The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

(one of the abandoned ’sound mirrors’ in Sand Dunes and Sonic Booms by and (c) Julian Hanshaw)

The Guardian website has posted up an online version of Sand Dunes and Sonic Booms, Julian Hanshaw’s winning entry for the recent Jonathan Cape/Observer short graphic fiction prize.It’s a lovely piece of work, slighty reminiscent of Oli East – by that I don’t mean its the same stylings, just that like Oli’s work elements of it are more illustrated story than traditional comics panels (which I think perhaps makes it more accessible to people who aren’t familiar with reading comics), lettering directly upon the art rather than speech bubbles and its based on the artist’s travels. There’s a gentle use of colour (the brightest, boldest colour is the artist’s child self’s jacket) and images of the British coast that give me the relaxed and satisfied feeling I normally have after a good, long walk along one of our beaches, while the references to landmarks evokes that fascination that programmes like Coast do so well, the interest that is sparked when we’re out walking or driving and see old, abandoned structures and wonder what they were, who used them, when were the built, why are the abandoned now?

The ’sound mirrors’ in the above picture are part of a pre-war experiment to try and detect approaching enemy bombers using acoustic means. They were never very successful and were soon supplanted by the perfection of radar detection by Robert Watson-Watt’s team, a pivotal weapon in the unprecedented air war which would soon roar over those same strips of coast. Now the sound mirrors are part of a line of slowly decaying pieces of defensive architecture that can be found right around the British Isles’ long coastline, from ancient, Iron Age Brochs to Napoleonic Martello Towers to gun emplacements from the Second World War. There’s a lovely, very moving moment where Hanshaw’s child self is running around making ‘ratatatat’ aircraft battle sounds like any little boy excited by war stories, only to come to a sudden halt at the sight of an elderly Polish couple laying flowers in memory of a family member killed serving in the RAF during the pivotal Battle of Britain that the sound mirrors were meant to play a part in (a reminder also that ‘The Few’ included not just Scots, Irish, English and Welsh fliers but pilots from occupied Norway and Poland, more from Canada and further afield, all playing a part in making sure one of history’s great turning points turned the right way). Its a lovely moment, the sudden realisation that what seems like history and adventure was (and still is) once very, very real, that these old buildings were once connected to real people, real lives.

There’s an intriguing mixture of the rose-tinted look back at childhood holidays and days out mixed with a gentle melancholy (which probably suits memories of the British seaside) but also a clear interest in and love of the remarkable coastline that’s part of our island heritage. The artwork is attractive and effective; reading the panels its very easy to imagine the roar of sea hitting the shore and feel the brisk ocean breeze, while away from the lovely landscapes there are nice little touches, like his dad pulling tight the cords on his jacket’s hood (instant flashback to similar childhood memories for many of us, I’d imagine). Its lovely work and I’d love to see more of it – travel literature is a big seller in the mainstream book trade and I’d love to see if a book of this work would appeal to the many readers in that genre.

(the down on his luck rich businessman comes face to face with the credit crunch in Cheer up Love its Only a Credit Crunch by and (c) Isabel Greenberg)
Also now online are the runners-up, What do Other Married People Talk About? by Emily Haworth-Booth and Isabel Greenberg’s highly appropriate Cheer Up, Love, it’s Only a Credit Crunch. Emily’s piece is a short but effective look at how difficult it can sometimes be to connect and communicate even with the people closest to us (and I suspect perhaps Emily has watched more than a few Woody Allen films), while Isabel’s is an amusing riff on the current financial melt down – forget ordinary folks losing their jobs, businesses and homes, what about the poor super-rich who can no longer afford to send their priviliged offspring to hideously expensive private schools? The horror! Actaully I am wondering if Isabel is perhaps drawing (no pun intended) on a senior member of the Conservative party, Oliver Letwin, who infamously stated he would rather become a beggar using up all of his money to send his children to private schools rather than have then in state education (nothing like having the common touch for a politician to connect to the rest of the electorate, is there?). That might be just me reading an extra layer of satire than was perhaps intended but it’s what it reminded me of as I read it. My only real criticism of that piece was that the artwork was awfully dark (it gave me the impression of a very old strip printed on newsprint), although I suppose that might be a reproduction fault. Anyway, all three are very worthy of some of your time and attention, so go and have a look. (tip of the hat to Dirk who swooped in first and saved me having to trawl the Guardian’s huge site for the links).

Related posts:

1. 2009 Ignatz Awards Everyone has posted the nominees now – so you should...
2. Fools Errand by Philip Spence Fools Errand by Philip Spence Self Published You might know...
3. On reviewing Manga from the complete novice’s point of view; Propaganda explains Over the next few days, I’ll be doing something I...
4. Reasons Why I’m Scared To Love You. Reasons Why I’m Scared To Love You by Philip Spence...
5. Crikey! It’s Saturday! As Crikey! heads for double figures (this June) I thought...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.