The Amateur Astronomer's Journal by Neil Slorance

A HEARTFELT, personal and deeply touching story about keeping perspective and our place in the universe, The Amateur Astronomer's Journal by Neil Slorance reminds me what it is I find so profoundly beautiful about small press comics.

At its very best, the medium - and particularly the autobiographical corner of the market - is a platform where artists allow their heart and soul to pour onto a page and offer themselves, often warts and all, to our scrutiny.

In The Amateur Astronomer's Journal, Slorance has crafted a story with several intricate layers. His wonderful opening splash sets our story in a city that could be anywhere, inviting us to relate to his protagonist, as they work hard into the night, at an apparently thankless job. 

We watch her anxiety and frustration grow (For ease I'll assume she is a she, although with only long hair to go on I could be wrong, and it probably doesn't really matter anyway) and Slorance invites us to feel frustrated with her. 

I for one, recognise the flood of emails only to well, the sensation of being pulled in every direction and needing to escape, and so we are right by her side (and perhaps a little envious), when she says enough is enough and walks away. Shortly thereafter, a sparsely worded text message adds another layer of tension to the story, the circumstances behind it hanging over the reader and indeed our heroine throughout the story even though it isn't again referred to until much later.

In putting it before us here we see the conflict she is struggling with may well be more than just her apparent job dissatisfaction.

 

As she packs her bag to escape, Slorance takes us on a whistle-stop tour of her home, her belongings, her habits (those sandwiches made me hungry :-) and then her telescope and through it the memories it recalls of her father and how she first fell in love with astronomy.

And here, The Amateur Astronomer's Journal uses a literary device which reminded me of Moby Dick and, a little closer to home, Stan Sakai's 20-year masterpiece Usagi Yojimbo.

Like Moby Dick's dense but fascinating chapters exploring the details of whaling, or Sakai's sidelong glances into the processes of kite-making, or calligraphy or the art of the tea ceremony, Slorance presents a subject he clearly loves passionately and in doing so leaves us with the distinct impression that not only did he tell us a story, and a beautiful one at that, but he taught us something as well. 

As our heroine steps out into the night, she tells us where and when to go stargazing, how to find the right spot, what we should look for in the skies, the constellations, the planets to look out for and what we might expect to see in them, and all along we are never taken out of the tale being told - as she stops and remembers to eat her sandwiches, we simultaneously remember, this is more than just an astronomy lesson, this is someone's life unfolding.

Then slowly and gently, Slorance reminds us of his heroine's anxiety, in what she was really running from, and in a beautifully realised scene, that could be daydream or could be memory, she stands exposed to us. 

With the simplest and most elegant of pen lines, her mood changes, and as she walks home, relaxed and with something of a sense of clarity, the central metaphor of the tale is revealed to us, and this beautifully crafted story comes full circle just in time to touch our hearts.

But Slorance isn't done there, and where many artists might rest on their laurels at this point, happy he had made his point, he gives us what we need, the epilogue to send his reader home happy. 

That this is the same artist that brought us the wonderful Dungeon Fun speaks volumes of what he is capable of and hopefully of what more is still to come. 

While that book is a bright, colourful and funny romp, full of pop culture references and in jokes, The Amateur Astronomer's Journal is considered, thoughtful, touching, reflective and achingly beautiful. 

That it is rendered only in shades of grey only makes it all the more impressive that it shines so bright. 

I love both versions of Neil Slorance, but the one on show here will leave a mark on your heart like the footprints indelibly etched on the moon by Neil Armstrong and co all those years ago.

Neil Slorance does illustration, painting and mighty fine comics which you can buy at neilslorance.com. You can also find him on Twitter @osmart.