“See, I got
this comic book and it had your story in it. It’s called Oka Sundown. It’s all
about this monk called Milo. He’s identical to you even down to the clothes and
everything and how he meets this Zuikido Kid. They have this great adventure
together.”
“I don’t
understand,” Milo heard himself say.
“The
adventure – everything in the comic – happened in real-life to you and me! You
walking past the alley that first time, giving me a cigarette, the fight and
blowing away that yakuza, you getting nearly killed and the temple bell.”
“You knew I
was here because it was in the story...?”
That was an extract from Man in a Zen Ambulance with Milo the assasin-monk and the Kid. And
here are more from the noir Zen City, Iso.
First, Orson Palmer on a train to Ayutthaya with
Angel:
“Do you believe in anything – democracy, for example?”
“Overrated.”
“Fascism?”
“Overheated.”
“Anarcho-Syndicalism?”
“Over-egged.”
“Comic
books?”
“Oh, yes,”
I say. “Now I like those a lot.”
I pull out
my Valiant and hold it up to her. “You want to get stuck into proper reading
material like this, The Man Who Fell Into Tomorrow. It’s very enlightening.”
But Angel
picks up her paper again, gives it a sharp flick and starts reading.
And here’s Palmer again, this time at the Metropol Hotel
talking to the desk clerk:
Little Wong leans over me. “And what’s that?”
I hold up
flying discs from Venus zapping death rays at Hawker Hurricanes above a burning
Big Ben. A Terrific Tales! Golden Age comic.
“Look, you
got others in there as well.”
I nudge him
away then lean back in my chair. “Who did you say gave you this lot?”
“Samlo
jockey left it.”
“What did
he say exactly?”
“He said
give this to the big-nose-ugly-foreigner who wears those silly shirts and lives
upstairs.”
Finally, Angel and Palmer cutting loose at the Galaxy
Rose dance hall:
I sit down and shove the bag under my chair.
“Tell me,”
says Angel, “wearing a Hawaiian shirt with a sports jacket and – what on earth
is that – ah, yes, a Krakos the Egyptian necktie. Is that what you call
blending in?”
“More, I
think, a reflection of my warm and colourful personality.”
There’s plenty more. All inspired by Alan Class and other
Brit comics that go back as far as the 1940s. Some real, some imagined. Some
with a post-modernist twist that feeds directly into the action. But all designed to breathe
new life into Gail, Krakos and all the rest; entertain and, hey, maybe even provide
a few laughs. I hope my readers get a kick
out of these comics and characters. I know I have.
Enjoying the ride.
Still am.
Here are two excellent websites which were I made a lot of use of:
