Month: September 2007

Unofficial Companion to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

By Jess Nevins (Titan Books)
ISBN 1-84576-316-5

Although not a great fan of ‘companions’, or even annotated copies, I will concede that not every comics reader has a brain the size of a planet nor so little social intercourse that they have nothing better to do than accumulate arcane facts and trivia, and further admit that the sheer hard work poured into Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s wonderful steampunk masterpiece deserves to be remarked upon, if only to show all those annoying media rat-scrotes just what “added value” can mean.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen concerns the heroic intervention of some of popular literature’s most outstanding characters in an adventure that threatens the British Empire (at the turn of the 20th century) and thus, the World, and is layered with references and motifs that extends throughout that literature and culture, and into our own. If a reader doesn’t pick up on a piece of shtick it makes no difference, but when we do it makes for many all-around “gosh-wow!” moments.

Why Jess Nevins appointed himself the task of sharing all this knowledge is unknown to me, but obviously many people share his desires and drives. The book is exhaustive and meticulous, and the text has been further annotated by Moore and O’Neill. If you need more depth or want to impress your partner, this is one way of doing it.

Just remember to read the original graphic novel. This isn’t like English Lit at school: Watching the film instead of reading the book is pointless and probably rather unpleasant.

© 2003 Jess Nevins. All Rights Reserved.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen â„¢ & © 2006 Alan Moore & Kevin O’Neill.

 

By Chip Kidd & Geoff Spear (Titan Books)
ISBN: 1-84023-941-7

Re-issued to tie-in with the publication of Ross’s latest DC project, Justice, this superb coffee-table art-book reproduces in spectacular detail the works and working secrets of a genuine comics phenomenon.

To sweeten the pot there’s also an eight page painted strip featuring Superman and Batman, a brand new cover and thirty new pages of material. Of particular interest to budding superstars of tomorrow are the hundreds of working drawings and thumbnail sketches that illuminate the manner in which the artist approaches a story.

Designer/historian Chip Kidd and photographer Geoff Spear are responsible for yet another high-quality package that will appeal to the general public just as much as to the dedicated fan.

© 2003, 2005 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

 

By Katsuhiro Otomo (Titan Books)
ISBN: 1-84576-612-1

Originally published in Japan to commemorate the completion of the landmark graphic epic Akira, this spectacular art book collects every ancillary image that Katsuhiro Otomo created for the serial that didn’t make it into the trade paperback compilations.

There are sketches, colour roughs, promotional posters and tee shirts, opening pages for the original Japanese serial episodes, various designs for characters and the tech that played such a pervasive part in the story, and every other thing you could think of to satisfy the dreams of fanatics.

There are even recreations of some of the promotional gimmicks such as the Akira News Kiosk that have to be seen to be believed.

If you love the series, or are fascinated by the secrets of the creative process, or are a sucker for minutiae, you will adore this lavish coffee table tome.

English language translation © 2007 Dark Horse Comics, Inc.

(Nadder Books 1983)
ISBN 0-90654-038-0

Graham Laidler trained as an architect but became a cartoonist due to ill-health (a tubercular kidney). From 1932 until his death in 1940, aged 32, he travelled the world and drew funny pictures, mostly of The English both at home and abroad, under exclusive contract to Punch – a hitherto unique arrangement.

His humorous observations were simultaneously incisive and gentle, baroque and subtle. His work was collected into a number of books during his lifetime and since, and his influence as humorist and draughtsman can still be felt.

He mastered telling a complete story in a single drawing although he also worked in the strip cartoon format for The Women’s Pictorial. His cartoons exemplified the British to the world at large. The Nazis, with typical sinister efficiency, used his drawings as the basis of their anti-British propaganda when they invaded Holland, further confirming to the world the belief that Germans Have No Sense of Humour.

As “Pont”, and for eight too-brief years, Graham Laidler became an icon of English life, and you would be doing yourself an immense favour in tracking down his work. If you like Ealing comedies, Alistair Sim or Margaret Rutherford, St Trinians and the Molesworth books, or the works of Thelwell or Ronald Searle, you won’t regret the search.

If you love good drawing and sharp observational wit you’ll thank me. If you just want a damn good laugh, you’ll reward yourself with the assorted works of Pont.

Unbelievably, despite his woefully small output (around 400 cartoons) there doesn’t seem to be a definitive collection of the work of Pont. If there’s a publisher reading this I pray you take the hint. For the rest of us there’s the thrill of the hunt and the promised bounty in seeking out “The British Character”, “The British at Home”, “The British Carry On”, “Most of us are Absurd”, “Pont” and “The World of Pont”.

© 1983, 2007 the estate of Graham Laidler.