By Tom Gauld
2012
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Tom Gauld does cartoons for the Guardian [1]. He's a funny guy but in a sorta deadpan way - with a wit so dry you could use it to build sandcastles. I mean - I don't even know what he looks like - but I imagine that he's the kind of guy who already has his famous last words all picked out and waiting and that they're probably something along the lines of: "well - this is annoying isn't it?." He's like an upper crust Spike Milligan, a more refined Douglas Adams, Eddie Izzard all buttoned up and with a stiffer upper lip: and just like them - he has a knack for finding a funny bone and giving it a good strong poke (and that's a good thing).
Having seen his cartoons here-and-there (most notable in the Guardian Review section) I guess that when I saw that he had a book out that it would be more of a board comedy. I mean - if not quite Dumb and Dumber - at least something with a bit of vim and vigor to it: like (I dunno) Shaun of the Dead or something similar. Something smart yeah - but still something that had plenty of laughs and chuckles to lovingly lob at the reader. But - no.
Instead it seems (like many a comedian before him [2]) Gauld wants to show that he's not just a joke machine - but that he's also adept at digging a little deeper and sustaining your interest without having to crack a funny every other page. And so we have Goliath - his re-telling of the famous ancient story that features in three of the blockbuster holy books (The Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament (ok - the same thing but so what?) and the Qur'an [3]). Not set in the modern day it keeps all of the historical trappings but inverts a few things in order to show a different side of a story that most of us (all of us?) have known since childhood. Scoring some good points about the nature of war and the nature of appearances at the same time.
Told with a leisurely pace and a wonderful sense for the passing of time - it's a little slight: but in the same sort of way as a poem or - say - a bonsai tree. Elegantly moving - but with a emotional kick and a canny mind too.
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[1]
[2] You know: think of Jim Carey in The Truman Show (or - god forbid) That 23 film, Adam Sandler in Punch Drunk Love, Robin Williams in One Hour Photo, Will Ferrell in Everything Must Go etc etc etc.
[3] Would you think less of me if I admit that I had to google that? Or do I get points for coming clean? No?
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Further reading: The Arrival, The Perry Bible Fellowship, It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken, Meanwhile, xkcd, You Really Don't Look 50 Charlie Brown, The Living and the Dead.
All comments welcome.
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