Tag Archives: Graphic Novel

Strangehaven by Gary Spencer Millidge

03 Thursday Sep 2015

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Continuing my graphic novel mood, I rediscovered some old favourites, which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed delving into again. The Strangehaven series are wonderfully quirky and dark, and right up my street. If you like The League of Gentlemen, or the novels of Phil Rickman, or the philosophy of Dion Fortune, or dramas that suddenly twist unnervingly from mundane reality to disturbing psychological, possibly supernatural, horror, then Strangehaven is for you!Strangehaven1

School teacher Alex Hunter is driving through the countryside when a girl suddenly appears in the middle of the road. He swerves to avoid her and crashes. When he regains consciousness, he is being looked after by the local doctor in the village of Strangehaven – and there is no sign of the girl. Recovering slowly, he discovers that Strangehaven isn’t easy to leave, not just because of the warm quirkiness of the locals, but because all roads seem to lead back to the village. And as he starts to integrate with the community, he discovers that dark secrets lurk under the picture postcard perfection of this little English village.

Adultery, murder, addiction, insanity – all human life is here.  Among the usual villagers with secrets, there’s Adam, who is convinced he’s an alien, and Megaron, an Amazonian Indian shaman.The local police officer, Sergeant Clarke, is somewhat shady. There’s Janey, young and innocent, who has the hots for Alex, and her friend Suzie, whose love life is getting dangerous. strangehaven2Oh, and there’s Janey’s dad, John, the local Headteacher who is also head of a secret society called Knights of the Golden Light…. As lives intertwine, the connections between the characters are slowly revealed, and the plot just gets darker and darker…

The illustrations storyboard the drama perfectly, and are realist in style. They focus on character, so you really feel like you know this odd bunch. The third volume ends on a cliffhanger, but fortunately, if you start this series now you won’t have to wait forever for the final volume. Volume three was published in 2005, but Millidge is currently releasing new installments after a ten-year break – see his blog for up-to-date information. Can’t wait!!strangehaven3

Surreal, “quintessentially British”, and intelligent, you don’t have to be a graphic novel fan to enjoy these – they are excellent stories and well worth a few hours of your time.

Rating:****

Strangehaven: Arcadia, Abiogenesis Press, 1998, ISBN 978-0946790043

Strangehaven: Brotherhood, Abiogenesis Press, 2000, ISBN 978-0946790050

Strangehaven: Conspiracies, Abiogenesis Press, 2005, ISBN 978-0946790074

The House That Groaned by Karrie Fransman

10 Monday Aug 2015

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Now I’m not a die-hard graphic novel fan, but I know what I like. And when I find a graphic novel that I get excited about, it’s a good day. A colleague recommended this title to me and I think it’s a brilliant example of the genre at its best: quirky, distinctive, and original, leaving you with a fresh perspective on the world.HouseGroaned

It’s the tale of 141 Rottin Road, a dilapidated Victorian house divided into flats. Into this mildly seedy environment Barbara, a young cosmetics salesgirl, bravely enters, to take up residence in Flat 3. Her fellow housemates are: a young man who retouches pictures of models; an older woman who runs a diet club; a man who is only attracted to women who are dying or disfigured; a woman who has been there so long she literally blends into the background; and a voluptuous hedonist. How their lives intersect, and how they ended up there in the first place, forms the core of the story.

It’s funny in a dark and twisted way, but there is compassion for all the characters, as Fransman reveals their back stories. The plot has some surprising twists, and the shocking ending is tempered with a moment of genuine poignancy. It’s sexually explicit, but not in a titillating way – there’s a sense of acceptance, of showing the reader that behind every desire and deviance there’s a human being, desperate to be seen. And the stylised illustrations match the quirkiness of the plot and characters perfectly. I think it’s an excellent example of how a graphic novel can express so much without using as many words as a conventional novel – how the form and the content work in harmony to convey the pure ideas of the author.

Definitely one that will find a permanent place on my bookshelves! Rating: ****

Square Peg, 2012, ISBN 9780224086813

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll

17 Friday Jul 2015

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“Oh, but you must travel through those woods again & again…” said a shadow at the window. “…and you must be lucky to avoid the wolf every time… But the wolf… the wolf only needs enough luck to find you ONCE.”

Wow, it’s not often I’m so excited by a work of fiction I immediately want to tell everyone I know about it! But this graphic novel has simply blown me away.ThroughTheWoods

I like graphic novels but don’t read them too often; Emily Carroll’s Through the Woods has made me think I’m missing a trick here. It’s just sublime – five short tales on the theme of what lurks in the dark dark woods, a twist on familiar fairy tales which leaves a delicious shiver down your spine. Little Red Riding Hood is the archetypal fairy tale, so deep with psychological resonances it transcends its medium. Carroll closes her novel with a wonderfully short but utterly perfect take on this story. Her other tales are gothic, disturbing, compelling, and not a word is wasted or out of place. The first two – Our Neighbor’s House and The Lady With Cold Hands – read aloud amazingly well, so rare for graphic novels, and so they are destined to become a staple feature of my book promotions to teenagers. And all the stories are illustrated in just the right mood and tone, adding layer upon layer to the words. Gruesome and unsettling by turns, illustration and writing work in perfect partnership to chill the blood.

Utterly exceptional, I highly recommend this spooky collection!

Rating: *****

Faber and Faber, 2014, ISBN 9780571288656