Okay, usual disclaimer time – you know that James and I are both fans of Jamie McKelvie’s work and friendly with the man himself. But aside from getting in digs at Jeph Loeb at every available opportunity, we consider ourselves to be editorially neutral – and this works both ways. So, just as we wouldn’t hold back from giving Jamie a bad review if the book warranted it, neither should we feel like we have to stop ourselves writing about his work while it continues to be so great.

 And Suburban Glamour is, indeed, a great comic. It hasn’t clicked with everyone, and I’d put that down, at least in part, to its type of characters – much like those in Phonogram – having a quite specific appeal. But look beyond the superficial setting of “gorgeous hipster teenagers in faceless Midlands town”, and there’s a pretty universal theme on show. In fact, for all the talk comparing this series to Buffy The Vampire Slayer, you can actually look back even further to the classic childhood wish of being told that your parents aren’t your real parents, and you’re instead the heir to a fantastical world. There’s just more swearing here. And cooler clothes. And this is the point – McKelvie would be the first to admit that the fantasy elements are hardly original (he wears his influences on his sleeve, Neil Gaiman chief among them), but he’s telling them in a way that is completely here-and-now, and the sheer hipness of the whole thing is practically aspirational. Thus, while the sort of person who’d (stereotypically, at least) normally read a story about faeries probably can’t engage with the characters, the style of storytelling opens up the genre to an entirely new strata of potential readers. To batter a laboured point – consider what Scott Pilgrim does with the romance genre, and you’ll see what I mean.

If there’s been a problem with the series so far, then it’s probably the pacing. Issue three feels like a great halfway point – but less good as a penultimate chapter. I’ve had to keep reminding myself that it’s only a four-parter, as there are seemingly too many layers of mystery still to be unpicked – and, most probably, a lot of plot to get through in the final issue. At times, such as with the brilliant, Edgar Wright-ish montage from issue one, it’s been quickfire – but more often than not, the book has dealt in silent, longer and more ponderous moments; fine in and of themselves, but they don’t really seem suited to a series of this brevity.

That said, it’s one of the latter types of scene that here provides what is probably, as far as I’m concerned, the highlight of McKelvie’s artistic career so far – two panels on a page, the first a beautiful close-up of Astrid that demonstrates his Steve Dillon-esque knack for facial expressions, the second a stunning view of the landscape of… er… Lanbern… which probably took him about three weeks to draw. There’s also something which might count as the first proper “action” moment I’ve seen from him – and an entertaining use of the panels surrounding the action seeming to rattle around it in the manner of an old Incredible Hulk cover.

Suburban Glamour may not have the jaw-droppingly-unmissable nature of Phonogram, and it may feel firmly like a fledgling writer just starting to find their voice. But it’s sharp, funny – and easily the most beautiful-looking comic this side of Frank Quitely.

Tags: Jamie McKelvie, Suburban Glamour
Publisher: Image