Eustace

Description

A blackly comic, surreal and exquisitely rendered work - and an assured debut. Poor Eustace is not very well. Convalescing in bed, his world is confined to the four walls of his grand and gloomy room. His days are spent in wild imaginings, punctuated by the occasional visit from his mother and a legion of Aunties, who fuss and smother Eustace. But then his wicked uncle arrives in a cloud of pipe smoke, accompanied by a swelling cast of prostitutes, hoodlums, drunkards and assorted hangers-on. Suddenly Eustace finds himself transformed from invalid to the star of a glittering and decadent social scene, serving drinks and holding court from his enormous bed. That is, until his Uncle's past begins to catch up with him... Eustace is blackly comic, surreal and exquisitely rendered. It marks the debut of a brilliant new graphic novelist.

S J Harris is a cartoonist based somewhere in the Twentieth Century. His subject matter, language and dress sense are largely the result of too many old films as a child. Harris's first graphic novel, Eustace, was published by Jonathan Cape in March 2013. It is a tale of salvation by corruption and has been described as 'a clapped-out car pointed straight at a brick wall.' He is currently writing a second.

A strong debut with a compelling style... One of the particular joys reading comics offers is the chance of synchronicity between artistic style and thematic elements, and Harris offers that in abundance. -- Alex Hern * New Statesman * Surreal and enjoyable. -- James Smart * Guardian * Shades of Tim Burton and Edward Gorey twine tantalisingly about Eustace, the blackly comic debut by Londoner S. J. Harris. Harris' angular stylistics and feathered pencil work is outstanding. -- Larushka Ivan-Zadeh * Metro * There's a sniff of the great Robert Aickman in the mix of brittle comedy with murky sexual threat, and the whole thing is beautifully conceived and illustrated. Disturbingly confident, too, in its refusal to quite make sense. -- Tim Martin * Daily Telegraph * The darkness in Eustace creeps up on you unexpectedly. * The Skinny *