A while ago we ran an article on a book called Phonogram. It was written by a good friend of mine who unfortunately did not have the time to able to keep writing for the site on a regular basis. Since then, I’ve been looking for it at comic shops around me on a regular basis to no avail. However, this past weekend when I stopped by to see if there were any comics, the girl (a girl working at a comic shop?!) behind the register asked me if she could help me find anything. When I told her I was just looking for Phonogram, she said I should check out this little book called Suburban Glamour. And, since they were having a sale, I said why not! It’s recommended by Warren Ellis on the back, and that’s always a good sign. So I paid for the book and read it the next day.
The book stars a girl named Astrid and her daily life in a small nowhereville over on the other side of the sea. She hangs out with her friends, goes to parties, and doesn’t want to think about the future outside of high school. One night, two imaginary friends of hers that she had when she was a kid show up in her bedroom. She assumes that it’s a result of being drugged at a party, but as her world begins to turn upside down and she’s chased by goblins through a park, she begins to realize that something isn’t right. From there, the story begins to take much more focus as we focus less on the every day life of a teenager and more on the fact that a bridge between the real world and the world of fantasy (known as Faerie) begin to bleed into one another and collide.
Suburban Glamour is the solo endeavor of Jamie McKelvie (artist of Phonogram) and is a short 4-issue mini about a girl named Astrid. If you can’t tell from the images above and around, this book is pretty much the same thing as a hipster catalog. The very first thing I noticed about the book is how much it literally just screamed scene culture at me. Within the first few pages there were mentions of Myspace, Facebook, and My Chemical Romance, and there are several panels where the main female character Astrid is very much posing as if she were in a Myspace picture. That’s not to say there is anything wrong with that, and I’ll get more into that aspect later, but I feel that we need to be upright in that if you go around and call everyone with black hair “emo” and you hate things like this, you might want to turn away. Suburban Glamour is very much the kind of comic I expect to see on sale at Hot Topic, so be forewarned.
With that in mind, I actually really liked it. I in no way associate with this subculture, but I can remember a time when I did. I too dyed my hair black and thought/felt similar things to the main characters, so in that aspect I found the book relatable to a part of myself. And I’m a huge fantasy/sci-fi nut, so I loved the Faerie parts of the book. In fact, if nothing else I wish the book focused more on that. See, I feel Suburban Glamour would have done REALLY well as an on-going rather than a mini. There is a compelling origin story about the Faerie world as well as a villain who could have been fleshed out much more, and the ending felt a bit rushed in order to cap off the tale. In it’s own right the book is about being a teenager in the subculture, but I feel like it could have been so much more. I could easily see the book lasting a good twenty something issues as Astrid comes into herself more and is fleshed out, making her a much more compelling heroine.
As short as it is, though, the artwork is very sleek. All the images used in this article are fair representations of all of the artwork in the book, and it’s incredibly consistent and it looks great. I like McKelvie’s style a lot and, being primarily an artist, he does really well on the writing. His characters all come to life and the world he created for them is a really interesting one at that, especially Faerie. The artwork in a way reminds me of the art of Invincible in that it has a bright and solid color scheme. It’s really pretty to look at. And, despite their overly scene’d out fashion, I really like the way McKelvie draws his characters. As I said, it looks a bit like a hipster fashion magazine, but the man has a serious talent for drawing people and bringing out emotions that is undeniable.
So in the end, I enjoyed Suburban Glamour. While I do feel it is way too short, I can see there is much room to grow, and on the side of the trade it does have the number 1 on it, so I can assume that there will be more in the future, and I’d really like to see that. It’s a fun little read and if nothing more, it gives an ample gateway for hipsters to begin to read comics. I’d recommend Suburban Glamour but keep in mind all the things I mentioned earlier in the article. It is geared at a very specific crowd, and most people that aren’t part of that crowd are usually close minded to the whole subculture as a whole. But hey, if My Chemical Romance is your thing, so is Suburban Glamour.
