Jon McNaught

Excellent, beautiful comic from McNaught, with lovely production from No Brow Press. More meditative (lots of aspect-to-aspect transitions) than plot-driven, McNaught explores life in UK small-towns. The boundaries that the characters inhabit seem limited, but McNaught finds a lyricism in the banal - it's at the same time touching and disturbing.

There's definitely a touch of the Chris Wares in the mechanics of the piece - the rhythms, dimensions, the muted palette - but McNaught brings his own, more organic feel. There's something of an Arts And Crafts sensibility in some of the designs. All in all, an understated gem of a comic.

… (más)

You’ve heard of graphic-format novels and this is a graphic-format short story. It’s a quiet story -- a collection of observations and imaginings as two people spend the evening on a rooftop as day changes to night. A cursory read might prompt a reaction of, “Is that all there is? What was the point?” while an appreciative read might be, “That was lovely and calming, I want to read it again.”

Note: some sites classify this book for ages 9 and up but, to me, age 9 might be too young. That said, it would be a lovely book to read *to* a child (even younger than 9), where the reader would help the child to interpret the sequence of tiny images, light dialogue and sounds from nature.

(Review based on a copy of the book provided by the publisher.)… (más)