It was heralded as “the longest comic strip in the world” and at this stage you’ve probably never heard of it. Even as it brought together a great number of British comics creators and was spearheaded by the likes of David Lloydand Alan Moore. I mean, it even passed me by when it was originally released and I had to track down a copy nearly half a decade later.
I won’t tell you how much I spent for it, but I’m still kind of rankled by the experience. Not the cost. No. It was shipped fairly well packaged, in a bubble mailer, fitted between two pieces of sturdy cardboard, and with labels on it that said “Do Not Bend”. Apparently the Canada Post worker took that as a challenge. They would have really had to work at it not only to crease the cardboard, but also break the spine of a perfect bound comic. It was folded in half in my mail box. Even took a bit of work to get the bloody thing out of there when it arrived.
I lodged a complaint. Recompense and justice are slow moving sometimes, especially withing the halls of Canadian government corporations, but as they say, the worm turns…
“In the beginning was the worm…”
Imagine messing up reading a comics script and lettering in worm instead of word. That’s kind of the impetus for the story in Cartoon Art Trust’s project The Worm.Featuring 250 panels, it was originally presented as one long, massive comic strip, with a story by Alan Moore, as scripted by Jamie Delano, Steve Moore, Andrew Cartmel, Garth Ennis, Hilary Robinson, illustrated by the army listed below, and lettered by Elitta Fell& Ellie De Ville.All put together in order to help raise funds to keep the London Cartoon Centre open.
It’s an interesting piece that winds its way through history, the history of writing and art, major advancements in civilization, from prehistory to modern office drudgery. Before entering into a narrative of the encumbered, disrespected artist. Working for pennies on the dollar, expected to churn out at a ridiculously pace, and repeatedly replaced by the Rodent Brothers. Again and again. It’s an interesting shift into what’s essentially commentary on creators’ rights. Filled with some rather dark humour. And then the utopia that emerges when the creator takes back control.
You can argue that the story is a bit simple as it traverses history and art, before drilling into a hyper-specific art problem, although when you look at the industry even today, it appears timeless. This was common just 35 years ago and is still common now. Though despite the story, the real highlight is through the artists navigating this massive undertaking. There’s a wide array of art from many of Britain’s best and brightest, ranging from Charlie Adlard to Oscar Zarate. Weaving through painted art, scratchy black and white illustrations, exaggerated cartoons, to highly detailed photo-realistic pieces. It really is incredible the breadth of styles running through this work.
The only downside is probably the reproduction. For print, everything has been shrunk down to fit six panels on the page. It compresses the art from the size of the original, long continuous strip and also makes the otherwise impressive lettering from Elitta Fell and Ellie De Ville somewhat difficult to read (and made busy because there are also Swedish and French translations on the finished product, crowding the art). Still, it’s a fascinating artifact of the time.
“This morning some woman wanted to hire my stomach as a bouncy castle for her kids party.”
The massive work of The Wormfrom Moore “and a galaxy of greats” ends on a cliffhanger. Though the artist’s work is done for the night, and he turns out the light, it gives us a “To be continued…” Because the creator’s job is never done, history and time continue to march on. And ostensibly foundations like the Cartoon Art Trust will continue to be underappreciated and underfunded by governments and people alike. Sadly not realizing that art, of recreation and education, are quintessential to the human experience.
Although thankfully the creator jam comic, even the British creator jam comic, persists. With a spiritual successor kind of appearing relatively recently in Duncan Jones, Alex De Campi, and their collaborators’ ambitious MADIproject.
Classic Comic Compendium: THE WORM
The Worm
Story: Alan Moore
Script: Jamie Delano, Steve Moore, Andrew Cartmel, Garth Ennis, Hilary Robinson
Artists: Robert Bliss, Steve Bliss, Brad Brooks, Paul Schroeder, Glenn Fabry, Bambos Georgiou, Robin Smith, Junior Tomlin, Kevin O’Neill, Ian Ellery, John Bolton, Dave King, Simon Harrison, John Higgins, Brian Williamson,Steve White,Dicky Howett,Mike Gordon,Geoff Campion,Darren Goodacre,Nick Craine,Bojan M Djukicm.Ed Pinsent,Andy Williams,Ed McHenry,Liam Sharp,Paul Johnson,Rod Page,Anthony Hutchings,Carole Tyrrell,SMS,Lizzy Baker,Kate Charlesworth,Lee Sullivan,Al Davison,Dick Millington,Dougie Braithwaite,Allan Robinson,Sophie Grillet,Chris Best,Bob Moulder,Chris Kelly,Clive Collins,Gary Dorking, Steve Whitaker,Suzy Varty,Bill Naylor,Peter Poole,Andy Dixon,Lesley Dalton,Chris Welch,Dave Gibbons,Stephen Baskerville,Ron Tiner,Bill Newton,Des Penny,Helen McCookerybook,Cinders McLeod,Pol Sigerson,Jason Askew,Andy Scordellis,Gary Boller,Kev Sutherland,Arthur Ranson,David Leach,Paul Grist,Carl Flint,Steve Gibson,Charlie Brooker,Warren Pleece,Fred Nurney,David Pugh,Andrew Pilcher,Aidan Potts,John Stokes,Jeremy Banks,Rian Hughes,Art Wetherell,Dermot Power,Chris Riddell,Jo McLaren,Carl Critchlow,Phil Gascoine,Davey Jones,Bill Greenhead,Martin Griffiths,Graham P Manley,Duncan Fegredo,Colin Wyatt,John McCrea,Ian Gibson,Andrew Wildman,Charlie Adlard,John Erasmus,Pete McGeough,Paul Hardman,M Searle,Paul Brown,Richard Weston,Nick Abadzis,Gerry Dolan,Jim Baikie,Ted Dewan,Lee Barnard,Nick Grant,Mark Buckingham,Barrie Mitchell,Steve Marchant,Roger Mahoney,Dario Sanchez,Steve Yeowell,Bob Lynch,Jiouxleigh Jacobs,Oscar Zarate,Chris Webster,Yan Shimony,Nigel Dobbyn,Glenn Dakin,Andy Roberts,Richard Piers Rayner,Sylvia Starshine,Caroline Della Porta,Matt Brooker,Corinne Pearlman,Myra Hancock,Bryan Talbot,Hunt Emerson,Donald Rooum,Mike Collins,David A. Roach,Don Lawrence & David Lloyd
Letterers: Elitta Fell& Ellie De Ville
Publisher:Slab-O-Concrete
Release Date: 1999
Read past entries in the Classic Comic Compendium!
Check out other recent review pieces from The Beat!
