The pat
response to hearing about a new graphic novel about The Fall frontman Mark E
Smith would be to say that it shouldn't be too hard to do – he's already a
cartoon. Decades of self-mythologising, abetted by journalists happy to colour the
outline in familiar shades: a face squiggled with lines and a fag hanging out
of the gob, gnomic pronouncements and scathing put-downs, drink and drugs and
rows.
It's
gratifying, then, that the new graphic memoir I'll Be Your Mirror, drawn by Keith McDougall and co-written with
Una Baines, a founding member of The Fall, presents a young, relatively
fresh-faced Smith, one not yet hemmed in by his own mythology.
Baines also
played in Manchester bands Blue Orchids and Poppycock, as well as touring with
Nico, but the first issue of the memoir focuses on how she met Smith as a
teenager. It's 1973, but the book avoids grim-up-north clichés as adroitly as
it dodges the typical narrative about The Fall. McDougall's illustrations
reflect the overall tone, which is teenager-bubbly – Bowie, T. Rex, feminist
marches and psychedelia.
Smith puts
Baines onto the Velvets as she outgrows glam rock, she puts him onto women's
rights, they drop LSD and, finally, they start a band. Or rather, Mark does. In
signature style, by hijacking her neighbour's covers group and launching into
an impromptu performance of ‘Sweet Jane’. The final image shows him centre
stage, lips curled, flanked by two bewildered musicians, person and persona
already beginning to merge.
Hopefully
there'll be some more about Baines herself in later editions, which will tell
the story of her relationship with Mark, but there's more than enough here to
pique the interest, and not only for fans of The Fall. Manchester looks set to
be a major supporting character throughout, hopefully avoiding its usual
thankless role of moody backdrop.
The launch
is taking place at
Islington Mill on 29 May, featuring Una's band Poppycock with support from
ILL and Rose & The Diamond Hand.
Words: Fearghus
Roulston
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