Writers: Robbie, Stan, Claire, Dave / Pencillers: Keith Page, Mike Donaldson, Casey Raymond, Emma Vieceli, Clark Bint, Robbie / Colours by the Artists / Letterers: Josh Hicks and the Artists / Re-live Publishing
Coming Home is available at Gosh Comics now. Please see their social media for more stockists in your area.
The Pitch: A new anthology sharing true stories of UK military veterans' mental health journeys. From Northern Ireland to Afghanistan, the stories are written by veterans working with Arts in Health charity Re-Live. Illustrated by a mix of classic and digital British cartoonists, including Keith Page and Emma Vieceli. Features legendary artist Ian Kennedy's final work as a powerful double-spread painted cover.
Coming Home is not a tale of Daring Do and action-filled combat sequences. It focuses solely on the experiences of British soldiers in various modern conflicts and being part of a larger entity that is the Military. Within that, there lie stories of the average soldier's experience but also of their treatment by the Military itself, their fellow troops, civilians, but not, strangely, the enemy. This is both refreshing and unbalancing for the reader. Not what we're used to, at least not my generation or the generation before. We were raised on Commando, Battle, Action... We were storming the beaches, at the front, taking enemy fire... At least in our heads. We played war with replica weapons as kids. Coming Home is a group of stories for those the didn't play and had to do it for real. Personally, I'm pro-military but anti-war. I feel that this is a book for people who can grasp those distinctions.
The stories in this first issue surprised me, largely because of moved I was by the end of each. What they talk about is a group of men and women who did (and do) the job because they wanted to be of service. There's no flag-waving patriotism. If anything, these soldiers end up frustrated and angry at the systems of control put in place to first help and then seemingly hinder their missions. The soldiers herein are not offered a resolution and the stories themselves don't give the reader that either. The anger, the frustration, the damage... All still lingers for our troops and the Comic illustrates that perfectly. One ends up feeling that frustration and having empathy for the troops, which is no bad thing in our increasingly mental health-aware world. I wonder if we'll get more of the ongoing lives of the people portrayed in this first issue, or if it's going to switch up for new protagonists. I have trouble using the word 'characters', as all these stories are real, taken directly from the mouths of the soldiers themselves. They're as solid as you or I and should be respected as such.
Of course, this means the writing isn't as polished as one might expect from your average comic, but since realism is the goal and real people don't talk in measured, dramatic statements, it's an infraction I think we can all let slide. The writers, Robbie, Stan, Claire, Dave (no last names are given, for obvious reasons), need to be applauded for having the fortitude to come forward with their lives in this way. They're not doing it for drama or effect. They're saying "This is what happened. These are my feelings. This is the damage these events caused." Not to say they're without hope. resilience and carrying on its own form of hope, after all. But my hope is that the military would recognise these as the call to help that it is and step up its programs of communication and mental health amongst its soldiers and officers.
The art is an interesting grouping of styles that resonate with comics' history. Robbie's story is reminiscent of the more traditional 'Battle Action' style. Stan's features an almost incongruous, Beano-style character at the center of a story that hits hard and whose surrounding characters and environments aren't drawn like Stan, but instead would feel more at home in the fascist Britain of David Lloyd's V for Vendetta art. Claire's story feels like it would be a natural fit for 2000 AD, despite not having any of the sci-fi trappings you'd find there. And of course, there’s the great Ian Kennedy’s final work, adorning the cover. Running through all the art is a genuine sense of caring for the subject matter, whilst understanding and obeying the dramatic needs of the page. In all, this is a worthy comic with a cause you can get behind.
Coming Home is available from Gosh Comics and all good comic shops now.
