I'm #18 and I like it!

Well, give or take twenty-years. But I'm never one to let the facts get in the way of an Alice Cooper-based pun, and the release of PARAGON #18 gives me that opportunity. Two Spencer Nero tales in this one  - aside, of course, from another smashing instalment of 'Bulldog and Panda' by Cobley / Prestwood / Campbell, and a particularly notable episode of Jikan from Howard / El Chivo / Caliber. Here's a few words on 'Spencer Nero and the Reckless Return of the Ruthless Rhymer'.

This story is a sequel to the original 'Ruthless Rhymer' two-pager from PARAGON #13, back in the mists of 2013 (Yikes! Time moves fast in the small-press world!) That tale was drawn by Neil 'Bhuna' Roche, and I loved his design for the Rhymer so much that I was moved to write a lengthier tale of the vicious versifier. The Rhymer is inspired by the cruel and hilarious writings of poet Harry Graham, but he's also very autobiographical - the Rhymer is the impatient side of me that gets annoyed by selfishness, thoughtlessness, bumbling, and general idiocy, the short-tempered side that wants to dish out ridiculously disproportionate justice to the irritating. As such, writing his antics proves very therapeutic - although his outrage inevitably makes things worse for him in the long run. I particularly enjoy writing in rhyme - rhyming stories have become a bit of a PARAGON tradition - and it's always a welcome challenge trying to get the meter right.

Art is by Nero-newcomer Dave Snell, who does an intensely characterful and atmospheric job - I absolutely love his scornful, self-satisfied and yet rather hapless Rhymer - exactly how the character should be

To finish up, here's a few random observations:

• Can you spot the signed picture of Aleister Crowley on Mr. Alabaster's desk?
• Also on page 1, the Rhymer's resurrection is a bit of a tribute to the end of the movie 'Carrie'.
• The large ladies in the elevator on page 3 are a tad Beryl Cook - something which has cropped up in my stories before.
• That's William Kitt in the museum on page 4 - the most chameleonic character in Spencer's supporting cast, he's like the David Bowie of the strip, when it comes to changing his look all the time.
• Spencer is borrowing Homer Simpson's 'think unsexy thoughts' routine on page 5.
• Page 6 sees Edward Lear in full fight - Davey Candlish is a real fan of this poet (though I didn't know that when I wrote the story.) In fact, Davey told me he'd had a recitation of The Owl and the Pussycat at his wedding!
• Page 8 gives me the excuse to bring back the Rhymer any time I want - but given the conclusion to the story, I'm not sure how much rhyming he'll be doing!

Unfortunately, magic gremlins got into the works when the story was published, and replicated a speech balloon from a previous page atop the climatic panel - so here's said panel as it was meant to be seen. Cut it out and stick it into your copy - or paste it onto the screen if you're reading digitally!

Biff!

Nero @ #13, Part 1: Slay ‘em with Graham

Welcome to the first part of a two-part blog-posting about my recent work for PARAGON #13. This bit’s all about ‘Spencer Nero and the Ruthless Rhymer.’

A few issues back, Dave Candlish included a ‘Rupert the Bear’-style rhyming tale in Paragon, based around the character of Battle Ganesh, and charmingly illustrated by Jim Cameron. I was impressed (not least by Candlish’s use of the phrase ‘macadamian lout’ – when’s that ever occurred in the English language before?) and wanted to do something similar with Spencer Nero. Now conveniently enough, it so happens that 1936, the year in which ‘Spencer Nero’ is presently set, marked the death of a man popularly known as Harry Graham (though his first name was, improbably enough, Jocelyn.) Graham is best remembered as a poet – specifically for his ‘ruthless rhymes’, spectacularly cruel but remarkably upbeat studies of such cheery subjects as infanticide, murder and accidental death, all treated with a comic touch. The general theme of Graham’s poems is the slaying of the stupid, irritating or merely hapless, often for the pettiest of reasons. For instance:

Or, more simply:

 

The combination of the mannered and the sadistic really appeals to me in Graham’s work (it reminds me a lot of the short-story writer Saki) and so I wanted to write a character who came from Harry Graham’s world, and could dispatch those I considered to be petty annoyances. Thus the Ruthless Rhymer was born (though his name also owes something to ‘The Riddling Reaver’ from Fighting Fantasy game books.) Sporting Rupert-style checked trousers and a can-do approach to slaughtering those who disrupt his life, I sent the Rhymer off on his misanthropic way.  But what really lifted the story was the artwork of Bhuna (Neil Roche to his chums), whom I believe Dave Candlish reckoned would be a good match for the  story on the basis of his similarly savage work on Dirk Van Dom’s equally mean-spirited ‘Buck Tucker’ character (currently appearing over in Vanguard.) As soon as Dave passed me Neil’s early designs for the main characters, I was blown away by how characterful and stylish they were – check out this one for the Rhymer himself:

 

 

The other ones are on Bhuna’s blog, over here. Suffice to say, I loved his art so much that it inspired me to write another, much-longer Rhymer-related script: that won’t be appearing any time soon, but rest assured, plans are afoot for the Ruthless Rhymer to make his unlikely return.

Next time on the blog, I’ll be talking about ‘Spencer Nero Goes South’, gallant gentlemen, Ray Harryhausen and Medusa’s cheekbones. See you then.