Page 45 Review by Jonathan
So how are things with you? You sounded a bit upset on the phone.
I got a letter. From my mother.
From Cilla? Jesus Jones!
Haha, that's a great curse for those of us of a certain age. I might have to start using that. The good doctor returns - that's Ian Williams by the way, certainly not any of his creations - to tell us more of the going-ons at and by the practitioners and patients of the Meddygfa Llangandida Health Centre which, with sincere apologies to our Welsh customers, itself sounds like it's named after a particularly debilitating brain disease. Perhaps from reading too many comics...
We will see Dr. Iwan THE BAD DOCTOR James, still covertly and timidly lusting after his very available titular co-worker, plus the supremely obnoxious Dr. Robert Smith, still just being a complete tosser, but the star of the show this time around is most definitely Lois. And her mum who tries her best to steal every scene she's in!
They have something in common, our Cilla and Lois, which after not seeing each other for nearly forty years since her mum simply dropped everything and walked out of Lois' life as a tiny child is somewhat unexpected. That it is Lois' liver, well, that falls into the completely totally and utterly variety of unexpected...
With no suitable husband material on the horizon (much to Dr. Robert's delight who is desperate for Lois not get herself up the duff and inconvenience the practice, well him at any rate...) and a drink habit verging on the cusp of getting out of hand, Lois finds herself at somewhat of a crossroads in life.
Her long-standing crop of patients, including one particularly prescription-mad one, are doing her head in, plus her sideline of sorting people's bits and bobs out at the nearby genitourinary clinic is, shall we say, not exactly satisfying her professionally, despite its potential for the occasional moment of hilarity. Good job her mum's about to drop a hepatic hammer blow on her before promptly attempting to bulldoze her way back into her liver, I mean life!
As before, Ian's art style minded me of Kevin FIELDER Huizenga, and actually this time around Andi THE CITY NEVER SLEEPS Watson. I think I've mentioned before he's exceptionally good at working expression into his characters' faces, including here one glorious sequence after a particularly bad inebriated life choice from Lois which me made howl with laughter. As before he completely eschews panel borders, frequently using single soft colour backgrounds with rounded corners. There is also a... trying to avoid spoilers... a rather more colourful section which I found mind-blowing. As did Lois.
Once again, I really admire the careful attention paid to the construction of this work. I devoured it with delight and I do hope Ian holds to his original intention to make this a trilogy. One would presume therefore that Dr. Robert might be the final member of our triaging triumvirate to take his comics bow. Given the proverbial (and highly appropriate) bomb that gets dropped on him at the conclusion of this work which I hope is part of said set up, I look forward to watching his misery first hand in the future...
