COMIC REVIEW - CLOSELY

Title: CLOSELY

Format: A4. SQUARE BOUND. B/W WITH SOME COLOUR

Length: 112 PAGES

Price: £5

Publisher: GRAYHAM PUTTOCK

Creators: WRITTEN & ILLUSTRATED BY GRAYHAM PUTTOCK

Available from: https://www.grayhamputtockart.com/

Review:

We tend to call any comic with a spine a ‘graphic novel’ these days (I’ve done it myself) but rarely do I come across anything with the length and complexity of an actual novel, but this… At over a hundred pages, some of them with as many as fifteen pictures on them, this is no brief funny book. You need to either read this in instalments or set aside a couple of hours to consume ‘Closely’.

On the surface Detective Inspector Closely is investigating a murder in an off-season seaside town – But this isn’t really a whodunnit. This is an examination of the landscape of protagonist's mind. When I began reading I thought this might be a comic like ‘Harker’ (by Gibson and Danks) aping the format of Sunday night ITV cop shows… But it isn’t. Then I thought we might be into the territory of ‘Twin Peaks’ and that is closer to the truth… but not quite.

‘Closely’ is nearer an unsettling psychological-horror film than any surreal cop drama. It’s claustrophobic and disorientating and original. Those are all pluses if you are aiming to disturb your audience and Puttock succeeds in that here.

This is a story much more concerned with character, mood and questions than it is with answers and plotting. With more space than many comics have, Puttock is able to experiment and indulge with his storytelling techniques. Cutting between reality, TV, dreams and differing time-frames, this isn’t your bog-standard comic.

And be sure that this is an adult comic too. Not just full of strong language, but strong concepts and difficult images.

His scratchy, detailed, photo-realistic art suits the project to a tee. Accomplished at likenesses he populates his story with famous actors… From Kevin Eldon for his main character, through to Tilda Swinton and Leo Mckern. Not everything quite comes off, but it mostly does.

The nights are closing in. What better time to have your dreams disturbed by ‘Closely’?

John A. Short