The New World: Comics From Mauretania

Writer / Artist
RATING:
The New World: Comics From Mauretania
Alternative editions:
The New World graphic novel review
SAMPLE IMAGE 
Alternative editions:
SAMPLE IMAGE 
  • North American Publisher / ISBN: New York Review of Books - 978-1-68137-238-9
  • Release date: 2018
  • Format: Black and white.
  • UPC: 9781681372389
  • Contains adult content?: no
  • Does this pass the Bechdel test?: no
  • Positive minority portrayal?: no

The New World is a prestigious collection of British auteur Chris Reynolds. The ‘Mauretania’ of the subtitle is not an African country, but Reynolds’ fictional ‘darker world’.

Reynolds emerged from Britain’s vibrant small press comics scene of the 1980s. In the wake of Eddie Campbell’s autobiographical naturalism, Reynolds and others explored personal concerns in more poetic form. 

With self-publishing partner Paul Harvey (now better known as a painter), Reynolds published Mauretania Comics. A pamphlet anthology split between two creators necessitated short comics, and Reynolds embraced this constraint. Macro-narratives like an apparent invasion of earth, were glimpsed as the backdrop to human micro-narratives. This is exemplified by two-pager ‘The Lighted Cities’, ostensibly about a couple’s visit to a friend’s farm. Initially pastoral, incongruous elements are introduced, building a sense of dread that’s symbolically mirrored in domestic details (featured art right). Using understatement, omission, compression, misdirection, and telling details, it’s a masterclass in storytelling. Other Reynolds stories might have as few as four, two, or even one panel, however, he also explored his themes over a novella and full graphic novel, both included here.

In novella The Dial, defeat by the mysterious AUS leads to the demobilisation of Earth’s space fleet, bringing Reg back to his parents’ home. It’s the story of one man’s relationship to home and family, and through this the story of the wider changes in society, notably a gradual assertion, through their human agents, of the alien forces. It’s never verbalised, but Reg may be suffering residual effects of his war-time experiences, leaving his perceptions of reality and time compromised. In any event, Reynolds puts us there with Reg, wrong-footed and misdirected by a series of seemingly innocuous events, that creep up and then overwhelm. The fantastical elements allow for internal conflicts to be made concrete in unusual and poetic ways.

A number of stories feature helmeted enigma Monitor (cover image). He supposedly has a space ship, which signals his aspiration, and so the bathos of his unfulfilling jobs. In ‘The Small Mines’, mirroring aspects of 1980s Britain, he holds a Works Fund position amongst mines run by aliens. In the 1990 graphic novel Mauretania he runs a company that closes down, causing the redundancy of protagonist Susan. She finds a new job, with the mysterious Rational Control, who observe Monitor, as he observes them, drawing readers into a series of reveals and reversals.

Reynolds’ art perfectly captures this flickering, intangible, dreamworld. The Dial and Mauretania pages remain strong in this larger size, however his finest art is in compressed shorts like ‘The Lighted Cities’ (featured, right). His painterly brushwork conveys the landscape, chickens, and aeroplanes with all the detail we need. Panel eight of that same page, is a masterpiece of elegant simplicity. In a few lines and seemingly effortless dabs of ink, he captures the farm, the people, the chickens, and an elegantly retro-futurist car. The car is artfully angled to highlight both its form, and its implied destination. It’s cast in long shadows, as if by the Lighted Cities, beckoning from the next, and final, panel. 

Such distinctive work can lose its charge when collected. Yet over 300 pages, ‘Mauretania’ retains its intrigue, and Reynolds continually finds fresh imagery to render in his signature style, so building a cumulative power. Flawless editing/design by (long-term Mauretania champion) Seth, and the luxurious production of the New York Review Comics hardback, make this the most desirable Reynolds collection. The self-published Torus mops up other related stories.

Loading...