“Belle is sitting highers in college. She didn’t listen the first time round. Sebastian is older than he looks. He is odder than he looks too. But he has a good heart. And he looks out for Belle, although she doesn’t need it. If he didn’t play music, he would be a bus driver or be unemployed. Probably unemployed. Belle could do anything. Good looks will always open doors for a girl.”
It’s nearly 10 years since I first read those sleeve notes in Belle & Sebastian’s debut LP Tigermilk. I had picked up a vinyl (ask your parents kids) copy after I had heard a quaint little track called Mayfly on the car radio. The DJ mentioned something about a limited edition LP and I’d just missed out on a similarly limited first CD from an artist I’d grown to love. Obviously, there was no way I was going to tolerate a repeat occurrence, so I hit Jumbo records in Leeds and, as luck would have it, I grabbed the only copy left. It was not until later that I realised how lucky I was, what with that LP being limited to only 1000 copies!
Now, if you had told me back then that Image comics of all people would put together a Belle & Sebastian graphic novel anthology with some of the finest indie comics talent involved. Well, I’d have laughed you out of Yorkshire and all the way to B&S’ hometown of Glasgow. As most of us know, Image was all about the superheroes in those days. So I must say that this project is a real testament to how the publisher has evolved over the last decade. B&S seem a perfect choice for such a project since, after all, most of the songs tell a story. I was also greatly impressed that Image had assembled a really eclectic group of creators on this project. Each putting their own spin on a B&S song. These vary from literal adaptations of the lyrics, to some more esoteric interpretations of the songs. Even if some creators each had their own distinctive style.
Then, I was left wondering how to approach something that sounds like a wonderful car crash between two of my greatest loves in the world of entertainment, comic books and “indie” music. “Read the thing”, came that voice in my head! Well, ok, if you insist I replied. (I really must stop talking to myself)
Well, I couldn’t have hoped for a better start than an adaptation of the first song on Tigermilk. It undoubtedly ranks in my top 5 B&S songs. The guys behind Teenagers from Mars & Filler, Rick spears & Rob G, go for a more literal interpretation of Stuart Murdoch’s tale of trouble & strife at a family wedding. They also score extra (B&S geek) points, and make up for the book skipping the track She’s losing it, by including the characters Chelsea and Lisa from that song. (Rummages through iTunes to find said song)
I was going to move on, when that bloody voice in my head chirped up again. “How about you make a play list of all the tracks the book covers? Then you can read each strip whilst listening to the song it adapts”. “What a good idea I replied” then I realised I’d said that out loud to an empty house and suddenly I felt as awkwardly embarrassed as a character from a Belle & Sebastian song.
One of the first strips I read in tandem with the song was Tom Hart’s Me and the Major. This uses most of the lyrics from the song and, as a consequence, I found myself bobbing along from panel to panel in an effort to match the vocals. When lines were repeated, I’d hop back a few panels without any feeling of disorientation. It’s a good job B&S songs are relatively down tempo; otherwise these kind of situations could have left a poor boy feeling rather dazed.
A similar “read along” experience came with David Lasky’s wonderful word for word presentation of Piazza, New York Catcher. Another was Mathew S Armstrong’s You Made me Forget my Dreams, and I was also quite taken with his art style., which were probably some of my favourite illustrations within the whole book. Then there was Joey Weisner’s cutesy riff on Legal Man. Although I still cant listen to that track without thinking how it sounds too much like the theme to late night telly classic Eurotrash. Then I start to remember those scrawny “Romeo cleaners” who polished in the nude. (Folks outside the UK, be grateful you don’t know).
Other creators let the art tell the story for them on its own. I slipped on the song and studied the accompanying illustrations for Dog on Wheels. Kako gives us realism and high octane thrills of a car chase involving a canine speed racer. Then I gently studied Jacob Magraws’s Fox in the Snow and the combination of his gentle art, together with the song flowing through my head, made me wish it were snowing outside right then.
I find We rule the School to be an incredibly beautiful melancholic song, and so was a wee bit unsure how to handle this being translated into a tale of little Timmy and the ninja that lived in his backpack. However, I ended up finding it to be one of the most charming tales in the book. After all, who can resist a ninja? Especially a kid ninja who gets up to no good when not asleep in Timmy’s pack. Where’s my Timmy and Ninja series, guys?
The book has been lovingly designed by Image comics recently appointed art director, Laurenn McCubbin. The style is really evocative of a B&S album sleeve; perfect! I loved how she’d placed a “this book belongs to _” on the first page inside. I don’t know why, but that just screamed B&S to me.
Lauren also shares responsibility for one of my favourite short stories in the book. She provides the art for Janet Harvey’s adaptation of Lazy Linepainter Jane, which is probably my favourite B&S single. A talented lady indeed, it seems.
There are so many neat little touches that the various creators have added to the book, for example I thought it was quite clever how a couple of the songs were told in the colour schemes from their respective Albums. Leanne Buckley used this concept to great effect, when illustrating Marks Rickett’s story for Dear Catastrophe waitress. It’s told in the faded yellow tones of the cover from the Album of the same name. Likewise, Bruno D’Angelo gives us his version of Ease your feet into the Sea in the black, white and green hues of The Boy With The Arab Strap.
In closing all I have to say is that if you love comics & B&S, buy the book! I’ll be recommending it to a number of non-comic reading B&S fans I know. I also apologise to the creators I didn’t cover as I got something out of each part of this collection. Finally, if you have never heard the band, but are intrigued by the creators involved, check out some of their music and see where it leads you from there! Their official site is www.belleandsebastian .com, unsurprisingly enough.
Stephen (aka wesman) is the driving force behind the infamous orange knitted Mr T vest*, worn by many a comicbook pro and Millarworlders. Since the T was introduced to the world, he has taken it upon himself to assume the mantle of Millarworld’s “Propmeister General”. If you see a fellow geek in a MW pic wearing a Fez/ Tin Helmet/ Superman chain/Magneto helmet/ greek hat/ cowboy hat/ viking hat/ Indiana Jones hat/ Yoda mask and so on, then he’s the one to blame. A lifelong comicbook geek who’s been devouring the funnybooks since the days when he couldn’t pronouce the s in (S)pider-man, Stephen sneers at all those who assumed that someday he’d grow out of this habit. He is proud to have turned his house into the kind of geek castle that only Carlos Fraile could dream to rival. He is married to Sandra, who is considering setting up a self-help support group for Millarworld widows where they behave like footballers’ wives when dragged to comic-cons and drink-ups.