The Woods by Aimee Lockwood

The Woods by Aimee Lockwood

EXCEPTIONALLY creepy, experimental, brave and utterly unique, The Woods by Aimee Lockwood is another strong entry into the burgeoning portfolio of one of the most talented new faces on the UK small press scene.

The first thing that struck me about The Woods is the absolute commitment to craft that went into making it:
An A6 handmade comic; The Woods appears to have been printed on a variety of coloured pages, with a series of 'windows' of varying shapes hand-cut from each page to reveal details from the following pages. 
Just putting each issue together must have been a labour of love in itself, to say nothing of the thought that must have gone into designing it and the skill and talent that actually drew each wonderful page.
One of the things I like the most about Lockwood is her refusal to be pigeonholed. 
Her portfolio could easily be filled with charming, warm and engaging autobiographical stories that are as endearing as they are beautifully rendered, but her ambitions stretch further than that and The Woods is another example of her diversity as a storyteller.
Eschewing a traditional narrative structure, Lockwood presents a series of images which begin with a couple apparently innocently wandering into a wooded area. 

But for anyone expecting a sweet, creepy, spooky story, Lockwood has other ideas in mind. 
The images soon take a decidedly less pleasant turn, crows peck at the pearl necklace still hanging around the skeleton of a woman, at rest under a giant toadstool; a young boy stands holding a rock in the air, a look of malevolent joy on his face as he considers dropping his weapon down over the head of a defenceless duck swimming by; a man digs an ominous hole while silhouettes of horned figures watch over him; a hideous two-headed beast, part wold, part bird, part fish, slavers over human bones while naked, horned demonic figures sit on its back; and that barely takes us to half way in this gloriously twisted little book.

With each new page Lockwood ramps up the demonic imagery, offering only the barest hint of the horrors to come in the 'windows' she cuts into each page, teasing us, daring us to turn it to see how much further she can take it. 
It's a shame to think not a lot of people will get a chance to see this one.
It's format makes reproduction difficult and the issue I got was one of only 25 made I think, but I'm glad I got it.
It's another book from a cartoonist I've become a fan of very quickly.
Make no mistake about it, The Woods is an achievement and the calling card of a creator consumed with passion for comics, brave enough to approach making them in unique and new ways and committed enough to pull that off in a way that is hugely enjoyable as a fan.
I've said it already, but Aimee Lockwood is a creator everyone is going to be talking about in no time at all. 

You can find Aimee Lockwood on Twitter @AimeeDraws and you can buy her comics from her website www.aimeelockwood.co.uk

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