A word of warning. In a couple of paragraphs time I’m going to be praising Moreton for drawing an A5 page of grass. Just grass. From above. Using thousands of individual pen lines and nothing else. If this isn’t something that makes you even vaguely interested, you may as well give this a miss now to be honest….
The Escapologist Issue 1 was a treat, a real treat; the simplicity of Simon Moreton’s story (or lack of it) matched by the simplicity of his line. And although there are just 8 pages again in this second Escapologist, it’s every bit as enthralling and enjoyable.
These aren’t stories, more meandering thoughts directed across the page, a mood, a moment…. thoughts coallescing and taking flight.
There’s still no place for Moreton’s words here, but in their place comes a reflection on the small, on the detail, on the making sense of it all. Again, just as with issue 1, the best way to show you what I love about The Escapologist is to show you pages from The Escapologist….
After this, Moreton pulls back, and we’re high over buildings, observing snapshots of the familiar, of buildings, of landscapes, and we’re forced to take everything in, to decipher the signs and sigils, glean meaning from the ideas on the page.
Some of you will look at these pages and just wonder what the hell is going on. And fair enough, a full page of grass blowing in the breeze may well not be the sort of thing you want in your comics.
But there’s just an irresistable pull to them, they draw me in, over and over and over. Each image has meaning no doubt, but it’s the beauty of the image in isolation and the cumulative effect that wins me over. I could stare happily at each panel for so long, lost in the ideas it helps form as my own thoughts wander and fly, connecting, imagining.
Repeated readings / viewings don’t necessarily glean new information, but they do encourage my mind to wander, reflective and open, a glorious, uplifting experience brought out by such simple lines, but so beautifully done.
The Escapologist is available from Simon Moreton’s webstore.
December 9th, 2011 at 2:55 pm
Nice to discover this, and I checked out the lad’s blog. Keep up the good work of promoting this stuff FB!
December 9th, 2011 at 5:32 pm
Are you sure that grass isn’t the cell wall of a con-with-no-calender who’s serving a long sentence?
Seriously though, I like thid kind of thing (in moderation). Reminds me of Paul Schroder’s ‘Sketchbook’ from a few years back. (Still doodling and sketchiling away, is Paul: http://monocat.livejournal.com)