Comics and the Middle East
A review of the “Big Three” of independent comics that essentialise the unspeakable in a surreal, tragic conflict
Graphic novels are expensive books that can also be rare and obscure. London’s council libraries have, fortunately, provided me access to books that I could only dream about reading. Even better, they introduced me to multiple authors (such as ink master Jim Woodring’s strange world or the Martin Kellerman’s Sienfeldish Rocky) that I would never have heard of otherwise. In the last two years, when it became too expensive to keep one’s home heated over winter, the council libraries provided refuge from the kind of cold that makes it impossible to think, read and write.
The collection of one London library in particular — Hackney’s Stamford Hill — struck me as the diligent work of a discerning set of librarians who clearly knew the fundamentals of the genre intimately. After several mornings of perusal and checking books out, it occurred to me that the collection could be used to conduct a broad survey or audit of this eccentric, sublime corner of publishing. My attempt was to formulate in my head a rough classification system (seeking a theme or stylistic element) with a particular focus on independently created graphic novels.
