This is a character study in two parts, written by John Dunning and illustrated by Mardou. The first: an excursion into the inner life of a young, passive woman; her obsessions and her relation to the world about her. The second: this woman’s vicarious life as a young, active man; and in turn, his obsessions and his relation to the world about him. It’s a somewhat self-satisfied but substantial story with literary aspirations, which mixes the spirit of the Beat Generation with trash pop-culture, and though it has its excesses and false notes, provides sophisticated writing and an unerring sequentialism that incorporates a Crepax-like elegance into a Tomine/Clowes narrative style.
When freelance illustrator and 'self-mythologiser' Lolajean Riddle returns to the solitude and imagined dangers of The Ann Bolynn Motel (sic) for another of her working weekends, progress on illustrating her masterwork – ‘an authoritative sexual biography’ – is halted by the arrival of the equally pseudonymous Kurt Nicole-Smith, a writer and kindred spirit. The flirtatious, narcissistic kooks make an immediate connection, sharing an all-too-brief period of Lost In Translation-like intimacy, before returning to their respective lives – Lolajean to her boyfriend and a cosy village life of, if not quite quiet desperation, then tolerable mundanity; Kurt to Hollywood, and a drunk, wired and horny rapture.
Charming as Riddle is - and however intentionally elusive, ambiguous and obscure the read - failure to focus theme is its major flaw. Also absent is the satisfaction of an inner conflict resolved – does Riddle genuinely crave personal liberation? Or is she content to romanticise it, indulgently identifying with Anais Nin and others, incorporating their attributes and values in a bid to sidestep her own deficiencies and negotiate her day? That such a question is asked of this ambitious comic speaks volumes for its courage and skill. As Nin herself once wrote: ‘Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage’. The same goes for creativity. Respect to Lolajean Riddle - she deserves a shot!
36 A4 pages, full-colour card cover, guillotined edges, £2.50. Email Mardou: mardou@mardouville.com
The challenge for creators to work-to-theme can be fun and can sharpen crafting ability, but the results are often rightfully received with reader indifference. Working off a ‘small’ handicap, contributors to this Mardou-edited anthology disprove the theory that themed publications are about nothing but the process. Here, a flurry of formidable cartoonists responds with a felicitous confection.
Eighteen short strips account for this anthology. There’s whimsy in the guise of Phil Barrett’s exquisite Wee Creatures and in his perfect Small Change – the latter a Swift-like glimpse into the daily struggles of a maladjusted giant. Conflicts aroused by childhood interdependence are described, and vulnerability exposed, in Richard Cowdry’s hilarious Fatty, in Jeremy Dennis’ poignant Poets & Revolutionaries, and in Ted May’s pedestrian but amusing Beauty, Thy Name Is Agony. Also pedestrian but with deft characterisation is Arthur Goodman’s Small.
Jeremy Dennis too offers Small, as does Lee Kennedy, both producing wistful celebrations of childhood that linger lovingly on more innocent, less cluttered times. Clutter however is to the fore in Lucy Sweet’s delectable The Magic Bra (“Eat your heart out Eva Bosnia Herzogovnia!”), and the drudgery of the adult working world is dealt a final warning via the sexy antics of a waitress-minx in John Allison’s Scary Go Round, and via the wearily familiar predicament of the under-appreciated slogger of Ellen Lindner’s Coming Out Of A Coma (Or, How I Stopped Being A Museum Administrator).
Describing the early-hours rescue of a mouse from the clutches of a cat, Open Your Heart is Sean Azzopardi’s saccharine ode to empathy, which is unusual but nice. Peter Conrad’s illustrated list of life-fragments offers subliminal weight and proves curiously affecting; while diverting, gag-led folly with a smattering of charming surrealism is capably provided by David Robertson, Lucy, Jon Chandler, Herc and Andy Konky Kru. Not-so-slight is Mardou’s A John So Small, which flips/reworks Woody Allen and immerses the queasy reader in a fug of male perversion - to vaguely ill-fitting effect.
Though the diversity of styles, for the most part, shares a polish and a mainstream friendliness, it is the emotional centre at the core of this expertly produced anthology that makes it satisfying. Elbert Hubbard once wrote: ‘Little minds are interested in the extraordinary; great minds in the commonplace.' Small Pets then is both the work of innate talents, and of some great minds.
40 A5-ish pages, full-colour card cover, guillotined edges, £2.50. Email Mardou: mardou@mardouville.com