Titaqn Books: The Absence

The Absence

• Graphic Novel

  USUKCA

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 The Absence
Martin Stiff
Titan Books
B&W and grey scale
 288 pages
hard cover
US trade size

ISBN 9781782760382

Available 4 March, 2014

UK £14.99   US 19.99  Can $22.95

 As a coastal village in southern England struggles to recover from the losses of war, it is rocked by the return of a man long hoped dead: the disfigured Marwood Clay.

In a place where everybody hides a guilty past, and unspeakable past crimes lurk just beneath the surface... what terrible secrets has this exile brought back with him? And what happened during his absence?

While Marwood struggles to rebuild his life, newcomer Dr. Robert Temple builds a strange house for himself, on the hill overlooking the town. Clay is consumed by a nightmarish past he cannot remember, Temple by visions of a future he cannot prevent.

And then a young boy vanishes on Christmas Day…

There is not much I can say about the art in this rather chunky book. Again, another sketchy and minimalist style that, if I am honest, detracted from any story.  The story itself was okay but nothing amazingly new -it all smacked a little of the tv series Broadchurch, which I found to be an over-hyped bore. 

That writ, I suppose that the fact that this Titan Comics series has made it into chunky hardback format must mean someone like it more than I did. There are many styles in use today to draw comics. This is just one I do not rate too highly. But what do I know after allmost 40 years in comics -it'll probably be a best seller!

Check out Martin Stiff's blog here:

http://absencecomic.blogspot.co.uk/

And if Martin Stiff reads this -DON'T take it personally! I'm a very jaded old hack.