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One of the first things I made sure to pick up at SPX this year was one of the few copies of Jon McNaught’s Dockwood that Nobrow brought with them.

Jon McNaught’s previous two books with Nobrow (Birchfield Close and  Pebble Island) remain two of my favourite, perfect little books. I revisit both of them frequently and marvel at the attention to detail and the quiet, poetry of the cartooning inside.

Dockwood seems like a natural progression for McNaught’s comics — taking the slow-paced reflections of rural and suburban life from those first two books, and allowing them to fill up a large, 8x10 page. It’s hard to put it any better than Chris Ware who wrote, “Dockwood is Jon McNaught’s loveliest argument yet for the beauty of just simply being alive.”

Dockwood is available for pre-order from Nobrow, who are giving away a screen-printed bookplate for the first 250 orders.

(via Pilgrims : Jon McNaught)

Jon McNaught shares Pilgrims, his 7-page story from Nobrow’s A Graphic Cosmogony, in which all the contributing artists told their version of a creation story. Perfect reading for this Doomsday.

I think it’s pretty easy these days for comics fans to worry about the state of print, especially as larger publishers that only a few years ago started scooping up cartoonists are now cutting back on their graphic novel output.

But if my recent trip to New York’s MoCCA art fest and the upcoming TCAF in Toronto are any indication, print is alive and well in the small press world.

At the center of this microcosm of smartly crafted books is relative newcomer NoBrow Press from the UK who have been consistently knocking out one beautiful book after the next, each one a lovely objet d’art with every part of the printing, from paper choice to ink colours, a considered design decision.

And with the release of the 5th issue of their flagship art book, NoBrow 5, and their imminent appearance at next month’s TCAF, I wanted to share some of my favourite of their recent releases.

JON McNAUGT - PEBBLE ISLAND

Regular readers will already know that there’s a special place in my heart for Jon McNaught’s Birchfield Close. Pebble Island continues the tradition of quiet, reflective stories of isolation that are as much poetry as they are comics. 

Pebble Island comprises three stories, some of which has been available online. But McNaught’s work is made to be seen in print. His images are designed with a printmaker’s eye and he takes full advantage of NoBrow’s signature limited-palette printing style.

BJORN RUNE LIE - THE WOLF’S WHISTLE

Another neat little hardcover beauty, The Wolf’s Whistle is a Richard Scarry meets Wes Anderson fusion of art comics and children’s books. It’s a superhero origin story made with the deft touch of a printmaker, and which might be the title in NoBrow’s catalogue that best showcases the care and attention given to the printing process. The artwork itself is created with the colour separations in mind from the beginning. It gives the artwork a particularly thought-out and cohesive look, and the pages have a tactile quality that you don’t find online, and rarely find in other books.

BEN NEWMAN - THE BENTO BESTIARY

The hardcover edition of the previously-blogged collection of Japanese monster illustrations. Anyone familiar with Ben Newman’s clean geometric illustrations will agree that his style is perfectly suited to capturing the variety and the strangeness of Japanese Yokai.

LUKE PEARSON - HILDAFOLK

Luke Pearson is one of my favourite new cartoonists on the scene, and this little debut comic book is surely just a glimpse at what’s to come, especially going by what else I’ve seen of his online. This graphic folktale would look at right at home in the pages of one of the Flight anthologies along with similar heartwarming fantasy stories.

Jon McNaught’s new graphic novella from Nobrow Press, Birchfield Close, is a most perfect little treasure of a comic.

Printed with a restrained three colours, the short book is a gentle, unassuming reflection on time, place, and sound. It’s not so much a story as it is a snapshot of suburban life. The sights and sounds of a sleepy, mundane evening become the beats and rhythms in the poetry of a neighbourhood.

It’s a lovely, precious little piece of nostalgia. It makes me hungry for more comics-as-poetry. I was unfamiliar with McNaught’s work, but am looking forward to discovering more of his work. His website offers up a decent amount of his other comics work, all of it as equally reflective. He has an uncanny ability to perfectly capture moments in time. His comics feel like real memories.

I’ve just reread his minicomic Broadcast, available to read on his website, three times in succession, marvelling at how he plays with colour, sound effects, and pacing.

Here are some panels from another story of his, Pebble Island.

His blog features more of his work, including some lovely-looking prints. I am officially a fan.

Posted by John Martz on Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog | Permalink | No comments
Tags: Comics, Jon McNaught, Nobrow Press