Trains are...Mint - Hardcover

Mitchell, D.M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1906653003 ISBN 13: 9781906653002

Publisher: BLANK SLATE, 2008

Synopsis

Oliver East is one of the best known names in the vibrant British small press scene whose artwork has adorned Elbow's Mercury Award-winning album. His Trains Are...Mint series uses an artist's eye to spot out the many elements which make up the everyday world, but which people often simply tune out and don't notice, spotted as he travels around Manchester. The meandering journeys are all detailed with layered, poetic artwork. This is the first large collection of his work and the recipient of an Ignatz Award nomination.

About this title

From the Publisher

Oliver East has produced one of the most unique works to come out of the UK small press scene and one that I believe has a chance of crossing over to a much wider audience. His comic forgoes word balloons and the text and speech is all written in Oliver's own longhand superimposed upon the images. Essentially this is a diary of walks along the train tracks between Manchester and Blackpool in the northwest of England.

The story is told in deceptively simple watercolours that many will see as childlike (somewhat like the work of a young John Porcellino) although in fact they convey not only the narrative but also the spontaneity of sketches - which seems highly appropriate to a diary. It also serves as eyewitness to what modern Britain is like behind the tourist posters, showing the everyday lives of small towns and people, and the often deep drabness at their centre, it reminds me in feel of the films of Shane Meadows.

Edition details

• Publisher: BLANK SLATE
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1906653003
• ISBN 13: 9781906653002
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 125