Tim Ginger (Top Shelf Productions)

A Page 45 Comic Book of the Month
Creator: Julian Hanshaw

“Live the life you love...Choose a god you trust. And don't take it all so seriously.”

Ostensibly this comic is about a former test pilot who thinks he saw something on one of his flights and who lost his wife to an early death. However it is really a book that has a deep and profound theme applicable to almost every adult in the western world over the age of thirty. We must let go of the past to allow progress to a happier future. We don't forget the past and the people and places we knew, but they cease to act as a chain tethering us to something we can never return to.

In between the main tale are excerpts from a comic written by an old female colleague and object of mild flirtation, Anna. These all deal with people who decided not to have children, their reasons why and reactions to sometimes passive-aggressive queries as to why they have made this choice. These parts of the comic, whilst entertaining, don't really seem to add anything to it. I'd have liked them to act as a sort of comment on the main narrative, the classic example being the pirate comic excerpts in Watchmen, but they don't seem to function in this way, or if they do I'm missing it. In and of themselves however they are well designed, with a change to black and white and a page design that makes it appear you have just left the current comic and opened Anna's book yourself.

Overall this is a lovely book with a touching story. There is a hint of Kevin Huizenga about the art, especially in the opening aspect-to-aspect panel transitions, the occasional focus on wildlife, which to my mind acts as metaphor for the internal struggles of our protagonist, and in the line. Colour is s strong point too, with a very tight palette used effectively to indicate both time and place.

One final comment on the lettering. I like those subtle details which work on a subconscious level whilst you're reading, and there are a couple of these. The first is what appears to be a slight change to a more formal style when Tim and Anna first say hello when getting reacquainted over a cup of coffee after they have met again at a convention. Following the intial greetings, where they must have been nervous and slightly apprehensive, the lettering quickly returns to the more informal style which looks almost like handwriting and contributes to the feeling of intimacy we have with the tale. The second is where Tim's agent tries to start chatting Anna up, to which her exasperated “REALLY?” is all in upper-case. Small details but they help communicate the feelings of the characters in a very efficient and effective way.

There is a message that comes through strongly. We are all made of the stars, and a glimpse of the universe lets him know we are all connected, and out in the desert under in the almost total darkness you can see so much more of the universe than under the urban light-polluted sky. Don't be scared of the dark times. Once accepted they will help you to see the light that much better, and it can be quite majestic.

Bacchus Volume One (Top Shelf Productions)

Creators: Eddie Campbell (with Ed Hillyer, Woodrow Phoenix, Wes Kublick)

There was an old fanzine in the eighties called Arkensword, and on a trip back to Liverpool I entered a comic shop and picked up a copy. I was 15 and it had an Alan Moore interview inside, as well as a Brian Bolland Judge Dredd on the cover flanked by two ladies in suspenders. How could I resist? To be fair it turned out to be the most significant purchase I have ever made when it comes to comics. Not only did it have a very in depth and fascinating interview with the aforementioned Mr. Moore, it also had an interview with Howard Chaykin about something called American Flagg, an article on V for Vendetta (which also started with a Joy Division quote and thus sparked another passion) and interviews with Phil Elliot and Glen Dakin, and some stuff about an associated artist called Eddie Campbell. All of this served to open up the wide world of comics beyond the traditional British kids' stuff and the American super-hero stuff. After reading I later returned to that shop to grab a copy of Swamp Thing (issue 50 – the penultimate American Gothic story) and American Flagg. The Fast Fiction guys were nowhere to be seen though. In fact it would be another seven years before I managed to get hold of anything by them, when Dark Horse released their collection of The Eyeball Kid, which is featured in this collection.

The Eyeball Kid! This excited me, intrigued me and confused me. At once familiar in its tropes but strangely different I didn't fully understand it, but it was enough to make me fall want to seek out more. Coming back to it now, in the context of the stories that came before and with a greater appreciation of the comic tropes it parodies, it comes alive as the gem of work it truly is. We'll come back to The Kid, but the book this collection really pivots on, the point at which the artist seems to take a leap forward, is Book 3, “Doing the Islands with Bacchus”.

“Doing the Islands with Bacchus” is Eddie Campbell presenting the Greek myths in a modern vernacular, making the classics accessible to a more general audience. The fact that he seems to get to the core of the myths and communicate them so effectively is a testament to his understanding of them. There's a passion behind Doing the Islands… that speaks to the artist's enthusiasm for the subject, which if Alec is accurate he read whilst employed as a sheet metal worker. It seems wonderfully applicable that whilst smashing the stereotype of the typical manual worker he is also smashing the stereotypes of how the Greek myths are normally presented. As Bacchus says, “It makes me laugh the way you people picture the god Hermes...racing across the sky on his winged tippy-toes with a great poncey buncha flowers in his mitt.” all the while in a pose that would make Morrissey green with envy.

Doing the Islands… seems to be the point where this book really comes alive. Throughout the volume Campbell's art is strong, but from hereon in, where it is Eddie Campbell providing the art rather than Ed Hillyer (also good but slightly different) it seems to take on a more confidence. Layouts are clearer and the whole comic transforms into a superior experience. Not that the first two books are poor. Far from it, both Immortality Isn't Forever and The Gods of Business are better than the normal comic books, but they do take a leap forward. In Eddie Campbell though, we have an artist who clearly loves drawing, and not just comic book drawing. I would call his drawing style robust and it is that of somebody who loves art outside of the comic world. There is no copying of the way Jack Kirby or Jon Buscema drew, and I can't imagine he ever owned a copy of “How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way”. Where the Kirby influence is used it's normally an obvious parody, something to subvert the whole action comics form.

“I wanted to mock the improbability of a big sprawling adventure while still having one.” - Eddie Campbell (introduction to Immortality Isn't Forever).

With The Eyeball Kid we get back to the action comics parody. However this time, as we are told in the introduction, Campbell allowed Ed Hillyer to do his own layouts, and this freedom produces some magnificent work. From the first splash page showing a close up of the Kid, through Hermes spotting the Kid from the air (upside down in a pose anybody who has read super-hero comics would recognise) and Hermes Big Glove, it's a magnificent parody cum tribute. Of course a huge factor in this, and one not to be understated, is the contribution Woodrow Phoenix makes with his lettering. The letters really captures the feel of those old super-hero comics, with enough of a contemporary spin (witness the titles for “Seeing Straight” and “High Noon”).

The volume finishes with “Earth, Water, Air, Fire” with Eddie Campbell back doing the art, and it's a fantastically solid showing. The action comics storyline comes to its end with all the lose ends wrapped up. There's the seamless mixture of photographs and line art to enjoy, and a suitable Greek tragedy for Joe Theseus. It provides a sense of closure to finish this first volume.

All in all, this is not a book you read quickly, waiting for the next thrill. The best approach is to open a bottle of wine, pour yourself a glass and completely immerse yourself in it over a period of time. Maybe follow the suggested wine pairings for each book. It's a wonderful world in which to journey for a while, and Mr. Campbell (along with Messrs Hillyer and Phoenix) make it easy to escape to. Hopefully the next collection will not be too far off.