Self-Pubished 2017
Written by Jed McPherson
Illustrated by Chris Shehan
I have talked before about self made/published books that you find by guys at Artist Alley at conventions and why you need to stop look at them and buy them. You’ll find some extremely good solid storytelling exactly like the one right here. Jed emailed me this one and asked if I’d consider reviewing it and ya know what I feel honoured and privileged that he asked me. It doesn’t seem like material that immediately would grab you but when you get to a certain point you begin to understand the whole kit and kaboodle.
We open up with a man looking at a plane taking off, he’s standing at the fence and thinking that’s he’s missed his flight. Then we are somewhere else, a gas station robbery where a young with stockings on his head to hide his identity. The imagery and story here are what make this so interesting and powerful. I was taken aback at one point when I realised how I felt reading this because it becomes more than a mere story.
Granted it’s a work of fiction but the relationships we see here are very real, they happen for probably as long as men and women have had children. It’s the way they interact with one another and how they feel about one another that makes reading this something so much more than a work of fiction. It’s almost like a slice of life taken from an always down on his luck petty criminal, the kind of thing we see on those television channels where the feature true crime stories and such. It just feels like it’s taken from real life. As if it were taken from someone who shared it and then was turned into this book. You cannot get this kind of feeling from many stories and that makes it extremely powerful and impactful and I urge you to get this and read and see what I see in it.
I’m a big fan of the black & white storytelling with the grey shading. It gives the book more of a noir feel, that and the fact that it also makes it feel like an old TV show or motion picture. Chris demonstrates an exceptional eye for storytelling here through his use of page layouts and their angles and perspective. While I’m a huge proponent of using backgrounds to expand the storytelling and while these aren’t as fleshed out as I’d like what I see here works extremely well. It’s very effective and purposefully done which again I appreciate.
I love the irony here as we see the past and present intertwine throughout allowing us to see how the dynamic continues to change. The phrase like father like daughter comes to mind here as well and I find it fascinating to see how far that extends. I guess the mistakes one makes do extend to your children and influence their decisions whether intended or not. I mean without him around she still grew up just like him and that the relationship isn’t there nor is there trust or real communication well it all flows in ways that just make sense.
Final word on the matter is you need this, you need a copy and support them this how new creators make a name for themselves and get noticed by word of mouth. You can find the books here from Chris' store (USA) - http://zhourules.bigcartel.com/ or from Jed (UK/ DIGITAL) - https://gumroad.com/jedmcpherson