Will McPhail’s debut feature, IN., is published by Norma Editorial in Spain.
Normally when we face a reading, each one does it from their own prism. Being in a comfortable position with almost complete tranquility to be able to enjoy what you are going to read. In this case, wandering one day on the internet I came across Will McPhail, whose drawing and false realism amazed me, which I will explain later. “IN.” It was practically a must for my collection.
When I opened it and looked at it, I decided that I couldn’t read it as if it were something else. I knew it was a graphic novel with which to delight me, leisurely. And so is the graphic novel: slowly but surely. It puts us in the shoes of Nick, a lost illustrator. It’s quite easy to put yourself in the shoes of this one because it shows us that nowadays the conversations are banal and we basically do them for the doing.
In the first bars of IN. We can see how he develops his life without great fanfare or changes, always going to the same cafeterias for people who believe they are not and living on the margins of society. This margin shows us the absolute loneliness and reluctance of the character who meets Wren, a rather peculiar oncologist.
This first contact makes the character stop passing unnoticed through the streets and cafes and turns his life story upside down. His sister, his mother, his nephew, even the plumber will make Nick realize how he has been living and that he has done nothing to reverse it.
I’m not usually a very emotional person. I am not easily affected by “made to cry” movies or books. IN. It is the first graphic novel that I have had the need to cry. As you read, you are reflected as in a newly purchased mirror.
false realism
Regardless of whether your condition as a person is better or worse or if your social skills are like Nick’s, you will see yourself reflected in him without hesitation. The dialogues that the characters maintain end up leaving you with a feeling of discomfort that you want to remedy by reading more and more. Thinking that the character is finally going to end up giving in until everything ends as a happy story.
Another great point in favor of this graphic novel is the visual section. With a cool drawing IN. he mixes the light vignettes with marked characters and backgrounds until he reaches the height of what in my opinion is the best of all, the color drawings that show us what the character feels.
When I referred to “false realism” before, I was referring to the type of drawing that characterizes the author. It is a drawing that is obviously not realistic at all. What he conveys is a falsified reality in a drawing that is more like a newspaper cartoon than anything else. I don’t know why but you get to feel at some point that it’s realistic. That you are watching a movie and the shots transport you to reality.
This is also where the type of editing they have done can be a bad thing for these drawings that they ask me to do in a larger format so that they can be seen well. Even so, this graphic novel should be a must in the libraries of fans of the author.
About Will McPhail
Will McPhail has been creating graphic jokes and illustrations for The New Yorker since 2014. His work has also been published in magazines such as Private Eye and New Statesman. In 2013 he won the British Cartoonist’s Association Best Young Artist Award. In 2016 he the US National Cartoonists Society Reuben Award for Best Cartoonist. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.