Our favourite Orb

Yes, we have selected a favourite and here are a few words from Paul Gravett to confirm our selection:

AbsORBing, AbsORBant, but not ExORBitant!

Orbs come in a brain-spinning diversity of spherical forms in these inventive two-page comics from hither and yon for this fourth absORBing, absORBant but not exORBitant compilation of Adventures in Comics. You might expect a fair share of crystal balls, and some ghostly manifestations, extraterrestrial life forms, magical sprites, alien motherships, royal and religious treasures and our own  Sun and Planet Earth. But how about the eye of Sauron, goldfish bowls, a mysterious egg, even rockstar Roy Orbison and his eyeball?

The funniest of all may be a humongous ball of wool and the weirdest viewpoint or ‘camera angle’ must surely be from the inside of a bowling ball looking out through the holes as the fingers poke in! As every year, it’s agonising to pick just one overall winner with so much talent, technique and imagination on display and styles and stories stretching from the ridiculous to the sublime.

But the story that made me smile and laugh out loud and stayed with me the most was Steve Alexander’s brilliantly nutty family secret behind a forgotten British sporting hero, the world’s heaviest wrestler, Bill ‘The Orb’ Orbison.

Champion!

 

Congratulations Steve! A copy of  ‘Comics Unmasked – Art and Anarchy in the UK’ will be winging its way to you. The catalogue from the new comics show at the British Library is a great primer on all things related to comic arts. Enjoy!