The First Graphic Novel Award (formerly Competition) is one of those UK comics institutions that the scene would be all the poorer without. It provides the winner with a rare opportunity to have their debut work picked up and get published (originally by Myriad Editions and now by SelfMadeHero) and its legacy is a formidable one. Previous winners and shortlistees to have seen their work taken to wider audiences have included such boundary-pushing creators as Gareth Brookes, Jade Sarson, Jenny Robins and Sabba Khan, among others. It’s an incredible opening for the lucky artist in question and the latest creator to benefit from it is Alex Taylor with Bone Broth, the now published winner of the 2023 award.
The book’s central character is Ash, a young transmasc sous-chef, whose first job is working in a ramen restaurant in London. Ash’s new position sees him bonding with his fellow workers – shop managers Honey and Blue, street artist Sock and industrial kitchen worker Creamy. But when the crew’s boss Bug dies at their New Year’s Eve party the friends realise they have spent the evening posing for pictures with a corpse. And the lengths they will go to cover up his death will take them down a very bleak path indeed…
What is immediately apparent about Bone Broth is what a feast for the eyes every page is. This is packed and compressed visual storytelling. So intricate, in fact, that it almost overwhelms the readers with a sensory bombardment of imagery so intense that you can almost smell the cooking aromas and hear the hustle and bustle of kitchen life. It’s also reassuring to see an emerging voice unafraid to experiment with unconventional layouts and to continually toy with page structures to enhance mood, theme and a sense of motion. In the latter case that also ensures that in-depth scenes of food preparation take on an almost choregraphed rhythm.
Described as “a coming-of-age queer thriller” Bone Broth is a dark tale that incorporates themes of friendship and personal identity into its tense but busy narrative. It’s also a time-jumping story that makes use of contrasting colour choices to mark its chronological shifts, as events begin to piece themselves together. Taylor embeds Ash’s story of transition into this wider character piece in an organic, natural way, portraying it simply as part of his journey. Integrating it into the narrative rather than making it an overshadowing central point. While the story’s conclusion opens up as many questions as it answers that feels entirely appropriate given the twists of this particular denouement.
Bone Broth takes a grimly comedic premise and fleshes (pun probably intended) it out with meaty, gristly imagery and an explicit line in visual metaphor. An impressive debut from an up-and-coming new voice who definitely deserves your attention.
Alex Taylor (W/A) • SelfMadeHero, £17.99
Review by Andy Oliver
