10 YEARS OF THE BF SIX TO WATCH! Norm Konyu comics are designed to unsettle. Not in an outrageously over-the-top or gratuitous way. More in the manner of a narrative itch under the skin; unreachable, unscratchable and constantly niggling at the reader. Konyu achieves this with a twofold approach. Firstly through his angular artwork; all rapidly changing perspective, claustrophobic intensity, and highly-charged, atmospheric colouring. And secondly through taut plotting that twists and turns with a knowing self-referentiality. His most recent graphic novel The Space Between the Trees is another excellent example of this and further cements Konyu’s place as one of UK indie comics’ finest pure storytellers.
One hundred years after a group of loggers went missing mysteriously in the woods a young couple, Mark and Meera, find themselves driving through the same locale when disaster strikes. With the road appearing to disappear before them they are thrust down a steep bank into the midst of a dense forest. Trying to find their way back the two realise the woodland environment has become impossible to navigate.
Strange “twitches” in reality seem to send them backwards and forwards in time, as space and chronology appear to fold in on themselves. As they continue their journey they encounter paradox upon paradox and, at the centre of it all, one ancient tree and some unknowable presence observing their every move…
Konyu weaves together a story full of plot points that criss-cross themselves with great care and dexterity. As the tension increases in The Space Between the Trees we find ourselves becoming ever more caught up in the desperation of Mark and Meera whose plight in this nonsensical but quietly terrifying environment slowly becomes tied up in its own complexities. To say more would be to ruin the reading experience but Konyu is clever throughout with his reveals – throwaway plot details suddenly becoming major story points later down the line.
Colour has always been an integral part of Konyu’s storytelling toolkit but here his use of it to enhance the sense of closed-in hopelessness and disorientation his characters experience is, quite simply, phenomenal in its application. Norm Konyu remains an inexplicably underappreciated talent. The Space Between the Trees is, once again, another unmissable dark fantasy from his singular imagination.
Norm Konyu (W/A) • Self-published, £17.00
Review by Andy Oliver
2024 marks the tenth year of Broken Frontier’s ‘Six to Watch‘ initiative. Look for articles throughout the year celebrating the work of those artists who have been a part of the programme.
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