Page 45 Review by Stephen
The first in a feverish anticipated series of Andi Watson graphic novels, long out of print and sorely missed, now lavishly redesigned with a matching trade dress and completely re-coloured to make maximum use of modern production values.
Each will be accompanied at Page 45 by a free, signed bookplate, limited to 50 copies.
“Just checking it’s bought, and not out of a skip.”
Duncan’s referring to Binny’s bag of beer, brought to a party hosted by bloke called Tony – whom neither of them knows – to celebrate some sort of anniversary.
Normally Binny’s bags contain second-hand books which, yes, he might well have salvaged from the side of a road, such is his passion for the secret lives they’ve led prior to being dumped: all the highlights and annotations each might contain, revealing a little or indeed a lot of their past owners.
Upstairs in a bedroom, Binny finds a stylish young lady unceremoniously throwing some of Tony’s prized possessions out of the window onto the bonnet of his car. They, ummm... yeah...
Binny wakes up very happy the next morning, but entirely oblivious to the young lady’s name (she never offered it), and has to do some pretty decent detective work to track her down to a shop selling vintage clothing. Debs too appreciates history, this time in a discarded garment.
Andi Watson’s customary economy of line, evoking so much (an entire city square through little more than a silhouette of some equestrian statue, as deftly as troubled thoughts by an eyebrow or glance) – is enhanced by gorgeous, charcoal-effect textures and one hell of a lot of British rain.
But Watson also brings economy to the rest of his storytelling, and it may surprise those who’ve snapped up his recent mini-comics from our Andi Watson Collection Section to discover that same succinct discipline in his full-blown graphic novels, as well as the wealth of lateral thinking. You wait until Binny waxes lyrical about all that may lie between dusty covers...
So back to the romance: the romance between Binny and Debs and the romance which they both perceive in found objects’ history. It seems like a match made in heaven.
So why is it not?
