The Travels of the Beardd... well, some of them...

As strange or not as may seem, although to be honest strange is a word that hints at far more than seeming, especially when used in connexion with the Beard, several months have passed since the hirsute blogster has put virtual ink to screen and posted anything of interest... I know, I know, oh ye regular readers of said blog.... if I'm honest it's probably several years since the beard has had anything interesting to say either on here or elsewhere... but I digress...

So, why the silence, I hear you ask?? Or, to be pedantic, why the absence of words.. for as you have probably realised, Wisebeard!!!! , no matter how many exclamation marks it has, lacks any form of sound save for that which the reader hears in his or her head.. for which I, as always, deny all responsibility....

Well, in order to answer the question, the Beard needs to take you back in time to a rather nice part of his life when he met the young lady destined to be Mrs Beard...As you know, that led to a house move to Solihull, and a one and a quarter hour each-way commute to the wonderland that is Coalville... But over that last few months, due to work developments at the beautiful Mrs Beard's place of employ, the family Beard has downsized, downpriced, and downpillowed, leading to yet another move... this time back to the Beard's homeland, that beautiful area of the East midlands that lies at the borders of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire... and that, coupled with the house hunting, packing, moving, going on holiday and helping Mrs Beard move into her temporary digs in Bristol, along with trying to get on with wwriting that I actually get paid for or might get paid for, and still working full time,the old Blog has been sadly neglected...

But fear not Beard fans, for the Beard is back... at least, i assume he is.. but I may be wrong...

For those of you who are interested, which i realise is probably a minority of less than one, teh Beard has finally visited France... and a rather nice experience it was... as you all know, the Beard is a great fan of comics, and especially that form known as the Graphic Novel.. and to be quite honest, the french are possibly the greatest proponent of the genre... even more so than the Japanese, the British and the Amercans... so the beard makes no apologies for the time he spent hidden away in a Hypermarket reading Moebius (for those in the know, and for those who don't, the pseudonym of Jean Giraud, possibly the greatest comics artist ever...).... The adventures of Mike Blueberry being among the greatest westerns ever written....

Now the Beard has spoken several times about comics... and makes no bones about his love for the things... to me, a good comic is preferable to a good movie or tv show... and possibly even to a good book... and yet the comic is, even now, seen in this country as some lesser form of story telling... just as animation is seen as the poor relation of live action... but as any artist can tell you, a picture can be worth a thousand words... and comics for many used to be their entry to discovering the pleasure of reading... they are, when done well, like a film in still form... each frame advancing the story through the amalgamation of image and word, just as the cinematograph does... and they are suitable for adults, despite what some may say... adult comics deal with issues that somehow hit harder or become more accessible than if they were in any other form... and adult does not necessarily mean violent or obscene.. take Persepolis, for example.... and yet, comics are also very suitable for kids, being as they are a good halfway house between the childrens picture book (big pictures, few words) and the childrens story book ( smaller pics, lots of words)...

Which is why the Beard was saddened to hear of the demise of the Dandy.... and gladdened by news that it will survive, albeit in digital form... now we can moan all we like about the superiority of the paper comic over it's digital cousin, but like it or not, sales of paper comics are declining... and surely anything that encourages the reading of comics, that beautiful joining of art and literature, is to be applauded... ok, so you can't swap digital comics, you can't easily lend tham to friends, but lets's be honest, that sort of thing only happens rarely anyway... and there will always be paper comics... hopefully these digital ones will lead people to some of the good stuff out there.. hopefully, the modern, digital format will at least stave off the accusation that comics are old hat... but the Beard has always been full of hope...

I will admit that I was neer a big fan of the Dandy... I was more of a 2000AD kid... especially after the demise of Action, possibly the comic that more than any other inspired the more adult, darker, British comics industry that gave us Luthe rArkwright, Watchmen, Judge Dredd and V- for Vendetta.... and with more and more comics on the shelves that seem to consist mainly of a free gift, with one or to simplistic tv based stories and a rubbish quiz, maybe the digital Dandy will show kids taht comics vcan be so much more... so roll on December, and fingers crossed...

But it grows late, my internal spellchecker has decided to give up, and I still haven't told you about the Red-rumped Swallows, the possible Bonelli's and definite Short-toed eagles, Honey Buzzards and other such wonders, let alone the wolves howling in the Pyrennees, and the marvellous wildlife at teh new Beard-house.... but they can wait for another time... it just remains to say that hope springs eternal, and until all our springs gain that eternity, Wisebeard Salutes you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!