Salutations, traveler of The Internets! Welcome to William's Bloody Hell, so named after our founder, Sir Bloody William.
He is seen in the likeness above in a rare, 19th century woodcut. This
image was rumoured to have been
commissioned after a bout of unpleasantness
in the White Chapel district of London. Do enjoy your stay and peruse our many, varied offerings, much of which cannot be found elsewhere!
:: Phonogram: Rue Britannia by Kierson Gillen and Jamie McKelvie ::
by William the Bloody
Have you ever heard a song or a band and it changed your life? This happened to David Khol in the 1990s when he found Britpop. It isn't really what he's into these days, but he wouldn't be who is today if he hadn't ever discovered it. The thing about David is that he is what is referred to as a "phonomancer," a person where music is powerful, it means something, and they can use it to perform magic in a way. Music is magic and magic is music. A problem has recently come up involving Britpop. See, in a world where music is such powerful magic, it can become personified as a goddess, and Britpop was Britannia, and she enchanted David for two years, until she killed herself, looking to end it before she got old and stale. Now, about ten years later, some people are looking to resurrect Britannia, regardless of the effect it will have on her past success in the 1990s and the lasting influence she has on modern music. If you revive a music era too soon, it can have disastrous results of the music scene, not just now, but lasting effects on those whose music lives have their roots in their sound. People like David whose entire sense of self is based over the fact that Britpop is what got him started. If Britannia comes back now, she could ruin everything her sound, her lyrics ever stood for, so David has to track down the phonomancers attempting to modify the natural order of music before everything is irreversibly altered forever.
The Good: I am a big music fan. I love music and think that it is special, and important and that people should shut the hell up every once in a while and just listen to it, and I mean really listen to it. So, when I heard about this comic being based around a British music scene, I knew this was something I was going to have check out. And it really is about a scene. Granted, I enjoy some of the Britpop, around which this is centred, but I'm not as familiar with it as I am say, the Madchester scene. I mean, come on, most of Britpop by very definition is to be inaccessible to American audiences, but who doesn't know of Blur vs. Oasis? I thought it was a neat idea that Britpop be personified as Britannia, a girl who like to go clubbing and then suicided before her music got overdone and boring. That was pretty cool. Also, the way this comic took the metaphoric power that music can have over some people and turn it into real, actual power was keen. There is a handy index at the back for people who have absolutely no idea who any of the bands, songs, or albums are that get mentioned in the book, which is a nice consideration. Oh and the art is clean and looks simple up front, but there are certain panels where you can clearly see high talent. Oh, and the stuff involving the "ghost Beth" I thought was a nice touch!
The Bad: As I said, I wasn't TOO familiar with the entirety of the Britpop scene, so there were definitely points lost on me. The whole direction of this book was fairly slow in coming. It starts out "normal" as David is a guy going to hear some live girl music in a blatant attempt to get laid, but then takes a sudden left turn as the goddess Lady Vox turns up and tells David about what people are trying to do to Britannia, and it's like, "hold on a minute, there, what?"
Overall, I did enjoy it, but was confused in places. I didn't really know much about the story going in, and got lost quick when supernatural stuff started happening and I managed to get mentally back on track okay once I realized that's where it was going. The art is swell and there is some really awesome conceptual stuff going on and I totally dig music being magic. It felt like it could maybe have benefited from an issue or two more to maybe get a little bit more involved? I'm not certain, but it felt like a little something was missing. If you're a BIG fan of the Britpop scene and comics, then this is tailor made for you. If you like comics with magic, you might get a kick out of it. Definitely not for everybody, though.
B
