GRAPHIC NOVEL
GRAPHIC NOVEL JOHN LEES, IAIN LAURIE, MEGAN WILSON & COLIN BELL And Then Emily Was Gone (ComixTribe) ●●●●● ‘There’s a world of the screaming impossible all around us, something so far beyond our comprehension that most of us just block it out,’ reveals disfigured village sage Mental Jimmy midway through the tale, adding spine- crawling credence to our anti-hero’s constant visions of creeping things lurking in plain sight. The village is the one on the fictitious Orkney island of Merksay and the anti-hero is Greg
Hellinger, a mainland former cop whose speciality was tracking down the missing, now retired after his own brutal tragedy. In John Lees’ script there are plenty of callbacks to specific films
and cinema tropes, and there’s one right there in the monster-plagued Hellinger’s return from his sleepless existence for one last case. Both based in the central belt of Scotland, Lees and artist Iain Laurie have created a vivid and truly frightening world on Merksay, where schoolgirl Emily has gone missing – supposedly offered up by her parents willingly to the local spirit Bonnie Shaw, according to her best friend Fiona, who has contacted Hellinger for help.
There are heavy shades of Twin Peaks, The Wicker Man and Christopher Nolan’s Insomnia here, but Lees and Laurie have condensed the influences into something fresh and genuinely creepy. The combination of Lees’ smart, compact plot (it was originally published as a five-part serial , so the story spikes with frequent cliffhangers) and Laurie’s art, so vivid in creating new horrors springing from the walls and floorboards, has created a raw but utterly distinctive calling card for both creators. (David Pollock)
ALSO PUBLISHED
VENUS IN TATTERS by Lucy Ribchester
He was halfway through a cigarette when the news came through: there had been a slashing.
‘Burns,’ the editor said, his hand on the doorjamb. ‘This is serious.’ He gave details. Her flesh was cut in six long strips, there were bruises, a hatchet used to hack. ‘The brute who did it, the brute . . . ’ The editor hung his head. ‘She was, you see, the most beautiful woman in the world. That must be made quite clear in the copy.’
They had a briefing. Burns was to go to the scene. If he was in luck, the villain would still be there, in police custody. He could get a quote, that would spice it up a bit.
He was to note the exact particulars of the wounds.
‘Our readers prize details. Which breast . . . which thigh . . . look beyond the injuries to find some way of telling them how she was. Write of her loveliness, her purity . . . you’ll see it in her face.’ ‘And the address?’ ‘The National Gallery, of course.’ There was still a thick crowd seething when he got there. ‘You want to see her?’ The guard said. ‘I don’t think so. The restorers are in already. Glass was shattered. It’ll have been taken down by now.’ He took off his cap and rubbed his head. ‘Painted by man. Destroyed by woman.’
‘The attacker then.’ It was his only chance left for a
scoop. ‘Could you point her out?’
‘The suffragette?’ The guard needled his eyes through the crowd to a police van down by the Trafalgar lions. ‘There.’
Burns’ gaze cut through the bodies. She was tiny,
hunger-struck; her form looked scraped out from the inside, her arms twisted in a lock. He made a dash, shoved aside women and children and hats and old men.
He had his notebook ready. She saw him coming. ‘Yes, I did it,’ she said. ‘You want a broken woman for
your paper; come watch us being force-fed.’ ■ Lucy Ribchester received a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award in 2013. Her debut novel, The Hourglass Factory, is published by Simon & Schuster on Thu 15 Jan.
Events are listed by date, then city. Submit listings at least 14 days before publication by using our ‘Add an Event’ service at list.co.uk. Listings are compiled by Rebecca Monks. ✽ Indicates Hitlist entry
Thursday 11 Glasgow Read, Relax, Recharge Glasgow Women’s Library, 23 Landressy Street, 550 2267. 12.30–2.30pm. £2 (free). Weekly read-aloud group. FREE Drama Queens: Play Reading for Pleasure Glasgow Women’s Library, 23 Landressy Street, 550 2267. 5.30pm. Join in play reading, featuring some all-women plays. FREE Library at GoMA Writers’ Group Gallery of Modern Art, Royal Exchange Square, 287 3050. 6–8pm. A meet-up for creative writers.
Edinburgh FREE Beyond Endurance National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge, 623 734. 10am–8pm. Until 28 Jan. An exhibition commemorating 100 years since Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance sailed to Antarctica. FREE Poetry and Coffee Henderson’s Vegetarian Restaurant, 94 Hanover Street, 225 2131. 10.30– 11.30am. Morning coffee and poetry. An Evening with Alexander McCall Smith Waterstones West End, 128 Princes Street, 226 2666. 6pm. £5 (£3). A night with the novelist behind the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. FREE Ian Rankin: The Beat Goes On Blackwell’s, 53–59 South Bridge, 622 8218. 6.30pm. Investigate this collection of stories about Rebus. Café Voices Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43–45 High Street, 556 9579. 7–9pm. £5. Oral storytelling, poetry by memory, music and song. This time, it’s ‘Midwinter Tales’ with Donald Smith.
Friday 12
Edinburgh FREE In Conversation with Helen Oyeyemi Looking Glass Books, 36 Simpson Loan, Quartermile, 229 2902. 6pm. British author Helen Oyeyemi reads from her work and engages in conversation with Jenni Fagan.
Saturday 13
Glasgow ✽ FREE A Series of Fortunate Comic Events The Arches Café Bar & Restaurant, 253 Argyle Street, 565 1035. 10am–4pm. A whole day of comic-y goodness, with over 27 vendors selling everything from back issues and graphic novels to fan art, crafts and more.
Edinburgh John Cleese: So, Anyway Venue 150 @ EICC, 150 Morrison Street, 0844 847 1639. 7.30pm. £32.45. The tallest of the Python crew shares his comedic perspective and new book So, Anyway.
Sunday 14
Edinburgh FREE Blackwell’s Teenage Book Group Blackwell’s, 53–59 South Bridge, 622 8218. 2pm. Teen book group, reading Belzhar by Megan Wolitzer.
Monday 15 Glasgow Chris Hadfield: You Are Here Cineworld IMAX, Glasgow Science Centre, 50 Pacific Quay, 0871 540 1000. 5.30pm. £5 (admission, including a copy of the book £20). Astronaut Hadfield’s new book is the best of photographs of the earth from space. FREE Gaelic Writing Group CCA, 350 Sauchiehall Street, 352 4900. 7–9pm.
Events | BOOKS
Series of workshops for writing in Gaelic or Scots and English. Edinburgh FREE Auld Reekie Readers The City Café, 19 Blair Street, 220 0125. 6pm. A new reading group for literary nuts and budding authors. FREE Blackwell’s Book Group Blackwell’s, 53–59 South Bridge, 622 8218. 6pm. An evening of friendly discussion, reading Cider House Rules by John Irving. The School of Poets Blackhall Library, 56 Hillhouse Road, 557 2876. 6pm. £2. Monthly workshop-type poetry session aiming to encourage and develop writing skills. FREE Edinburgh Creative Writers’ Club Monboddo Bar, Point Hotel, 34 Bread Street, 221 5555. 7–9.30pm. Creative writers of all stripes are invited to discuss all things writing.
Tuesday 16
Edinburgh FREE Edinburgh All-Comers Writers Club Sofi’s, 65 Henderson Street, 555 7019. 7–10pm. Writers read their work at this weekly group meeting. Wednesday 17
Edinburgh FREE The Potter Trail Greyfriar’s Bobby Statue, George IV Bridge, 5pm. A tour designed for Harry Potter fans. New Edinburgh Writers Fountainbridge Library, 137 Dundee Street, 529 5616. 6–8pm. £0.50. Writing exercises and reading new material at this weekly meeting. FREE Peter Ranscombe: Hare Blackwell’s, 53–59 South Bridge, 622 8218. 6.30pm. Writer’s debut novel follows William Hare’s life after William Burke was hanged for murder.
Thursday 18
Glasgow FREE Library at GoMA Writers’ Group Gallery of Modern Art, Royal Exchange Square, 287 3050. 6–8pm. See Thu 11. Edinburgh FREE Kevin Bridges: We Need to Talk About . . . ASDA, 100 The Jewell, Brunstane, 669 9151. 1pm. Glaswegian comedian signs copies of his new book. FREE Soapbox The Pleasance, 60 Pleasance, 650 4673. 7.30pm. Open mic event which shows off literary talent.
Friday 19
Edinburgh ✽ Rally & Broad The Bongo Club, 66 Cowgate, 07989 508436. 7pm. £5. A literary-flavoured cabaret night, boasting spoken word, ‘live literature’, new music and dancing. This time it’s ‘Never Mind the Full Stops – The R&B Takeover Edition’, with Paula Varjack and Dan Simpson. See preview, page 67. A Winter’s Night Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43–45 High Street, 556 9579. 7pm. £10 (£8). Seasonal music, poetry and storytelling. The Guid Crack Hearth Waverley Bar, 1 St Mary’s Street, 557 1050. 7.30pm. £3 suggested donation. Storyteller Bea Ferguson leads this fireside session of Christmas stories.
Saturday 20
Edinburgh FREE The Potter Trail Greyfriar’s Bobby Statue, George IV Bridge, 5pm. See Wed 17. A Winter’s Night Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43–45 High Street, 556 9579. 7–9pm. £10 (£8). See Fri 19. FREE Stranger Than Fiction The Wash Bar, 11–13 North Bank Street, 225 6193. 7.30pm. Friendly, monthly Edinburgh writers’ group. 11 Dec 2014–5 Feb 2015 THE LIST 69