who was a nurse back in the day when that was all starched capes and hospital corners as well as patient care and stringent cleaning regimens. The nurse in question has a foot crippled by polio and so faces very open prejudice day to day, the like of which we now (quite rightly) deem unacceptable. There’s no self-pity here, though, only pride and a determination to continue doing a good job and the story is told as such: a narrative of harsh lessons and early starts, occasionally rewarded with a sense of great professional and personal achievement.
Issue one is more abstract but, for my money, no less meaningful because of it. It centres around the concept of the double bind: a form of confusing, often subconscious control that people in close proximity (in this case family units) seek to exert upon one another. Ever felt like someone is requesting one thing but trapping you into doing the opposite thing? Ever been in a situation where *every* answer feels like it will be “wrong”? You may not be paranoid; you may in fact be experiencing the double bind, trapped between two conflicting demands which leave you no chance of success. Unless of course you realise your situation and construct a way out, which Una does in this case by digging a tunnel and emerging into the bright light of the surface. Sparsely drawn, thought-provoking stuff.
