Kickstarting Comics: ‘Hancock: The Lad Himself – A Graphic Novel’ Brings The Story Of The Legendary Comedian To Life

One of Britain’s truly great comedians, the life of Tony Hancock comes to comics courtesy of Stephen Walsh and Keith Page in Hancock: The Lad Himself.

I hyped this one up a while back (here in fact) as it looked quite the best thing. A graphic novel of Tony Hancock’s life with the comedian chipping in plenty in his uniquely acerbic style – and with artwork that looked so good – it was undoubtedly something I was going to be interested in.

Well now it’s finally here – the Kickstarter for the first edition, limited to 750 copies, is live right now and runs until 16th March 2023.

As I said back in the preview of this one, comics and Hancock go together – he was the start of one, Film Fun, at the height of his fame here in Britain after all.

So having a graphic novel adaptation of his life seems perfectly apposite, especially with two creators who are obviously so knowledgable about their subject.

Hancock: The Lad Himself promises to chart the life of the hilarious yet troubled comedian with ‘searing honesty but great affection’ and features the lad himself chipping in plenty through the 296 page book, somewhat annoyed at how his life story is being told, as anyone familiar with his life and his work would expect.

The graphic novel covers the story of Hancock’s rise to stardom and his subsequent decline, with writer Stephen Walsh and artist Keith Page telling the story in unusual fashion, hopping around the timeline of Hancock’s life, employing a somewhat stream-of-consciousness narrative, and including Hancock himself as an authorial voice, commenting and criticizing the finished work whilst he’s appearing in it. Genuinely, it’s the sort of narrative that only comics can accomplish.

Hancock: The Lad Himself is funding on Kickstarter right now and runs until 16th March 2023.

Now, a little of what you can expect…