Incomplete Works, by Dylan Horrocks (VUP March 2014)

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Neil

This is a collection of Dylan Horrocks' shorter graphic work, from 1986 to 2012. Many are unfinished pieces, and although the styles vary and evolve over time, they are all recognisably Dylan Horrocks. In many cases he himself is the subject, the stories are about the struggle of the cartoonist to create meaningful work, they are about self-doubt, ambivalence, the efforts of daily existence. There are some very powerful stories here, and some disturbing ones. I was completely blown away by 'There are no words in my mouth', a wordless cartoon. It had never occurred to me that anyone could do that, to draw a dozen or so pages that could carry such an emotional shock. Despite the incomplete and fragmentary nature of the collection, it works brilliantly. A real treasure from a local icon.