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The 2017 Observer New Review / Jonathan Cape Graphic Novels / Comica London Graphic Short Story Prize

Here’s my entry into the succinctly titled Observer New Review / Jonathan Cape Graphic Novels / Comica London Graphic Short Story Prize for 2017.  Very pleasingly, it was chosen as a finalist. It’s called Start Up.

I saw a tweet a little while back from one of the judges, reminding me of the prize’s existence and to get cracking. Being of a servile disposition, I duly obeyed and in the hectic timeframe this was the result. Luckily for me, my friend, the illustrator Sorcha Edward agreed to collaborate with a whole bunch of photoshop skills I could never hope to possess.

This may seem a controversial subject for a graphic novel but I’d like to think my treatment is both highly sympathetic and entirely inaccurate. Although I am not a believer in divinity, I think it’s quite clear this guy had a lot of good ideas and was a force for good. Basically, a top bloke. The institutions that built up around and after him is an entirely different story upon which I offer no comment. Anyway, I don’t think Jesus had anything against happiness so if this thing makes you laugh or smile then perhaps a closer look at your one way ticket to hell might prove it’s actually a return.