Hot on the heels of Lew Stringer’s Fanzine Funnies which reprinted the misadventures of The Prisoner’s large white ball, including his attempts to get another acting job after the cult television series ended, comes fellow OiNK cartoonist and Psycho Gran creator David Leach’s Monolith. Based upon the flat matte slab and key mysterious element at the centre of the plot to the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, just like the Monolith itself this is a comic of few words. Or rather, no words for the most part.
While it only appeared in two films (Stanley Kubrick’s original and 2010: The Year We Make Contact) it appears their lack of a long and satisfying Hollywood career wasn’t for the lack of trying. Each of David’s three A5-size comics features 25 full-page movie poster-like illustrations of the Monolith in key leading roles from some of the most successful and memorable films in cinematic history. Naturally I’ll start with my favourite movie of all time.
While I half expected the Monolith to be in place of the shark, with perhaps a corner poking out of the water, the point here is that they’ve auditioned for lead human roles in all of these films, in this case the character of Quint from Jaws who was just perfectly played by Robert Shaw. Another Steven Spielberg movie favourite of mine is also a highlight from this first issue, as is a certain slice of 80s cinema magic starring the hugely missed Prince.
As you can see there are no captions or movie titles on any of these and part of the fun is the surprise when you see an image and realise it’s one of your favourite films. There were a couple here and there throughout the three issues that took me a few seconds to work out which film they were simply because I wasn’t that familiar with the original promotional image, but needless to say you should know them all, or at least the vast majority.
The middle issue starts off strong with a Free Willy piece, the best page in the whole issue for me. I just found it so funny to see this great lumbering rectangle replace the natural, elegant imagery of an orca. (That’ll be one hell of a belly flop.) So maybe he could’ve been Jaws’ shark after all. The Monolith’s impression of a Dalek somehow captures the cheap and thrown-together feel of those 60s serials, and for me David’s take on The Exorcist poster is infinitely better than the movie was.
At the rear of each issue are the answers to which movies have been pastiched and the Monolith explains why he didn’t get each and every part. For a movie prop they’ve certainly been subjected to an awful lot of allergies in their professional career. Thankfully that didn’t stop them from enjoying a full and fulfilling life if #3 is anything to go by. After a handful of new movie posters the rest of the final issue is made up of photos from the Monolith’s personal photo albums, beginning with that fateful audition day.
As well as having the obligatory James Bond movie poster this issue has images of all the key moments from an average person’s life. Such events as their first bike, first school play, Hallowe’ens and Christmases and even graduation are all given a new, and very funny, makeover thanks to David’s imagination.
This is just a small selection of the 75 illustrations David has completed for Monolith. Everything from Alien to Singing in the Rain, from Citizen Kane to Dirty Dancing is included. But you don’t have to take my word for how enjoyable this mini-series is, also included is a page of praise from some of those given an early look at the comics including a couple of notable OiNK alumni, namely co-creator Tony Husband and cartoonist Davey Jones.
Comedian Rob Deering gets the best quote, though: “Thanks – I’ll have a look and get back to you.”
This irreverence kind of sums up David’s work better than anything. If you were a fan of his OiNK contributions then I can’t recommend these highly enough. At £5 per issue you can get yours from Dead Universe Comics and if you don’t live in Aylesbury you can order for delivery. While their website seems to have been “under construction” for what seems like a lifetime it does have their email address and telephone number.
Go on, treat yourself, or since the festive season is just around the corner throw a Christmas hint at a loved one!
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