IDW Publishing 2017
Written by Peter Milligan
Illustrated by Tess Fowler
Coloured by Lee Loughridge
Lettered by Aditya Bidikar
Big Daddy is a rich hotelier who, in a cracked echo of King Lear, appoints his youngest descendant to manage The Suites, a peculiar hotel located behind the Black Crown Pub. Affectionately known as Kid, his good looks and swagger can't hide a rough childhood of strange therapies and brain operations that have awakened inner demons and psychodramas. This of course makes him eminently qualified to perform lobotomies. A failed rockstar/successful madman gets one last change to prove his worth—and regain his sanity—by turning the hotel that was once his childhood sanctuary into a lucrative business, despite a host of obstacles—including his own sister—who would love nothing more than to see him fail miserably.
This is a very strange book, I mean really strange. I believe that’s the whole point though and if you read this you better darn well read it because you have to pay attention to what’s happening. This mixes reality, fantasy and insanity in ways that you’ll wonder is anything that happens here happening outside the Kids mind. Ya know what it’s freakin awesome because Peter grabs your attention keeps it by making you wonder what’s real. That right there is how he gets you into the story he has grabbed you the moment you went WTH.
It took a couple of read throughs to get a handle on this story and that too is why Peter is able to get into the readers head and keep them wanting more. The opening is weird and creepy and completely compelling. I mean who does this kind of thing in what looks like a kids bedroom? Also we are pretty much immediately introduced to Kids sister who has her own agenda and is as messed up in the head as Kid only her condition is much much different. The characterisation here is superb as Peter wastes no time delving in the psyche’s of the characters. I picked up a loving hostile vibe between the siblings that indicates a complicated relationship and made me wonder how much of what we see of her is real.
The flashback to the moment Kid realises his life is about to change for good is one of those moments that stick with you. It’s the beginning of his journey through mental illness and being treated in various ways until he becomes infatuated with both the process and its results. Combine that with his own problems and suddenly it’s like Kid is some sort of mad scientist type who does what he wants without regard to what’s morally right or wrong.
A lot of this is extremely effective because of the work that Tess does. Her use of page layouts with their angles and perspective are wonderfully done. That she also has this penchant for using backgrounds filled with things that the Kid sees but doesn’t necessarily interact with makes the whole feeling on of extreme comfortability. She takes the mood and feel of the story and amps it up past ten and into a whole new level of wow. There’s this beauty to go alongside the darkness here where Lee colours things so it’s that dichotomy that leaves you feeling confused.
The way this story is structured is fantastically done in my opinion. The flow is nice and we see things as they should be done, the opening then the flashback then moving from a point in time until we’re back to the consequences of the beginning. Everything we see has a purpose, a reason and it’s very well thought out and executed.
Equal parts extremely cerebral and beautifully visual this will make you question what is real and what is imaginary.