Whilst perusing (yes, perusing) a back-copy of Proper Magazine I was surprised to read an article by Neil Summers declaring his interest in comics… sorry – graphic novels. I say surprised because while we’re all well accustomed to a good geek-out over shoes and records, other things are less expected. Comics (sorry – graphic novels) are in this category. The reasons for this are obvious I guess, unless you like wizards and stories that “involve people in tights crying because they’ve just discovered they can turn Vimto into Nuclear energy”
I’ll be honest though – Neil put forward a convincing case for comics (sorry – graphic novels), challenging my ignorance toward the comic (sorry – graphic novel) genre, so much so that I actually considered seeking out some of the selection he recommended. As it happens I didn’t – I was distracted by some Converse Matchpoint Ox First String and a deepening depression brought on by being outbid on a copy of Champion Don.
All the above is a long-winded and largely irrelevant way of saying I bought a comic (sorry – graphic biography) the other day – Gonzo : A Graphic Biography Of Hunter S Thompson. There’s a few Hunter S fans here at OiPolloi, only one of us manages to pull off the bucket hat and baggy socks combo though (it’s not me). Anyway, I can’t tell you much about the publication in question just yet, except to say the illustration’s are nice… Also, the foreword written by his long-suffering editor’s worth a read. To paraphrase: ‘he was a bit of a bastard / it’s a shame he’s more often celebrated as a cartoon stoner than the outstanding prose artist and investigative journalist he was’.
Some images from Gonzo : A Graphic Biography Of Hunter S Thompson by Will Bingley and Anthony Hope-Smith
In other Hunter S related news: BUY one of these, they’re dead good…
