Porcelain: Ivory Tower.
Written by Benjamin Read.
Art by Christian Wildgoose.
Colours by André May.
Letters by Jim Campbell.
Published by Improper Books - Full Colour - £14.99.
Sometimes a book series affects you so emotionally during the reading. This is a book that moved me. I count Christian as a friend of mine and have never been so proud of a chum as I am now.
I first met Christian at the the KAPOW! Comic Convention in Upper Street, London during the summer of 2012. I was sitting with Dave Houghton and Marc Laming being bored by a certain self-obsessed artist and we were trying to extract ourselves from the conversation. I was saved by 'The Goose' who handed me the black and white ashcan preview of the first volume. I was struck with how fresh, original and gorgeous it was straightaway. He signed it, I read it, sensed there was something special going on here and stuck it in a bag and on a shelf.
Roll on October 2017 and the third volume has just landed. It is darker and denser than the previous volumes. If volume one had a Gimm's Fairy Tales vibe to it this third volume has become more of a Russian epic. It's narrative reach is far and wide and the cast has grown, and grows during this volume, to a world full of war and politics and deep emotions. It has gone from a morality tale to a broader metaphor for the implications of power, and family, and violence and playing with the lives (and deaths) of a range of people. Every single character is fully realised on the page. I feel like this is a world that I have known for decades.
'I have been a soldier in both my lives. I vowed to keep you safe, remember?'
Read and Wildgoose expand the story making logical use of the complications of the years and the situations that this city experiences. It is more than you expect. Much more than I expected. It is gloriously elaborate in story and also in the intricately captivating art on show. I can't go too far in the description as it will expose spoilers, but... people who we think we know change. Their change is in many ways inevitable. Their change can be seen as unpreventable in the situations they face. This is a story that lays out in a fantastical setting the actual reality that a ruler or commander must face and decide on actions in the harsh cold moments of wartime. But, and here is a warning in advance, this comic will break your heart.
I wrote to Chris six times as I read. Six times this book affected me on a deeply emotional level. Good fucking god this is good. (He may well have now blocked me?)
This is a collaboration between writer and artist where you can't see the join. The words the characters utter are part of the visual that you observe. The flow throughout the panels is as much the writing as the art and it is impossible to separate the two. I have yet to show page two of this volume to anyone without them saying 'wow'. The changing of the seasons is once again used as a storytelling technique to pace out what happens and to give scenes resonance. This is the splendid culmination of a finely honed epic, you see everything on the page, every emotion and moment you need to see.
Don't make a mistake by thinking this is a prissy fantasy story. This has a sinister heart to its story. It is set within a war, a siege. The world is full of hard-hitting fighting. There are some brilliantly executed sudden shocks to the system. The soldiers and 'warriors' have a classical design to them that only goes to emphasise the stabbing and punching and shooting stuff we watch. Think Sharpe with tanks fighting androids in a Baltic castle and you might get somewhere near the vibe?
Hugely worthy of mentioning is the perfect pitch of the colouring by André May. He treats us to each chapter and season change with a whole new palette of shades of colours. His work adds so much to the richness of the reading experience.
Again, I really want to share with you the panels, scenes, words and sequences that mean't so much to me as I read.....but I can't. This is such an experience to read that you really need to buy a copy and try it for yourselves. If you have never bought anything on my recommendation then this is the place to start. Trust me, this series will blow your mind. Intelligent, graceful, frightening, beautiful and heartbreaking.
Make sure you don't read it in a Costa Coffee at Kings Cross.....public sobbing can be really embarrassing!
Porcelain: Ivory Tower got released at last weekend's Lakes Comics Art Festival. As part of the book you get an extensive section on character design by Christian along with some great pin-ups by Kate Brown and Jon Lam.
You can currently order a copy exclusively from Page 45 here http://www.page45.com/store/Porcelain-vol-3-Ivory-Tower.html
Find out more about Improper Books at www.improperbooks.com or on Twitter @ImproperBooks
Explore more of Ben's writing at www.benjaminread.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @Bookpirate
Explore the beautiful artwork of Christian Wildgoose (who is also the current artist on Batgirl at DC Comics) at www.christianwildgoose.blogspot.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @MrRiktus
You can find André May at www.saerus-colouring.deviantart.com
Jim Campbell handles the lettering and can be found at www.jimcampbell-lettering.com and on Twitter @CambellLetters
Many thanks for reading.
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