Inkstuds Radio

Colin’s Inkstuds Comics Review Day 7
Ethel And Ernest, A True Story
Raymond Briggs is a name that may not be familiar to many comics readers, but this guy is one of my favourite cartoonists. He’s best known for his kids books like Fungus the Boogeyman and Father Christmas. He’s also known for his “kids books for adults”, books that appear like children’s books on the outside but take on adult themes like the Falklands War in “The Iron Lady and the Tinpot General” and in “Where the Wind Blows” an elderly couple slowly dies of radiation sickness after a nuclear strike. All of Briggs’s books read a lot like comics. Brigg’s finest work is Ethel & Ernst, A True Story. It is the story of his parents, their courtship and marriage through five turbulent decades. A milkman and a maid, they buy a row house in London which they will never leave, through poverty, the coming of war in Europe, the bombing of London in World War 2, the welfare state, the eventual prosperity of post-war Britain and (to them) the incomprehensible social changes of the sixties and seventies. As well as being a portrait of his parents this is a social history of Britain. It’s also autobiographical, when Raymond Briggs is born in 1934. With his parents eyes we see the young Raymond (an only child) shipped off to the countryside during the London blitz, going to Grammar School, perform his National Service and later becoming, to the horror of his parents, a long haired bohemian artist! Ernst is a unionized labour supporter proud of his working class roots, while Ethel (who was a maid in a rich household) is a conservative supporter with pretensions of grandeur who is ashamed of Ernst’s rough edges. This conflicting attitude towards class is a source of much argument between the couple over the years. But they are united by their simple decency and the quiet determination to struggle through whatever challenges come their way and try to improve their lives. The story becomes particularly touching as Ethel & Ernst grow older, decrepit, face senility and eventually pass away. The full colour artwork is amazing, simple yet detailed, rendered in what I think is pencil crayon. Some of the panels such as the top of page 27 are simply gorgeous. This is a funny, insightful and quietly powerful work by a loving son in tribute to his parents and to working class Britain’s. It is one of the most emotionally moving reading experiences I’ve ever had.
Colin
Colin (Stiff upper lip) Upton

Colin’s Inkstuds Comics Review Day 7
Where Demented Wented, The Art and Comics of Rory Hayes, edited by Dan Nadel & Glenn Bray
Rory Hayes was nuts. I mean, really, truly insane. In the underground comix scene of San Francisco his work stood out not only for his primitive, demented child like drawing but his extreme images of sex, violence and drug abuse which out did even Checkered Demon cartoonist S. Clay Wilson. While Wilson was out to shock and amuse, Hayes was tapping into a rich vein of paranoia and insanity that was truly disturbing. Hayes comix began as EC horror influenced tales of terror featuring teddy bears or anthropomorphic saltine crackers as the victims of cannibals and demons. Later his work became more polished and psychedelic but no less extreme. Now, this material isn’t usually my cup of tea to be honest, but Rory Hayes work has the authentic voice of a true outsider artist, a genuine madman in a world full of posers. He is also worth paying attention too because even though he is an obscure artist he was an inspiration to many neo-primitive cartoonists such as Mark Beyer and artists who emerged from the later small press comics scene. His influence can be seen to this day in some unexpected places, like the genteel work of Vancouver art zine publisher Owen Plummer. Hayes’s career was tragically short, his drug abuse (included in this book is his harrowing semi-autobiographical story Popoff Hayes, The Drug Fiend, published posthumously) led to his early death in 1983 at 34 years old. This book collects most of Hayes comix work, there wasn’t a lot, mostly published in various underground anthologies. Where Demented Wented also includes paintings and drawings by Hayes, articles and even a short interview from 1973. It’s an fascinating collection and well presented. Recommended.

Colin (The demented fiend) Upton