In 2022 Broken Frontier reviewer Tom Baker described the first issue of the charity Re-Live’s Coming Home anthology series as “a creatively daring, admirably moral, and consciousness-raising book”, adding “here’s hoping the mooted second instalment continues the good work.” Two years later that sentiment has been realised with the follow-up edition of the series exploring “veterans’ mental health stories.” This time Coming Home has an LGBTQ+ focus, with the four stories on offer also being of note for the contributions of some now established names in UK indie comics alongside emerging talents.
Each story is an autobiographical account of the veterans depicted, co-written by themselves and Re-Live. The artists involved this time will no doubt be of note to Broken Frontier readers given that two of them are from our Broken Frontier ‘Six to Watch’ initiatives (Anna Readman and Ed Firth), one has been much-featured here at BF (Ria Grix), and the final name AJ O’Neill’s debut comic The Kid in the Cave was recently reviewed at BF. Firth provides the memorable wraparound cover (above) too.
‘Unsinkable’ (above), the story of Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander Craig Jones opens #2 with its account of Jones’s early days of service, when homosexuality was not permissible in any branch, through to his years of campaigning and activism as the ban was lifted. It’s an incredibly inspiring short that underlines with blunt honesty and a sense of pragmatism how ingrained prejudice was in the navy at a point in time that is, of course, relatively recent. Firth’s considered but unobtrusive use of colour aligns with the theme and emotion of the piece and his subtle application of physical characterisation ably complements the quiet power of Jones’s remembrances.
Pilot and helicopter tactics specialist Caroline Paige was the first openly trans person to serve in the British Armed Forces and the hugely underappreciated Ria Grix is the artist to bring her world to the comics page (above). We know too well the pressures and persecution out trans community faces in 2024 but Paige’s story revolves around a key period of time in the late ‘90s when acceptance was practically non-existent. Facing not just the potential rejection of her peers but added bullying from the likes of British gutter press newspaper The Sun, Paige’s entry in the issue is a remarkably positive and hopeful one in the circumstances. Grix’s style here is in stark contrast to his oft quirky and unconventional approach to the page. Instead he instils each image with a stark but heartfelt realism that matches the pure humanity of Paige’s story.
The rank hypocrisy and injustice of the military’s stance on gay servicemen is brough to the fore in the third story of Flight Lieutenant Steve Purves who was jailed in 1985 for consensual sex with another man while serving, even though in civilian life laws banning homosexuality had been repealed way back in 1967. AJ O’Neill’s tight-panelled pages give an added layer of intensity to an already taut story, accentuating the existing sense of oppression and emotional imprisonment in Purves’s words.
Finally, one of the UK’s fastest rising stars in comics, Anna Readman brings us ‘At the End of the Rainbow’ (above) which follows the story(ies) of Corporal Ruth Birch and Private Julia Currey who began a clandestine affair while serving together in the army in the 1980s. Readman presents events initially as two parallel narratives which eventually converge, overlap, part and then reunite. It’s an outstanding use of the form’s language in terms of page structures and panel layouts to represent two lives interlocking and being pulled apart again as the two women fall in love only to fall foul of the army’s relentless pursuit of gay personnel within their ranks. As far as pure visual storytelling goes Readman’s work here is undoubtedly one of the finest things I have read in comics in 2024. And I read a lot of comics.
Coming Home #2 is proof positive once more of how powerful comics can be in conveying the lived experiences of others to a wider audience. A commendable project with a range of styles sympathetic to the testimonies they impart.
Craig Jones, Caroline Paige, Steve Purves, Ruth Birch, Julia Currey, Re-Live (W) Ed Firth, Ria Grix, AJ O’Neill, Anna Readman (A) • Re-Live, $7.99
For more information on Fighting With Pride: The LGBT+ Military Charity visit their website here.
Review by Andy Oliver
