Phonogram and The Umbrella Academy were two of the biggest surprises in comics this year as far as I’m concerned. (Sure, Phonogram ran from ‘06 into ‘07, and the Academy started in 2007, but, well, fuck you, I’m slow). Suburban Glamour, a series by half of the Phonogram team (Jamie McKelvie) was a good holdover, not to mention a great teaser of McKelvie’s work in color, but now a sequel to Phonogram is coming and hot damn am I excited.
Phonogram’s first series, Phonogram: Rue Brittania, detailed the story of a phonomancer, David Kohl — a magician in a world where music is magic, “where a song can save your life or end it” — and his connection to the goddess Brittania, the patron goddess of Britpop. The new series, The Singles Club, will explore the lives of seven other phonomancers in seven stand-alone issues.
At first I couldn’t help but connect Phonomancy to the Invisibles movement (Grant Morrison is the king of the vague and crazy) but after finishing the first volume it feels a bit like Grant is IDM where McKelvie and Kieron Gillen are the guys behind Daft Punk. Less complex, easier to follow, but no less brilliant and enjoyable.
I’m not 100% sure why I dig these books so much (i.e.: Suburban Glamour, while gorgeous, had a fairly simple, straight forward plot) — but at the same time, I just can’t stop bopping my head while reading. Recommended, the lot of ‘em.
Oh yeah, the reason of this post: 5 page preview of The Singles Club #1. Maybe less is more, ‘cause issue #1 got a 10 page preview back in the day.