Preview: ‘The Haunting Of Jilly Johnson’ – The Stunning Art Of Rafael Busóm Clúa

by Richard Bruton

More ‘lost’ stories and art from the world of British comics brought back to us by the Treasury of British Comics – this time it’s more of the gorgeous work of Rafael Busóm Clúa in The Haunting of Jilly Johnson…

As David Roach points out in his afterword of this volume, Rafael Busóm Clúa is part of a generation of Spanish artists who ‘shared a bold, stylish approach, very much in touch with contemporary fashion and pop music, with alluringly beautiful protagonists. It was art that both reflected the lives of its readers while also offering vicarious glimpses into the romantic worlds of adults.’ And I can’t put it better than that.

Simply put, the art of Busóm Clúa is a thing of beauty, those brush strokes just flow with life and grace and sexiness, and every page has something you just have to stop and linger over. It’s just gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous.

You may have seen (should have seen) his art in the Pat Mills-written Sugar Jones, which came out in a Treasury of British Comics collection in 2020 – we have the preview here.

But in The Haunting of Jilly Johnson (and in the two shorter tales accompanying it), there’s a chance to see his glorious artwork in something that sums up the strange world of 1970s ‘girls’ comics so well – something more spooky and supernatural, whilst retaining a healthy dose of all things love story and difficult relationships.

Here’s the 2000 AD/Treasury of British Comics PR for you…

‘Following on from the success of Sugar Jones, The Haunting of Jilly Johnson is a masterclass in 1970 supernatural gothic comic storytelling, drawn with immense style by Rafael Busom Clua!

‘From the very first night in her new flat, Jilly Johnson is haunted by nightmares and calls out the name of a man who Jilly does not know. Spooked by a fortune teller, and by what she sees as the flat itself sending her messages, she becomes determined to find out more about the previous tenants, and the accident that led to the death of one of them.

‘And then in The Island of Stones, two English tourists on holiday on a Greek island meet a modern master sculptor, known for his stone statues of the human form, and discover the secret of his success – the head of Medusa. This story acts as a showcase for Rafael Busom Clua, who initially caught the reader’s eye with his incredibly stylish work on Sugar Jones.

‘The Eyes of Gorgon’ is a bonus tale, not listed in any of the book’s press, but it’s another perfect thing of Clua’s mix of the supernatural and fashion, each figure in this one draped in ’70s splendour. It’s another tale of evil with the myth of the gorgon medusa in here as well. Only this time it’s all to do with young Jenny, whos Uncle Seth experimented on her eyesight when she was younger, demanding she wears dark glasses all the time now… but for what end? It’s something very short yet perfectly done.

This really is a book all about the combination of some glorious artwork and some rather over-the-top storytelling, as was traditionally the case, but there’s a load to enjoy here anyway, a certain strangeness in the writing and all that absolutely gorgeous Busom Clua artwork to dwell over.

Again, going back to that David Roach quote and the whole ‘bold, stylish approach, very much in touch with contemporary fashion and pop music, with alluringly beautiful protagonists,’ and how the art reflects both ‘the lives of its readers while also offering vicarious glimpses into the romantic worlds of adults’ – yes, that’s it in a nutshell. Just perfect artwork of its time that remains so strong today, beautiful, stylish, and striking.

THE HAUNTING OF JILLY JOHNSON – ART BY RAFAEL BUSOM CLUA

PUBLISHED BY THE TREASURY OF BRITISH COMICS ON 8 MAY 2025

CONTAINS THE STORIES:
THE HAUNTING OF JILLY JOHNSON – ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN PINK #320-329 & 331-334 (1979)
THE ISLAND OF STONES – ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN PINK #138-140 (1975)
EYES OF THE GORGON – ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN MISTY #21 (1978)

Now, preview time…

THE HAUNTING OF JILLY JOHNSON