Friday Fiction 12/52

Being on holiday means my regular blogging schedule goes out the window a little bit (who am I kidding, I have nothing approaching a schedule). I'm back to work on Monday though - boo! - so things will even out around here... possibly.

Phonogram: The Singles Club by Kieron Gillen & Jamie McElvie

I'm not normally much one for graphic novels, and even the first Phonogram (Rue Britannia) left me a little cold, but there is something truly magical about The Singles Club, and the announcement that a third Phonogram is in the pipeline, with colourist Matthew Wilson on board too, has gotten me pretty excited.

The Singles Club is compiled of 6 individual 'singles', or mini-comic stories that make up one night at the Never On A Sunday club in Bristol - a club night I would be at like a shot if it existed in Leeds, 3 rules; no boy singers, you must dance and no magic (phonomancy is the art of making magic from music). The time frame is late 2006, and the endless musical references that litter the comic are particularly period specific - there's even a glossary which tells you which specific album they're referencing, it's pretty amazing if you like to geek out over that sort of thing, which er, I do.

Each single, or issue (they were released as individual comics before being compiled) focuses on a different phonomancer, my favourites being Penny's "Pull Shapes" and Seth Bingo & Silent Girl's "Konichiwa Bitches", which take their names from (fantastic) Pipettes and Robyn songs respectively - they all work as individual stories, but they pull together in a

It's pretty hard to explain why it's so amazing... It is incredibly niche - if you weren't into indie girl-pop in 2006, then you might not get a lot of it - but you'll still enjoy it, I PROMISE. The writing of the characters is pitch perfect, you love them, but you hate them, and you definitely know someone just like them, the drawing and the colouring are flawless - every still could be a poster on your wall, or a tattoo on your skin (we're considering it). Hubz and I have just spent 10 minutes trying to tie down what it is we love about it all so much, and the best we can come up with is "ARGHITSJUSTSOGOOD". Sorry guys, you're just going to have to read it.

11/10