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‘I'M LIKE A NERDY LITTLE KID WITH MY NOSE ON THE PAPER'

Deadpan, dark and bleak. These are not our words but those of Banchory-born comics artist TOM GAULD as he explains his ‘wee’ work to Dave Martin.

imple _\'et darkl) intense. like the etchings of

a lonel) child or a particularl) twee serial killer. there is something almost archetypal in Tom (iauld's work. l5rom (hum/runs (ill/iv Killer/um (about the banal relationship of too soldiers) to The Miller at llill'k ta look at \ai'iotis procrastinating literary figures) a recurrence of robots. astronauts. soldiers and monsters the things helm ed ol' ten- }ear-old bins across the globe * gi\e it a uni\ersa| and timeless l'eel. Indeed. ca\e paintings \sould be an appropriate analog} tor the drauings oi“ a man whose biggest e\po.sure to date came \\ ith [Ill/Ilt‘l' A'- l’uinlr'r. a Stone Age-set. lb-part strip l'or 'I‘lii' (Juan/lint with \er)‘ modern preoccupations. l’or the ne\t month. he’s editing lllllllt'l‘ A" l’uinli'r for release as a book. tueaking all the things he lclt made it tail as a neuspaper strip. before l'inall_\ laying the strip to rest. ‘I \\as planning to \\ rite more stories \\IIIT the same characters. \xith one focusing much more on Hunter but it didn‘t reall} \\ot‘k and I think I‘d be better just starting againf insists (iauld. ‘l \\ as hoping that the) \sotlld be Drutum/turr-st}le characters \VITU I could al\\a.\s \x'ork \\ ith but I don't think that‘s the \\a_\ I \xork. So far. l‘xe \\ ritten about situations and tnake characters to lit them so I \\ as quite relieVed when I dldlt‘l hm e to “file a second strip; it‘s nice to just make it into a \tee item \shich \Vnt‘kfls.~ He's not kidding about ‘uee‘. The Hunter A'- l’ulntr'r book is the sire and shape of the a\erage chequebook. and there “as nothing sarcastic about the title of his earlier collection. 'l'liru' \I’l')‘ Small

28 THE LIST '5 let, .‘ ’v.‘.a' 9.145

('umiihs. '1 don‘t dt'a\\ things particularl} big; I don't knoxt ulnf he laughs. leaning in to stlllllll at a book on the table. ‘l'm like a nerd} little kid \xith m} nose on the paper. ljust \\ ant it to read as simpl} as possible and I don‘t want to get carried aua}. so I plan it out \ery carelull) and simpl). then once it “(irks l knou I can put in the crosshatching. Still. I think comics are about the stor) and about moxing on. not about admiring panels. But then I can‘t help \xanting to make it look nice as \sell.‘

It might be glib to attribute this lack ol'

ornamentation to (iauld‘s upbringing in rural Banchor). but it’s a merit} he subscribes to. "l’he look of in} comics has a sort ol bleak. northern lcel to it. and I think that came lrom m} me up there and also there‘s the deadpan and dark humour uhich people think oi as Seotlisli.‘

After a briel homecoming from his London base for the .-\naloguc exhibition \\IIIl long-time collaborator Simone l.ia. he‘s taking a break l'rom sell-publishing to \Hil‘k on a graphic nmel l‘or l)ra\\n & Quarterl}. It‘s a change of pace that predicated on a not \er} .-\berdonian \sork ethic. 'I wanted a publisher inxohed and I've signed a contract. but I haxen‘t got the advance yet. That \\ ill spur me on to not funny around l'orexer.‘ When it does arrix e. chances are there’ll be monsters and robots in there.

The Tom Gauld/Simone Lia/Cabanon Press exhibition is at Analogue, Edinburgh from Fri 17 Feb.

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THE BEST BOOKS, COMICS & EVENTS

* Craig Davidson This month's fresh authorial talent to get the big push IS a Canadian author with some short stones about a collection of edgy and messed-up individuals. Bust and Bone has already been lauded by the likes of Clive Barker and Bret Easton Ellis. Machismo and/but magnificent. See review. Picador.

* David Maine After giving us a version of the Noah story with The Flood. the Maine man is back with another Biblical blockbuster, Fallen, a reinvention of Cain. Abel. Adam. Eve and all that Garden of Eden gear. See review. Canongate.

* Brian Auarello 8- Lee Bermejo Superman's arch nemesis gets his own gig here with Lex Luthor: Man of Steel and this tale about the fear of the unknown is a corker. See review. DC.

3|! Tom Gauld Taking a break from scripting a new graphic novel for Drawn & Quarterly, the Banchory-born artist displays his work for us all to survey. See preview, left. Analogue, Edinburgh, from Fri 77 Feb.

* Sarah Waters While she's taking a step back into histOry. a novel about the state of Britain in World War II is almost contemporary for the author (pictured) who has made her name with tales of Victoriana. Waterstone's, Glasgow, Tue 27 Feb.

* Kevin MacNeIl The hotshot Highlands novelist. poet and playwright chats about his life in the world of literature and his status as writer in chief for the Middle Eastern Festival of Spirituality and Peace. Scottish Poetry Library, Edinburgh, Tue 28 Feb. * Alexander McCall Smlth Blue Shoes and Happiness is the latest Ladies Nol Detective Agency instalment. Come and meet the busiest writer in showbiz. The Hub, Edinburgh. Thu 2 Mar.