It’s been an astonishing twelve years since the last time I reviewed a comic from Kate Hazell, the rather idiosyncratic Single Black Glove telling the story of a singular item of discarded handwear. Hazell’s new collection of strips, True Story, compiles diary comics of varying lengths and modes of presentation. Some last just a single page, some are much longer-form, and they range from traditional panel-to-panel storytelling to more experimental work.
Returning to Hazell’s work after such an extended period my main memory was of her wry humour and that’s very much in evidence here. Whether she’s telling us about the many varied jobs she’s had in her life (from cleaning toilets to serving celebrities in posh restaurants) or listing the bizarre dishes she has consumed over the years (bear, guinea pig, tongue bap) she’s an engaging and very likeable raconteur.
It’s the stories where she stretches her storytelling skills, though, that prove her to be far more than simply a witty cartoonist. ‘Floatation’ where her experiences of being in a floatation tank are depicted in changing page structures that use gradual moves in perspective and panel presentation to bring us fully into the sensory shifts she undergoes. Or ‘Praeter Rerum Serium’ where we drift in and out of consciousness with Hazell as the sound of music, depicted as a drifting almost haunting force, brings her slowly out of slumber.
The most memorable offerings are a trilogy of Christmas stories that look at two consecutive family festive seasons wrecked by Norovirus and nostalgic feelings around Raymond Briggs’s The Snowman. They showcase both Hazell’s ability to pull off self-deprecating comedy and a more profound observational approach to autobio. Throughout her art is accessible and appealing, capturing the moment with a sketchy immediacy that really suits the subject matter. It’s very welcome indeed to see new work from Hazell’s direction.
Kate Hazell (W/A) • Self-published, £10.00
Review by Andy Oliver
