Comic Cuts — 14 October 2022

This has been one of those weeks that falls into the "interesting times" category. You can get an idea just by looking at how the pound has been doing over the past few weeks, or remember back to being a kid and learning what a sine wave is.

On the negative side of the scales our bath broke. I'll let that sink in for a second... I don't mean the plumbing, but the actual bath. Thankfully it was only a hairline crack, caused by the splitting of the board under the bath (chipboard... you would think they would use a hard board, wouldn't you?) which meant the tub wasn't being properly supported. No water damage, but an uncomfortable couple of days followed while we waited to learn whether it would require replacing completely or could be fixed. A guy came round last Thursday, but the final decision was only made this week, which was, in essence, to glue it back together. I'm assured that he used some kind of super epoxy resin and not a Pritt Stick, but we shall see what happens later today when I venture into the bath. Hopefully this post won't be finished by Mel with the news that my bum is now firmly glued to the tub.

So there was that going on when I received news that something I had sold recently had arrived broken. It would have had to have received a very sharp blow because I had packed the item in foam and  bubble wrap. The new owner of these two items (formerly one item) accepted a refund and I'm now waiting on the Royal Mail to see if I'll be compensated.

Balancing this out, we had a fantastic day wandering around some places pf cultural interest on Friday. I have lived in or near Colchester for thirty years and there are still places that I have never visited. Mel had the week off, using up holiday accrued during the lockdown, so we arranged to meet up with my Mum and look around a few places, starting with the Natural History Museum located in what was formerly All Saints Church at the end of the High Street. I'd call it a starter museum as it is filled with exhibits that relate to local animals and local history—plenty of common birds, insects and critters that you might see in your back garden, and fossils discovered locally. It doesn't lose anything for not being filled with exotic creatures, especially if you're a little kid. Which I am, so I had a great time with the simple interactive elements.

Then across the road to Hollytrees, which is also centred on local history; there are some clocks dating back to the 17th century, a marvellous dolls house version of the Georgian building the museum is housed in, historic household equipment and toys (even a couple of annuals turn up in the display) and a portrait gallery. It's not meant to be a comprehensive study of the town — there's no Roman remains, for instance — but there are hints of some interesting things. I knew, for instance, that the poem "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" had local connections (its author and her family lived in Colchester), and is jealously guarded, but who knew that Humpty Dumpty was also possibly local. It has been claimed that Humpty Dumpty was the name of a huge cannon used to defend the town during the Siege of Colchester. The Parliamentarians bombarded the wall causing the cannon to fall to the ground and all attempts of the Royalists to raise it failed. It wasn't mentioned for 200 years (the theory was first raised by the local tourist board in 1996!), but it has gained some traction, certainly locally.

And finally, Firstsite, which is the art gallery nobody wanted but which has survived quite a few troubled years and even won the Museum of the Year prize in 2021. I'm still not convinced that it's as good as it could be. There are large open areas that are often filled with something big. I'd argue that big doesn't necessarily make it art. There's limited gallery space and it is not often given over to local artists. We were fortunate that, when we visited on Friday, there was an exhibit of work by landscape painter Denis Wirth-Miller, who lived just down the road from where I'm now sitting. He was the life partner of Richard Chopping, best known as the designer of Jonathan Cape's James Bond hardback covers. One interesting piece I spied — because you knew I'd bring it back to books at some point — was Chopping's original sketch for his novel The Fly, which was published by Secker & Warburg in 1965. The same artwork was used on the Pan paperback edition.

Also on the plus side, I completed a first pass on the latest artwork assignment and am doing a second pass just to make sure I didn't miss anything. Finished on Friday, with any luck, and that will leave me free to write the introduction next week.

Weekends are still being dedicated to clearing box mountain (see Comic Cuts passim). Only one box out this week (#14), but a couple of substantial parcels and a box of books that I sold to the guy who came round to fix the bath! There will be more stuff going up onto eBay on Sunday — some of Mel's manga comics and a miscellany from me if I have time. Hopefully some more Facebook sales, too. (There's a link to my eBay sales page near the top of the left-hand column, if you're interested.)

Here are a few random scans for your delectation and/or delight.