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!
:: A Strange Day by Damon Hurd and Tatiana Gill ::
by William the Bloody
From the "Backword" of the comic:
What follows is a teenage love story. I know, it sounds dopey to me, too. But this story isn't for you. It's for the person you once were. The insecure sixteen year old we all were. The sixteen year old that could be raised or crushed with a single glance or word. The one whose introspection was the only perspective they had. The one who listened to lyrics they knew were written just for them. So please, open this book as the sixteen year old that fell in love at first sight and took themselves all too seriously. You won't regret it.
That being said, it is May 7, 1996 and the Cure album Wild Mood Swings has just been released. High school student Miles skips classes that day in order to get his copy as soon as possible. He was meant to go to the local Media Play with his best friend Sarah, but she cancels on him the day before, hoping to get a chance to have lunch with a guy she likes. More than a little pissed off, Miles drives to the record shop on his own, "One Hundred Years" blasting the whole way. Unfortunately for Miles, he left his home at the same time as he would have for school (about 7:30 am) and the Media Play doesn't open until 9am. Disheartened, he decides to sit off to side until the place opens, until someone else turns up, also surprised to find a closed store. She notices Miles sitting there all alone and decides to introduce herself, under the correct assumption that he was there for the same reason she was: to buy Mood Swings. Anna and Miles hit it off almost immediately, their mutual adoration for a music group no one else at their own schools even heard of, instantly connecting them. They kill some time mall walking until Media Play opens, only to find that the Mood Swings album won't be in stock until the store's delivery arrives later in the day at 3pm. Deciding to blow off the rest of the day's classes anyway, Miles and his new friend Anna spend a strange day together sharing secrets and intimacies they never thought they'd tell anyone else.
The Good: Going in, I didn't know anything about the creative team behind this comic and I was pleasantly surprised. Miles and Anna only just meet but become instant friends, and I believed it. It felt genuine. Being the lone Cure fan at my own high school, I knew exactly where these two were coming from and how good it feels to meet someone who also considers them their favourite band. The art is thick and paint brushy, but expressive and heartfelt. This comic is exactly what the backword says it is and if looked at in the way it is intended, not corny one bit.
The Bad: I know what you're thinking: oh good god a teenage love story; BLEGH! And yeh, if you were Mr. Popular in high school, then maybe you won't get where this comic is coming from at all, so don't read it. Also, the art at times seems a bit unsteady. Such as panel borders not being "ruler straight" et cetera, which may turn some people off.
My final impression of this comic was love. This book so perfectly captured my very own feelings during the horrid high school years and it made feel like the Cure song lyrics did back then: like it was written just for me. It's almost creepy how perfectly they nailed it, because that guy Miles could very well have been me. A Strange Day is the perfect exercise in 90s high school nostalgia.
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