Overview

The story of the legendary comedian Tony Hancock in words, pictures, and not without a few interruptions from The Lad Himself, who proves a little infuriated at how his story is told... as those who know and love his work would fully expect!When he appeared on radio and television in the 1950s, Hancock immediately became an archetype and so he has remained. The writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson basically invented the sitcom form for him, teasing out the threads of his personality and creating from them a universally recognisable figure: the ever-aspiring, grumpy, petty, frustrated everyman pitted against society, bureaucracy, jobsworth vindictiveness and whatever you're having yourself; the best and worst of all of us, down to his last shilling for the meter. WC Fields, Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton and Sid Field all came before him. Young Hancock was hugely influenced by them all, just as successive generations of comic actors (Cleese, Fry and Merton, to name a few) have been massively influenced by Hancock. The Office, Black Books, Peep Show and all the other great British sitcoms of the present day are variations on the Hancock template. The Lad Himself is the creation of writer Stephen Walsh and artist Keith Page, exploring the strange life of a much-admired comedian.

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9781914169991

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"""It's really good in a way that creeps up onyou. Hancock's brilliance and comedy are timeless but the inner demons andinsecurities that caused him to destroy himself are timeless too. This graphicnovel shows us both sides of the man."" -- Neil Gaiman (Good Omens,Sandman) ""This work of love by talented fans is atriumph."" -- Nick West, The Tony Hancock Appreciation Society ""Stone me, it's a work of genius."" --Robert Ross, Comedy Historian ""Simply put, instantly one of the greatestBritish graphic novels ever. An immediate classic. Moving, funny, tragic andsurreal. A tale that could only be told in comics form. Buy it and becomeentranced in the funny yet melancholy life of a British icon, beautifully told.""-- Mike Collins (2000AD, Doctor Who, Good Omens) ""The Lad Himself is a complex,darkness-touched story told with kindness and elegance about a man convinced hedeserved neither. It's a salute to a generation who changed comedy. Most of allit's a complex series of nested punchlines about a man whose life was far morethan all of them, and who could never quite let himself believe that. Tragedy,comedy, horror and joy, all wrapped up in a big hat and a bigger coat,repeating the eternal half hour."" -- Alasdair Stewart, The Full Lid An authentic voice transmits throughout viaexcellently devised speech patterns, with a recurring motif of aself-destructive propensity for mistaking ambition for capability. In all, thegood, the bad, and ugly of Hancock are duly and stylishly offered to present aman who delighted millions, but tragically never himself."" -- FrankPlowright, Slings & Arrows"

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