Obscure Comic of the Month is a monthly
feature which takes a detailed look at little known entry from my
personal comic book collection. Some will be from major publishers,
others self published projects, Original Graphic Novels, issues and
Manga. What they'll all have in common though, is that I've rarely,
if ever, seen anybody talk about them.
The Mire by Becky Cloonan - 2012
Spoiler Free
Dedicated to those of you with
crushes on your characters.
Becky Cloonan has made quite a name for
herself on the comics scene, but I confess that I'm very under read
when it comes to her work. My reason for picking up The Mire was not,
as you may suspect, an effort to rectify this. In actuality I didn't
even know she was the writer until after I had purchased it. I picked
up The Mire during a trip to Newcastle in May. I'd planned on
grabbing a couple of small press comics but The Mire was the only one
that really caught my eye.
The comic is, as you would expect, one
issue long. It tells the story of a young squire called Aiden sent on
a mission by his mentor Owain. Right from the get go the story is
deeply rooted in fairy tale tradition, but Cloonan uses this to her
benefit. When you've only got twenty two pages to tell a story, you
can really save a lot of time by relying on archetypal characters
like Aiden and Owain.
One of the things I like about The Mire
is it's whole hearted embrace of the classic fable structure. Cloonan
makes use of a great deal of clever narrative tricks to tie the whole
tale together. When Owain gives Aiden a message to deliver near the
beginning he says “This letter means the difference between life
and death.” Of course, it's not until the end of the story we
realise who's life, and who's death, Owain is referring to.
Likewise, the line “We all have
ghosts who haunt us.” could be described as the central theme of
the story, with several characters haunted figuratively, and
literally by elements of their past. The story reminds me a lot of
the short, standalone Hellboy stories, which likewise were heavily
inspired by classic folklore. Even Cloonan's art, which can be bright
and cutesy at times, is channelling full Mignola here, with heavy use
of inking and an emphasis on the grotesque.
The Mire is short, sharp and to the
point. It's hardly telling a new tale, but it's a quality comic that
doesn't waste your time trying to be frivolous or quirky.
The final page finishes with the
message “Self Publish or Perish.” It's worth remembering that
Cloonan didn't write this for a big publisher. She wrote it because
she wanted to. Self publishing is the cornerstone of the comic book
community, and it's comics like this that are a great reminder of
that. Especially inspirational for someone like me who's been
considering self publishing for a long time.
On that final note it's worth
mentioning that I got The Mire for five pound, which is a little
pricey for something the size of a single issue. While that shouldn't
be held against the comic, (It was great, and everything above still
stands) it should serve as a reminder of what goes in to self
publishing in the first place. Small press creators don't have the
luxury of being able to charge a couple of pound for their work, so
it's really important to support them when you can, even if you're
tempted to say it isn't worth the cost.
Because at the end of the day, if we as
fans don't support them, then they won't be around for long. That
would be a real shame, and The Mire is evidence of that.
Jack Harvey 2015. The Mire (c) 2012
Rebecca Cloonan. Images used under Fair Use.
