Good News And More Good News About Andi Watson’s The Book Tour…
by Richard Bruton
About a month ago, I wrote about the new book from the incredibly talented British comic maker, Andi Watson and how it was a terrible shame that La Tournee (The Book Tour), published in French by Éditions Cà et Là wasn’t available from an English publisher.
Which is why it’s my great pleasure to do two things here. Firstly, the news comes from Watson that there should be an English language version coming rather sooner than we could have hoped. Nothing definite yet, but as soon as we hear, we’ll let you know. And the second good news is that we’re delighted to be able to present an exclusive preview of The Book Tour. Now that’s a double good news day!
If you need reminding, Andi Watson is the author of some of the very best Brit graphic novels and comics, a hugely talented cartoonist behind such incredible works as Glister, Breakfast Afternoon, Little Star, Love Fights, and Dumped, as well as the all-ages books of the Gum Girl series and Princess Decomposia & Count Spatula.
The Book Tour is the tale of GH Fretwell, small time novelist, on a tour for his latest book, Without K. But no-one’s coming to the signings, his editor is nowhere to be seen, and the whole thing is turning into a really surreal experience. He spends his days wandering up and down alleyways of whatever town he’s in, just to pass the hours.
And then things shift, as the police question Fretwell about his movements, remarkably similar to the “Slayer Killer” and all hinging around the mystery of a missing suitcase, as you’ll see in our preview below. The novelist becomes the suspect and a darkly comic Kafka-esque tale takes shape, all illustrated by Watson with a looseness that I compared, last time, to Jules Feffier. There’s a sense of Watson taking the line for a walk, flowing through the pages. It’s quite beautiful to see.
And here’s where you get to see the first few pages… finally in English and coming out as a fabulous graphic novel at some point. But, until then, enjoy this taster…
The Book Tour, by Andi Watson, will be published in English later this year, or maybe next. Hopefully this year though. Personally, I can’t wait to tell you more and more about it.
