Where to start?
I guess we should start with the title. Does Grayham's latest book actually involve a big hairy ape that swallows Planet Earth? Or could the title be a less than subtle metaphor of some kind? Perhaps we'll come back to that.
Not so very long ago (September 2023) I reviewed Puttock's previous book, Alsation Cages. It was a book that was hard to define, confounded in some ways, and defied being pigeonholed. Although given the creator's talents I am sure he would be able to illustrate such an image. I strongly suggest buying a copy. As to this new work here's the cover and then we'll get onto the basics and more besides.
As before this new book is published under Grayham's own publishing banner "Don't Look Now Comics"... which is an oddly ironic name as I can't stop myself looking at this book. After reading it I am compelled to constantly flick through this well produced tome purely to admire the art on display.
The book itself is perfectly bound. The paper stock is again well chosen and for those pages of art that do involve a lot of black ink, they are produced immaculately. With a few extras in the book there are significantly over 150 pages to be enjoyed.
It would be easy to describe the plot with the initial set up alone:
A group of disparate characters who clearly have interpersonal histories, and dislike each other, are called together via a series of letters to a creepy mansion in the British countryside by a mysterious old man who happens to be a recluse to help him with a family problem. Amongst them is a journalist who clearly enjoys a drink and chain smokes.
On paper (which it admittedly is) this could sound like a dodgy fan fiction mash up of an Agatha Christie murder mystery with a cheap John Constantine inspired character who is only included for exposition purposes. Don't be fooled!
There is an awful lot more going on here. A hell of a lot more. There are so many layers to The Ape That Ate The World. 
I am keen to avoid any spoilers here but what the reader experiences is a violent meditation on the themes of life and death, control and abuse, submission and forgiveness. And fundamentally, rightly or wrongly, LOVE in all the myriad shapes and forms it takes.
This is a comic that may likely speak very differently to individual readers depending upon their own life experiences. This is mature and sophisticated stuff and it offers a unique journey that is worth taking. My only advice is check your expectations at the metaphorical door, because they will be swiftly dashed otherwise. It is a tale told with unflinching boldness.
Artistically Puttock raises the bar. Visually rather than finding inspiration from very creepy British folklore the initial eerie mystery comes from much further afield, and his art does not disappoint. He takes full advantage to showcase his versatility and skills as an artist.
A love of the natural world is still on display. The creatures and animals included, even fleetingly are vital to the sense of imminent dread he conveys. Certain pages are hauntingly beautiful whilst others are shockingly direct. That is not to suggest there's anything excessively gory or overtly pornographic in the art, the imagery is joyous, and at times peaceful, yet others are acutely disturbing on a far more profound level.
The dialogue is convincing in the extreme, and yet it frequently carries an oddly jarring rhythm that is surely by design. If any of the characters sat next to you on a train you would be immediately inclined to engage them in conversation but after ten or fifteen minutes realise it may have been a mistake and be glancing out of the window hoping for a platform to appear. They are almost without exception compelling and ooze with a strange charm, and yet they also become rapidly repellent in very little time at all. You want to ignore them, but can't help going back to them. Like the leftovers of a large and dreadfully delicious meal you know it is unhealthy, but you want to go back for more.
On occasion it might be easy, indeed lazy, to criticise Puttock's storytelling. It is true perhaps some pages are not as easy to follow as your average superhero comic. I'd say thoughts like that are absolute rubbish, and I'll tell you why.
This is not a lack of story telling prowess, nothing could be further from the truth. This only raises the level of commitment required from the reader, and may be very clever and deliberate. It forces the reader to pay more attention to all the carefully chosen camera angles, the scene setting and the lighting.
In an era when a twenty four page (or less) comic book can be read, digested, bagged and boarded and put in a box to be immediately forgotten within ten minutes this is a book that demands your concentration and your consideration. The storytelling is about careful pacing, and it is a skill many modern so called stars of the industry could use a lesson in mastering.
As before the lettering, especially the speech balloons, echo the work of comic industry veteran John Workman and this is a huge compliment. Puttock's final thoughts in his afterword are telling. He mentions some slight inspiration from a scene in Adrian Lyne's 1990 classic film Jacob's Ladder that may not feel obvious, but it makes sense. Included also are some of the pages that did not quite make the cut in the main body of the book. They are all also tremendous.
This is not an easy book, but it is so worth the price of admission. Does The Ape in question eat the world? No comment, but the ape will linger in your subconscious mind for a while after the final page.
The back cover carries a quote from The Literary Review. Or in fact does it ? Like the nature of the ape the quote is mysterious and perhaps a strange figment of your imagination from a waking dream or a poem. It says simply "Beautiful, Wise and Heartbreaking." Whilst these things are all true there is a whole casserole of other flavours and emotions included in the mix.
I say dive in, but be prepared. Like truly good literature, once read it is a book that will urge you to return to it and read again, and perhaps again, and again.
Consider how the comic industry has evolved from its roots in the twentieth century. Comics were once a throw away medium, like newspapers they were disposable. I already alluded to how many comics are now collected in expensive plastic bags, with backing boards and stored in long cardboard boxes or rated and then trapped in plastic cells reduced to ornaments or investments in safe or a elsewhere never to see the light of day again. This is quantifiably a different animal.
This book will sit on your bookshelf and in the middle of the night and whisper, with an ever so slight Somerset based accent, "Read me again, you know you want to read me again."