Joseph Merrick the Sensational Elephant Man: A Kickstarter Battle Against Occult Evil
‘Tis true my form is something odd,
But blaming me is blaming God;
Could I create myself anew
I would not fail in pleasing you.
If I could reach from pole to pole
Or grasp the ocean with a span,
I would be measured by the soul;
The mind’s the standard of the man.
-poem used by Joseph Merrick to end his letters, adapted from “False Greatness” by Isaac Watts.
What if?
We play that game all the time, don’t we?
What if player A hadn’t been injured? We definitely would have won the championship. (See: Red Wings 2009, Pavel Datsyuk. But I’m not bitter.)
We do with comics. Marvel created a whole line of comics based on that one question.
We do it with history. What if Napoleon had won? What if that bomb had killed Hitler?
Sometimes we get to combine elements for our what if. I don’t mean what if Lebron James were an actual superhero, though I’d be all right with Michael Jordan as a supervillain (die-hard Pistons fan).
So what if the same deformities that made Joseph Merrick, the Elephantman, a penny gaff show attraction also made him a superhero as well?
Tom Ward (whom we’ve interviewed recently; plug one) asked that question and now we get to enjoy his exploration of the answer. Merrick, The Sensational Elephant Man chronicles Joseph Merrick’s (fictional) battles for a secret society fighting occult evil in late nineteenth century England. The kickstarter project has a four issue first story arc. The project will have a two-tier distribution, a combination of a digital release and a very high quality special print edition. Anyone can read the first issue online or download it for free.
Our Origin Story
1886, Police find a hideous, deformed man lying on the ground in terrible shape and barely alive. They find just one item that can help them: the card of Dr. Frederick Treves, successful and renown surgeon. They hurry Treves over to the body which he instantly recognizes as Joseph Merrick.
In some ways this horrible situation offers Treves a bit of redemption. A year ago Treves discovered Merrick at Tom Norman’s penny gaff, a show with exhibits of strange and deformed people. Afflicted with curiosity, Treves begins to study Merrick. And study really is the best word here. At no point then did Treves, unlike Norman, see Merrick as a man, a real man. He simply saw the subject of his studies. When he goes too far an angered and offended Merrick leaves. Not much after that Merrick and all his penny gaff mates are forced to leave England entirely.
And so, one year later, after being swindled, tricked and repeatedly beaten. After having crossed a continent and done what it takes to return to England, Merrick has made it back. His travels have left him evolved and stronger. And we’re not just talking about his elephant skin.
A Great Mix
We have real history mixing with fiction. Science and the occult. Beauty and deformity.
Like most first issue’s and origin stories, Ward has used most of the book to set up Merrick’s adventures. He sets the scene for the following books and possibly the entire series.
Ah yes, the origin. We know them well, don’t we? We’ve been here before and, yes, so often we feel like we have to trudge through the set-up to get to the good stuff.
But there’s no trudging here.
Well you can trudge if you want. Or just speed through. But you’ll be missing out. The set-up’s worth it. Ward's writing carries you along gracefully. Luke Parker’s artwork alone is worth the time. He combines drawing and color to give the perfect feel of England in the late nineteenth century. You have simple panels dominated by drab colors. Not boring drab, a drab that seems to be as much a part of the story as anything else. At the same time you can find small details everywhere from occult symbols to people puking in the background.
And let’s get this out of the way: I’m fine with the Hellboy similarities. As Ward tells us in our interview (plug two), it’s how Merrick actually looked. The comic is based on the actual person. If you still have difficulties with that I recommend you watch South Park’s “Simpsons Did It” episode.
I loved Ward’s character work. In just one issue we see Merrick’s deep change. We are presented with the dichotomy of Tom Norman, the man who makes money off of his deformed partners, but who treats them as, well, human partners. His stark contrast with Treves almost hits you like a punch in the face. And while I saw change in Treves I asked myself how much has he really changed in his desire to just use Merrick? It’s a question I can’t wait to explore as a reader in the other books.
If I had one writing question that played in my head, it would be about the dialog. I noticed it. I don’t mean that I didn’t like it. But, at the same time, something about certain lines took me away from the story. Was it stilted? Or is it an American in 2014 reading dialog being spoken by Englishmen in 1886. I have no clue and, honestly, it did nothing to take away from the book itself.
Along with great stories, great battles and everything else, I love comic books that show a character developing, growing and evolving. I’ve got that here and then some. I look forward to watching it happen. Well, along with some badass Elephant Man fight scenes too.
You can find all the information about the book, how to download or read the first issue as well as how to donate for the books at Ward and Parker’s Kickstarter page.
