The Pitch: Girls are going missing in Welmort, a dead-end town and home of twenty-eight-year-old Kris, who has been stuck there for over two years to care for her deteriorating mother. Used to a mundane life, Kris begins to notice something strange. Someone is watching. As more girls disappear, worrying events begin to make Kris wish life in Welmort would just go back to boring.
Emma Raven is a young artist who has been producing graphic novels since 2017, starting with her two-volume series Dahlia, which concluded with the trippy Eye, Spy, Riddle or Die. Emma writes and draws politically charged comics, with a strong dose of social commentary and excitement, which she infuses into thrilling, atmospheric genres - in this case, horror. Her work is inspired by Koji Morimoto, Frank Miller and Ashley Wood.
But Just Putting My Face On is no ordinary horror. It has no monsters or ghosts. Instead, it concentrates on the horror of modern life and modern people. The terror of the mundane. The creeping dread of social media and the demands it places on our lives and mental health.
Emma discusses the theme on the OGN’s Kickstarter page: “Social media offers us a seductive alternative reality. Beauty, sex, trends, connection, fantasies. In this comic, the topic of beauty is a focus. It touches on the issues of body image amongst women and the addiction to scrolling through images of what we wish we could be.”
Emma admits the comic was borne out of the culture shock of moving from busy East London, where she had lived and studied all of her life, to Cambridgeshire. “I just felt like ‘ This place doesn’t have a train station. There’s no art. No nightlife. Not much of anything happens here. There’s not much to do but nap.’ So I started to think… what if something did happen here? Something a little… scary.” Combined with her love of horror, she began to thread a sinister tale into the mix of this dull little town.
Of course, like the plot, the characters are a blend of personal experiences and funny memories. The work became therapeutic for Emma, especially as she was living somewhere far removed from her old life. She kept as much of those feelings in the work and also the memories within the relationships and conversations that weave in and out of the plot. The lead in Just Putting My Face On is Kris. But who is she?
Growing up in boring old Welmort. Leaving for university to study creative writing. Graduating with a first. Winding right back where you started. It wasn’t exactly what Kris had in mind but her mum was starting to forget things. Older sister Becky was busy with her daughter Jessica. Kris had to step in. Welmort reaches September, Kris’ third year anniversary of a never-ending cycle of boredom. All seems set to continue until she starts to notice something odd…
Coupled with the boredom of life in Welmort and the sense of being trapped, Kris’ frustration makes her hyper-sensitive to the strange and creepy goings on. She feels somewhat connected to it and the terror that ensues grows ever more personal for our main character.
Emma has created a muted, cold tone in her art, with full colour save for the covers and endpapers. This adds to the isolation of the work, enriching its atmosphere.
Based in a fictional British town, this graphic novel shows us that monsters and ghosts have nothing on real people.
You can back Just Putting My Face On here. If you want to check out Emma’s previous work, which is available to buy, right here.