*DISCLAIMER*
First and foremost this article is not about expressing our views on the topic of suicide. This is a very emotional and personal subject for all of us and we aren’t even remotely qualified to talk about the issue of suicide – so for anyone reading this looking to start a flame war against the Stephen, Cormac and Robert, please jog on and keep your opinions to yourself! We fully support the work these lads have put together!
*DISCLAIMER*
Now with that out of the way let’s get back to what really matters… this Comic! With part one of three released at the end of April, we’ve taken our time carefully flipping through the pages and absorbing the finely inked lines and chosen words! The Society for the Remarkable Suicide is the latest story to come from Stephen Coffey, the same man behind the children’s book ‘Rosemary Herbb and the Zodiac Ghosts’ and the Celtic Knight comics about Irish superheroes, both of which have sold out!
To say that this is a different direction from Stephen’s work is an understatement, ‘The Society for the Remarkable Suicide’ is a twisted story that highlights the dark side of life and the human existence, bringing us to the edge but pulling us away with a heart warming and genuine love story.
The first thing about the book we notice is the cover, a red noose knotted into a heart-shape, a chilling font spells out the title of the book in white letters against a deep black background. Turning the pages we’re greeted with three startling, different images and a short story that acts as the premise for the book.
The images are of three men, who have or are about to take their own lives in quite remarkable ways and really have to be seen to be believed – the men are Cormac Hughes, Robert Carey (two of the artists involved in the book) and Kevin Logue, an artist in Derry. The real gem is the short story and precursor to the main plot ‘The Son of Joe’, written by Stephen it details the death of a young man after he feels like he has lost the only thing in his life that mattered, love! After finding his son, dead, hanging from an exposed rafter, something changes inside Joe and so the world for The Society is created…
‘Once this comes to pass my work begins. My work is to document their final moment. Years ago my son took his own life. I heard the ambulance driver call it in as a simple hanging. I became the leader of the Society for the Remarkable Suicide’
Immediately we are thrown into the world of Trevor and Catherine, two of the newest members of the society, both of whom have given up on living their lives. Trevor seems to have it all, a great job, money, nice home, loving family but something inside him feels wrong and unable to find the answer he opts to end it all. Catherine is a broken woman, selling her body to pay the rent and buy the drugs she needs to escape her own personal hell, she finds herself no longer wanting to exist, both have come to the Society to die.
There, the pair meet at a meeting in which a current member announces his plans for his own death and Joe, the leader of the group explains the rules for the Society and offers them both their contract. Catherine scratches her name without hesitation and coaxes Trevor into signing his own. The path has been set before them but neither have counted on just how much their chance meeting will affect their lives and give them both a chance to change and continue!
The Society for the Remarkable Suicide is not pretty, it is brutal, twisted and dark, it explores a fact of life, a taboo, something few of us dare even speak about let alone write and draw about it. The Society is not pretty, it is beautiful.
Not some rush job penned and inked together with a shocking title and story meant to peddle copies to overly emotional and angst ridden teens – it is a piece of work, no art! Art that engages, challenges and lives with us every day. Stephen has offered us a window into a world
(albeit a fantasy one) where the issue of suicide is not taboo but is fact and real, not something to be muttered behind closed doors.
The awkwardness, tension and confusion at the Society meeting is brilliantly scripted and drawn and we find ourselves squirming as much as Trevor does.
The characters of Joe, Catherine and Trevor are all very different despite being bound by the issue of suicide and death. Joe stands out the most, a man who seems more robotic in his methods and mannerisms than human has imprinted himself on our minds, not only from the short story before the comic but with his interaction with the two protagonists and we can’t help but wonder what goes through his mind. (On a side note, does anyone else think Joe looks a little like Stan Lee?)
The artwork by Hughes and Carey is clean, detailed and sharp and while it is apparent that there are three very different styles of creation at work here – Carey’s, Hughes’ and Coffey’s, the three have managed to create something that flows perfectly from page to page, panel to panel.
This is not a manual written to help readers kill themselves, this is not a book that encourages readers to commit suicide, this is a raw story about death, life, hope and love. Suicide is featured in the book, remarkable, beautifully drawn and thought out deaths, final moments captured by the enigmatic leader but these are not the focus of the book. The story is about hope found at the end of despair, about finding light even in the darkest of places and most of all this is a story about love.
For those who might be turned off by the title of the book, we urge you to pick up a copy otherwise you are missing out on one truly well told and drawn story.
The Society for the Remarkable Suicide Part I is available to buy now, just click here!
Alternatively you can pick up a copy in store in Dublin City Comics!
To keep up to date with news about the series, you can find the official Facebook page!
You can also check out our interview with writer, Stephen Coffey, right here!
