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It's Dark in London
Comics have thrived in London over the centuries with Gilray, Hogarth, the first edition of 'Comick Magazine' in 1976, Thomas Rowlandson's 'Doctor Syntax' in 1809 and the first edition of Punch in 1841. In this century, there have been attempts to reserve comics for kids with the growth of magazines like Dandy and Beano. But the comic strip is too rich an art form to be just for kids - in recent years, a new generation of British artists has developed a rich synthesis of the Continental graphic novel and American comic strips. In It's Dark in London the work of some of these artists is featured - Alan Moore, Ilya, Neil Gaiman, David McKean, Carol Swain, Dix - in tandem with the stories of London writers like Iain Sinclair, Graeme Gordon, Christopher Petit and Stella Duffy. This fusion produces a portrait of London that captures the city's fundamental essence as exquisite mixture of lofty towers and gutter sleaze, of suburban gentility and urban depravity, of private vices and public philanthropy.
120 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1996
8 people are currently reading
165 people want to read
About the author
Oscar Zárate
60 books23 followersOscar Zárate (born 1942) is an Argentine comic book artist and illustrator. Zarate studied architecture and had a successful career in advertising in Argentina. He moved to Europe in 1971 and began to work in earnest as an illustrator. He has drawn for the UK comics magazine Crisis. In the Introducing... and ...For Beginners book series he illustrated texts written by Richard Appignanesi, Alexei Sayle, Dylan Evans, J P McEvoy, Angus Gellatly and Rupert Woodfin. He is perhaps best known in the United States as the artist for the graphic novel A Small Killing written by Alan Moore, the a full length story about a once idealistic advertising executive haunted by his boyhood self.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
February 4, 2018
Toda vez que leio/vejo uma coletânea de alguma coisa (em qualquer mídia) me pego repetindo a velha ladainha sobre coletâneas: a qualidade é, quase sempre, muito irregular.
Com A Vida Secreta de Londres não é diferente: algumas histórias são boas (Alan Moore, Gaiman, Graeme Gordon, Alexei Sayle) algumas são bastante esquecíveis. Em vez de fornecer um panorama das entranhas de Londres, há pequenas peças que ressaltam violências, relacionamentos, repressões e depressões que poderiam ser vividas em qualquer lugar do globo - há claramente autores que pensaram "ah, dá pra enfiar um noirzinho qualquer aqui que tá de boas".
Um excelente acréscimo à edição brasileira é o ensaio "Deambulando a caminho de Londres", de Rogério de Campos, explicando a criação e a evolução da psicogeografia na cultura inglesa ao longo do século XX.
Com A Vida Secreta de Londres não é diferente: algumas histórias são boas (Alan Moore, Gaiman, Graeme Gordon, Alexei Sayle) algumas são bastante esquecíveis. Em vez de fornecer um panorama das entranhas de Londres, há pequenas peças que ressaltam violências, relacionamentos, repressões e depressões que poderiam ser vividas em qualquer lugar do globo - há claramente autores que pensaram "ah, dá pra enfiar um noirzinho qualquer aqui que tá de boas".
Um excelente acréscimo à edição brasileira é o ensaio "Deambulando a caminho de Londres", de Rogério de Campos, explicando a criação e a evolução da psicogeografia na cultura inglesa ao longo do século XX.
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September 8, 2012I think this cover is for the original 1996 version, but I read the 2012 reissue - which, annoyingly, has no indication of what pieces are new. My instinct is that the book was better left as a historical document, because so much of it, especially the short prose pieces by Alan Moore and Iain Sinclair, has since been expanded into parts of much bigger works, and the best bit of all - Moore's From Hell epilogue 'I Keep Coming Back' - is available elsewhere in its entirety. And yet...the collection is definitely more than the sum of its parts. The enigmatic photo/map collages of places in which the story's set, Woodrow Phoenix's wordless, unpeopled You Are Here - these are not things that would work in isolation, but as a setting for the gems and even the minor noir tales herein, they work.
June 28, 2012
Fully expected to like this, what with Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean, & Alan Moore works in it. Someone forgot to tell the storywriters that plotlines still make a good story, just because one can put words on paper does not mean it is good writing. The majority of the artwork was way below even mediocre standards. Some stories (i.e. "The Griffen's Egg") went even beyond poor to the inane level.
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January 25, 2021This is hardboiled noir at its best – a brutal and bleak examination of the stark side of the human condition.
First published a quarter-century ago, this slim volume collects a dozen standalone stories by gifted contributors. In most of the tales the location is almost irrelevant, so don't pay too much attention to the 'London' in the title. The corrupted characters and their fragmented lives are the compelling components of each episode, so we get up close and very personal with some sleazy, sordid characters.
Alan Moore’s in-depth examination of strip-joints – the clientele and the sex-workers themselves – is both candid and chilling in its clear-eyed representation of desperate manipulation. Neil Gaiman imagines what might happen if the most beautiful man alive was trafficked to a ruthless gangster… and the outcome is entirely unexpected.
There is, however, a glimmer of potential redemption lurking in the shadows. An aging robber risks everything to reconcile with the daughter he’s never known. A coroner breaks (almost) every boundary in his relationship with a dead person – but with delicate grace this story confronts the possibilities of dual-gender identities, way ahead of its time.
A couple of the stories are just plain fun. In one, the modern art industry takes a well-deserved kicking for its commercial exploitation of the lonely plight of the common man. (The nature of the ‘art’ is wickedly witty.) In another, a woman walking her dogs on the common is accosted by a strange man – and things don’t turn out quite like you’d imagine. That one is a gleefully guilty pleasure!
Throughout, different artists depict the mood and mayhem in stark monotones. You’ll be amazed how much depth and subtlety can be portrayed in simple black and white – in the same way that a few short pages of minimal text can reveal so many truths and their consequences.
9/10
First published a quarter-century ago, this slim volume collects a dozen standalone stories by gifted contributors. In most of the tales the location is almost irrelevant, so don't pay too much attention to the 'London' in the title. The corrupted characters and their fragmented lives are the compelling components of each episode, so we get up close and very personal with some sleazy, sordid characters.
Alan Moore’s in-depth examination of strip-joints – the clientele and the sex-workers themselves – is both candid and chilling in its clear-eyed representation of desperate manipulation. Neil Gaiman imagines what might happen if the most beautiful man alive was trafficked to a ruthless gangster… and the outcome is entirely unexpected.
There is, however, a glimmer of potential redemption lurking in the shadows. An aging robber risks everything to reconcile with the daughter he’s never known. A coroner breaks (almost) every boundary in his relationship with a dead person – but with delicate grace this story confronts the possibilities of dual-gender identities, way ahead of its time.
A couple of the stories are just plain fun. In one, the modern art industry takes a well-deserved kicking for its commercial exploitation of the lonely plight of the common man. (The nature of the ‘art’ is wickedly witty.) In another, a woman walking her dogs on the common is accosted by a strange man – and things don’t turn out quite like you’d imagine. That one is a gleefully guilty pleasure!
Throughout, different artists depict the mood and mayhem in stark monotones. You’ll be amazed how much depth and subtlety can be portrayed in simple black and white – in the same way that a few short pages of minimal text can reveal so many truths and their consequences.
9/10
January 30, 2021
Há alguns momentos interessantes nesta antologia gráfica e narrativa. O de Neil Gaiman é um dos pontos altos, mas pessoalmente fico sempre deslumbrado pelas colaborações de Dave McKean e Iain Sinclair, o grafismo do ilustrador cruza-se de forma genial com o surrealismo psicogeográfico do escritor. De resto, o livro vale por ser uma viagem à cidade que, mesmo nestes tempos brexit, não deixa de excercer o seu fascínio.
June 23, 2019
This is a fascinating snapshot of indie comics in the UK in the mid nineties. As an artefact of that world it’s fascinating. Unfortunately the stories and strips themselves, for all the good the great creators involved do for the quality of the thing, are amazingly variable. Some of the stories are thuddingly obvious and others frustratingly opaque. Even the psychographry crowd are off their game in this. A frustrating read
February 11, 2018
With the creators involved in this book, I should have owned it a long time ago. I finally remembered to pick up this newer edition only recently, and I still am unsure how satisfied I am with it.
The writers and artists herein were, at the time of the book's original publication, some of the brightest stars in the independent British Comics firmament. Some -- like Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman -- have stood the test of time and remain powerful names not only in comics but in modern writing. Many others here have sadly either faded or vanished from the field.
The quality of the work here varies, but never drops to Just Plain Bad. There are pieces wonderful, bewildering and entertaining, quite often all at once. We are offered short textual work from Alan Moore (who contributes more overall here than anyone else), Iain Sinclair, Tony Grisoni and others, straight comics from a marvelous variety of writers and illustrators, and also some simple imagery without words including uncredited geographic interstitials.
Though the quality and directness of narrative may vary here, this collection stands at the very least as a testimony to a time and a collection of creators joined to offer their views on one of the world's great cities. It is absolutely worth a read by those in love with London, and a must-have for fans of any of the creators showcased within.
The writers and artists herein were, at the time of the book's original publication, some of the brightest stars in the independent British Comics firmament. Some -- like Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman -- have stood the test of time and remain powerful names not only in comics but in modern writing. Many others here have sadly either faded or vanished from the field.
The quality of the work here varies, but never drops to Just Plain Bad. There are pieces wonderful, bewildering and entertaining, quite often all at once. We are offered short textual work from Alan Moore (who contributes more overall here than anyone else), Iain Sinclair, Tony Grisoni and others, straight comics from a marvelous variety of writers and illustrators, and also some simple imagery without words including uncredited geographic interstitials.
Though the quality and directness of narrative may vary here, this collection stands at the very least as a testimony to a time and a collection of creators joined to offer their views on one of the world's great cities. It is absolutely worth a read by those in love with London, and a must-have for fans of any of the creators showcased within.
November 4, 2017
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2892401.html
A collection of short pieces about London, of which the two standouts are "The Court" by Neil Gaiman and Warren Pleece, and "I Keep Coming Back" by Alan Moore and Oscar Zárate; most of the rest are little more than vignettes and some of them are a bit confused at that. Originally published in 1996, this 2012 edition has more material (though does not indicate what has been added).
A collection of short pieces about London, of which the two standouts are "The Court" by Neil Gaiman and Warren Pleece, and "I Keep Coming Back" by Alan Moore and Oscar Zárate; most of the rest are little more than vignettes and some of them are a bit confused at that. Originally published in 1996, this 2012 edition has more material (though does not indicate what has been added).
February 5, 2017
Just read it in the darkness of the city in discussion and enjoyed most of it, hence the rating...
January 6, 2019
A primeira leitura completa do ano não poderia ser mais excepcional e prazerosa. Mantendo a tradição de fazer uma 'Lista da Vergonha' - ao mesmo tempo em que passo alguma outra leitura na frente e leio antes sem sequer de marcar aqui - terminei 'A vida Secreta de Londres', com pequenos contos e HQs curtas sobre essa cidade tão incrível onde tive o prazer de viver em 2015.
O livro reúne um séries de notáveis quadrinhistas/escritores narrando histórias que revelam o lado obscuro da cidade. Não vou detalhar aqui um a um - cuja média achei muito boa - daí a dificuldade de destacar favoritos, uma vez que acho que todos são destacáveis,a começar pelo prefácio de Rogério de Campos que já introduz o leitor em um universo novo para a maioria (psicogeografia) e indica os livros incríveis da coleção 'Baderna' (https://veneta.com.br/produto-tag/col...) meu tipo de doutrinação anarco-punk favorita que a escola nunca me deu, infelizmente.
O livro me arremessou de volta à Londres que conheci um pouco (sem o elemento obscuro), passando por seus lugares especiais e seus segredos. Como Londres é enorme e quase tão velha como a morte, impossível conhecer e saber tudo, por isso esse tempo em que passei lendo sobre as sombras da cidade me impactou bastante, talvez por memória afetiva, embora de um modo diferente do que os primeiros 2 encadernados de 'The Wicked+The Divine' que li quando ainda vivia na cidade e que tinham uma temática diferente.
Fico imaginando como seria fazer uma versão com histórias obscuras das cidades brasileiras, com exceção talvez ao DF, local que nunca teve uma única história que não fosse obscura.
Recomendo a ótima leitura e Feliz Ano Novo. Para quem está em Londres.
O livro reúne um séries de notáveis quadrinhistas/escritores narrando histórias que revelam o lado obscuro da cidade. Não vou detalhar aqui um a um - cuja média achei muito boa - daí a dificuldade de destacar favoritos, uma vez que acho que todos são destacáveis,a começar pelo prefácio de Rogério de Campos que já introduz o leitor em um universo novo para a maioria (psicogeografia) e indica os livros incríveis da coleção 'Baderna' (https://veneta.com.br/produto-tag/col...) meu tipo de doutrinação anarco-punk favorita que a escola nunca me deu, infelizmente.
O livro me arremessou de volta à Londres que conheci um pouco (sem o elemento obscuro), passando por seus lugares especiais e seus segredos. Como Londres é enorme e quase tão velha como a morte, impossível conhecer e saber tudo, por isso esse tempo em que passei lendo sobre as sombras da cidade me impactou bastante, talvez por memória afetiva, embora de um modo diferente do que os primeiros 2 encadernados de 'The Wicked+The Divine' que li quando ainda vivia na cidade e que tinham uma temática diferente.
Fico imaginando como seria fazer uma versão com histórias obscuras das cidades brasileiras, com exceção talvez ao DF, local que nunca teve uma única história que não fosse obscura.
Recomendo a ótima leitura e Feliz Ano Novo. Para quem está em Londres.
March 8, 2019
Quite.
As pitch really.
Not my cuppa. This is flat noir: the short stories don't try to thrill and the character downfalls are simply of extra distance down the holes you meet them in. It's the type of atmosphere that makes your bones cold in a dense London fog.
Being 100% imported from London was the bait and some of the blokes involved, including Alan Moore, was the clincher. I'm glad I trudged through it- but only because I'm a Europhile and enjoyed the deep examination of London's people, places, customs, dialect, etc.; if it were set here I'd be saying it was a waste of my time.
I still needed to escape a few times by reading it a few stories here and there over a few days.
Of course I cannot fail to mention that it was extremely successful in its intended scope and its execution.
As pitch really.
Not my cuppa. This is flat noir: the short stories don't try to thrill and the character downfalls are simply of extra distance down the holes you meet them in. It's the type of atmosphere that makes your bones cold in a dense London fog.
Being 100% imported from London was the bait and some of the blokes involved, including Alan Moore, was the clincher. I'm glad I trudged through it- but only because I'm a Europhile and enjoyed the deep examination of London's people, places, customs, dialect, etc.; if it were set here I'd be saying it was a waste of my time.
I still needed to escape a few times by reading it a few stories here and there over a few days.
Of course I cannot fail to mention that it was extremely successful in its intended scope and its execution.
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April 26, 2020Eu tinha muitas expectativas pra essa coletânea, porém só me decepcionei. Eu detesto abandonar os livros pela metade, inclusive já terminei muitos usando puramente a força do ódio. Mas de uns tempos pra cá tenho me desprendido dessa obstinação, pra que gastar tempo em um livro que não gosto se a pilha de livros que eu quero ler só aumenta? Pensando nisso abandonei esse pela metade e não me arrependo. Veja bem, algumas histórias são muito boas mas acabam não compensando as outras dentro da coletânea.
July 16, 2017
This is a patchy collection of comic strips set in and around London. I really enjoyed the one by Neil Gaiman and the last one by Alan Moore but the rest were a bit "meh", I'm afraid. Interesting period piece though, encapsulating, as it does, the preoccupations of life in the city in the nineties.
August 8, 2018
I quite enjoyed some of these - The Court, Dancing with Death, My life as a Cat,
Other, not so much. (The Griffin's Egg - I'm looking at you. I'm not ever getting those 10 minutes back.) Maybe I just don't get it.
Actually my favourite part was the authors and artists bio's at the end, which were brilliant.
Other, not so much. (The Griffin's Egg - I'm looking at you. I'm not ever getting those 10 minutes back.) Maybe I just don't get it.
Actually my favourite part was the authors and artists bio's at the end, which were brilliant.
October 11, 2023
Hard work and not for me. I enjoyed a couple of contributions, but too many felt like they'd come from the portfolio of angst-ridden teenagers doing an Art GCSE. Good noir and hardboiled fiction stays with you, but none of these contributions made much of an impression.
August 14, 2019
Not good. Like a bad arts college project.
December 3, 2019
It certainly lives up to its title; an interesting mix of works, styles, and stories but I never truly felt at home with it.
March 24, 2020
Toda a ideia é ótima (adoro a mistura dos quadrinhos com fotos dos locais em Londres onde elas se passam), a arte do Dave McKean é perfeita como sempre, mas as histórias são muito ruins.
April 28, 2021
Some little gems in here, some bits are more of a struggle (mainly the text pieces).
April 12, 2023
disappointing. has 1 good story.
January 25, 2016
A collection of brooding, disturbing graphic and narrative fictions about London's seamy underbelly.
Call it a guided tour of places you've always wanted to see, accompanied by stories about things you wish you didn't. The title pretty much says it all here: the black and white art, coupled with the unnerving adventures of Not Very Nice People, will send ripples of unease down your spine, even as you enjoy the hell out of it. The table of contents reads like a list of rock stars, including Neil Gaiman, Alexei Sayle, Melinda Gebbie, Dave McKean, Alan Moore, and a whole whack of other people serious comics aficianados will most likely recognize instantly.
My favorites of this batch were Gaiman's "The Court" (because it's creepy, not because it's Neil, though you can't really part the two), Alan Moore's "I Keep Coming Back" (ditto), and "A Flash in the Park," an absurd little piece by Yana Stajno and Chris Hogg that made me laugh out loud even though it's not at all funny. "Frozen" (Chris Webster and Carl Flint) has a dour wit to it, and Ilya's "The Body" strolls right up to the line of good taste and gives it the finger. If you're looking for a grim little collection of comics and short stories with which to while away a gloomy day, this is your book.
Call it a guided tour of places you've always wanted to see, accompanied by stories about things you wish you didn't. The title pretty much says it all here: the black and white art, coupled with the unnerving adventures of Not Very Nice People, will send ripples of unease down your spine, even as you enjoy the hell out of it. The table of contents reads like a list of rock stars, including Neil Gaiman, Alexei Sayle, Melinda Gebbie, Dave McKean, Alan Moore, and a whole whack of other people serious comics aficianados will most likely recognize instantly.
My favorites of this batch were Gaiman's "The Court" (because it's creepy, not because it's Neil, though you can't really part the two), Alan Moore's "I Keep Coming Back" (ditto), and "A Flash in the Park," an absurd little piece by Yana Stajno and Chris Hogg that made me laugh out loud even though it's not at all funny. "Frozen" (Chris Webster and Carl Flint) has a dour wit to it, and Ilya's "The Body" strolls right up to the line of good taste and gives it the finger. If you're looking for a grim little collection of comics and short stories with which to while away a gloomy day, this is your book.
October 4, 2011
I pretty much bought this comic because of the Neil Gaiman-story and because the title sounded like something I might like. Other than that I didn't know anything about it and had never read anything by any of the other authors. So I didn't really know what to expect. And I'm still not absolutely sure how I liked it. The styles of the stories is pretty diverse, I really liked some, especially the atmosphere they create, but others were a bit too abstract? experimental? for my taste. And I guess the same applies to the storylines, where in some cases I also got the impression that maybe you need to actually know London if youreally want to understand them.
September 9, 2015
Ho ordinato questo volume con un anno di anticipo, contiene storie brevi a fumetti e ancor più brevi racconti in prosa di alcuni autori veramente noti, il comune denominatore, ovviamente, è la città di Londra.
Lo ho acquistato e letto il prima possibile, ma non posso dire che valesse 12 mesi di attesa.
I racconti trasudano pece da tutti i pori e sono davvero nerissimi, ma considerando le altre opere degli autori qui coinvolti posso solo dire che si tratti di una raccolta che risulta "ok", nulla di più.
Lo ho acquistato e letto il prima possibile, ma non posso dire che valesse 12 mesi di attesa.
I racconti trasudano pece da tutti i pori e sono davvero nerissimi, ma considerando le altre opere degli autori qui coinvolti posso solo dire che si tratti di una raccolta che risulta "ok", nulla di più.
November 8, 2014
para mi sorpresa, me gustó más el relato de Gaiman que el de Moore, y aunque todas las historias e historietas experimentales que contiene esta antología me parecieron de muy buenas para arriba, el conjunto general me dejaron un poquito insatisfecho. En una de esas, después explico porquéses y todo.
June 22, 2008
I got this some years ago and read through it so many times that all the pages came loose and fell out. Murky, great urban comics. It has stories by Iain Sinclair, Stewart Home, Neil Gaiman. Keep meaning to find another copy of it somewhere.
July 16, 2008
I can't honestly say that I understood most of these stories but when you accidentally run into solid material that you never knew existed from people like Gaimen, Moore, and McKean, it's hard not to get giddy.
Want to read
November 7, 2014Antología underground noventosa sobre Londres a cargo del argentino (radicado en Inglaterra) Oscar Zárate.
September 22, 2014
had some potential but fell short of what it could have achieved. A shame, really.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews