Recently I chanced upon a fantastic graphic novel, Calling Dr Laura, by Nicole J. Georges.
It was an example of perfect timing, because the book was published in 2013 and
Georges’ second book, Fetch, was
published a few months ago. As such, I had the luxury of being able to read
them both pretty much one after the other. Of course it does make the wait for
the next book quite unbearable…
Both Calling Dr Laura and
Fetch are great graphic novels. Calling Dr Laura is essentially an
autobiography about family secrets, whereas Fetch
is about the role of Georges’ pet dog, Beja, in her life and the nature of
caring for other living things. They’re very personal, very moving, and very,
very good.
Being black and white, and very obviously hand-drawn (this
is not a criticism), the books have a fanzine quality to them, which is
unsurprising given that Georges has been drawing and self-publishing comics for
years. Black and white comics, like black and white films, can sometimes be
off-putting to people accustomed to colour, but I promise that it’s the perfect
choice for these books.
Calling Dr Laura and
Fetch are the sort of comics that
both inspire me to pick up a pencil to create my own comics but also terrify me
because I know I will never be as good as her. I mean, how does someone create
such a beautiful 300-plus page book crammed full of gorgeous illustrations? The
amount of talent that requires is really quite incredible, and it’s why I love
comics: they are the products of hard work and talent.
Please give these books a go. I seriously doubt that you
will be disappointed.
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