Bryan Talbot - Alice in Sunderlan
18×25 cm - 328 pagine, Cartonato
26 Euro + 2,50 euro di spedizione
Casa editrice: Comma22
Lingua: italiano

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Sunderland! In epoca remota era uno dei più importanti centri culturali della Cristianità, nonché luogo in cui nacque e si sviluppò la civiltà inglese. Ai tempi della regina Vittoria era il più grande cantiere navale del mondo. Qui affondano le radici del capolavoro surrealista di Lewis Carroll Alice nel Paese delle Meraviglie. Entrate con noi nel leggendario teatro Sunderland Empire per provare un’esperienza unica: una meditazione epica sul mito, sulla storia e sull’arte stessa del narrare! Così potrete decidere voi stessi se Sunderland esiste sul serio oppure è tutta immaginazione…

Dalla mente geniale di Bryan Talbot, acclamato autore de Le avventure di Luther Arkwright e di Storia del Topo Cattivo, ecco a voi Alice in Sunderland, una graphic novel unica nel suo genere. Divertente e profonda, spassosa e intensa, bizzarra e polemica, Alice in Sunderland è un’opera che mescola realtà e finzione, è un viaggio sontuoso e sfaccettato che vi darà molto da pensare, perché tutti i luoghi, anche il posto in cui abitate, possono nascondere un’incredibile magia…

“La vicenda di Alice in Sunderland è assai legata al territorio in cui è ambientata, ma i suoi contenuti spaziano ovunque. Credo che chiunque abbia un qualche interesse nel modo in cui la storia viene plasmata, e nel modo in cui essa plasma la cultura, il carattere e il senso stesso di un luogo, resterà senza dubbio affascinato da questo libro”
- John Tufail, studioso di Lewis Carroll

“Il racconto e il disegno sono magia pura, e la struttura è un capolavoro”
- Leo Baxendale, il “Padre del fumetto britannico”

The opening programme of the BBC4 'Comics Britannia' season - which focused on the DC Thompson humour titles - boasted a whole lot of inky fingered comic genius Leo Baxendale, creator of the Bash Street Kids, Minnie The Minx, Little Plum, Willy The Kid, Sweeny Toddler and many other classic strips.

The programme was better than I feared it would be, but alas fell short of what it could have been, especially in the way the final twenty minutes dashed through the late sixties onwards, giving only cursory mention to major players and omitting dozens of significant comics. But I'm sure we expected this.

Nevertheless, we did have Leo fucking Baxendale! Leo Fucking Baxendale!!! And doesn't he speak so wonderfully? Is not his head screwed on properly? I'm sure this comes as no surprise to anyone who has had the immense pleasure of reading his autobiography, A Very Funny Business - in which his righteous anger, his creative passions, his humanity, are all projected across a history which most of us know only from one side, that of the reader - but sadly this book is not well known.

The documentary also featured Kevin O'Neill, who also gave a good, conscious account of himself. I'm not sure the likes of Jacqueline Wilson, Nick Park or Michael Rosen really added anything to the programme; I would have preferred to hear more from O'Neill and Baxendale. Such is life, though.

Anyway, I'm drifting... The programme spurred me on to dig out an old issue of The Big Issue South West (from July 1999!), which contains an interview with Leo Baxendale, who lives (or lived) in Gloucestershire.

I remember my friend Tony, who was the designer at TBISW back then, and a big fan of Leo's work, getting very excited at the time, and tagging along with the photographer to Chez Baxendale, just to meet him and ask him some questions of his own. He was chuffed to bits, and said that Leo was a lovely chap, and told him some great stories (including about his hard fought for settlement with the Dundonian overseers ;) ).

I suspect Tony may have threatened to break the editor's legs or some such (as was his wont, Tony being Tony, and this particular editor being the sort of person who would tend to drive you to wanting to break legs) in order to get the Leo interview bumped up to cover story instead of Tracey bloody Emin, because, well, the Leo interview was duly given the front page. I think you'll agree, Tony did a great job with the ersatz Beano-style masthead.

In the end Tony was wholly vindicated for his leg-breaking threats, because that issue was for a long time - a very long time - the top selling edition of TBISW. It may well still hold the record, 8 years on, I don't honestly know. But people responded to that cover, and to the Baxendale feature.

So, as a special treat for you, dear reader, I have uploaded a 4 page PDF of the interview and magazine cover for you to read at your leisure. I'll also leave it in my Box (which is accessible from the sidebar on the right, near the bottom), too.

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Other Comics Britannia related posts:

• Alan Moore knows the score (7th September)
• Comics Britannia season on BBC4! (6th September)

Yesterday was cack. I could barely keep my eyes open at work, business just wasn’t happening and my Slayer wallet hasn’t arrived. The post here doesn’t arrive until gone 11 so I was like a dog with two, not one, but two members until discovering that the post wasn’t bearing my goods. In fact I’m currently waiting for 2 other items and they’re late too. After that I sort of gave up. If I’d been old and infirm I would’ve probably slipped ‘next door’.

When I cycled back home in the afternoon, I could barely be pissed to pedal and as a result got back ten minutes later than I would if I’d made some sort of effort. If it wasn’t for the appointment with Frank I may have been tempted to take to my bed like a Victorian Duchess. After the drinks I got home and made a marinade for some chicken breast (olive oil, thyme, parsley, chives, seasoning, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, caper vinegar, dash of Worcester sauce and Tabasco) and violently slammed them in the mixture before shoving them in the fridge for an hour. I watched University Challenge, which seemed (comparably) pathetically simple this week before being flabbergasted by Nigella’s ‘Express’ dishes. Despite the fact that I still would, the programme really is awful; I also discovered that the kitchen is a mock up of the kitchen in the house she shares with Charles Saatchi, it’s in a studio off the south circular, so accurate is it that it even comes with children’s drawings. Actually, whilst were on for exposing BBC things, it’s a badly kept secret in the BBC (and comes from a friend who knows the chap in question) that it was Peter Duncan that vandalised the Blue Peter garden following his sacking from the show and a night in the BBC bar.

After I’d cooked the chicken and some streaky smoked bacon, I tore up the former, shredded the latter and combined with rocket, watercress and spinach. I made a dressing by shaking together olive oil, vinegar, garlic puree and capers, before tossing the whole fucking lot together. I’m not really a salad fan; this was so good I got a chubby. I ate the lot in front of a superb programme about The Dandy and The Beano on BBC4, By 11pm I was in bed with a joint and a cup of tea.

Short Piqued today, I’m very busy.

This bird is fucking 50 She’s looking terrific don’t you think? Enjoy her first solo outing since she split with hubby.