Page 45 Review by Stephen
20th Anniversary Edition
20 years ago I wrote:
Morrison questions man's less than honourable relationship with animals, and goes for the jugular.
A dog, a cat and a rabbit - household pets on which we lavish profound affection in the home yet which we are perfectly content to have experimented upon in order that shampoo should taste like tropical fruit juice - are converted into abominable military hardware, their brains drilled deep with wires, their limbs encased in weapon-stuffed armour, their instincts vocalised as simplistic text messages.
When the project is threatened with termination one scientist finds sympathy (not when she was sawing their skulls off; this may be vanity speaking instead) and unwittingly unleashes three ferocious killing machines which won't be stopped in their quest; not to eliminate or eviscerate but to find their way back home to their owners.
Morrison and Quitely have a long history and a big reputation, yet here, staggeringly, they hit overdrive on what is at heart a simple tale, but in execution a riveting, emotionally traumatic, visually mind-blowing tour de force which will swiftly head your list of "Comics To Buy My Friends Who Don't Read Comics".
Quitely's panels-within-panels are insanely detailed, perfectly positioned and merciless in their content. The choreography is exquisite.
You might not thank me for the recommendation when you start reading, but I recommend it all the same if only to leave you feeling distressed, disgusted and perhaps a little ashamed. That's okay, I'm with you on that.
This edition features a twenty-eight-page sketchbook in which Morrison & Quitely explain their reasoning and design work behind the logo (dog collar disc / military name-tag melting in an act of liberation), the insanely detailed "animal-time" panels, some of them suspended then rotated for the cat to jump through (that double-page spread is an innovation of pure beauty!), the armour itself, the three front covers, and the unique physical artefact behind the six-page surveillance camera sequence which Quitely's family nearly binned by mistake! All of which are revelations that reaffirm one's love of creators who think outside the box about what they're putting on a page, how, and why.
