The Jellyfish King h/c back

“My young body had enormous potential. Once you know everything, you don’t need anyone.”

Young Arthur has been inducted... though some might say indoctrinated... into the Secret Order Of The Alliance in their never-ending battle against the devious behind-the-scenes string-pullers known only as The Operators by his father, a man who has apparently modified and enhanced his body in thirty eight alarmingly esoteric ways in his pursuit of global justice.

Or just maybe... his dad is a complete and utter nutter.

A rigorous physical training regimen worthy of a Shaolin Monk combined with intellectual studies a Nobel Laureate might even balk at ensues, as Arthur is drawn ever deeper into this mysterious paternal crusade and in doing so becomes further and further isolated from his peers at the local school.

Then one day his father suddenly announces he is disappearing off on a top secret mission on behalf of the Alliance, leaving Arthur to fend for himself and puzzle out what on earth to do next. Seems like perhaps he doesn’t know everything after all and he might just need some help! But things couldn’t possibly get any more chaotic for poor Arthur right...?

Once again the master of modern comics mesmerism produces a piece of contemporary fiction that is as beautiful as it is bizarre and as frightening as it is farcical. I don’t know how one earth he does it, but I am delighted he does. I am well and truly under his spell.

I distinctly remember the moment I first opened one of Brecht’s earlier works, having fallen into a funk of feeling I had seen it all before and what could possibly ever surprise me again. I was, to put it mildly dear reader, utterly astonished. With most creators you can see how they probably decide to form on paper what they have in their mind’s eye. In Brecht’s case, I can only assume he has modified his mind’s eye with a kaleidoscope. I mean just look at the psychedelic tumbling blizzard of cards cover to this work for a start! The chaos on the exterior perfectly reflects the lunacy within.

I can’t even begin to comprehend the thought processes involved in getting his phantasmagorical visions out of his head and onto paper via the medium of watercolour. It’s a pure alchemy of crackpot ideas transformed into quasi-abstract artistic mayhem but somehow it just works. There is so much technique to marvel at, so many conceits that just make you want to clap your hands at in delight. And he’s bloody brilliant at spinning a yarn too.

I do feel duty bound at this point to mention that this in fact only volume one of Arthur’s story. But that only thrills me further to know that we are going to get more Brecht before too long as he is apparently already hard at work on the next volume!