Sunday, December 14, 2008

Phonogram: The Singles Club #1

Written by Kieron Gillen
Art by Jamie McKelvie (with Laurenn McCubbin and Marc Ellerby)


I thought it might be worth picking this issue up. I bought the first issue of the first series, but didn't feel compelled to continue with it. I did, however, enjoy McKelvie's series Suburban Glamour earlier this year, and thought I'd give this series another chance.

There are some things that I really like here - the 'done-in-one' format strikes me as a good idea for this type of series - it gives the writer and artist the chance to really explore their concept of phonomancy - magic made through music. The colour really highlights the high quality of McKelvie's art, and I like the panel layouts that McKelvie uses.

My problem is that I'm not sure that I felt like the 'done-in-one' story really had much of an ending to it. I didn't really understand what was happening in the bathroom scene, and where exactly the friend had gotten to. And, like many people said about the first series, some of the music references are a little too insular, although I found that they didn't detract from the story.

The two back-ups were nice additions to the main comic - I like that some creators are really feeling the need to add some value to single comics - still my preferred format really.

I'm going to have to take a look at the next issue before I buy it, but I get the feeling that if it makes it home, I'm on board for the whole series.

1 comment:

Jamie McKelvie said...

I fear the "done-in-one" idea of PGSC has been a little overstated. While each issue deals with one character's perspective of the night, they all form an interlocking tale. When you see the bathroom scene from Laura's viewpoint, for example, it will become clearer what is happening (and it's probably a fault of mine that you might not be able to tell straight away she's hiding behind the door - see the page before for comparison).

Anyway, thanks for reading. :)