Fantastic reviews of Thomas Wogan, Dreams and everyday life, A day in the life of Alfred and Trial and error

Thanks to BrokenFrontier.com's And Oliver for this amazing chunk of reviews: "During Broken Frontier’s recent Brits On Top event, we interviewed Kevin Quinn of UK Indie publishers Tabella about the company's eclectic range of titles. Today BF takes a closer critical look at Tabella’s output and discovers some gems of OGNs lurking in the back catalogue of this up-and-coming British outfit…

A contradiction in terms it may sound, but Tabella's Thomas Wogan is Dead can best be described as a black comedy with charm. David Hughes’s wickedly funny tale is set in a surreal waiting room as the titular Thomas and a whole host of fauna look back on their lives, attempt to work out how they got there and exactly where it is they are. From the book’s title, and that brief synopsis, the perceptive will perhaps already be hearing the faint echoes of a certain Sartre play. However, Thomas Wogan is more than an homage; this acidic, witty offering cleverly presents the reader with a protagonist who is both intensely irritating and yet deeply sympathetic as well. As the events of his life play out, Hughes’s great triumph is in turning the compulsive and socially awkward Thomas, with all his obsessive foibles, from unlikeable inadequate into a character the audience both empathises with and roots for. Don’t get me wrong though; this is no saccharine feelgood story of a loser coming good. Thomas Wogan is Dead’s mordant humour is biting, naughty and, occasionally, in gloriously awful taste. The back stories of the various animals who accompany Thomas in the ethereal waiting room, for example, have moments of what I can only describe as laugh-out-loud grossness to them. I have obviously never met David Hughes but, on the strength of Thomas Wogan is Dead, I like to think he would be terribly entertaining company over a pint or two… in a dry, acerbic kind of way.

Aviv Ratzin’s Dreams and Everyday Life is a book that is, simultaneously, about everything and nothing in particular. If you want to sit back and enjoy a creator ably exploiting every unique storytelling device that the comics form has to offer in a tour-de-force stream of consciousness then you cannot go wrong with this irreverently witty OGN. Ratzin casts himself as the narrator of a madcap three-act set piece. The first two sections are a meandering, interlinked reflection on subjects as diverse as the perils of picking up hitchhikers, creative inspiration, leaky roofs and suicidal cacti! In the final chapter, Ratzin extrapolates on his surrealist approach with a futuristic, consumer parable that concludes his whimsical flights of fancy with a fittingly grand finale. Dreams and Everyday Life is one of those graphic novels that so wonderfully rewards re-reading. Few comics can persuade me to give them a near-instant second viewing, but Ratzin’s playful tour of random thoughts and scenarios is one of those rare exceptions to that rule. While Ratzin’s artistic style may seem minimalist at a first glance, the reader should not be deceived by the elegant simplicity of his layouts. Make no mistake, this is one of the cleverest and most insightful uses of the medium you will have the pleasure of reading in a long time.

It’s up to the interpretation of the individual reader as to whether the books of Norwegian creator Oivind Hovland are graphic novels, illustrated story books, or something in between. A Day in the Life of Alfred is an engaging tale of loneliness, routine and a man’s obsession with a childhood “trauma”, while the beautifully presented Trial and Error follows the life of the aviation obsessed French nobleman Jean Babtiste de Bomberaque. The latter, in particular, showcases Hovland’s gorgeously evocative black and white splash pages and two-page spreads. Each of these volumes is, admittedly, a swift read - presented in the familiar style of children’s books - but they combine a stylish narrative economy with darker, adult humour in handsome, top quality packages. Students of graphic design will find them particularly worth a punt. Tabella may be a smaller publisher at the moment, and their back catalogue still building, but they represent another (albeit smaller) facet of a burgeoning UK Indie comics scene. With the likes of Tabella, Blank Slate, SelfMadeHero and Nobrow producing new and original OGN work, these are exciting times indeed to be a non-mainstream British comics fan… For more on Tabella check out their website which includes an online shop for all their titles." You can read the review on BrokenFrontier.com here: http://www.brokenfrontier.com/lowdown/p/detail/touring-tabella