You might remember at the start of last year I mentioned a story that John Freeman had been kind enough to pass on to a number of us in the Brit comics community concerning artist John Hicklenton, well known for his 2000 AD artwork on Nemesis, Judge Dredd and others, who was talking about facing multiple sclerosis. A daunting prospect to face such an increasingly degenerative disease for anyone, even more bitter when you are still young and aware that as it advances it can also rob you of the artistic abilities which have been your life: “I am grateful for the amount of drawing I have done so far, but I’m scared to put pen to paper now. The last time I drew anything was last year” (Johnny speaking last year).
(Nemesis’ nemesis Torquemada by John Hicklenton for Pat Mills and 2000 AD; at first it took me a while to get used to his very different approach from Bryan Talbot and Kev O’Neill, but I came to really admire the style and how well it suited the world of Nemesis)
John bravely allowed Animal Monday to make him the subject of a documentary, Here’s Johnny, which was shown in the London Science Museum last January. Now Matthew Badham points us to news that Here’s Johnny will be transmitted on the More4 channel on February 17th at 10pm, so it can reach a wider audience (a DVD with extra footage and unseen artwork will also be available from the official site). I see from the official site that the film won two of the prestigious Grierson awards at the end of last year; for those of you not familiar with him John Grierson is widely regarded in film and television circles in Britain and Canada as the father of modern documentaries (in fact his work was required learning on my own degree and gave me a much deeper appreciation for the art of a good documentary) and the awards are named in his honour.
It gives me an odd feeling to hear about this just a couple of days after Terry Pratchett braved the cameras for a BBC documentary on his life and facing the onset of Alzheimer’s. And only a few weeks ago, late night channel surfing I found a repeat of an older documentary about Al Davison (currently exhibiting his Muscle Memory art) and how he had coped with spina bifida and gone on to become a respected artist. And it reminded me in turn of Tom Humberstone’s 24 Hours Comic discussing living with Crohs Disease. Of course, it isn’t just the comics and the SF&F community who have been more open in talking about their afflictions, as a glance at the biography section of any bookshop or library will atest. Nonetheless I think when they do they do so in the context of talking to a community of readers and, hopefully, that community talks about it and in turn raises awareness. Maybe we can cure some diseases, maybe some we can’t (although it doesn’t stop some dedicated researchers trying), but being able to talk about it and to make people aware of it is worth doing in and of itself, partly because it can make all of us more aware of health issues and how to try and look after ourselves but also to understand a bit more and, by doing that, to ensure that in addition to suffering from a disease a person isn’t also isolated through ignorance. Little acts of increased awareness, understanding and support may not cure diseases, but they are still a valuable tool in the fight and its support people deserve for being brave enough to stand up to public scrutiny at a terrible moment in their lives.
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